The 2026 Onyx Super High Roller Series kicked off at Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa in North Cyprus with its ‘Premiere’ $10,400 event, which attracted 507 entries. The no-limit hold’em tournament featured a $5 million guarantee, with the top 76 finishers earning a share. After four starting flights and another pair of combined-field sessions, an anonymous player going by ‘Goofy’ emerged victorious with the title and the top prize of $1,000,000.
While only identified by a nickname, the champion did pose for winner photos after closing out the title, and also granted an interview to PokerNews live updates staff on the scene.
“I feel shocked right now. It will take one or two days to understand what I’ve done, but I start to feel amazing. My family just came yesterday, so for me to make the picture with the trophy with them, it’s like, what can I say? The dream came true,” he said after coming out on top.
#1 $10.400 PREMIERE FINAL TABLE pic.twitter.com/KDCmM0VCFE
— Merit Poker (@meritpokerlive) August 11, 2026
The final day began with nine remaining and Damir Gabdullin in the lead. Two-time bracelet winner Ravid Garbi was the first to fall, with A♣10♣ unable to come from behind against A♦J♦ for Goofy.
Bracelet winner and five-time Triton Poker champion Mikita Badziakouski soon overtook the top spot when he made quad kings, with two in the hole, to best the pocket queens of Gabdullin in a hefty pot.
Artsiom Lasouski bowed out in eighth ($89,800) when his J♥4♥ was unable to come from behind against A♦K♣ for bracelet winner Sergio Aido. He was soon joined by Italo Modena, whose A♣6♣ ran into A♠A♥ for Oshri Lahmani. Modena (7th – $110,000) made aces up by the river, but Lahmani’s top set secured him the pot and the knockout.
Badziakouski Surges Into Four-Handed Play
Mikita Badziakouski
Badziakouski and Gabdullin squared off again with a couple of monster pocket pairs, this time with pocket aces for the Belarusian crusher. Gabdullin (6th – ($140,000) got all-in after a J♠J♣5♣ with pocket queens and was unable to come from behind.
Not long after that, Aido made his final stand. The Spanish pro raised to 3,200,000 in the cutoff with Q♥10♥, committing the majority of his stack in the process. Badziakouski came along with A♥10♠ from the big blind. The flop came down A♠9♥8♦ and Badziakouski bet enough to put Aido all-in. He called his remaining 950,000 and the turn brought the 6♣ gave him additional outs. The 9♠ on the end was no help, though, and Aido was eliminated in fifth place ($190,000).
Aido now boasts career earnings in excess of $26.9 million. Badziakouski’s stack swelled to 27,000,000 after the hand, giving him over half of the chips in play.
Lucky Rivers Extend Badziakouski’s Lead
Four-handed action continued for a while without an elimination. While Badziakouski came in with a big lead, Giorgiy Skhulukhiya was able to close the gap as the night wore on.
The two top stacks eventually clashed in a massive pot. Skhulukhiya raised to 2,200,000 from the button holding Q♠J♠. Badziakouski three-bet to 5,500,000 out of the small blind with [invalid notations] turn gave Skhulukhiya top pair and the lead in the hand, only to have the 5♥ appear on the end to improve Badziakouski to trips to win the pot.
With that, Badziakouski surged to 37,000,000, or nearly three quarters of all the chips in action.
The next key hand also saw Badziakouski find an unlikely win on the river. He jammed with 8♣6♣ from the small blind and Lahmani called all-in from the big blind with A♠J♠. The A♦A♣7♠ flop gave Lahmani trips and a sizable advantage in the hand. The 5♠ turnadded a flush draw to Lahmani’s equity, while giving Badziakouski a glimmer of hope with an open-ended straight draw. The 9♣ rolled off to complete that draw, giving Badizkouski a nine-high straight for the win. Lahmani earned $375,000 as the third-place finisher.
Goofy Comes From Behind To Win The Title
Heads-up play began with 42,600,000 for Badziakouski and just 7,500,000 for Goofy.
The gap was narrowed in the early going, and then all but erased when Goofy turned trip eights against the kings and eights of his opponent. Shortly after that, Goofy won a hefty pot with a set of threes to overtake the lead.
Goofy began to pull away, only for Badziakouski to crack his pocket jacks with K-3 suited to level the playing field. Goofy was able to regain momentum, though, and stretched his lead out to over 2:1 ahead of the final hand of the tournament.
The last clash began with a button raise to 2,000,000 from Goofy, who held 9♦6♥. Badziakouski called the min-raise with 5♥4♥ in the big blind and the flop came down 9♠4♣2♦. After a check from Badziakouski, Goofy bet 2,000,000. Badziakouski then check-shoved for 12,600,000. Goofy called with top pair and held through a 7♥ turn and 2♠ river to bring the tournament to a close.
Badziakouski settled for $585,000 as the runner-up. He also secured 1,750 Card Player Player of the Year points, enough to move him inside the top 50 in the overall standings presented by CoinPoker. This was his sixth final-table finish of the year. The Belarusian now has over $72.7 million in career cashes, which is good for fourth place on poker’s all-time money list.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | ‘Goofy’ | $1,000,000 | N/A |
| 2 | Mikita Badziakouski | $585,000 | 1,750 |
| 3 | Oshri Lahmani | $375,000 | 1,400 |
| 4 | Giorgiy Skhulukhiya | $260,000 | 1,050 |
| 5 | Sergio Aido | $190,000 | 875 |
| 6 | Damir Gabdullin | $140,000 | 700 |
| 7 | Italo Modena | $110,000 | 525 |
| 8 | Artsiom Lasouski | $89,800 | 350 |
| 9 | Ravid Garbi | $74,000 | 175 |
Photo credits: Merit Poker Live Flickr account.
