Boris Kolev Wins $1,000,000 As Merit Poker Classic Millions ChampionBulgarian Two-Time Bracelet Winner Bests 212-Entry Field In $10,000 Event To Secure His First Seven-Figure Payday |
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There is no more significant pay jump in a poker tournament than the one between first and second.
The staff at the 2025 Merit Poker Classic Millions $10,000 championship event took that to an extreme. The heads-up showdown featured an especially massive swing, as the $1,000,000 guaranteed top prize meant a $700,000 difference between winning and finishing second.
Two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Boris Kolev came away with the title and the seven-figure score. The Bulgarian defeated Mehdi Chaoui of Morocco heads-up.
Kolev had entered the heads-up showdown with nearly an 8:1 chip advantage. Chaoui was ultimately knocked out as the runner-up, earning $300,000 for his efforts.
This was the first million-dollar payday for Kolev, who now has nearly $5.5 million in career tournament earnings. Before this victory, his top score had been the $511,184 he was awarded as the champion of the $5,000 no-limit hold ’em eight-max event at the 2021 WSOP.
The event ran from April 9-13 at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa in Cyprus. The prize pool of $1.95 million was paid out across the top nine finishers, with the min-cash clocking in at $35,400. Oleg Semionov was eliminated on the bubble when Aleksandr Kirichenko’s rivered flush defeated his flopped straight.
Outside of Kolev, Russia’s Andrey Pateychuk was the most accomplished player at the final table. The World Poker Tour and European Poker Tour champion came into this event with more than $5.3 million in career cashes. Pateychuk eventually bowed out in seventh place ($55,000), with his A-8 running into the pocket tens of Aleksandr Kirichenko.
#MillionsEvent Day3
Blinds are 300K/600K/600K
Average stack 31M
7/212
On the last hand before the break.
Andrey Pateychuk from the small blind shoved 10800K.
On the big bling with 75M Aleksandr Kirichenko made the call!
Andrey Pateychuk A 8
Aleksandr Kirichenko 10 10… pic.twitter.com/qRdcw7jTwk— Merit Poker (@meritpokerlive) April 13, 2025
Kolev scored all of the knockouts from five players down to one, which accounted for his sizable lead entering heads-up play. In the final hand, Kolev shoved from the button with A
Q
and Chaoui called with A
3. The board ran out 55
478 and Kolev’s queen kicker player to earn him the pot and the title.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points |
| 1 | Boris Kolev | $1,000,000 | 900 |
| 2 | Mehdi Chaoui | $300,000 | 750 |
| 3 | Romans Lihacovs | $200,000 | 600 |
| 4 | Aleksandr Kirichenko | $140,000 | 450 |
| 5 | Rafael Aslani | $100,000 | 375 |
| 6 | Maksim Shornikau | $75,000 | 300 |
| 7 | Andrey Pateychuk | $55,000 | 225 |
| 8 | Ali Al-Kubasi | $45,000 | 150 |
| 9 | Alexander Lakhov | $35,400 | 75 |
Photo credit: Merit Poker.
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