The centerpiece of the 2026 Mediterranean Poker Party festival at Merit Crystal Cove Resort is in the books, with 972 entries made in the $5,400 no-limit hold’em championship. After four starting flights and two more days of combined-field action in North Cyprus, Daniil Kiselev emerged victorious with the title and the $1,000,000 first-place prize.
This was the first seven-figure score for the Russian player, surpassing his previous top payday of $568,000 that came with a fourth-place finish in the $50,000 high roller at the Triton Poker Montenegro series. He now has more than $2.4 million in career cashes to his name.
“I woke up this morning locked in for the win, and that’s exactly what happened,” Kiselev told Merit Poker staff after coming out on top.
This victory came with 1,824 Card Player Player of the Year points. This was his first win and fifth final-table finish of 2026. With 3,195 total points, he’s climbed to 64th place in the overall POY standings presented by CoinPoker.
Kiselev Closes Out The Win
The top 146 finishers made the money in this event, with $5 million in guaranteed prize money awarded. Plenty of big names ran deep, including Niko Koop (40th), Selahaddin Bedir (32nd), Aren Bezhanyan (19th), and Manig Loeser (11th).
By the time the final table was set on the last day of play, Kiselev had claimed the chip lead. He added to his stack by landing the knockout blows on Ivan Bryksin (8th – $80,000), Naji Tannoury (6th – $150,000), and Timo Vogt (5th – $210,000).
He then set himself up for a runaway victory when his A♦6♦ held against the K♣Q♣ of Daniel Thaller, who was the defending champion. The board ran out Q♦J♣8♠7♦A♣ to see Kiselev river a winning pair of aces. Thaller earned $290,000 for his impressive attempt at back-to-back wins in this tournament.
Mehmet Biskin’s K♥Q♠ held against the Q♥10♥ of Jordan Woodall (3rd – $420,000) to set up the final showdown. Kiselev began with roughly a 2:1 chip advantage, which grew as the battle wore on. In the final hand, Kiselev limped from the button with 9♣3♣ and three-bet shoved over Biskin’s raise with K♥Q♦. Biskin made the call and the board ran out J♠7♥3♦A♦A♥ to lock up the pot and title for Kiselev.
Biskin earned $621,000 as the runner-up finisher, a new top score for the player from Turkey.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Daniil Kiselev | $1,000,000 | 1824 |
| 2 | Mehmet Biskin | $621,000 | 1520 |
| 3 | Jordan Woodall | $420,000 | 1216 |
| 4 | Daniel Thaller | $290,000 | 912 |
| 5 | Timo Vogt | $210,000 | 760 |
| 6 | Naji Tannoury | $150,000 | 608 |
| 7 | Kirill Solovev | $110,000 | 456 |
| 8 | Ivan Bryksin | $80,000 | 304 |
| 9 | Raphael Schreiner | $60,000 | 152 |
Photo credit: Merit Poker.
