Raoul Kanme Wins Onyx Main Event for $1.25 Million
The chip leader turned a final-table edge into a career-best score at Merit Royal Diamond and added 1,428 Player of the Year points.
Raoul Kanme won the 2026 Onyx Super High Roller Series $25,000 no-limit hold’em Main Event, cashing for $1.25 million after outlasting a 255-entry field at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa in North Cyprus. The result pushed the prize pool to $6,120,000, more than $1.1 million above the event’s $5 million guarantee.
As reported in our Aug. 13 update, Kanme took the chip lead into the final table after the field was trimmed to nine. He kept that momentum through the last day and closed out the event after more than six levels of play.
The first final-table casualty was Fahredin Mustafov, who finished ninth for $143,000 when his 10-3 suited ran into Jordan Woodall’s pocket kings. Anze Smajd went out eighth for $171,000 after his kings lost to Kanme’s queens, and Italo Modena finished seventh for $200,000 when his kings ran into Matthias Lipp’s aces.
Daniel Rezaei placed sixth for $250,000 and 476 Card Player Player of the Year points, and Manuel Fritz took fifth for $320,000. Woodall then locked up $600,000 in third place, a career-high score, before Kanme took more than a 7-to-1 chip lead into heads-up play against Lipp.
The deciding hand came when Lipp shoved 3,200,000 from the small blind with K♥3♥ and Kanme called with A♣3♦. The board ran out 8♥7♣5♦J♥4♠, ending the event and sending Lipp home with $800,000 for second.
Kanme said the win brought him relief after a stressful few months, and he also dedicated the trophy to a cousin who had been diagnosed with cancer three or four months ago. The victory gave him 1,428 POY points, lifted him to 1,588 for the season, and moved him inside the top 250 in the 2026 CoinPoker POY standings. His career earnings climbed to nearly $2.4 million, up from a previous best score of $157,368 from a runner-up finish in a €3,000 event at last year’s Master Classics of Poker. After months of travel, he said he plans to take some time away from the felt and move into vacation mode.
