Seat 2: Vladimir "vovtroy" Troyanovskiy", 43, St. Petersburg/Russia, PokerStars qualifier - 1,791,000
One of the most exciting Russian poker players is Vladimir Troyanovskiy, a 43-year-old high roller from St. Petersburg. He first learned the game at the age of 13 when his older brother introduced him to 5 Card Draw.
Now widely acknowledged as one of Russia's top poker pros, Troyanovskiy started collecting his live cashes back in 2003 but he burst onto the world's biggest stage a decade later, with two big scores at PCA 2013. He first notched up seventh place in the PCA 2013 $100k Super High Roller, earning $257,580 and topped it a few days later when he finished second to Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst in the $25k High Roller, securing himself a career-best $792,180 reward.
Since then, Troyanovskiy has been a regular fixture in the highest buy-in tournaments all over the globe. He has accrued $4.8 million in live earnings and currently ranks sixth in the Russian all-time money list. His résumé boasts 11 six-figure results including third in the EPT11 Barcelona €50k Super High Roller for €473,200 and two cashes from the EPT Grand Final €100k Super High Roller (third for €339,500 in 2013 and ninth in 2015 for €199,620). Troyanovskiy has also won the €2k France Poker Series High Roller at EPT11 Deauville, banking €141,000. He scooped another trophy and €194,730 after taking down the €10k NLH Turbo 6-Handed at EPT12 Grand Final.
Troyanovskiy's accolades are nearly endless. He appeared on the PCA 2016 Main Event final table, walking away with $207,940 for a fifth place finish. The Bahamas have always treated him well; he made four final tables at PokerStars Championship Bahamas including a victory in the $2k Turbo Event. Troyanovskiy has already been to a final table here at PokerStars Championship Sochi, too. He was third in the RUB 132,000 PokerStars National High Roller.
Prolific on the live felt, Troyanovskiy is a beast on the online scene as well. He uses the screen-name "vovtroy" on PokerStars where he's notched up two six-figure results. His biggest online payday was $186,625 for a second place in the 2015 SCOOP-46-H: $1,050 NLH Wrap-Up Turbo. He has yet another big runner-up finish to his name, from the Sunday Million, worth $152,777. Troyanovskiy has more cashes from the SCOOP series than any other Russian player (closing in on 80). He won the SCOOP watch once. It was three years ago when he took down the SCOOP-12-H: $2,100 Stud for $36,060. In this year's edition, Troyanovskiy's best result came in the SCOOP-41-H: $5,200 NLHE, [8-Max] where he departed in sixth place worth $51,800. He's yet to win a WCOOP bracelet, with his nearest miss coming two years ago in the WCOOP $320+R PL Omaha [6-Max] in which he picked up the $50,276 third-place prize.