Merit Poker Tournaments

Merit Poker has turned the northern coast of Cyprus into one of the busiest live poker destinations outside Las Vegas. It runs a new festival roughly every six weeks, its Main Events regularly draw close to 1,000 players, and it hosts global brands like Triton and the WSOP Circuit.

This page is our complete hub for Merit Poker tournaments. It covers confirmed upcoming dates, the latest winners and prize pools, every major series, the venues, buy-ins and satellites, cash games, travel and registration. If you’re new to live poker, there’s also a section explaining the basic tournament terms you’ll see on every Merit schedule. We update this page whenever a new schedule or result is confirmed.

Merit Poker at a Glance

Detail	Information
Operator	Merit Poker (part of the Merit hotel & casino group)
Running live events since	2008
Total prize money awarded	More than $40 million
North Cyprus venues	Merit Crystal Cove Hotel & Casino (Alsancak); Merit Royal Diamond Hotel, Casino & Spa (Karavas)
Montenegro venue	Merit Royal Splendid Casino, Budva
Official website	meritpoker.com
Series frequency	About one festival every 45 days
Typical festival length	About 10 days
Typical Main Event buy-ins	€1,650 (Montenegro) to $5,500 (Cyprus)
Biggest recent Main Event	2026 Mediterranean Poker Party: 972 entries, $5,000,000 prize pool
Tournament currency	USD in Cyprus, EUR in Montenegro
Poker room size (Crystal Cove)	About 30 tables
Main formats	NL Hold’em, PLO (4- and 5-card), Mystery Bounty, Turbo, High Roller

What Is Merit Poker?

Merit Poker is the poker brand of the Merit group, which runs luxury hotel and casino resorts along the northern coast of Cyprus. It started running live tournaments in 2008, and since then it has grown from a resort card room into one of Europe’s best-known tournament operators. It has paid out more than $40 million in prize money.

How Merit is different
Most casinos host one or two big festivals a year. Merit runs a near-continuous calendar instead: a new series roughly every 45 days, each lasting around ten days and building toward a Main Event. That means a regular player can find a Merit festival at almost any point in the year.

Themed series
Many Merit festivals are built around a theme that shapes the décor, parties and atmosphere around the tables. Past and current themes include:

• Gatsby Series (and the Gatsby Gala): roaring twenties glamour
• Dolce Vita Series: Italian style
• Gangster Series: mob-era nights
• Western Series: Wild West
• Carmen Series: opera-inspired, held in 2025 and again April 27–May 7, 2026
• NOIR Series: classic film noir, launched July 2026

The poker itself is standard Hold’em and Omaha. The themes are what make Merit feel like an event rather than just a tournament, and they’re a big reason recreational players come back.

Who plays at Merit?
Fields are truly international. Final tables are typically filled with players from Russia, Turkey, Germany, Austria, Israel, Lebanon and Iran, plus regulars from across Europe and the Middle East. The mix of strong regulars and holidaying recreational players keeps fields large and gives Main Events a wide range of skill levels.

Upcoming Merit Poker Tournament Schedule 2026–2027

Upcoming Tournament Dates and Venues

We list only events with officially confirmed dates.

Series	Dates	Venue	Main Event buy-in	Status	Our coverage
Triton ONE	Nov 5–15, 2026	Merit Royal Diamond	$8,000	Confirmed	[Internal link: Triton Cyprus 2026 schedule]
Triton Super High Roller Series	Nov 15–30, 2026	Merit Royal Diamond	$100,000	Confirmed	[Internal link: Triton SHRS Cyprus 2026]
Merit Poker Montenegro Championship 2027	Not yet announced	Merit Royal Splendid, Budva	—	Pending	—
Next Merit in-house themed series	Not yet announced	TBC	—	Pending	—

What to watch for: The 2026 Montenegro Championship ran January 13–25, so a January 2027 edition would fit the usual pattern. That’s an expectation, not a confirmation. Merit typically publishes full schedules four to eight weeks before each series.

