Italian Triumphs In Merit Poker Western Series Main Event In Cyprus

Cyprus has established itself as a hot spot for tournament poker in Europe in recent years, with plenty of big series taking place throughout the calendar. The latest was the 2025 Merit Poker Western Series that ran from Jan. 14-26 at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel.

The festival featured 21 tournaments, with the centerpiece being the $1.5 million guaranteed $3,300 no-limit hold’em main event. With a new event record of 791 entries made across four starting flights, the prize pool swelled to nearly $2.2 million. In the end, the largest share of that was awarded to Umberto Ruggeri. The Italian earned $377,500 for the win, the second-largest score of his career.

“Incredibly happy. It was an amazing week and a great final. It was difficult, but I made it through,” Ruggeri told Merit Poker after coming out on top. “The emotions are overwhelming me right now and I don’t know what else to say. I’ve had a lot of support from my friends here, I’m going to rest now and then decide how to celebrate. Thanks to Merit for organizing such a great tournament.”

Ruggeri’s top payday remains the $495,979 he was awarded for a third-place showing in the 2023 European Poker Tour Prague main event. He now has nearly $1.2 million in recorded cashes.

This latest triumph also came with a bevy of Card Player Player of the Year points. This was Ruggeri’s first cash of the new year, but the 1,368 points he secured as the champion were enough to shoot him up the leaderboard and into fifth place in the 2025 POY standings presented by Global Poker.

The top 103 finishers made the money in this event, with notables Johan ‘YoH ViraL’ Guilbert (25th), bracelet winner Georgios Skarparis (15th), and World Poker Tour champion Dmitry Gromov (10th) all running deep.

Renars Skanis bagged up the chip lead heading into the final day, with Ruggeri sitting in a tie with fellow Italian Mario Colavita for third-place in the chip counts among the final nine.

Look at those faces.
9 guys, from all over the world, through a huge field of 791 competitors, made it to the finals.

Yes, poker is a beautiful and somewhat creative game. But this is tournament poker. And it’s a brutal activity. After all, only one will walk out of here with a… pic.twitter.com/DXd6wmjP2B

— Merit Poker (@meritpokerlive) January 26, 2025

Skanis had a big bluff picked off early to see him fall out of the lead. The Latvian ended up finishing eighth for $50,500.

2024 EPT Cyprus $10,000 high roller champion Ryan Mandara got the last of his short stack all-in with pocket deuces leading the A-J high of Muhtar Taysi after a paired six-high flop. The board double-paired on the end, though, and Mandara was sent packing in seventh place ($63,200).

Ruggeri scored his first knockout of the day when his pocket sevens outran the A-J suited of Alexander Sokolovsky (6th – $75,900). Mihai Niste then busted Xiaosheng Zheng (5th – $94,600) to narrow the field to four, ensuring that all remaining contenders locked up six-figure paydays.

Ruggeri and Niste soon clashed in a massive pot. All of the chips went in after a KQ5 flop with Ruggeri holding 87 for a flush draw while Niste had 54 for a pair of fives and a lower flush draw. The Q turn kept Niste ahead, but the 8 river gave Ruggeri higher two pair and the pot. With that, he moved into the top spot in the chip counts.

Colavita was left short when his pocket eights were bested by Ruggeri’s A-7. he then got all-in with pocket tens leading Ruggeri’s Q-10, only to have Ruggeri river a king-high straight. Colavita headed home with $130,200 for his efforts.

The final three players ended up hashing out a deal that brought the event to a close, with Ruggeri earning the title as a result. Niste was officially listed as the runner-up ($251,000), while Muhtar Taysi placed third ($180,300).

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Photo credits: Merit Poker Facebook page.