Main Event
Day 1a Started
2017 PokerStars Festival Sochi
Main Event
Day: 1a
Welcome to the PokerStars Festival Sochi Main Event Day 1A
Barely five months have passed since PokerStars last held a tournament here at the Sochi Casino and Resort, when Pavel Shirshikov beat Vladimir Troyanovskiy heads-up in the PokerStars Championship for 29,100,000 RUB (€515,774), but they are back with a PokerStars Festival offering to suit every bankroll.
With a guaranteed Main Event prize pool worth $500,000 (approx. RUB 30,000,000), the Festival also includes the $370 (approx. RUB 22,000) PokerStars Sochi Cup, and the $2,200 (approx. RUB 132,000) PokerStars Festival High Roller.
Here is how recent PokerStars Festivals have faired:
| Location | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | First Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PokerStars Festival London | 944 | £824,112 | Rehman Kassam | £89,320 |
| PokerStars Festival Rozvadov | 1,126 | €1,089,310 | Petr Svoboda | €124,346 |
| PokerStars Festival Chile | 329 | $500,000 | Christopher Franco | $97,360 |
| PokerStars Festival Marbella | 949 | €911,040 | Ignacio De Maturana | €168,700 |
| PokerStars Festival Lille | 800 | €768,000 | Philippe Le Touche | €143,000 |
| PokerStars Festival Korea | 285 | KRW 416,675,000 | Taehoon Han | KRW 83,130,000 |
| PokerStars Festival Bucharest | 736 | €706,560 | Sam Grafton | €117,707 |
| PokerStars Festival Uruguay | 261 | $379,755 | Julio Belluscio | £66,748 |
| PokerStars Festival Dublin | 544 | €700,000 | Gary McGinty | €91,808 |
Here is the structure for today:
| Level | Length | Small Blind | Big Blind | Ante |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 45 | 50 | 100 | 0 |
| 2 | 45 | 75 | 150 | 0 |
| 3 | 45 | 100 | 200 | 25 |
| 4 | 45 | 250 | 300 | 50 |
| 5 | 45 | 200 | 400 | 50 |
| 6 | 45 | 250 | 500 | 75 |
| 7 | 45 | 300 | 600 | 100 |
| 8 | 45 | 400 | 800 | 100 |
| 9 | 45 | 500 | 1,000 | 100 |
| 10 | 45 | 600 | 1,200 | 200 |
| 11 | 45 | 800 | 1,600 | 200 |
| 12 | 45 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 300 |
Level: 1
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
Cards In the Air!
![[user252447]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
The Russian equivalent for "Shuffle up and Deal!" has been issued and they're off.
There are 212 players at the table so far.
A Familar Face in the Field
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
On a brief walk through the tournament field we stumbled across PokerStars tournament regular Yury Gulyy who has been playing often this year in Sochi, including a cash in the Deep Stack side event at the PokerStars Championship Sochi earlier this year.
Gulyy has over $900,000 in lifetime earnings and his biggest live cash came at the EPT 11 Grand Final where he finished 2nd in the FPS High Roller for $121,995. He also has numerous EPT wins in Copenhagen and London, deep Main Event runs in Deauville, Malta, Madrid, Prague and Monte Carlo.
Stay tuned to PokerNews.com to see how he gets on here in Sochi.
Level: 2
Blinds: 75/150
Ante: 0
Former Final Tablist Aleksandr Merzhvinskiy in the Field
Level 2
: 75/150, 0 ante
The last major event held at the Sochi Casino and Resort was won by Aleksandr Gofman.
Taking third place in that tournament for $400,000 was Aleksandr Merzhvinskiy and he is seated in the Main Event today.
Merzhvinskiy has assorted cashes from Belarus and Montenegro, as well as 18th place in the PokerStars National Championship Sochi from May this year.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 |
Fast Start For Chulpan Garaev
Level 2
: 75/150, 0 ante
Chulpan Garaev was in the big blind and check-called a bet of 1,100 from Sergey Malyavko on the turn of a board reading 
.
The river was the 
and as Malyavko took delivery of and sipped his espresso, Garaev gathered some chips and bet 3,000.
Malyavko had a few peeks at his hole cards before deciding to let his hand go and the pot was pushed to Garaev who has had a very profitable first couple of levels and has nearly doubled his starting stack already.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
52,000 | 52,000 |
|
|
27,000 | 27,000 |
Sergey Malyavko Showdown Gets a Laugh
Level 2
: 75/150, 0 ante
Sergey Malyavko opened the action from mid-position for 425 and picked up calls from Evgeniy Svoev and then Chulpan Garaev on the button.
The flop was 
and it was checked to Malyavko who continued for 800 and saw both players call. They all check the 
turn card and the 
completed the board.
It was checked to Malyavko who bet 2,100. Svoev gave it some thought before calling while Garaev equally gave it some thought before folding.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
26,500 | |
|
|
26,000 | -1,000 |
Level: 3
Blinds: 100/200
Ante: 25