Main Event Day 1b | 2017 PokerStars Festival Sochi

10-20-2017 21:41 UTC+3

Andrey Kotelnikov Leads PokerStars Festival Sochi Main Event Day 1B

Will Shillibier

Level 12 : 1,000/2,000, 300 ante

A total of 285 players came together for Day 1B of the PokerStars Festival Sochi Main Event. The number was ever so slightly more than yesterday's figure of 276. The special Turbo Day 1C flight got 138 entrants, meaning the Main Event field is at 699!

Leading the way is Andrey Kotelnikov who narrowly missed out on breaking the 300k mark bagging up.

Just like yesterday, several well-known Russian players joined the field such as Konstantin Puchkov. Puchkov was looking to add to his $2.7m in lifetime earnings, but unfortunately for him, he left the field early on in the day.

As the levels went on and the blinds increased, it looked increasingly unlikely that we would get to see Team PokerStars Pros Liv Boeree and Igor Kurganov in action. However, they appeared and quickly got to work.

Boeree was unlucky on the very first hand, getting Ace-Queen suited in against pocket Queens to lose a chunk, and her boyfriend was equally unlucky, losing six out of six hands to bust when his pocket Jacks were cracked. Boeree also busted in the last level of the day.

Another big name in the field was Vladimir Troyanovskiy. At the PokerStars Championship in Sochi earlier this year, Troyanovskiy finished second for just over $300k. Troyanovskiy was a contender for chip leader approaching the final level of the night but didn't manage to keep up his head of steam and bagged 179,700.

Today also saw the announcement of the return of the PokerStars Championship to Sochi in 2018. The 10-day festival will take place from March 20-29 2018 and will see a $3,300 Main Event with a $2.5m guarantee, as well as a High Roller, National Championship and Sochi Cup.

Tonight is also the night of the PokerStars Players Party, where players have a chance to relax and celebrate together. The 2017 Sochi Players Party is shaping up to be a special one. The party is being co-hosted by PokerStars and Playboy and will see an appearance from Alekseev, a Ukranian singer who made the semi-final of Ukraine’s "Voice Of The Country” and is a huge star in Russia. His song, “Drunken Sun” topped the charts and has over 30 million views on YouTube.

Follow PokerNews.com for a recap of Day 1C, the Players Party, and continuing coverage of the PokerStars Festival Sochi Main Event live from the Sochi Resort & Casino.

Tags: Andrey Kotelnikov Igor Kurganov Konstantin Puchkov Liv Boeree Vladimir Troyanovskiy

10-20-2017 20:21 UTC+3

Catching Up With Team PokerStars Pro Igor Kurganov

Will Shillibier

Level 10 : 600/1,200, 200 ante

In his own words, Igor Kurganov has enjoyed the “most densely good 3-4 months of poker” in the last five years, at least in terms of winning tournaments.

After his WSOP bracelet victory in the $10,000 Tag Team Championship alongside girlfriend Liv Boeree, finished second in an Aria $25k and took down the PSC Barcelona Super High Roller for more than €1m.

Speaking to us on break in the PokerStars Festival Sochi Main Event he explained that the bracelet was a “fairy tale with even more fairy dust on top”

“I didn’t think I cared much about a bracelet before. This one was really special though. It was really nice to win it with Liv.

Bracelet Winners Igor Kurganov & Liv Boeree

“After I won I tried to capitalise on everyone being happy for Liv and I by jumping in Day 1 of the One Drop. I got a beer, which I wasn’t really drinking, but I made out like I was splashing about.”

Whatever his plan was, it worked. Kurganov survived Day 1 of the One Drop on one bullet and ended up cashing.

This is Kurganov’s second trip to Russia in five months, coming for the PokerStars Championship held here earlier this year. He reaffirms the commonly held belief that Russians are crazy about poker.

“From what I see, even before PokerStars came to Russia, Russians are one of the top three countries at most of the European events. This festival is no exception; we already had over 1,300 entries in the Megastack, and there looks to be 600-700 in the Main Event.

“Russians definitely love poker, and the players here range from the most recreational pure poker-loving players, to the absolute top poker players that exist in the world.”

