Fahredin Mustafov has been grinding the circuit for more than a decade. On Friday, he walked away with the biggest score of his career—and a respected title on the high-stakes calendar.

The Bulgarian pro outlasted a stacked field in the 2025 Onyx Super High Roller Series $25,750 Main Event, held at Merit Poker Cyprus. He bagged $1.3 million for the win after defeating Turkey’s “Kenar” in a heads-up match that lasted exactly one hand.

Final Table Results – Onyx SHRS Main Event

• 1st: Fahredin Mustafov – $1,300,000
• 2nd: Kenar – $820,000
• 3rd: Matthew Wantman – $530,000
• 4th: Aren Bezhanyan – $420,000
• 5th: Viacheslav Buldygin – $315,000
• 6th: Rahul Byrraju – $250,000
• 7th: Artur Martirosian – $200,000
• 8th: Vincent Huang – $155,000
• 9th: Roman Stoika – $121,750

The Path to $1.3M

The $5 million guaranteed prize pool was left in the dust as 227 entries pushed the total to over $5.5 million. Only 34 spots paid, and plenty of big names came close—Hossein Ensan, Mikita Badziakouski, Jesse Lonis, Gregoire Auzoux, and Aliaksei Boika all ran deep but fell short of the final nine.

Mustafov came into the last day second in chips, trailing only “Kenar.” Roman Stoika busted first, losing a preflop race with eights. Vincent Huang followed after his king-jack couldn’t hold. Then Artur Martirosian hit the rail despite scoring a knockout earlier—he ran into an overpair in a cooler and finished seventh.

Mustafov would later find himself in a pot with pocket kings against “Kenar’s” ace-king, and when an ace hit the flop, he made a solid laydown. It didn’t take him long to get his chips back, though: his ten-nine suited beat Buldygin’s ace-six in a blind-versus-blind hand that ended with the Russian’s exit in fifth.

The Turning Point

The key moment came three-handed. Mustafov defended his big blind with six-three of hearts against Matthew Wantman’s button open. The flop came Q-T-2 with two hearts. Wantman had middle set. Mustafov had a flush draw.

The turn brought the 5♥, and the river bricked. Mustafov checked all the way, then ripped it all in after Wantman bet four million on the river. Wantman tanked, nearly out of time banks, and eventually folded the set.

Soon after, Mustafov finished off Wantman when his six-five suited made a straight to beat pocket nines, which left “Kenar” with a massive deficit heading into heads-up play.

One hand later, it was over. “Kenar” shoved ace-six. Mustafov called with ace-jack. The board ran out Q♦7♣3♦10♠8♠, and just like that, Mustafov had locked up the biggest title of his life.

“My Big Win”

Mustafov celebrated with his wife, child, and close friends Boris Kolev and Miroslav after the win:

“My wife and my kids helped me a lot, and I’m very happy.”

He praised the venue and staff as well, saying:

“Staff is amazing, media is amazing, guys, viewers is amazing. The floormen, everything is amazing.”

And he didn’t hesitate to recommend the experience:

“If you don’t come to Merit, you have to come, believe me.”

Career Year, Career Moment

The Bulgarian is clearly having the sun run of his life this year—Fahredin made two WSOP final tables in the summer, including a $470K finish in the $50K High Roller and another in the $3K PLO Six-Max. He also added another final table at the Wynn Summer Classic.

According to The Hendon Mob, this $1.3 million score pushes him to third on Bulgaria’s all-time money list. It’s also his sixth final table of 2025, and his second seven-figure payday.

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