Fahredin Mustafov Wins $1.3 Million In Onyx Super High Roller Series Main Event

Fahredin Mustafov has been around the live tournament circuit for more than a decade now, but has reached new heights in recent years. The Bulgarian player has accumulated nearly 200 live cashes on the circuit over the years, with 13 of his 16 scores of six figures or more coming in the last four years.

The very largest payday of Mustafov’s tournament career is also his most recent. He defeated a field of 227 entries in the 2025 Onyx Club Super High Roller Series $25,000 no-limit hold’em main event at Merit Royal Diamond Hotel in North Cyprus, earning $1,300,000 as the champion.

The triumph also came with 1,344 Card Player Player of the Year points. This was the first title and sixth final-table finish of 2025 for Mustafov. With 3,044 total points, he now sits in 47th place in the overall standings presented by CoinPoker.

The strong turnout saw the event’s $5 million guarantee surpassed by more than half of a million dollars. The top 34 finishers earned a piece of the prize pool, with notables like Mikita Badziakouski (33rd), Hossein Ensan (24th), recent Onyx event no. 2 champion Gregoire Auzoux (19th), Leonard Maue (15th), Aliaksei Boika (14th) and Jesse Lonis (12th) all running deep.

Thinning The Field

Mustafov entered the final day of this event in second chip position among the remaining nine contenders. He trailed only ‘Kenar’, a player who asked to be identified only by that moniker.

Artur Martirosian

Roman Stoika was the first to fall (9th – $121,750) after losing a classic preflop race with pocket eighths against the A-10 of Viacheslav Buldygin. Stoika was eventually joined by Vincent Huang (8th – $155,000), whose K-J suited was outrun by the Q-J suited of three-time bracelet winner Artur Martirosian. Despite scoring that knockout, Martirosian was the next on the chopping block. The Russian got all in after the turn with top pair of kings trailing an overpair of aces for Aren Bezhanyan. He failed to improve on the end and was knocked out in seventh place ($200,000). This was the 11th final table of the year for Martirosian, with two wins along the way. His 6,387 POY points are currently good for third place in the rankings.

A preflop cooler ended Rahul Byrraju’s run in sixth place ($250,000), with his pocket tens bested by the pocket kings of World Poker Tour champion and bracelet winner Matthew Wantman. Buldygin then bowed out in fifth place ($315,000) when his A♣6♣ lost to the 10♣9♣ of Mustafov. Aren Bezhanyan soon followed, with his K♥9♥ unable to come from behind against the A♥6♦ of ‘Kenar’. The Armenian player earned $420,000 for his fourth-place showing.

Closing Out The Win

Mustafov held the chip lead going into three-handed play. He began to pull away as the action continued. Wantman was in second chip position for a bit, but slid to the bottom of the pack when he lost a big one with a flopped set of tens against the turned flush of Mustafov.

Matthew Wantman

Wantman doubled up to edge back into second, but then doubled up ‘Kenar’ to be left on fumes. He managed another double to get some breathing room, but was soon all-in and at risk yet again. Wantman’s 9♥9♦ led the 6♦5♦ of Mustafov, but a Q♣4♣3♠K♦7♠ runout gave Mustafov a straight for the win. Wantman earned $530,000 as the third-place finisher, the largest payday of his career. This was his 14 POY-qualified final table showing of 2025, with one triumph among those deep runs. He climbed to eighth place on the leaderboard as a result of this latest performance.

With that, Mustafov took nearly a 6:1 chip lead over ‘Kenar’ going into heads-up play. It didn’t take long for him to convert that advantage into the title.

On the first deal of the match, Mustafov raised from the button with A♥J♦ and called the 15 or so big blind shove of ‘Kenar’, who held A♦6♣. The board came down Q♦7♣3♦10♠8♠ and Mustafov’s superior ace high earned him the pot and the title. ‘Kenar’ walked away with $820,000 as the runner-up.

Final Table Results

Photo credits: Merit Poker.