2017 PokerStars Festival Sochi

Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info

2017 PokerStars Festival Sochi

Final Results
Winner
Aleksandr Merzhvinskiy
Winning Hand
jj
Prize
7,700,000 RUB
Event Info
Buy-in
66,000 RUB
Prize Pool
30,000,000 RUB
Entries
699
Level Info
Level
33
Blinds
125,000 / 250,000
Ante
25,000

Aleksandr Merzhvinskiy Leads Final 27 PokerStars Sochi Main Event

Level 22 : 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante
Aleksandr Merzhvinskiy Day 2 Chip Leader
Aleksandr Merzhvinskiy Day 2 Chip Leader

Aleksandr Merzhvinskiy ended Day 2 of the PokerStars Festival Main Event as the clear chip leader on 2,599,000 which was more than a million chips ahead of his nearest Serafim Kovalevskiy rival 1,293,000 while Евгений Иванов finished the day third on 1,260,000.

The day started with 261 players returning from three starting flights. Day 1a attracted 276 entries, Day 1b 285 and Day 1c 138. The total of 699 entries generated a guarantee breaking prize pool worth RUB 40,681,800.

When the payout were announced the top 9 finishers were set to win the following:

1st.- RUB 7,700,000
2nd.- RUB 4,700,000
3rd.- RUB 3,350,000
4th.- RUB 2,600,000
5th.- RUB 2,000,000
6th.- RUB 1,560,000
7th.- RUB 1,101,800
8th.- RUB 770,000
9th.- RUB 610,000

Here is how the Sochi Main Event stacks up against previous Festivals.

LocationEntriesPrize PoolWinnerFirst Prize
PokerStars Festival London944£824,112Rehman Kassam£89,320
PokerStars Festival Rozvadov1,126€1,089,310Petr Svoboda€124,346
PokerStars Festival Chile329$500,000Christopher Franco$97,360
PokerStars Festival Marbella949€911,040Ignacio De Maturana€168,700
PokerStars Festival Lille800€768,000Philippe Le Touche€143,000
PokerStars Festival Korea285KRW 416,675,000Taehoon HanKRW 83,130,000
PokerStars Festival Bucharest736€706,560Sam Grafton€117,707
PokerStars Festival Uruguay261$379,755Julio Belluscio£66,748
PokerStars Festival Dublin544€700,000Gary McGinty€91,808
PokerStars Festival Sochi699RUB 40,681,800TBCRUB 7,700,000

The first order of business on Day 2 was the money bubble with 103 places paid with a min-cash worth RUB 110,000. In the end there were three players eliminated on different tables so it lacked the drama of other bubbles but there was a memorable hand near the bubble that got a fair bit of attention.

Armen Atanesyan started the day with 85,000 and was a very relieved man having been out of the tournament and subsequently reinstated after the Tournament Director was consulted for a second opinion.

There were 107 players remaining in the tournament at the time so it was a tense time for all the short stacks.

Atanesyan had called his opponent all the way down to the river of a Queen high board. His opponent shoved for 75,000 and Atanesyan called for his last 70,000.

The problem became apparent when Atanesyan turned over {a-Clubs}{q-Spades}{7-Diamonds}.

He had top pair top kicker but also three cards. The initial ruling was that his hand was dead and he was eliminated.

After further discussion however the ruling was reversed. It had been a genuine mistake but more importantly it was for his tournament life at a crucial time and he had merely called on the end with a smaller stack.

If he had been the player to shove on the river and gained an advantage the ruling would most likely have been Atanesyan’s elimination.

A tough decision the other floor people agreed but made with fairness and the integrity of the game uppermost in their minds.

The remaining 27 players will return to play down to a winner at the Sochi Casino and Resort tomorrow with cards in the air again at 12 p.m.

Stay tuned to PokerNews as the Live Reporting team brings you all the drama from Russia on the way to crowning a new PokerStars Festival Champion.

Tags: Aleksander Merzhvinskiy