Kurganov says that becoming a PokerStars Team Pro in February has enabled him to see a behind the scenes view on many parts of the PokerStars process.

“When I started playing poker I wanted to be a PokerStars Pro. I decided that I was going to play great and get good results and then become a Team Pro. But then Black Friday happened and it didn’t look like Team Pros were going to be added or didn’t see like that was going to be a possibility.

“I did have some disagreements with how Stars was running things at the time, especially in 2015, but in 2016 just by being around some of the meetings Liv was in I got to know some people, some changes that had been made within the company.

“I got to see that there is a lot of genuine care for poker. Just some of the conversations I’m allowed to have these days are great.“

With 2018 quickly approaching, Kurganov already has plans for the New Year.

“Over the last few months I’ve been spending a lot of time on non-poker endeavours, but less at the expense of poker but more at the expense of sleep! I’ll definitely be playing a bunch in 2018, and I’m looking forward to it.

“People are coming up with new events and they’re still exciting. There are also more big buy-in events this year than there were in previous years. I know Stars are going to be putting in way more effort and money into the poker economy, starting with the PCA.

“They have a crazy amount of qualifiers; a pretty awesome amount especially considering it’s going to be a 10k. I think more effort is going to be put into the poker economy by these companies, which is going to be better for the players.”

10-20-2017 19:07 UTC+3

PokerStars Player's Party Tonight

[user252447]

Level 9 : 500/1,000, 100 ante

Tonight at the Sochi Casino and Resort set among the beautiful mountains of Gorky Gorod, PokerStars and Playboy are set to co-host the Player's Party with a spectacular evening’s entertainment.

The party kicks off at 9 p.m. with a drinks and canapes reception and a Casino Lottery.

At 10 p.m. Playboy activities will begin and are due to last around an hour.

At 11 p.m Alekseev will perform a 45-minnute set. He may not be a familiar name in the west but Alekseev is a very famous pop star in his native Ukraine, where he made the semi-final of Ukraine’s "Voice of the Country” and is a huge star in Russia. His song, “Drunken Sun” topped the charts and has over 30 million views on YouTube.

10-20-2017 18:37 UTC+3

Team PokerStars Pro Igor Kurganov Eliminated

Will Shillibier

Level 8 : 400/800, 100 ante

"It was a good experience," said Igor Kurganov as he walked away from the table and headed over to his girlfriend Liv Boeree, "I played six pots and lots six pots.

"There are six happy people at that table who are like 'Yes!' after my stint at the tables.

"I rejammed from the small blind with and the cutoff had . It came and here I am."

No word from the Russian whether he is planning to play the Turbo Day 1C later this evening.

Player	Chips	Progress
Igor Kurganov	Busted

Tags: Igor Kurganov

10-20-2017 15:56 UTC+3

Andrey Andreev On the Comeback Trail

[user252447]

Level 5 : 200/400, 50 ante

Ivan Miheev opened the action for 1,100 and got a call from Andrey Andreev before Ivan Umnikov made it 3,600 from the button.

Not too much folding here today and Miheev and Andreev duly stuck in the calling chips.

All three of them checked it down to the river of a board reading and it was time to show cards.

Miheev:
Andreev:
Umnikov:

The pair of tens for Andreev was good enough to scoop the pot and he went on to win a small pot without showdown in the next hand.

Andreev was down to 16,000 not too long ago but is riding his rush at the moment.

Player	Chips	Progress
Andrey Andreev	40,000 23,800	23,800
Ivan Umnikov	33,000 12,500	12,500

Tags: Andrey Andreev

10-20-2017 15:52 UTC+3

Konstantin Puchkov Eliminated

Will Shillibier

Level 5 : 200/400, 50 ante

Unfortunately for Konstantin Puchkov he has been eliminated from the PokerStars Festival Sochi Main Event. We didn't manage to get the hand, but Alexey Antokhin was raking in the chips.

Puchkov as well as any other player eliminated from the Main Event during Day 1A or 1B can choose to fire the turbo re-entry only Day 1C which begins at 21:30 local time.

PokerNews.com will be bringing you a full recap of Day 1C before Day 2 begins.

