Sochi EPT in October '20: Event Details
New Take:
Pageturner: '2020 EPT Sochi Stealing the Poker Spotlight'
A hot run-down of the EPT Sochi 2020 champs, followed by the juicy deets of the headline events.
In the Deep Stack tournament, aroudn 1.1k USD buy-in, Sergei Sannikov snatched the title from the grip of his fellow Sergeis.
The trio of Sergeis looked like this:
- Sergei Sannikov - 34,000
- Sergei Poltavec - 23,150
- Sergei Konovalov - 15,290
Sannikov waxed philosophical in a quickie post-game chat:
In the EPT Cup, a 330 USD buy-in, 775 entrants game, Damir Gabdullin snagged the victory, pocketing a cool 35,070 USD.
In a one-day Holdem tourney, 330 USD buy-in, Dmitry Koraykov reigned supreme, taking home $9,850.
In a sibling Holdem tourney, 550 USD buy-in, Alexei Romanov broke the competition, bagging $11,980.
High Roller
The final day rolled in for the priciest tournament, a 5.3k USD buy-in.
- Arseniy Karmatskiy - 3,980,000
- Pavel Kireev - 3,000,000
- Yakov Fokin - 830,000
- Andrey Chernokoz - 330,000
- Viktor Kudinov - 243,000
- Vyacheslav Balaev - 210,000
- Dmitry Belousov - 178,000
Arseniy put a hefty raise in, Viktor Kudinov went all in, Arseniy called, with 77 against Viktor's AA. And the aces held strong.
Viktor Kudinov scraped 7th, winning 20,730 USD.
Andrey Chernokoz (16bb) raised under-the-gun, Pavel Kirreev called the big blind.
Flop: 7-5-4Kirreev checked, Chernokoz bet, Kirreev raised, Chernokoz called. Chernokoz A-7, Kirreev 7-4Turn: 4River: J-Q
Andrey Chernokoz took 6th, banking 26,190 USD.
Kirreev limped the small blind, Dmitry Belousov upped the stakes from the big blind, Kirreev called. Flop: K-6-6Kirreev checked, Belousov bet 50K, Kirreev raised 140K, Belousov re-raised all-in for 550K, Kirreev tossed in the chips with 9-6.
Dmitry Belousov bagged 5th, claiming 33,610 USD.
Vyacheslav Balayev (7bb) went all-in with J-10, Arseniy Karamatskiy (plenty of big blinds) called with A-J.
Board: 10-7-Q-A-7
Vyacheslav Balayev finished 4th, taking 41,700 USD.
Arseniy Karmazkiy chucked 24bb with a button raise. Pavel Kiriyev called big blind with A-K. The board showed two aces.
Arseniy Karmazkiy bowed out in 3rd, bringing home 53,250 USD.
Yakov Fokin grabbed the reins of the heads-up and held 'em tight till the end. Preflop raise-call. Then, on the flop 9-8-5 for 220K, Kiriyev's stack: Fokin 9-6, Kiriyev 7-2.
Board: 5-8-9-3-2
Pavel Kiriyev took 2nd, banking 90,000 USD.
Fokin bested the rest. EPT Sochi High Roller champion Yakov Fokin! He pockets 115,900 USD.
For Yakov, this was the first offline series in his career.
Exclusive post-win interview with the High Roller champion:
The Showdown: EPT Sochi 2020 Main Event
The final dance saw eight jousters vying for the EPT Sochi title and a juicy 269k first-place prize.
Alexander Denisov was the first to fall in the Main Event. He limped 60K with hjs, followed by Egor Turubanova's raise to 205K, and Nikita Kuznetsov's 3bet to 600K. Denisov 4bet to 815K! Turubanova thought for a minute before calling.
Denisov A-K, Kuznetsov J-J, Turubanova 9-9
Board: 2-Q-5-6-7
Alexander Denisov finished 8th, scoring 27,950 USD.
Nikita Kuznetsov opened from middle, Viktor Tkachenko defended the big blind. Flop: 9-2-8, Tkachenko check-called 200K. Turn: K, Tkachenko check-called 680K! Kuznetsov A-K, Tkachenko 5-3♣
River: Q♣
Nikita Kuznetsov took 7th, earning 40,900 USD.
