Eight Remain, But Who Will Win EPT National?

Yury Masliankou is just seven eliminations away from becoming the second non-Russian to win the EPT Sochi National. The Belarussian picked up the chip lead late on Day 2 after clashing with Georgiy Skhulukhiya, who is second in chips, and held onto it as he heads into the final day as the clear chip leader.

Twelve months since Czech player Matous Houzvicek clinched the title, Masliankou will be eyeing the RUB 9,137,000 ($139,755) payout for first prize but several players stand in his way.

Here's how the final eight players stack up:

Seat	Name	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Yury Masliankou	Belarus	5,260,000	105
2	Kartik Ved	India	1,385,000	28
3	Leonid Bilokur	Russia	3,210,000	64
4	Daniil Lukin	Russia	2,595,000	52
5	Andrey Lukyanov	Russia	2,380,000	48
6	Sarkis Karabadzhakyan	Russia	670,000	13
7	Giorgiy Skhulukhiya	Russia	4,145,000	83
8	Alexandr Sergutin	Russia	1,985,000	40

As you can see, there's clear water between Masliankou and Skhulukhiya at the top of the counts, with another gap back to former chip leader Leonid Bilokur (3,210,000).

Last year, Bilokur finished 55th in the EPT Sochi Main Event, and with over $3.5m in lifetime earnings, he would crack the Russian all-time top 10 list with a win today.

Then follows Daniil Lukin (2,595,000) and Day 1a chip leader Andrey Lukyanov (2,380,000). Lukyanov finished Day 1a with a shade of 544,000 and is positioned comfortably with an average stack in the middle of the pack.

After Lukyanov, Alexandr Sergutin sits with 40 big blinds and is by no means a short stack at this final table. The final two players are Indian Kartik Ved (1,385,000) and Sarkis Karabadzhakyan (670,000). With 28 and 13 big blinds respectively, these two will focus on good starts to get them back into contention as the blinds steadily increase.

Play will resume in Level 27 (30,000/60,000) and play down to a winner. Here's a reminder of the remaining payouts:

Position	Payout (CSU)	Payout (RUB)	Payout (USD)
1	CSU 133,100	RUB 9,317,000	$139,755
2	CSU 81,500	RUB 5,705,000	$85,575
3	CSU 58,100	RUB 4,067,000	$61,005
4	CSU 43,700	RUB 3,059,000	$45,885
5	CSU 34,400	RUB 2,408,000	$36,120
6	CSU 25,800	RUB 1,806,000	$27,090
7	CSU 18,500	RUB 1,295,000	$19,425
8	CSU 12,700	RUB 889,000	$13,335