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After a grueling 12-hour final day, the 2026 NOIR Poker Series has officially come to a close with Selahaddin Bedir crowned champion of the $5,500 Merit Poker Main Event at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa in North Cyprus.
The Main Event attracted 769 entries, generating a massive $3,608,148 prize pool and setting aside $525,000 for the eventual champion. By the time the final day began, only 13 players remained in contention. Twelve hours later, Bedir was the last player standing.
The final table itself lasted around ten hours, including a heads-up duel against Konstantin Voronin that stretched close to two hours. After navigating a long and demanding week of poker, Bedir summed up the experience simply:
“It’s hard to play every day from the beginning. Same patience, but feeling very good.”
NOIR Poker Series Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Selahaddin Bedir | Turkey | $525,000 |
| 2 | Konstantin Voronin | Russia | $375,000 |
| 3 | Fabian Gumz | Germany | $257,000 |
| 4 | Aleksei Gortikov | Russia | $181,000 |
| 5 | Kenar | Turkey | $129,000 |
| 6 | Leonid Orman | Russia | $100,000 |
| 7 | Anton Danilov | Russia | $81,000 |
| 8 | Manuel Fritz | Austria | $66,700 |
| 9 | Viktor Siegle | Germany | $57,048 |
Poker as Both Business and Passion
For Bedir, the appeal of poker extends well beyond prize money. Despite years of success at the tables, he continues to describe the game as both his profession and one of his greatest personal interests.
“Poker is my business and my hobby,” he explained. “I like to play poker. I don’t think about money. I just feel good when I play.”
The victory carries added significance after Bedir finished runner-up in the High Roller at Merit Royal Diamond earlier this year. This time, he managed to go one step further and leave with the trophy.
“This time it feels very nice,” he said.
Bedir also credits some of his card-game instincts to his background in Bridge, which he describes as a “brain sport.” The strategic discipline and decision-making involved in the game, he believes, translate naturally to the poker table.
Despite securing one of the biggest victories of the festival, Bedir had no extravagant celebration planned.
“With my kids, my friends. The usual.”
A Fast Road to the Final Table
The final day began with 13 players and only four eliminations needed to establish the final table.
Xiaosheng Zheng was the first to depart in 13th place, followed by the player known as “Tarzan,” who had started the day second in chips but suffered a major early setback against Manuel Fritz and was unable to recover.
Fahredin Mustafov followed after running into pocket aces, before Miroslav Rizov exited in tenth place, bringing the tournament down to its final nine before the second level of the day had even concluded.
Final Table Turns Into a Test of Endurance
The first final-table elimination arrived after less than half an hour when Viktor Siegle got his chips in ahead but failed to hold.
Around an hour later, Manuel Fritz found pocket aces on the button, only to discover that Fabian Gumz had connected strongly from the big blind once the chips went into the middle after the flop.
Anton Danilov was eliminated roughly an hour after that, with Leonid Orman following around 20 minutes later. Two further eliminations before the dinner break reduced the field to five.
When play resumed, the average stack sat at just 26 big blinds, placing increasing pressure on the shorter stacks. Kenar and Aleksei Gortikov were both eliminated within the first hour after the break, leaving three players in contention.
Three-handed play then developed into a two-hour battle, with each of the remaining players spending time at the top of the chip counts. No one managed to establish a decisive advantage until a cooler ended Fabian Gumz’s run in third place and set up heads-up play between Bedir and Voronin.
Bedir Holds His Nerve Heads-Up
The heads-up contest lasted close to two hours.
Bedir appeared to control much of the action, repeatedly collecting smaller pots and applying steady pressure. Voronin, however, refused to disappear, doubling through Bedir twice in major all-in confrontations to remain in contention.
Each time Voronin rebuilt his stack, Bedir slowly ground him back down as the blinds continued to climb.
The third major all-in finally ended the match. This time Bedir held the advantage when the chips went into the middle — and his hand held.
With that, Selahaddin Bedir became the 2026 NOIR Poker Series Main Event champion, collecting $525,000 and bringing the inaugural festival to a fitting conclusion at Merit Royal Diamond.
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