Yi Ye Wins 2019 PokerStars EPT Open Sochi Main Event (~$300K)
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The 2019 PokerStars EPT Open Sochi festival is a wrap, and the RUB133,000 Main Event (~$2,040) has crowned a champion in a field of 879 entries. On his third trip to the stunning Casino Sochi, China's Yi Ye claimed the lion's share of the RUB103,370,400 (more than $1.6 million) prize pool after defeating Giorgiy Skhulukhiya heads-up to take home the trophy and top prize of RUB19,306,000 (~$300,000).
Ye had already cashed in his previous two trips to Sochi: a sixtieth place in the inaugural EPT Open Main Event in 2018 and a third place in a side event of the 2019 EPT Sochi festival. The 40-year-old from Chengdu, the capital of southwestern China's Sichuan province, has been playing poker for seven years. Around a year and a half ago, he switched from cash games to tournaments, and that decision has paid off.
Initially, he planned to try and claim the coveted Platinum Pass for the 2020 PokerStars Players NL Hold'em Championship (PSPC) in Barcelona but never had a chance to play in the RUB10,500 "Moneymaker's Road to PSPC" event as he was preoccupied with the Main Event.
Ye overcame a significant language barrier as all other finalists were native Russian speakers, and defeated Giorgiy Skhulukhiya in heads-up.
Skhulukhiya came fresh off a victory in a High Roller Event in Cyprus and narrowly missed out on a new career-best score on the live circuit.
Natalia Panchenko put up a fierce fight and finished in third place, while former Casino Sochi floor staff member Lidiya Kozenkov ended up in fourth place. Egor Sukhov had to settle for fifth place, and the first casualty of the six-handed final day was local player Abdul Mamin Abdal Ali Han.
2019 EPT Open Sochi Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (in CSU) | Prize (in RUB) | Prize (~ in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yi Ye | China | 275,800 | 19,306,000 ₽ | $301,378 |
| 2 | Giorgiy Skhulukhiya | Russia | 167,460 | 11,722,200 ₽ | $182,991 |
| 3 | Natalia Panchenko | Russia | 118,140 | 8,269,800 ₽ | $129,097 |
| 4 | Lidiya Kozenkova | Ukraine | 88,600 | 6,202,000 ₽ | $96,817 |
| 5 | Egor Sukhov | Russia | 69,850 | 4,889,500 ₽ | $76,328 |
| 6 | Abdul Mamin Abdal Ali Han | Russia | 52,280 | 3,659,600 ₽ | $57,129 |
| 7 | Vladislav Petrov | Russia | 36,770 | 2,573,900 ₽ | $40,180 |
| 8 | Boris Kitov | Russia | 25,840 | 1,808,800 ₽ | $28,236 |
Note: CSU stands for Casino Sochi Unit and is equal to 70 Russian Rubles (RUB)
When the final table of six got underway, Giorgiy Skhulukhiya was the dominating chip leader while the other remaining five hopefuls were bunched together within a few big blinds.
The early action indicated a rather short day as Abdul Mamin Abdal Ali Han and Egor Sukhov headed to the rail in the first full level of the day.
Skhulukhiya took a blow to his stack when he ran with ace-king into the aces of Lidiya Kozenkova but remained at the top of the counts.
What followed was a gruesome grind for the final four, and the lead changed several times. Natalia Panchenko doubled through Skhulukhiya and eventual champion Yi Ye then held with queens against the ace-jack of Kozenkova to jump back into contention.
It would take another three hours to lose a player. Eventually, Kozenkova's move with ace-eight came at the wrong time as Panchenko called with ace-queen to remain ahead with her kicker.
Slowly but surely, Skhulukhiya dropped out of the driver's seat, and Panchenko took over. Then Ye clawed his way to the top spot. The stack sizes were getting very even, but first deal negotiations brought no result.
Panchenko was left short, doubled, but her hopes then vanished when an open-ended straight draw didn't get there against the trips of Ye.
Skhulukhiya and Ye discussed a possible deal once more but came to no agreement. The heads-up duel lasted all but two hands, and a classic coinflip saw Ye ahead with sixes against king-queen. Once a six appeared on the turn, Ye locked up the victory.
Vadim Gayduk Wins Platinum Pass in Moneymaker's Road to PSPC
By the time the Chinese posed for the winner shots, the other highlight of the final day in Sochi had already determined its champions.
Only 44 players out of a field of 909 total entries had survived their respective starting days in the bargain RUB10,500 Moneymaker's Road to PSPC Side Event. Twentysix-year-old Vadim Gayduk from Belarus denied Narek Varderesyan the victory. On top of the RUB1,274,000 payout, he also received the Platinum Pass valued at more than €26,000 and will be heading to Barcelona in August 2020.
That wraps up the PokerNews live reporting from Sochi, but there's plenty more going on in the poker world. Visit the PokerNews live reporting page for the latest live updates from around the globe.
