Chengyu Liao Turns Cyprus Weekend Into $300,000 Win
The Istanbul-based player fired a second bullet to win the NOIR Poker Series $7,500 High Roller in North Cyprus.
Chengyu Liao turned a weekend trip to Cyprus into a $300,000 score by winning the 2026 NOIR Poker Series $7,500 High Roller at Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa in North Cyprus. He beat Giorgiy Skhulukhiya heads-up after a final preflop all-in sealed the title.
According to PokerNews, Liao is not a professional player. He works in Istanbul, flew to Cyprus just for the event, and had to fire a second bullet after busting his first entry. He also said this was the highest-stakes tournament he had played and the biggest win of his poker life.
He said he was nervous at the final table, felt like the weakest player there, and was not trying to wait for a payout. He planned to fly back to Istanbul the next day and said he would keep the celebration simple, spending time with friends.
The event drew 209 entries and built a $1,345,960 prize pool, comfortably beating the guarantee. Thirty-one players made the money for at least $12,000, and the 16 survivors who reached the final day locked up $16,100 apiece with the $300,000 top prize still waiting.
Day 2 started with 78 players returning, while Skhulukhiya led the way with 3,115,000 chips. He was the only returning player above 100 big blinds, with Gor Musinyan and Julian Pineda Lozano starting second and third.
The money bubble took five hands to burst, ending with Natalia Nikitina's 32nd-place exit. After that, Gaspare Sposato, Caner Gunes, Joris Ruijs, and start-of-day chip leader Aliaksandr Hirs were among the early casualties, and the field was eventually trimmed to 16.
The final day moved fast. Tobias Peters fell in 14th place and four more players were gone within 15 minutes. Arsenii Karmatckii's 10th-place exit put the tournament on its final table inside the first two levels, Geoffrey Mooney was out in ninth just before the two-hour mark, and Julian Pineda Lozano followed soon after. The next five knockouts, Leonid Orman, Yesset Aimukhanov, Daniil Kiselev, Zorlu Er, and Gor Musinyan, all went in preflop with dominated hands.
Skhulukhiya took a slight chip lead into heads-up play, but Liao grabbed the edge with a draw-heavy hand when his flopped set held against Skhulukhiya's combo draw. Liao said he did not have much heads-up experience and just went with the flow, and the flow kept moving his way.
The match ended when Liao limp-shoved and Skhulukhiya called off with A♣10♣. Liao tabled K♦J♠, paired his king on the K♠5♥7♠ flop, and held through the 3♠ turn and 4♥ river to take the trophy.
