Main Event Day 1a | 2017 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Russia

09-09-2017 22:40 UTC+3

Eardley Tops Day 1a; Gorodetsky Among Big Stacks in Sochi

Christian Zetzsche

Level 8 : 8,000/16,000, 0 ante

Poker Commentator Ilya Gorodetskiy Among Big Stacks on Day 1a

The first of three starting days of the 2017 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Russia $5,300 Main Event at the stunning Casino and Resort Sochi in Krasnaya Polyana is done and dusted. There were a total of 262 entries, which includes players that qualified through the phase one satellites on partypoker, as well as direct entries here in Sochi, and just 157 players made it through after eight levels of 60 minutes each.

At the top of the counts at the end of the day was UK's Matt Eardley with 4,413,000 closely followed by Petr Gabyshev with 4,048,000. Timofey Vekshin, who vaulted to the spotlight after sending Vitaliy Li to the rail, claimed the third-biggest stack with 3,709,000. Other big stacks and notables that made it through include Gurkan Gorguren (3,465,000), Artem Bezarenkov (3,450,000), Shyngis Satubayev (3,236,000), Franco Cantarella (3,203,000), and well-known Russian poker commentator Ilya Gorodetskiy (2,694,000).

Three players representing partypoker bagged up chips for Day 2 in Anatoly Filatov (2,400,000), Dzmitry Urbanovich (1,320,000) and Mike Sexton (495,000). They were joined by Richard Dubini and Jan-Peter Jachtmann, but both failed to run up their stacks. Dubini flopped the nut straight with ace-king only to see Jonathan Hayward get there on the river with five-deuce suited for a flush when the remainder of the chips went in. Jachtmann raised and called a three-bet by Alexander Krasuntcev to shove a jack-high flop with a gutshot and straight flush draw. Krasuntcev called with ace-jack for top pair and two blanks on turn and river spelled the end for Jachtmann.

Among those to run out of chips were Jonathan Hayward, James Lowrey, Nicolas Le Floch, Vladimir Geshkenbein, Natalia Panchenko and Josef Snejberg. Some of them will be back tomorrow for sure after qualifying with two stacks to take another shot at the guaranteed prize pool of $5,000,000.

Day 1b gets underway at 12 p.m. local time and the third and final flight, a 20-minute level turbo Day 1c follows on Monday September 11th 2017 before all survivors head straight into Day 2 as of 3 p.m. local time. The PokerNews live reporting team will provide all the action until a winner is crowned here in Sochi, so make sure to tune back in regularly.

Tags: Alexander Krasuntcev Anatoly Filatov Artem Bezarenkov Dzmitry Urbanovich Franco Cantarella Gurkan Gorguren Ilya Gorodetskiy James Lowrey Jan-Peter Jachtmann Jonathan Hayward Josef Snejberg Mike Sexton Natalia Panchenko Nicolas Le Floch Richard Dubini Shyngis Satubayev Timofey Vekshin Vitaliy Li Vladimir Geshkenbein

09-09-2017 21:24 UTC+3

Jeff Lisandro Finishes Off Andrey Ivlev

Will Shillibier

Level 8 : 8,000/16,000, 0 ante

Andrey Ivlev opened to 35,000 from under the gun and got three callers. Jeff Lisandro was in the big blind and three-bet to 200,000.

Ivlev moved all in for 296,000. The three callers all folded and Lisandro called the extra chips.

Lisandro:
Ivlev:

The board ran out and Ivlev was eliminated.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jeff Lisandro	2,100,000	700,000
Andrey Ivlev	Busted

Tags: Jeff Lisandro Andrey Ivlev

09-09-2017 20:59 UTC+3

Dzmitry Urbanovich Not Afraid to Get Fruity

Will Shillibier

Level 7 : 6,000/12,000, 0 ante

It looked like the hand was going to fizzle out, but by the time it got around to the cutoff, they opened to 24,000 and the button called.

Alexey Melnikov thought about it in the small blind before three-betting to 116,000. partypoker Sponsored Pro Dzmitry Urbanovich was in the big blind and he four-bet to 265,000.

