Mediterranean Poker Party Main Event: Daniil Kiselev staged a remarkable comeback from a short stack of 23,000 to win the title and a career-high prize of $1 million.

The 2026 Mediterranean Poker Party (MPP) $5,400 Main Event officially concluded at the Merit Crystal Cove Resort in Cyprus. Daniil Kiselev emerged victorious from a field of 972 participants, ultimately defeating Turkish player Mehmet Biskin to claim the Main Event title.$1,000,000bonus.

For Kiselev, this championship run was particularly dramatic. He started Day 1 with only 23,000 chips, with blinds at 4,000/8,000; he remained short-stacked going into Day 3. But he fought his way back, ultimately finishing the final table as the chip leader and turning his lead into the championship.

With 972 entries, Kiselev won the $1 million prize.

The buy-in for this year's MPP Main Event was $5,400, attracting 972 entries.

Kiselev ultimately triumphed, securing the highest single live tournament winnings of his career. Runner-up Mehmet Biskin earned $621,000, while Jordan Woodall finished third with $420,000. 2025 defending champion Daniel Thaller once again reached the Final Table, ultimately finishing fourth.

2026 MPP Main Event Final Table Results

On Day 1, with only 23,000 points remaining, Kiselev pulled himself back from the brink of elimination.

Kiselev's path to the championship was not smooth from the start.

He advanced on Day 1D, but the day's performance was quite volatile. Kiselev recalled after the match that he at one point only had:

23,000 Scoreboard

At that time, blind betting had already begun:

4,000 / 8,000

This means there are less than three large blinds left in the ultra-short code state.

However, he did not exit at this stage and eventually sealed the bag, remaining in the main event. Kiselev later emphasized, based on this experience, that in tournaments, one should not give up too early as long as there are still chips.

Day 3 remained in the lower ranks, but Coin Flip launched a counterattack.

Entering Day 3, Kiselev was still not in the lead.

With 15 players remaining, he was ranked 13th on the scoreboard.

However, the situation soon began to change.

He won a crucial Coin Flip early in Day 3, eliminating Nikolay Baryshnikov, and his score continued to climb thereafter.

By the time the nine-person final table was formed, Kiselev had already completed the transition from the short code to:

Final Table Chip King

The transformation.

Jordan Woodall followed closely behind, becoming one of Kiselev's main competitors.

With three players eliminated in a row at the six-player table, Kiselev officially took over the competition.

With six players remaining, Kiselev began to accelerate and extend his lead.

He eliminated three opponents in a short period of time.

The first one is Naji Tannoury.

Kiselev received:

AK

Tannoury, however, holds the following view:

TT

Both players went all-in pre-flop, and Kiselev ultimately won the match, eliminating Tannoury in sixth place, who took home $150,000.

Kiselev then defeated Timo Vogt in another Coin Flip match, leaving his opponent in fifth place with a $210,000 prize.

The next opponent to face Kiselev is last year's main event champion, Daniel Thaller.

Defending champion Thaller made it to the Final Table again, but finished fourth.

Daniel Thaller won the MPP Main Event in 2025.

He returned to the same event in 2026 and completed the deep run again, which at one point made defending his title seem possible.

Thaller eliminated Vadzim Godzdanker early on the final day with JJ, becoming the first player to eliminate an opponent that day; he then eliminated a player using the pseudonym "John Doe K" and took a large number of chips from Kirill Solovev at the Final Table.

However, Thaller's title defense ultimately ended in fourth place.

He got the following in position SB:

KQ

Faced with Kiselev's BTN raise, I opted to go all in again.

Kiselev holds:

A6

Complete the call.

Ultimately, A6 maintained its lead, and Kiselev personally eliminated the defending champion.

Thaller received:

$290,000

Although he failed to win the title for two consecutive years, reaching the later stages of the MPP Main Event for two consecutive years still left an important mark on his title defense journey.

