Xiaosheng Zheng
The 2025 Merit Poker Dolce Vita Summer Series runs from July 27 through Aug. 8 at Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino in North Cyprus, with several headlining events planned throughout the festival. Two early highlights have already wrapped up: the $1 million guaranteed $2,200 IPO Master no-limit hold’em event and the $750,000 guaranteed $5,300 buy-in.
Zheng Wins Big In Kickoff Event
The former drew a total of 730 entries across three standard and an additional turbo starting flights, surpassing the guarantee by $343,200 as a result. Xiaosheng Zheng emerged victorious in the end, taking home a career-best payday of $225,000 as the champion. This was the fourth recorded title for the player from China, who now sits with nearly $1.2 million in lifetime cashes after this win.
This was the fourth final-table finish of the year for Zheng. The 912 Card Player Player of the Year points that came with this triumph moved him inside the top 200 in the 2025 POY standing presented by Coin Poker.
The top 105 finishers made the money in this event, with notables like recent World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown runner up Mihai Niste (81st), two-time bracelet winner Timur Margolin (72nd), recent World Series of Poker $3,000 no-limit hold’em runner up Ran Ilani (59th), and 2025 Merit Poker Carmen Series high roller champion Dawid Smolka (40th) all running deep.
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Xiaosheng Zheng | $225,000 | 912 |
| 2 | Gerard Santamaria | $150,000 | 760 |
| 3 | Mahmut Sanli | $100,600 | 608 |
| 4 | Damir Zhugralin | $74,000 | 456 |
| 5 | Joan Crespi | $58,000 | 380 |
| 6 | Khalil Jabra | $45,500 | 304 |
| 7 | Benjamin LeBlond | $36,500 | 228 |
| 8 | Adem Agoudjil | $29,500 | 152 |
| 9 | David Boyaciyan | $23,500 | 76 |
Cedric Schwaederle Triumphs In High Roller
Cedric Schwaederle
France’s Cedric Schwaederle finished 11th in the kickoff event for $18,500. He turned around and fired a chunk of that score into the high roller event. The decision turned out to be a highly profitable one, as he bested a field of 318 entries to earn $310,000 and the title.
“Yes, this is my best cash by far,” Schwaederle told Merit Poker reporters after the win. “What can I say? I’m incredibly happy! I’ve had a lot of close calls before and this is my biggest score, so it’s pretty great.”
Prior to this, Schwaederle’s top payday had been the $193,100 he earned for a 21st-place showing in the WPT World Championship in 2023. Now he boasts over $1.3 million in lifetime tournament earnings after factoring in this win at Merit Poker Cyprus.
The strong turnout for the event saw the guarantee nearly doubled, with $1,462,800 in total prize money ultimately paid out across the top 41 spots. Several big names ran deep, including POY contender Quan Zhou (34th), bracelet winner Ohad Geiger (30th), and PokerStars Open Campione champion Adrian State (5th).
In addition to the trophy and the money, Schwaederle also secured 960 POY points. It was enough to see him climb inside the top 300 in the overall rankings.
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Cedric Schwaederle | $310,000 | 960 |
| 2 | Mohamed Wely | $216,500 | 800 |
| 3 | Aren Bezhanyan | $155,000 | 640 |
| 4 | Xuming Qi | $111,000 | 480 |
| 5 | Adrian State | $81,000 | 400 |
| 6 | Salah Assi | $60,500 | 320 |
| 7 | Mehmet Demirkol | $45,700 | 240 |
| 8 | Sakis Adrianopoulos | $35,000 | 160 |
| 9 | Roman Pshyk | $27,500 | 80 |
Photo credits: Merit Poker Cyprus Facebook account.
