Ohad Geiger credits his five friends for winning his first Merit championship.

Israeli player Ohad Geiger won the Merit Poker Noir Series $3,500 tournament, taking home his biggest prize of the $240,000 season. He was supported by five friends at the final table as he fought his way through the competition.

As the $3,500 Merit Poker Cup drew to a close at the final table of the 2026 Merit Poker Noir Series, eventual champion Ohad Geiger was surrounded by five friends. According to Geiger, their presence changed everything.

"As soon as they arrived, everything started to fall into place. I don't know why," Geiger told PokerNews after his win. "The moment my five friends got here, it was like all in, I won; all in, I won; all in, I won; it was just like that."

Whether it was luck or the confidence boosted by his supporters, the Israeli player seemed unstoppable from that moment on – he climbed from the middle ranks to win the trophy and a champion's prize of $240,000, bringing the total prize pool to $1,260,032.

This was Geiger's first win in a Merit Poker event, and the biggest prize of his career, but it almost didn't happen. Geiger is primarily a cash game player, and he only participated in this event on a whim after deciding to change his style.

“I usually play cash games, so I said, ‘Okay, I’ll try the tournament,’” Geiger said.

This decision turned into a three-day journey through a field of 428 participants, culminating in a head-to-head victory over Dmitrii Kravchenko at the Merit Royal Diamond Casino & Spa.

$3,500 Merit Poker Cup Final Table Results

Looking back on the tournament, Geiger described it as a journey full of ups and downs.

“I had a good stack until the dinner break, and then I had a smaller stack,” Geiger explained. “I had two or three times my average stack at one point, then it went back to average. Then it fluctuated up and down a few times.”

Geiger turns cash game incident into Merit championship

Everyone arrived with the primary goal of making it into the money, and almost everyone achieved that goal quickly. The bubble burst after just eight hands—Selahaddin Bedir went all-in with K in a blind-to-blind showdown against Pavel Shchitnikov's AQ suited flush. Bedir maintained the lead until an Ace appeared on the river, securing the prize for the remaining 63 players.

After the bubble burst, elimination came swiftly, with all remaining players already locked in prize money and turning their attention to the final table. Notable players eliminated before the final two tables were redrawn included two-time bracelet winner Simone Andrian, former Merit Poker Dolce Vita champion Xiaosheng Zheng, Sukhat Massimov, Felipe Ketzer, Ali Al-Kubasi, Evgenii Chernyi, and Giorgiy Skhulukhiya.

Geiger won one of his biggest pots of the day with 14 players remaining—his AK beat Kravchenko's AQ. This hand brought Geiger back to near average stacks, a position he maintained until the final table was determined. Atilla Saracoglu's journey ended in tenth place, becoming the final table bubble boy—his AJ was overtaken by Yurii Zabrodotskyi's Q-8, solidifying the Merit Poker Cup final table.

Geiger fought back fiercely

Vyacheslav Kardash entered the final table as the chip leader, followed by Adrian State, Zabrodotskyi, and Yilu Yuan, while Geiger was in the middle of the pack. Although several players returned with short stacks, the final table took nearly two hours to produce its first elimination—repeated doublings kept the final table intact.

State was one of the early chip-building players, but Yuan challenged the Romanian pro and took the lead. Zabrodotskyi eventually became the first to be eliminated, followed by Kardash in a brutal fashion – his pocket queens ran into Yuan's pocket kings.

With Pedro Ingles and Timur Mukhamedaminov also eliminated, Yuan held more than half the chips and looked poised for victory with five players remaining.

However, Geiger's path to victory had only just begun. Shortly after the final rest, Geiger went all-in from the button with A-10, only to be called in seconds by Yuan with pocket nines. After failing to improve his hand on the flop and turn, Geiger hit a 10 on the river, doubling up and halting Yuan's solo run.

After the victory, Geiger admitted that he had been blessed by Lady Luck at several key moments.

"I got lucky where I needed it," Geiger said. "I beat 9 with A-10. And then there were a few crucial moments. It's just so good to have good luck at the final table."

However, as Geiger himself admits, these moments are often the key to distinguishing the champion from other players.

"In the end, you really need it; to win a tournament, you have to have luck."

State lost several all-in bets in a row, most of them coin flips, eventually ending up with a short stack. Geiger quickly delivered the fatal blow—his A-5 improved to a flush on the turn, eliminating the Romanian player in fifth place and narrowing the gap with Yuan.

Geiger takes the lead

Then came the biggest pot of the tournament. With four players remaining, Yuan and Geiger were in first and second place in chips, respectively. Geiger opened and raised, and Yuan went all-in, covering the entire table. Geiger quickly called with pocket tens, matching Yuan's A-6 suited. In a pot containing approximately 60% of chips, Geiger made a full house on the river, firmly establishing his dominance.

Kravchenko eventually eliminated Yuan in fourth place in a coin flip, and Geiger then eliminated Dzhavanshyr Omarov a few hands later. Omarov limped all-in from the small blind with QJ, but Geiger quickly called with AK and held on, establishing a heads-up matchup.

Geiger completes the task

Geiger entered heads-up play against Kravchenko with a chip lead of approximately 5:1, but the Ukrainian player had already proven throughout the day that he was not afraid of playing with a short stack. He held on in the early exchanges and even gradually chipped away at Geiger's lead, but the Israeli player found a way to counter it.

In the end, Geiger only needed one hand to end the game.

Geiger limped on the button, and Kravchenko raised from the big blind. Geiger called, and Kravchenko continued betting on a flop of KQ-2. When the turn dealt a third spade, Kravchenko went all-in.

Geiger picked up his chips, shrugged, and called—his first chance to win the championship.

Kravchenko sheepishly revealed 8-2, forming a pair and a flush draw, while Geiger revealed Q-10, forming a second pair. The river was a blank card, ending Kravchenko's journey in second place, and Geiger was crowned the inaugural Merit Poker Noir Cup champion.

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