Main Event Buy-ins and Prize Guarantees

Triton Cyprus 2026: key events

Event	Buy-in	Dates
Triton ONE Main Event	$8,000	Nov 10–15
Triton ONE High Roller	$15,000	Nov 13–15
Triton ONE women’s events	2,000–3,000	During Triton ONE
Triton ONE Main Event qualifiers	$1,500	During Triton ONE
NLH Triton Invitational	$200,000	Nov 20–21
SHRS NLH Main Event	$100,000	Nov 22–24
NLH 10th Anniversary Special	$150,000	Nov 24–25
SHRS PLO Main Event	$100,000	Nov 27–29

The full festival has 32 events: 16 in Triton ONE and 16 in the Super High Roller Series. Triton ONE buy-ins start at $2,000.

Typical guarantees at Merit’s own series

Based on the 2026 Mediterranean Poker Party and NOIR Series:

Event type	Typical buy-in	Typical guarantee
Main Event	5,300–5,500	3M–5M
Opening championship event	$2,200	1M–2M
Merit Poker Cup	$3,500	$1M
High Roller	7,500–10,400	500K–1M
Mystery Bounty	2,200–3,300	300K–500K
Mini Main Event	$1,650	$500K
Turbo, PLO and Deep Stack side events	1,000–2,200	Usually none
Women’s / Seniors events	330–1,100	Small or none

Combined guarantees reached more than $10 million at the 2026 MPP and more than $6 million at the NOIR Series.

How to Qualify Through Satellites

You rarely need to pay the full Main Event price at Merit:

• Main Event satellites: At the 2026 MPP they cost $850 and awarded one seat per seven entries, with up to 10 guaranteed seats on busier days.
• Mega satellites and freerolls: Seats to opening events started from about $400, and some freerolls awarded seats too.
• Online satellites: These depend on the series. The 2025 WSOP Super Circuit Cyprus, for example, ran online qualifiers on GGPoker.
• Triton ONE: The schedule includes several $1,500 Main Event qualifiers.

Tip: The busiest satellites usually run the evening before each Main Event Day 1 flight, so arrive at least a day early.

Latest Merit Poker Results and Winners

2026 Tournament Results

Tournament	Dates	Buy-in	Winner	Entries	Prize pool	Full report
Mediterranean Poker Party Main Event	Sep 2026	$5,400	Daniil Kiselev (Russia)	972	$5,000,000	[Internal link: MPP 2026 results]
NOIR Series Main Event	Aug 2–6, 2026	$5,500	Selahaddin Bedir (Turkey)	769	$3,608,148	[Internal link: NOIR Series results]
Montenegro Championship Main Event	Jan 2026	€1,650	Timur Margolin (Israel)	414	€571,320	[Internal link: Montenegro 2026 results]
Montenegro Championship High Roller	Jan 2026	€2,750	Nazar Buhaiov	—	—	—

Main Event Champions and Prize Money

Event	Champion	First prize	Runner-up	Second prize
2026 MPP Main Event	Daniil Kiselev (Russia)	$1,000,000	Mehmet Biskin (Turkey)	$621,000
2026 NOIR Main Event	Selahaddin Bedir (Turkey)	$525,000	Konstantin Voronin (Russia)	$375,000
2026 Montenegro Main Event	Timur Margolin (Israel)	€110,000	Nikolay Fal (Russia)	€75,000
2025 WSOP Super Circuit Cyprus Main Event	Anonymous winner	$1,000,000	Daniel Rezaei	$670,000
2025 MPP Main Event	Daniel Thaller (Austria)	$786,670*	—	—

*After a three-way deal.