Player	Chips	Progress
Konstantin Puchkov	Busted

Tags: Konstantin Puchkov

10-20-2017 15:37 UTC+3

Team Pokerstars Pros Liv Boeree and Igor Kurganov Due Today

[user252447]

Level 5 : 200/400, 50 ante

Igor Kurganov and Liv Boeree are scheduled to play the Main Event today and both of them are on a bit of a hot streak

Kurganov won the €50k Super High Roller at the PokerStars Championship Barcelona, €1,084,100 defeating some of the best players on the planet including players like Bryn Kenney, Dan Colman and Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu .

A few weeks of his victory bot Kurganov and Boeree invited to play the revived TV show Poker After Dark to participate in a $25,000 buy-in Sit&Go. Boeree duly took first place and $150,000.
Let’s see what they can achieve in Sochi at the Main Event and the High Roller.

Tags: Igor Kurganov Liv Boeree

10-20-2017 12:58 UTC+3

PokerStars Championship Returns to Sochi; $2.5m Guaranteed Main Event

Will Shillibier

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante

PokerStars Championship Returns to Sochi

Today saw the exciting announcement that Russia's luxury holiday resort of Sochi, as well as the Sochi Casino & Resort will once again play host to the PokerStars Championship. The flagship tournament brand will return for a 10-day poker festival from March 20-29, 2018.

It follows on from the PokerStars Festival Sochi currently taking place, as well as the inaugural PokerStars Championship event in Sochi, held in May 2017. The stop will bring a number of must-play tournaments and will be one of the largest international poker events in Russian history.

The RUB 66,000 buy-in (approx. US$1,142) PokerStars National Championship will warm-up players for the RUB 192,000 buy-in (approx. US$ 3,322) PokerStars Championship Sochi Main Event, which will also carry a RUB 150,000,000 (approx. US$ 2,500,000) guarantee.

“It’s great to see PokerStars return to Sochi for a third time. It shows that there’s a real appetite from players for a world-class event in the area,” said Team PokerStars Pro Igor Kurganov. “The venue is beautiful and there’s plenty to do away from the felt. I can’t wait to ski early in the day and play poker as après-ski. It will be an incredible stop!”

PokerStars Championship Sochi will feature the following events:

PokerStars National Championship: March 20-23, RUB 66,000 (approx. US$1,142)
PokerStars Championship Sochi Main Event: March 23-29, RUB 192,000 (approx. US$ 3,322) Guarantee RUB 150,000,000 (approx. US$ 2,500,000)
High Roller: March 27-29 RUB 617,000 (approx. $10,674)
Sochi Cup: March 27-29 RUB 19,000 (approx. US$329)

Away from the tables, players will have the chance to meet Team PokerStars Pros, enjoy the variety of tourist activities Sochi has to offer, attend the Player Party and take home free PokerStars merchandise.

10-20-2017 10:24 UTC+3

Day 1b 2017 PokerStars Festival Sochi Main Event.

[user252447]

Welcome to Day 1b of the PokerStars Festival Main Event at stunning the Sochi Casino and Resort. Cards are in the air at 12 p.m. today with play scheduled to last twelve 45-minute levels ending around 9:45 p.m.

Yesterday saw 276 entries with 94 players bagging up a stack for Day 2 and it was Sergey Lavrikov who ended the end as chip leader with 286,800 so that is the target to aim at.

Today sees another packed day of poker, as well as Day 1b there is another High Roller Satellite at 4 p.m. The Sochi Poker Cup at 6 p.m. and the last Day 1c of the Main Event at 9:30 p.m.

Friday is also the night of the PokerStars players party where the assembled players have a chance to relax and celebrate together and the 2017 Sochi Players Party is shaping up to be a special one.

The party is being co-hosted by PokerStars and Playboy and will see an appearance from Alekseev, a Ukranian singer who made the semi-final of Ukraine’s "Voice Of The Country” and is a huge star in Russia. His song, “Drunken Sun” topped the charts and has over 30 million views on YouTube.

Coverage of the Main Event is right here from the shuffle and deal to the end of play exclusively on PokerNews.

Here is the structure for today: