Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2018 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Russia
Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2018 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Russia
Buy-in
318,000 RUB
Prize Pool
300,000,000 RUB
Entries
916
Level
45
Blinds
6,000,000 / 12,000,000
Ante
12,000,000
Kravchuk Bags Over Five Million; 106 Progress From Day 1a
Level 8
: 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
Day 1a of the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Russia Main Event kicked off at Noon local time at the outstanding surroundings of the Sochi Casino and Resort and over the course of the eight hours of play 201 entrants took part in the opening live flight, of which 106 survived.
The RUB300,000+18,000 (~$4,900) buy-in event, which comes with a 300 Million Russian Rubles guarantee, gave players a starting stack worth 1,000,000 chips and with the first three levels of blinds all set at 5,000/10,000 with an increasing button ante, there was plenty of room for maneuver in the early play.
Players such as Natalia Panchenko, Ionut-Flavius Voinea, Pavel Kovalenko, Vitaliy Li and last year's MILLIONS Russia third-place finisher Aleksandr Merzhvinskiy were all in action from the start, with familiar faces such as former tennis star Yevgeny Kafelnikov and partypoker LIVE MILLIONS winner Maria Lampropulos also joining the fray.
However, of those names only Pavel Kovalenko (3,570,000) and Natalia Panchenko (985,000) lasted all eight levels, with the rest all able to try again on Wednesday, August 8 or Thursday, August 9 for Day 1b and 1c respectively.
Ukrainian Oleksii Kravchuk will go into Friday's Day 2 as the Day 1a chip leader after he was the only player to bag a stack worth over 5m after he finished with 5,055,000. Kravchuk's most important hand of the day occurred during the final level when he saw his opponent move all in for 1,000,000 on the turn after Kravchuk had hit a set of jacks on the flop. His hand held on the river and propelled Kravchuk up the chip counts.
Other players to bag healthy stacks included Alexey Melnikov (4,660,000), Egor Evsin (4,340,000), Aleksandr Mikhalev (4,250,000) and Malaysia's Chin Wei Lim (4,100,000), who needed a second bullet to build his stack after he had earlier seen his pocket kings cracked by Alexey Melnikov's seven-five suited.
Day 1b will kick-off tomorrow at noon local time with another group of players coming together to play eight levels with the aim of making Day 2.
PokerNews will once again be bringing you all the action, so be sure to join us on Wednesday, August 8 at Noon.
End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 8
: 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
5,055,000 | 855,000 |
|
4,660,000 | 360,000 |
|
4,340,000 | 1,440,000 |
|
|
4,250,000 | 850,000 |
|
4,100,000 | 3,100,000 |
|
3,960,000 | -240,000 |
|
3,715,000 | 2,315,000 |
|
3,570,000 | 2,570,000 |
|
3,500,000 | 700,000 |
|
3,500,000 | |
|
3,485,000 | 1,785,000 |
|
3,475,000 | 175,000 |
|
3,475,000 | 775,000 |
|
|
3,475,000 | |
|
|
3,285,000 | -115,000 |
|
3,105,000 | |
|
|
3,065,000 | 365,000 |
|
|
2,940,000 | 2,940,000 |
|
|
2,892,000 | -208,000 |
|
|
2,730,000 | 830,000 |
|
|
2,710,000 | 210,000 |
|
|
2,600,000 | |
|
2,585,000 | 1,585,000 |
|
2,570,000 | 2,570,000 |
|
2,545,000 |
Day 1a Play Comes to an End
Level 8
: 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
The play in Day 1a of the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Russia has come to an end at the Sochi Casino with the remaining players bagging their chips.
An official full chip count list will be posted shortly along with a recap of today's action.
Updated Chip Counts
Level 8
: 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,200,000 | 2,750,000 |
|
|
3,300,000 | 2,500,000 |
|
|
3,100,000 | 3,100,000 |
|
|
2,500,000 | 350,000 |
Kravchuk Eliminates Nikulin
Level 8
: 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
The board was down 
with three players in the pot when Konstantin Nikulin moved all in for 1m after the player in the small blind had checked their option. Oleksii Kravchuk was on the button and contemplated his decision before he reshoved.
The player in the small blind needed a couple of minutes to think before he reluctantly folded, and the all-in players turned over their hands.
Konstantin Nikulin: 
Oleksii Kravchuk: 
Kravchuk had a set of jacks and took the pot to move over four million in chips, as Nikulin departed just 30 minutes before the end of the day's play.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,200,000 | |
|
|
Busted |
Voinea Flops a Set But Exits
Level 8
: 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
Ionut-Flavius Voinea was all in and had his tournament life on the line up against Alexey Melnikov who held pocket kings. Voinea had seen his pocket queens hit a set on the flop and took the lead. However, the turn card had given Melnikov a flush draw, and when the river was revealed to be a diamond that didn't pair the board, Voinea saw his chances of securing a double up disappear as Melnikov hit a vital flush to seal his opponent's exit and move his chip stack over four million in the process.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,300,000 | 1,700,000 |
|
Busted |
Final Level Gets Underway
Level 8
: 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
The final level of Day 1a has commenced and it 60 minutes time the remaining players will bag their chips and return on Friday, August 10 for Day 2.
Level: 8
Blinds: 10,000/20,000
Ante: 20,000
Updated Chip Counts
Level 7
: 9,000/18,000, 18,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,400,000 | |
|
3,100,000 | 700,000 |
|
|
2,600,000 | |
|
2,500,000 |