The initial raiser and caller folded and action was back on Melnikov.

Melnikov calmly dragged back his three-bet and pushed forward a five-bet to 555,000. Urbanovich quickly folded and Melnikov raked in the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alexey Melnikov	1,850,000	1,850,000
Dzmitry Urbanovich	1,350,000	-300,000

Tags: Alexey Melnikov Dzmitry Urbanovich

09-09-2017 20:51 UTC+3

Welcome to the partypoker MILLIONS Russia Main Event Anatoly Filatov

Will Shillibier

Level 7 : 6,000/12,000, 0 ante

Anatoly Filatov Wins the GPC High Roller

partypoker Sponsored Pro Anatoly Filatov has been lurking around the halls and corridors of the Sochi Casino & Resort all day, perhaps itching to get in on the action. Last month Filatov took down the partypoker German Poker Championships High Roller in Rozvadov for €64,125 (pictured) and today, finally, with just under two levels left in play, he has taken his seat.

We asked him how he felt to be finally playing the Main Event.

"Excited," he said with a smile, "Excited to double up!"

With such a positive outlook, and having declared his intentions clearly to all and sundry, we stuck with his table to see what exactly his first orbit would be like.

1. A player in early position opened and the player on the button three-bet. Anatoly Filatov folded.
2. A player under the gun raised and the button called. Filatov folded.
3. The hijack opened and Filatov folded.
4. Shyngis Satubayev opened to 28,000 from under the gun. Filatov three-bet from the cutoff and Satubayev folded.
5. Filatov opened to 30,000 from the hijack and took down the blinds and antes.
6. A player under the gun opened and Filatov folded.
7. Filatov open-folded in early position.
8. Filatov raised under the gun to 30,000 and Shyngis Satubayev called in the cutoff.
The flop came and Filatov continued for 50,000. Satubayev called. The turn was the and Filatov check-folded to a bet of 110,000 from his opponent.

All in all it was a mixed bag of a first orbit for Filatov, but there is still plenty of time not just in the day but in the tournament for him to get going and build up a stack.

Player	Chips	Progress
Anatoly Filatov	950,000	-150,000

Tags: Anatoly Filatov Shyngis Satubayev

09-09-2017 18:57 UTC+3

Krasuntcev on a Roll to Bust Panchenko and Jachtmann

Christian Zetzsche

Level 6 : 5,000/10,000, 0 ante

According to Andreas Klatt, Alexander Krasuntsev sent Natalia Panchenko to the rail when his rivered a king-high flush and Panchenko only had for the inferior flush. That pot brought Krasuntcev's stack up to around 1.8 million and he soon added more chips to that.

Jan-Peter Jachtmann raised to 26,000 and Krasuntcev three-bet to 77,000. "Seventy-seven? Is that a missclick?" Jachtmann asked and Krasuntcev shook his head, after which the German called.

On the flop, Jachtmann moved all in for around 350,000 and Krasuntcev called.

Jan-Peter Jachtmann:
Alexander Krasuntcev:

The partypoker sponsored pro had a massive draw with straight and flush outs, but the turn and river both bricked off.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alexandr Krasuntcev	2,200,000
Jan-Peter Jachtmann	Busted
Natalia Panchenko	Busted

Tags: Alexander Krasuntcev Andreas Klatt Jan-Peter Jachtmann Natalia Panchenko

09-09-2017 18:28 UTC+3

29 Players Remain in High Roller; O'Dwyer Leads

Will Shillibier

Level 6 : 5,000/10,000, 0 ante

The players in the €10,000+€300 High Roller 8-Max are going on break. There are currently 29 remaining with 12 players in the money. The current chip leader is High Roller regular Steve O'Dwyer who sits on over one million chips.

There is a livestream which can be accessed by clicking on the tab above. O'Dwyer currently sits on the feature table, and will be looking to push his big stack around once play gets back underway.

