Merit Poker Noir Series Opens in North Cyprus
The $3,500 Merit Poker Cup starts the festival with a $1 million guarantee and three opening flights.
The inaugural Merit Poker Noir Series gets underway today in North Cyprus, replacing the old Dolce Vita Series and putting more than $6 million in guaranteed prize pools into play. The festival is being staged at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa.
PokerNews said the new Noir identity was built around old Hollywood glamour and cinematic nightlife. The festival runs through August 6, and it is followed immediately at the same venue by the Onyx High Roller Series, giving the resort nearly three straight weeks of back-to-back tournament action.
The opening event is the $3,500 Merit Poker Cup, which carries a $1 million guarantee. It is a three-day tournament with three opening flights, and the first one, Day 1a, begins at 12 p.m.
Day 1b starts at the same time on July 29. Players looking for a quicker path to Day 2 can jump into the Day 1c turbo flight that evening, where blind levels are cut to 25 minutes.
Each starting flight plays 10 levels. Day 1a uses 40-minute blind levels and a 100,000 starting stack, while late registration and unlimited reentries stay open until the end of Level 15, five levels into Day 2.
The $3,500 buy-in is a step up from last year’s $2,200 opener. That event drew 730 entries, was won by Xiaosheng Zheng, and paid out a $225,000 top prize after he defeated Gerard Carbo Santamaria heads-up. Mahmut Sanli finished third.
PokerNews will be on the floor throughout the series for live updates from the three marquee tournaments. After the Merit Poker Cup comes the $7,500 High Roller, which also has a $1 million guarantee.
The centerpiece is the $5,500 Main Event, which carries a $3 million guaranteed prize pool. It features four starting flights beginning on August 2, with the champion set to be crowned on August 6.
The rest of the schedule includes a $3,300 Mystery Bounty with a $300,000 guarantee, a $3,300 Big Bounty, a $3,300 Pot-Limit Omaha 5-Card Knockout, and a $330 Women’s Championship. The festival also includes satellites and side events throughout.
Merit Poker began in 2008 and has awarded more than $40 million in prize pools since then. The neighboring Merit Crystal Cove Hotel houses the daily cash-game room, which has 30 tables and spreads common stakes of $2/$5, $5/$5 and $5/$10 no-limit hold’em.
Merit Poker president Songül Bekem said, “The development of Merit Poker is a common achievement for all the players and each member of our team. It’s time for us to take one more step up, and it is your turn to feel the real Poker experience.”