Kiselev wins a huge pot at the three-player table, severely damaging Woodall's lead.

After Thaller's elimination, only three players remain:

Daniil Kiselev

Jordan Woodall

Mehmet Biskin

At that time, Kiselev's scoreboard was very close to Woodall's.

Woodall also performed exceptionally well on Day 3, eliminating the experienced Manig Loeser and Danesh Zargaran, who started the day with the most chips, and then directly contributing to the formation of the nine-player Final Table.

However, Kiselev ultimately emerged victorious in the crucial three-person match.

The two faced off in a large pot, and Kiselev made the correct call on the river, taking down the huge pot and gaining a clear lead.

This hand significantly altered the scoreboard dynamics at the three-player table.

Biskin eliminated Woodall, fighting his way from stable survival to Heads-Up.

Woodall then engaged in a decisive showdown with Mehmet Biskin.

Woodall first limped in the SB position, then went all-in when faced with a move.

Biskin held a dominant starting hand and had slightly more chips than Woodall, eventually calling and winning the pot.

Woodall finished third, earning:

$420,000

The championship matchup will therefore be between Kiselev and Biskin.

Biskin didn't have a huge chip stack for long throughout the final table, but he managed to survive consistently and improve his ranking, eventually making it to the final two.

Heads-Up led nearly 2-1, but Kiselev continued to extend their lead.

At the start of the championship match, Kiselev had a close advantage:

2 to 1

The scoreboard is in the lead.

After entering Heads-Up, he gradually expanded his advantage through several small pots, and then caught Biskin's bluffs twice on the river, further widening the gap between the two players.

The heads-up match lasted less than a full level before the final champion's hand was revealed.

In his final hand, a 93s bluff all-in unexpectedly led to a call by KQ, who then hit 3 to win the championship.

The development of the last hand was not a typical strong hand matchup.

Kiselev holds:

93 flush

Use a limping strategy followed by a full-on attack.

He admitted after the match that his all-in bet was originally intended as a bluff.

However, Biskin happened to receive:

KQ

And decided to follow suit.

Before the flop, Biskin was clearly ahead.

But the community cards then helped Kiselev hit a pair of 3s, and this advantage lasted all the way to the river.

Ultimately, Kiselev won the entire pot with a 3-to-1 victory, officially ending his head-to-head championship run.

Mehmet Biskin finished as runner-up:

$621,000

Daniil Kiselev won:

$1,000,000

And the 2026 Mediterranean Poker Party Main Event championship trophy.

"From 23,000 to the championship" became Kislev's biggest comeback.

From having only 23,000 chips left on Day 1D, to still being in the back of the pack on Day 3, and then becoming the chip leader at the final table and ultimately the champion, Kiselev's experience in this MPP Main Event was marked by several significant reversals.

Especially in the final six-player stage, he eliminated Tannoury, Vogt, and defending champion Thaller in succession; in the three-player table, he won an important big pot from Woodall; and after entering the Heads-Up, he maintained the lead throughout, finally finishing with a 93 flush.

Kiselev said after the match that this was the best tournament result of his career. Regarding his final all-in decision with 93 suited, he described it as difficult to explain what he was thinking at the time, but the result was ultimately on his side.

A new record of $1 million was set as the MPP main event concluded.

The 2026 Mediterranean Poker Party $5,400 Main Event ultimately determined the champion from a field of 972 participants.

Daniil Kiselev completed a remarkable comeback from a very short stack to a chip leader, winning a career-high $1 million prize.

Mehmet Biskin finished as runner-up and earned $621,000; Jordan Woodall took third place and $420,000; and 2025 champion Daniel Thaller made it to the Final Table for the second consecutive year, finishing fourth and earning $290,000 to defend his title.

From having less than three big blinds left on Day 1 to hitting a 3-for-3 with a 93 flush on the final hand to secure the championship, Kiselev left behind one of the most iconic comeback stories of this year's Mediterranean Poker Party Main Event.

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