2026 MPP Main Event final table

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Daniil Kiselev	Russia	$1,000,000
2	Mehmet Biskin	Turkey	$621,000
3	Jordan Woodall	Germany	$420,000
4	Daniel Thaller	Austria	$290,000
5	Timo Vogt	Austria	$210,000
6	Naji Tannoury	Lebanon	$150,000
7	Kirill Solovev	Russia	$110,000
8	Ivan Bryksin	Russia	$80,000
9	Raphael Schreine	—	$60,000

What the numbers tell us

• The MPP overlay: The 2026 MPP Main Event fell slightly short of its $5 million guarantee, with 972 entries at $5,400. Merit covered the difference, so the field shared extra money it hadn’t paid in.
• Skill shows up: Daniel Thaller won the 2025 MPP and finished fourth in 2026. Strong regulars go deep repeatedly even in fields of 1,000.
• Big payouts at mid-stakes prices: Two Merit-hosted Main Events paid $1 million first prizes for a buy-in of around $5,000.

All-Time Merit Poker Leaders

According to The Hendon Mob database (as of January 2025):

Record	Player	Country	Figure
Biggest winner	Giorgiy Skhulukhiya	Georgia	More than $1.6 million
Most cashes	Seref Dursun Anar	Turkey	125
2nd most cashes	Dmitry Gromov	Russia	75
3rd most cashes	Michael Habib	Lebanon	69

Skhulukhiya’s biggest win came in September 2021, when he took the $5,300 partypoker MILLIONS North Cyprus Main Event for $683,285. He also has several other six-figure scores. Since then, the $1 million wins at the 2025 WSOP Super Circuit and the 2026 MPP may have reshaped the top of this list. Check The Hendon Mob for current figures.

Major Merit Poker Tournament Series

Triton Poker and Triton ONE

Triton returns to Merit Royal Diamond from November 5–30, 2026, during its tenth-anniversary year. Triton ONE (November 5–15) suits strong amateurs and regulars, with buy-ins from $2,000 and an $8,000 Main Event. The Super High Roller Series (November 15–30) is for the elite, with buy-ins up to $200,000. Triton weeks also bring busy side events, lively cash games and the chance to watch the world’s best players up close.

[Internal link: Triton Poker Cyprus 2026 – full schedule and guide]

Mediterranean Poker Party

The MPP is one of Merit’s flagship festivals. The 2026 edition (September 17–27) at a renovated Merit Crystal Cove carried more than $10 million in guarantees, headlined by a $5,400 Main Event with a $5 million guarantee. Daniil Kiselev won it for $1,000,000. The 2025 edition drew 1,196 entries for a $5,740,800 prize pool.

[Internal link: Mediterranean Poker Party guide]

Merit Poker NOIR Series

Merit’s newest themed festival ran for the first time from July 27 to August 6, 2026, at Merit Royal Diamond, with more than $6 million guaranteed. Key events included a 3,500MeritPokerCup(1M guaranteed), a 7,500HighRoller(1M guaranteed) and a 5,500MainEvent(3M guaranteed). The Main Event drew 769 entries for $3.6 million.

[Internal link: NOIR Series 2026 results]

WSOP Circuit Cyprus

Merit Royal Diamond hosted the first WSOP Super Circuit Cyprus from October 9–21, 2025. It had 15 ring events with buy-ins from $1,100 to $26,000, and a $5,300 Main Event with a $5 million guarantee that drew 1,372 entries. An anonymous player won $1,000,000. A follow-up planned for April 25–May 11, 2026, was cancelled in March 2026 because of regional uncertainty, and no new date has been announced.

[Internal link: WSOP Super Circuit Cyprus 2025 results]

Merit Poker Montenegro

Merit’s winter stop runs at the Merit Royal Splendid Casino in Budva. The January 13–25, 2026, edition featured an €880 Merit Poker Cup, a €2,750 High Roller won by Nazar Buhaiov, and a €1,650 Main Event. Timur Margolin won the Main Event for €110,000 from 414 entries. It’s the most budget-friendly Merit festival.

[Internal link: Merit Poker Montenegro guide]

Merit Poker Cup

The Merit Poker Cup appears at most Merit festivals. It’s usually a $3,500 tournament with a $1 million guarantee in Cyprus, or an €880 tournament in Montenegro. For mid-stakes players, it often offers better value than the Main Event: the guarantee is big, the buy-in is lower, and the field is more recreational.