Players still in include Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Manig Loeser, Pierre Neuville, Leon Tsoukernik, Steve O'Dwyer, Martin Kabrhel, Govert Metaal, Philipp Zukernik, Vladimir Troyanovskiy, Jack Sinclair and Alexandru Papazian.

09-09-2017 18:03 UTC+3

Richard Dubini Flushed Out

Christian Zetzsche

Level 6 : 5,000/10,000, 0 ante

Richard Dubini was spotted leaving his seat while Jonathan Hayward said "unlucky bud" while raking in the pot. According to Dubini, Hayward defended his big blind and check-raised the flop of . Dubini called before calling a bet on the and leaving himself with 200,000 behind.

Hayward bet 500,000 on the river and Dubini called with for the nut straight only to see Hayward turn over the for a flush.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jonathan Hayward	1,400,000	1,400,000
Richard Dubini	Busted

Tags: Jonathan Hayward Richard Dubini

09-09-2017 14:48 UTC+3

partypoker Chairman Mike Sexton Enjoying the MILLIONS Main Event

Will Shillibier

Level 3 : 2,500/5,000, 0 ante

"Let's see here," said Mike Sexton when we inquired after his stack as the first break of the day got underway. "I'm losing about a hundred right now. Down a little bit.

"The very first hand I lost 150,000."

Sexton explained how he defended his small blind with and the flop came . Sexton checked and his opponent continued for 8,000. Sexton check-raised to 20,000 and his opponent called.

The turn was another and Sexton bet 30,000 and his opponent called. The river was the and Sexton bet 75,000 and his opponent called again. Sexton tabled his trip sevens but his opponent held for a full house.

"I was lucky he didn't raise me on the turn. If he raised me on the river I put him on Jacks."

Day 1A of the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Russia is taking place in the Sochi Casino & Resort, and Sexton says that he is loving the venue.

"It's beautiful. It's a fantastic property. No question about the venue. Very opulent."

And how exactly is his tournament going?

"I have a very quiet table. And if they say anything it's in Russian! So that's the difficult thing here. I like to talk, but if I say anything I don't think anyone one will understand me!"

"It's pretty much a one language country!"

Sexton sits on just under standing stack on the first break of the day.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mike Sexton	1,000,000	40,000

Tags: Mike Sexton

09-09-2017 12:58 UTC+3

Yury Gulyy Doubles Up

Will Shillibier

Level 1 : 1,500/3,000, 0 ante

Vitaliy Lee came into the day with a healthy 2.8m chips and he opened from under the gun and the player in the next position called. Yury Gulyy was in the next position to that and three-bet to 26,500. Li four-bet to 80,000 and the third player in the hand folded.

Gulyy five-bet to 175,000 and Li six-bet jammed putting Gulyy at risk. Gulyy snap-called all in for around 650,000.

Gulyy:
Li:

The board ran out and Gulyy doubled up. Li still sits on over two million chips.

Player	Chips	Progress
Vitaliy Li	2,100,000	2,100,000
Yury Gulyy	1,350,000	700,000

Tags: Yury Gulyy

09-09-2017 11:28 UTC+3

Welcome to Day 1a of the 2017 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Russia Main Event

Christian Zetzsche

As of 12 p.m. local time, Day 1a of the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Russia $5,300 Main Event kicks off at the stunning Sochi Casino and Resort in Krasnaya Polyana gets underway. The flagship event of the festival in one of the largest luxury casinos in Eastern Europe comes with a guarantee of $5 million while the entire festival guarantees $9 million in prizes.

Players can qualify online via the phase satellites on partypoker and there were also live phase satellites, which ultimately send the players into the Live Day 1 here in Sochi. All direct entries receive 1,000,000 in chips and the first level starts with blinds of 1,500/3,000, the button ante format is used. With six players or more, the full big blind is to be played by the player on the button, while tables with five players or fewer only have to pay the small blind.

There are three Day 1s in total, with a turbo heat featuring levels of 20 minutes each gets underway before the start of Day 2. Each Day 1 will play eight levels in total before the field then combines for Day 2 on Monday September 11th 2017 as of 3.30 p.m. local time.