Giorgiy Skhulukhiya Leads NOIR Poker Series High Roller Into Final 16
The $7,500 event drew 209 entries, built a $1.35 million prize pool and left $300,000 for the winner at Merit Royal Diamond.
Giorgiy Skhulukhiya heads into the final 16 of the NOIR Poker Series $7,500 High Roller at Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa in Northern Cyprus, with the chip lead and the $300,000 top prize in sight.
According to PokerNews, Skhulukhiya bagged 3,115,000 chips, and he is the only player returning with more than 100 big blinds. Gor Musinyan sits second and Julian Pineda Lozano third.
The event drew 209 entries and built a $1.35 million prize pool, comfortably beating the $1 million guarantee. Each of the last 16 is already locked up for $16,100.
The $7,500 buy-in made it the highest-stakes event on the 2026 Merit Poker NOIR Series schedule. It used a three-day format with 100,000 starting stacks and 40-minute levels, and the opening flight played eight levels before bagging.
Day 1 drew 114 players to the grand hall, and 78 advanced to Day 2. Aliaksandr Hirs led that stage with 562,000 chips, more than 100 big blinds ahead of the nearest challenger, before late registration kept the door open into the next day.
Day 2 started with those 78 players and the field grew to 209 entries once registration closed four levels in. Payouts were then announced with 31 places paying at least $12,000, and the bubble lasted five hands before Natalia Nikitina went out in 32nd after a blind-versus-blind flip.
After the bubble burst, Gaspare Sposato finished 29th, Caner Gunes 28th, Joris Ruijs 26th and Hirs 23rd. The plan to stop at a final table changed, and Aleksei Opalikhin’s 17th-place exit left exactly 16 players for the final day.
Play resumes at 1 p.m. local time with 25 minutes left on Level 22, at blinds of 15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 big blind ante. Each of the 16 players is guaranteed $16,100, and 15 eliminations stand between them and the trophy.