Other Tours Merit Has Hosted

Merit’s venues have also been home to:

• PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT)
• World Poker Tour (WPT)
• partypoker MILLIONS North Cyprus
• Triton Super High Roller Series (previous editions, returning November 2026)

That list shows how much the industry trusts Merit’s tournament operations.

Merit Poker Venues and Locations

Merit Crystal Cove Hotel & Casino (Alsancak, near Kyrenia)
Merit Poker’s traditional home is a five-star, all-inclusive beachfront resort with a poker room of about 30 tables. It hosts many in-house series and the Mediterranean Poker Party, and it reopened after renovation for the 2026 MPP.

Merit Royal Diamond Hotel, Casino & Spa (Karavas, near Kyrenia)
The group’s flagship property now hosts the biggest events, including the NOIR Series, the 2025 WSOP Super Circuit Cyprus and Triton in November 2026. Always check which property your series uses before booking.

Merit Royal Splendid Casino (Budva, Montenegro)
This venue on the Adriatic coast hosts the annual Montenegro Championship each January. Buy-ins are in euros and generally lower than in Cyprus.

What to expect from the resorts
The Cyprus properties are all-inclusive, so meals and drinks are generally covered in your room rate. That makes a Merit trip easier to budget than Las Vegas or many European city stops. Beach, spa and entertainment facilities make them popular with players who travel with family or a partner.

[Internal link: Merit Poker venue and hotel guide]

Poker Tournament Basics: Terms You’ll See at Merit

If you’re new to live tournaments, here’s what the common terms on a Merit schedule mean:

• Buy-in: The cost to enter, usually shown as prize pool contribution plus fee (for example, $5,000 + $400 = $5,400).
• Guarantee (GTD): The minimum prize pool the organiser promises, even if too few players enter.
• Overlay: When entries don’t cover the guarantee and the organiser adds the difference. This is extra value for players.
• Starting flights (Day 1A, 1B, 1C…): Multiple starting days for the same tournament. Survivors from each flight combine on Day 2.
• Re-entry: Paying again to re-enter after busting, usually allowed until the end of late registration.
• Late registration: The window after the start during which you can still enter.
• Satellite: A cheaper tournament whose prizes are seats into a bigger event.
• Mystery Bounty: Knocking out a player wins you a random bounty prize, sometimes worth far more than the buy-in.
• Turbo: Faster blind levels, so the tournament finishes quicker but with less room to manoeuvre.
• High Roller: A higher buy-in event, usually with a smaller and tougher field.
• ITM (in the money): Finishing in a paid position, typically the top 12–15% of the field.
• Deal / chop: When the final players agree to split the remaining prize money, as at the 2025 MPP.

Tournament Buy-ins, Satellites and Prize Pools

Match your bankroll to the right event:

Budget per event	Best fit at Merit
Under $1,000	Satellites, women’s/seniors events, Montenegro Merit Poker Cup (€880)
1,000–2,500	Mini Main, opening championship, Mystery Bounty, Montenegro Main (€1,650), Triton ONE starter events
3,000–6,000	Merit Poker Cup (3,500),CyprusMainEvents(5,300–$5,500)
7,500–15,000	Merit High Rollers, Triton ONE Main (8,000)andHighRoller(15,000)
$100,000+	Triton Super High Roller Series

Plan your re-entries. Merit Main Events are heavily re-entry driven. Decide how many entries you’ll make before the series, for example one satellite attempt plus one or two direct entries, and stick to it.

Merit Poker Perks and Special Features

Merit adds small extras that make a real difference:

• Early-seat stack bonus: At the NOIR Series, players seated before the start received a 10% bigger starting stack. In multi-flight events this applied to Day 1A only, and not to satellites.
• “Rabbit hunt” card: NOIR Main Event and High Roller entrants got a one-time card to reveal the board cards that would have come after a hand ended. It’s purely for fun.
• Travel packages: Bundles of hotel nights, airport transfers and tournament entries. At NOIR 2026, they were priced at $25,000 and $40,000 for multi-event players.
• Themed parties and entertainment: Each themed series comes with events away from the tables, which is a big draw for recreational players.