Vladislav Naumov raised 350K (4.5bb) from the cutoff with 9-9, Gleb Ershov called on the big blind with A-K.
Board: Q-3-3-K-2
Vladislav Naumov finished 6th and received 56,130 USD.
Egor Turubanova opened from utg to 200K, Viktor Tkachenko called from the small blind, and Ruslan Bogdanov called from the big blind.
Flop: 8-5-3, Tkachenko bet 125K, Bogdanov called, Turubanova 3bet to 1410K, Tkachenko called! Bogdanov folded.
Tkachenko 6-6, Turubanova J-J
Turn: 6!, River: 10
Board: 5-3-8-6-10
Egor Turubanova finished 5th, awarding 72,070 USD.
Four blinds and an A-10 couldn't withstand many blinds and Viktor Tkachenko's J-10. Suit up!
Sergei Aristov secures 4th place, earning 90,790 USD.
The top three players mulled over a deal. They were handed two charts - ChipChop and ICM.
According to EPT series rules, at least 10% of the prize pool must remain for the players to compete for.
They opted for the ChipChop numbers and awarded the first place 5k to the second and third places.
This results in: 222,000, 158,000, 153,000
The game was primed to continue for the cup and 20,100 USD, but Bogdanov declined to deal at the last moment.
Yershov clung to 10 blinds and went all-in with Q-Q against Bogdanov's A-Q a few hands later.
Board: 3-10-J-8-2
Gleb Yershov finishes 3rd, taking 118,750 USD with him.
The heads-up combatants eventually agreed.
Tkachenko: 207,000Bogdanov: 216,945
The cup and 11,405 USD were left to play for.
It was the 15th hour of the fifth day of the Main Event. Neither player wanted to leave Sochi without the cup. They dealt, shortened the level time...
They had to continue. They brought in a second dealer!!!
After the break, Viktor Tkachenko drastically altered his strategy. He started going all-in with every hand preflop.
Stacks: Tkachenko: 8,500Bogdanov: 10,500
Bogdanov calls a 200K/400K blind, Tkachenko goes all-in with J-9, Bogdanov calls with 6-6.
Board: 8-K-4-7-8
Viktor Tkachenko takes 2nd place and bags 207,000 USD.
Viktor stumbled upon poker in July 2020!
He watched streamers, caught a PokerStars ad, made a deposit, pocketed a free 20 bucks, qualified through a freeroll to a satellite, triumphed the satellite, flew in from Kamchatka, and split the Top2 of the Main Event. It sounds like a promo and an unreal story.
But it happened. And we were there to witness it.
And the most important thing - he's had enough. He's tired of poker. He won't play again.
The European Poker Tour Sochi 2020 Main Event winner is Ruslan Bogdanov!
He takes the Champion's Cup and 228,350 USD. Congratulations!
Post-win interview by Ruslan Bogdanov:
Friends, we've reached the close of our exclusive stint of the European Poker Tour Sochi in 2020.
Thanks for tuning in to our reports.
Roman "Paks13", the official EPT journalist in Sochi:
I'm thrilled to be back at the Sochi Casino, it's Russia's voice in the world of Poker. Thanks PokerStars for the invite. Thanks to Casino Sochi and the entire PokerCM crew for allowing me to work on the sickest series of the year.
Do you recall "Poker Star on REN-TV" show? That's where I first cut my pornographer...sticks with PokerStars. It was autumn 2008.
And two years before that, I first learned the rules of the Best Card Game in the Universe. October 12th - exactly 14 years since I've been playing poker. That's the day I played my first poker hand. And since then, there hasn't been a single day in my life where I haven't been involved in poker. Or rather, poker-adjacent.
Thanks, guys.
'Til we meet again. See ya.
What sports did Arseniy Karmatskiy and Pavel Kireev engage in during the EPT Sochi High Roller tournament?
What words did Yakov Fokin use to describe his feelings after winning the EPT Sochi High Roller championship?
