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$7,500 High Roller
Day 2 Completed
2026 NOIR Poker Series
$7,500 High Roller
Day: 2
Players Left 16 / 209
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Chip Counts
Chip Counts
Level 22
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
A whirlwind day has come to a close inside the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa in Northern Cyprus, with just 16 players remaining in the $7,500 High Roller.
Day 2 of the highest buy-in event of the 2026 Merit Poker NOIR Series began with 78 players who had advanced from Day 1 taking their seats, while late registration remained open. Once the registration period closed, the field had grown to 209 entries, creating a $1,345,960 prize pool that comfortably surpassed the guarantee.
With the top prize now firmly in sight, Giorgiy Skhulukhiya emerged as the overnight chip leader, bagging 3,115,000 to put himself in pole position for the title. The Georgian is the only player returning with more than 100 big blinds, giving him a sizeable stack to work with when play resumes.
Closest to Skhulukhiya is Armenian Gor Musinyan, who will return in second place, while just behind in third, Julian Pineda Lozano is flying the flag for Colombia, completing a multinational podium.
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giorgiy Skhulukhiya | Georgia | 3,115,000 | 104 |
| 2 | Gor Musinyan | Armenia | 2,435,000 | 81 |
| 3 | Julian Pineda Lozano | Colombia | 2,180,000 | 73 |
| 4 | Daniil Kiselev | Russian Federation | 2,085,000 | 70 |
| 5 | Yesset Aimukhanov | Kazakhstan | 1,860,000 | 62 |
| 6 | Illia Hurin | Ukraine | 1,705,000 | 57 |
| 7 | Zorlucan Er | Turkey | 1,585,000 | 53 |
| 8 | Alexey Borovkov | Russian Federation | 1,510,000 | 50 |
| 9 | Chunghau Liao | Tajikistan | 1,205,000 | 40 |
| 10 | Leonid Orman | Russian Federation | 890,000 | 30 |
There is plenty of pedigree further down the leaderboard, with EPT Sochi Main Event champion Arsenii Karmatckii (875,000), two-time WSOP bracelet winner Tobias Peters (585,000) and WPT Main Event champion Dmitry Gromov (420,000) all still in contention.
Day 2 Action
Late registration closed four levels into Day 2, at which point the payouts were announced, as 31 players were set to make the money for at least $12,000, while $300,000 awaited the eventual champion.
It took only a few hours of play to reach the bubble, which proved to be a short-lived affair, lasting five hands before Natalia Nikitina found herself on the wrong side of a blind-versus-blind flip. Unable to come out on top, she was eliminated in 32nd place, leaving the remaining 31 players safely in the money.
Once the bubble burst, a flurry of eliminations followed. Gaspare Sposato (29th) and Caner Gunes (28th) were among the first to fall in the money, with Joris Ruijs (26th) and start-of-day chip leader Aliaksandr Hirs (23rd) soon joining them on the rail.
The initial plan to play until a final table was reached was then changed, as it was announced that play would continue until just 16 players remained before the tournament bagged up for the night. Four more quick-fire eliminations followed, with Aleksei Opalikhin's elimination in 17th place ensuring the rest of the field safe passage to the final day.
The surviving players will return at 1:00 p.m. local time on Sunday, August 2, with the tournament playing down to a winner. Play will resume with 25 minutes remaining on Level 22, with blinds of 15,000/30,000 and a 30,000 big blind ante.
Each of the 16 remaining players is guaranteed $16,100, but with just 15 eliminations standing between them and the trophy, the $300,000 first-place prize is now firmly in sight.
$7,500 High Roller Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | 9 | $30,060 |
| 2 | $203,000 | 10-11 | $23,700 |
| 3 | $142,000 | 12-13 | $20,300 |
| 4 | $100,000 | 14-15 | $18,000 |
| 5 | $80,000 | 16 | $16,100 |
| 6 | $64,000 | ||
| 7 | $51,000 | ||
| 8 | $40,000 |
Keep it locked in with PokerNews, as we bring you all the action live from the tournament floor throughout the 2026 NOIR poker series.
Level 22
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Tobias Peters | Netherlands | 585,000 | 20 |
| 1 | 2 | Julian Pineda Lozano | Colombia | 2,180,000 | 73 |
| 1 | 3 | Yesset Aimukhanov | Kazakhstan | 1,860,000 | 62 |
| 1 | 4 | Farkas Benedek | Hungary | 340,000 | 11 |
| 1 | 5 | Arsenii Karmatckii | Russian Federation | 875,000 | 29 |
| 1 | 6 | Geoffrey Mooney | Australia | 550,000 | 18 |
| 1 | 7 | Giorgiy Skhulukhiya | Georgia | 3,115,000 | 104 |
| 1 | 8 | Leonid Orman | Russian Federation | 890,000 | 30 |
| 2 | 1 | Alexey Borovkov | Russia | 1,510,000 | 50 |
| 2 | 2 | Zorlucan Er | Turkey | 1,585,000 | 53 |
| 2 | 3 | Illia Hurin | Ukraine | 1,705,000 | 57 |
| 2 | 4 | Gor Musinyan | Armenia | 2,435,000 | 81 |
| 2 | 5 | Chunghau Liao | Tajikistan | 1,205,000 | 40 |
| 2 | 6 | Dmitry Gromov | Russian Federation | 420,000 | 14 |
| 2 | 7 | Daniil Kiselev | Russian Federation | 2,180,000 | 73 |
| 2 | 8 | Goofy | United States | 260,000 | 9 |
Level 22
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
With the most recent elimination taking the field to 16 players, Day 2 has come to a close. The remaining players have bagged their chips and are advancing to Day 3, which will begin at 1:00 p.m. local time on Sunday, August 2.
Stay tuned for the full chip counts and recap of the day's action.
Level 22
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Level 22
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Level: 22
Blinds: 15,000/30,000
Ante: 30,000
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
The remaining 20 players are taking a 15-minute break.
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
As recalled by a player at the table, Gor Musinyan opened to 50,000 under the gun, and Yesset Aimukhanov called in the cutoff. Both the small blind and Damir Zhugralin, in the big blind, called as well.
Musinyan conținued for 50,000 on a Qx7x4x flop, which Aimukhanov and Zhugralin both called, but the small blind folded.
The turn brought another 4x, and Zhugralin opted to lead out for 250,000. That didn't shake anyone out, as both Musinyan and Aimukhanov called.
The board was completed with a 3x, and Zhugralin moved all in for 700,000. Musinyan folded, but Aimukhanov called off his own stack of 415,000.
Zhugralin tabled 5x4x, but was a long way behind the 7x7x of Aimukhanov.
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
Aliaksandr Hirs moved all in for 195,000 in early position and was isolated when Tobias Peters reshoved for roughly 400,000 in the hijack.
Aliaksandr Hirs: K♦9♦ 
Tobias Peters: A♦K♣
Both players made a straight on the Q♣7♣J♦10♣K♠ runout, but Peters' hand remained best the whole way, sending the start-of-day chip leader to the rail.