Merit Poker Cash Games and Tournament Formats

The poker room at Merit Crystal Cove spreads:

• No-Limit Hold’em: 1/3 up to 200/400
• Pot-Limit Omaha (4- and 5-card): 10/25 up to 200/400
• Bomb Pot games

Outside festivals, cash tables typically open at 8 p.m. on weekdays and 6 p.m. on weekends. During tournament series, a cash game zone runs 24 hours a day.

Tournament formats across Merit series include multi-flight Main Events with four or five Day 1s, turbo flights, Mystery Bounty and knockout events, PLO and PLO-5 events (including double-board bomb pots), deep stacks, high rollers, and women’s and seniors’ events.

[Internal link: Mystery Bounty tournaments explained]

Travel Guide to Merit Poker in North Cyprus

• Flights: Most players fly into Ercan International Airport (ECN). Most routes connect through Turkey, typically via Istanbul or Ankara. The resorts are about 40–50 minutes away by road, and Merit packages often include airport transfers.
• Alternative route: Some players fly into Larnaca (LCA) in the Republic of Cyprus and cross into the north overland. Whether this works depends on your passport, so check first.
• Documents: North Cyprus is recognised only by Turkey, so entry rules and travel insurance coverage vary by nationality. Always check your government’s official travel advice.
• Money: Tournaments use US dollars. The local currency is the Turkish lira, but dollars and euros are widely accepted at the resorts.
• Best time to go: Spring and September–October offer the most comfortable weather. Summer is hot and busy.

[Internal link: North Cyprus poker travel guide]

How to Register for Merit Poker Tournaments

1. Check the official schedule on meritpoker.com, or Triton’s official site for Triton events. Confirm the venue, dates and late registration times.
2. Book your stay early. Tournament hotel rooms fill quickly during big festivals. Merit’s packages can combine hotel, transfers and entries.
3. Register at the venue. Buy-ins are normally paid at the on-site registration desk or cage. Bring your passport, as ID is required.
4. Try a satellite first. Live satellites run daily during each series, and some festivals offer online qualifiers.
5. Be seated early. Some Merit series give on-time players a starting-stack bonus on Day 1A.

Registration methods and pre-registration options can vary by series. If you’re unsure, contact Merit Poker before travelling.

Practical Tips from the Tournament Floor

1. Stay at the tournament hotel. Late nights and early restarts make on-site accommodation worth it.
2. Use the all-inclusive savings wisely. Put the money you save on food and drinks toward protecting your bankroll, not toward extra entries.
3. Target the value events. The Merit Poker Cup and Mini Main often have softer fields and big guarantees for a lower price.
4. Expect late finishes. Day 1 flights with hundreds of players often run past midnight, so pace yourself.
5. Watch for overlays. In big-guarantee events with uncertain turnout, late flights are where you’re most likely to get extra value.

Is Merit Poker Worth It? Pros and Cons

Pros

• Very frequent festivals, about every 45 days
• Large guarantees and million-dollar first prizes at mid-stakes buy-ins
• Luxury all-inclusive resorts keep trip costs predictable
• Plenty of satellites, so you can qualify for far less than the Main Event buy-in
• A fun, recreational atmosphere with themed series
• Hosts global brands like Triton and the WSOP Circuit

Cons

• Travel takes more planning, usually via Turkey
• North Cyprus’ political status means entry and insurance rules vary by passport
• Top-end fields include very strong international regulars
• Event schedules can change because of regional factors, as when the 2026 WSOP Super Circuit Cyprus was cancelled

Our verdict: For European, Middle Eastern and international players, Merit Poker is one of the best-value tournament destinations in the world. Triton ONE in November 2026 or Merit’s next themed series are both good starting points for a first trip.

FAQs