Merlin Wins GCLI Bigstack Freezeout as 108 Players Take the One-Shot Format

A Swiss player entered under the nickname “Merlin” won the CHF 130+20 Bigstack Freezeout at Grand Casino Liechtenstein on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026. According to German-language poker news site Hochgepokert, the tournament was the first event of the month at GCLI and drew 108 entries, creating a CHF 14,040 prize pool. That number easily cleared the advertised CHF 8,000 guarantee.

The format was a freezeout, meaning no re-entries were allowed. Every player had one starting stack and one chance to make it last. After the field was reduced to the top 13, the last three players negotiated a deal. Merlin walked away with CHF 2,920, while Sacha Patrick Meyer took CHF 2,575 and Marius Sebastian Wolf took CHF 2,540.

Tournament snapshot

Why the freezeout format matters

In a freezeout, there is no second bullet. A player who loses the starting stack is done, which changes the risk management picture compared with a typical re-entry event. Early survival matters more, and a player cannot compensate for a misplayed hand by simply buying back in. That makes the format a useful study case for anyone analyzing tournament video or reviewing hand histories.

The GCLI result also shows how a modest tournament can outperform its guarantee. With 108 entries at a CHF 130 prize-pool contribution, the final pool of CHF 14,040 exceeded the CHF 8,000 guarantee by roughly 75%. For players deciding which small buy-in events are worth a trip, that kind of overlay gap is not automatic, but it is a useful reference point.

Top payouts and the three-way deal

The top three finishers did not take the original stated prizes. The published results list pre-deal figures of CHF 3,730 for first, CHF 2,590 for second and CHF 1,715 for third. After the deal, the actual top payouts were CHF 2,920, CHF 2,575 and CHF 2,540.

The players who rounded out the money were:

• Norbert Hurych, Switzerland, CHF 1,340
• Harley, Austria, CHF 1,080
• Nicolae-Emilian Tapuc, Switzerland, CHF 840
• Martin Unterberger, Austria, CHF 665
• Rea, Switzerland, CHF 520
• Anca Camelia Eggenberger, Liechtenstein, CHF 400
• Soneva, Switzerland, CHF 300
• Andreas Tschofen, Austria, CHF 300
• Michel Antoine Profico, Switzerland, CHF 280
• Ugur Dügzün, Austria, CHF 280

The list shows a mixed field of Swiss, Austrian and Liechtenstein players, with several regular names from the regional live poker scene. The source does not provide surnames for every player, so some entries are only available by nickname.

What this means for players at GCLI

The same venue continues its schedule on Sunday. Hochgepokert reports that the CHF 105+15 Sunday Evening event starts at 17:00 with a CHF 4,000 guarantee. Players who want to turn a tournament result into a fuller poker visit can also check the cash game schedule. GCLI runs NLH, PLO, Stud and OFC cash games daily from 17:00 to 04:00, with stakes starting at CHF 1/2 for NLH and CHF 2/2 for PLO.

For poker video watchers, the disappointing part is that the initial report does not include a final-table replay or hand-by-hand reconstruction. That limits deeper analysis of how Merlin won. Still, the result offers a compact example of a freezeout field, a negotiated finish, and the difference between the original payout ladder and the actual deal amounts.

What remains unclear

The full identity of “Merlin” is not given. The nickname-only entry is common in live poker reports, but it makes verification harder. Likewise, the exact point at which the three-way deal was made is not described, and the original prize ladder for positions 1 through 3 is only shown as a pre-deal reference.

No independent confirmation from Grand Casino Liechtenstein appears in the Hochgepokert page, so the results should be treated as a media report rather than an official casino release. Anyone planning around the Sunday Evening tournament should confirm the start time and buy-in directly with the venue before traveling.

Source: https://www.hochgepokert.com/2026/08/02/gcli-zauberhafter-sieg-fuer-merlin-im-bigstack-freezeout/