Coleman, Kolev Highlight Onyx High Roller Series Side Event Winners

Onyx Super High Roller Series action wrapped up over the weekend at Merit Royal Hotel in Cyprus. Mikalai Vaskaboinikau took down a $50,000 high roller event on the final day, joining Raoul Kanme and a man known only by the nomme de guerre of ‘Goofy’ as the biggest winners of the festival.

But two other players cashed in and claimed Onyx trophies by the time all was said and done. World Series of Poker bracelet winner and high roller fixture David Coleman took down a six-max no-limit hold’em event. Boris Kolev also won himself a trophy, as the two-time bracelet winner and 2025 Merit Millions champion took down a $10,400 mystery bounty event and most of the major bounty prizes in the process.

The high roller action may well be over, but before the attention in Cyprus turns fully towards the upcoming World Poker Tour Cyprus championship that kicks off on Aug. 19, here’s how Coleman and Kolev each claimed their Onyx titles.

Coleman Adds Onyx Trophy To Growing Collection

David Coleman made the most of a long day’s worth of work, taking down a $15,300 six-max no-limit hold’em event for a $270,000 first-place prize. The long, single-day event drew 62 entrants and created a prize pool of $892,800.

Nine players cashed in total. When the field finally reached its six-handed final table, it included Triton Super High Roller champion Artsiom Lasouki, as well as WSOP and WPT champion Nicholas Seward.

Lasouki was the first final table player to fall, running two pair into Italo Modena’s rivered spade flush. Coleman outflopped Seward with K♥9♠, taking out Seward in fifth place ($67,400) as his A♦K♥ couldn’t beat a pair of nines. It eventually got down to Coleman and Modena, heads up for the title. Coleman started out with a lead of more than 2:1, but Modena managed a double to even the score.

Eventually Coleman regained the lead, and on the final hand his K♥6♣ beat Modena’s Q♥9♦ with a rivered pair of kings.

Along with his payday and the trophy, Coleman earned 432 Card Player Player of the Year points. Following this series, Coleman is in 36th place in the yearlong race presented by CoinPoker. Seward sits in 61st.

Final Table Results – $15,300 Six-Max No-Limit Hold’em

Kolev Hits Big In Mystery Bounty

Mystery bounty tournaments can often come down to the luck of the draw. One way to avoid that kind of variance is to scoop up the majority of the bounties for yourself. Boris Kolev proved himself quite adept at doing so, picking up eight mystery bounties on the way to winning a $10,400 no-limit hold’em mystery bounty event.

A SERIOUS HAUL FOR BORIS 🏆

Boris Kolev came to play Mystery Bounty – and left with quite a catch.

After taking down the event, Boris also managed to pull several of the bigger bounties along the way, turning a few trips to the envelope table into a very profitable hunt!

The… pic.twitter.com/q44UfCBAeK

— Merit Poker (@meritpokerlive) August 12, 2026

In addition to his $127,400 first-place payout, Kolev collected $300,000 in bounty prizes. The two-time bracelet winner from Bulgaria, who also took down the 2025 Merit Millions Poker Classic, earned 600 POY points for his victory, pushing his total for 2026 to 915 POY points.

The two-day mystery bounty drew 114 entries, with the $1,094,000 prize pool split between the primary prize pool and the mystery bounty pool. The money bubble burst at the end of day 1, and the 17 players all had a mystery bounty prize in play.

Kolev wasn’t in a particularly strong position early on in the day, sitting in the middle of the pack when the final 14 players redrew to two tables. From that point on, he picked up eight bounties, eliminating the last five players in his way on the path to victory.

Kolev’s career earnings now sit at $7,633,108.

Final Table Results – $10,400 Mystery Bounty

Photo credit: Merit Poker