Some of poker's richest players have hopped down to Cyprus for the week, where the Onyx Super High Roller Series is off and running at Merit Royal Diamond.
While there is something for everyone in attendance at the series — cash games, high-dollar tournaments — the Main Event has taken center stage with its $25,750 buy-in and $1,300,000 top prize. The flagship affair drew 277 entries (a $5.5M prize pool) and they're now down to their final nine.
A man they're calling 'Kenar' is in the lead after a big full house on the final table bubble sent him to 131 big blinds, almost double his nearest competitor, Fahredin Mustafov.
They'll all return on Friday at noon Cyprus time to draw seats and play down to a winner. Let's meet the final table...
1. 'Kenar' — 15,665,000 (131 BB)
- Career earnings: Unknown
The chip leader busted Manuel Fritz at the end of the night to lock up the final nine players for Friday. He is playing pseudonym and hails from Turkey. His 131 big blinds are nearly double his nearest competitor.
2. Fahredin Mustafov — 8,850,000 (74 BB)
Fahredin Mustafov- Career earnings: $8,113,466
The Bulgarian crusher is at another final table in Cyprus, where he already finished fifth this month in the Mini Main Event of the Dolce Vita Series. It has been that kind of year for Mustafov, who reached three final tables this summer in Las Vegas. Two of them were at the WSOP — his best finish being sixth place in the $50K 8-Max High Roller for $470K. He also finished fourth in the $10,500 Progressive Bounty at the Wynn Summer Classic.
He returns at the head of the rest of the pack, all trying to catch 'Kenar.'
3. Artur Martirosian — 7,410,000 (62 BB)
Artur Martirosian- Career earnings: $26,471,291
The Russian pro is a regular in Cyprus, and like Mustafov, he's coming off a great summer in Las Vegas. He won a bracelet in the $25K Heads Up Championship and cashed in two other tournaments at the WSOP, but his big score came at the Wynn Summer Classic, where he won the $3,500 event for just over $1 million.
4. Rahul Byrraju — 6,895,000 (57 BB)
Rahul Byrraju (center)- Career earnings: $407,096
The Day 1B chip leader returns in the middle of the pack after surviving the Day 2 gauntlet. Byrraju hails from India, and he's got a resume of results that dates back to 2011. His last recorded live cash, however, was at the 2019 WSOP.
The min-cash of $121K means he has already locked up a career-high score, besting the previous mark of $80K.
5. Viacheslav Buldygin — 6,670,000 (56 BB)
Viacheslav Buldygin- Career earnings: $6,943,771
Viacheslav Buldygin has made a lot of money in Cyrpus and around the world on the European Poker Tour and at Triton events, but this is only his second recorded cash of 2025. He has two million-dollar scores on his resume, the first being a second-place finish at the €100K in Monte Carlo in 2017, and the second more recently with a win in the $50K at the Triton Super High Roller in Cyprus in 2023.
Buldygin can't reach a new best, but he can jump over the $8 million mark with a win.
6. Aren Bezhanyan — 4,410,000 (37 BB)
Aren Bezhanyan- Career earnings: $2,026,935
Aren Bezhanyan has been stacking up cashing finishes in Cyprus all year, with four at the Dolce Vita Series at the end of July and early August. His most notable win in that stretch, a third-place finish in the $5,300, was good for $155,000.
That is his career-high, and he can tie it with an eighth-place finish.
7. Vincent Huang — 2,845,000 (24 BB)
Vincent Huang- Career earnings: $2,450,137
This is the first cash in Cyprus for Vincent Huang, who has bounced around his native Australia, the Asian Poker Tour, and the Triton series since his first cash in 2015. Huang is fresh off his best finish ever in March, where he landed 12th in the $100K Main Event at the Triton stop in Jeju for $422K.
A third-place finish would set a new high watermark for Huang.
8. Matthew Wantman — 2,790,000 (23 BB)
Matthew Wantman- Career earnings: $9,270,000
The lone American on the final table roster has some work to do from the bottom of the leaderboard. He's coming off a great summer at the WSOP, where he cashed nine times and had two six-figure scores. His best finish — a runner-up effort in the $3K Six Max — was good for $382,774.
The PokerGO Studio regular has never won more than $443K in a single tournament, and a third-place finish will change that.
9. Roman Stoika — 1,230,000 (10 BB)
Roman Stoika - Career earnings: $728,325
The third Russian player at the table comes in at the short stack, and he will have to make a move early with just 10 big blinds. Stoika already has two cashes in Cyprus this month at the Dolce Vita Series, including a final table in the Joker Mystery Bounty.
His results date back to 2021, mostly in Russia, and Stoika has already topped his high score of $105K.
All nine players will be back on Friday at noon, and you can watch every hand of the final table on the Onyx Live YouTube channel.
Onyx SHRS Main Event final table payouts
| Place Prize | |
|---|---|
| 1 | $1,300,000 |
| 2 | $820,000 |
| 3 | $530,000 |
| 4 | $420,000 |
| 5 | $315,000 |
| 6 | $250,000 |
| 7 | $200,000 |
| 8 | $155,000 |
| 9 | $121,750 |
Images courtesy of Onyx Live/Dusk Til Dawn.
Data courtesy of The Hendon Mob.
