Rushad Iskandarov Takes Down the EPT Sochi 2019 High Roller for ₽7,840,000 ($120,590)
Rushad Iskandarov, an experienced online poker player of four years, has taken down the High Roller tournament and Iskandarov has succeeded in achieving several firsts in doing so. This is his first title and he managed to do it the first time he has sat down to play a live tournament. Not only that but he is the first Azerbaijani to win an EPT event.
Interestingly Iskandarov found himself heads up with Elvin Sarkarov, who is also from Azerbaijan, meaning that when they were the last two players left, history had already been made.
Of the 84 hopefuls who took part, nine finalists were still in contention at the start of the third and final day. There was a slew of eliminations early doors, with Daniil Kiselev busting on the very first hand of the final. He got it in good with ace-nine suited against Pete Chen’s king-queen but two queens on the board sent Kiselev on his way with ₽812,000 ($12,481) for his ninth-place finish.
2019 EPT Sochi High Roller Official Results
| Place | Player | Country | Payout (RUB) | Payout (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ruslan Iskandarov | Azerbaijan | 7,840,000 ₽ | $119,351 |
| 2 | Elvin Sarkarov | Azerbaijan | 5,579,000 ₽ | $84,935 |
| 3 | Maksim Bukreev | Russia | 3,650,500 ₽ | $55,575 |
| 4 | Pete Chen | Taiwan | 2,807,000 ₽ | $42,734 |
| 5 | Valery Yantsevich | Belarus | 2,222,500 ₽ | $33,835 |
| 6 | Sergey Kolyasnikov | Russia | 1,739,500 ₽ | $26,482 |
| 7 | Ramon Collilas | Spain | 1,368,500 ₽ | $20,834 |
| 8 | Irshat Shaykhov | Russia | 1,071,000 ₽ | $16,305 |
Less than 15 minutes later, Irshat Shaykhov joined Kiselev on the sidelines. He had a bad run, losing ace-queen to Sergey Kolyasnikov’s queen-jack suited after Kolyasnikov raise-called his all in preflop. This left Shaykov short and just a few hands later, he was eliminated after getting it in with pocket-queens and losing to Maksim Bukreev who held ace-queen. He goes home ₽1,071,000 ($16,462) better off.
Ramon Colillas was out next, finishing in seventh after losing a flip with ace-ten to Elvin Sarkarov, who was holding pocket-fours. Colillas couldn’t recover after a four landed on the flop and the Team PokerStars Pro and PSPC winner receives ₽1,368,500 ($21,036) for another deep run this year.
With six left, things slowed down in terms of eliminations and it wasn’t until after the first break that we had to say goodbye to Day 1 chip leader Kolyasnikov. Kolyasnikov had certainly made his presence known as one of the most active at the table. He had gotten fairly short by the time he moved all in from under the gun with king-ten. Sarkarov isolated all in over the top with ace-jack suited in late position before Iskandarov’s looked down to see pocket kings in the hole. The huge all in was certainly one of the defining moments in our Champion’s tournament and put him joint top of the chip counts for the first time. Kolyasnikov goes home ₽1,739,500 ($26,738) richer for finishing in sixth place.
Next to fall was Valery Yantsevich who made it as far as fifth. He takes home ₽2,222,500 ($34,163) after being busted by Iskandarov. He was down to 13 big blinds and put it all in with ace-king and was looking good for most of the way, until a ten river made a pair for Iskandarov’s ten-nine suited. The result pushes Yantsevich over $100,000 in lifetime earnings, a great landmark moment for the Belarussian.
It was Pete Chen’s turn to bust next. The most experienced player in the running at this point had battled hard throughout the final and the majority of hands he had won were taken down without showdown. It all came down to a flip in the end, with Chen’s losing to Sarkarov with pocket fours to ace-queen. He adds another ₽2,807,000 ($43,148) to his already impressive live tournament results.
That left three and again we didn’t have to wait long before another all in meant the end of Maksim Bukreev’s hopes. Iskandarov went all in on the button and Bukreev woke up with ace-queen in the small blind. The shortest stack at this point, he quickly got it in and had the best of it with Iskandarov turning over queen-ten. Iskandarov hit broadway by the river and Bukreev takes home ₽3,650,500 ($56,112), which is his biggest score to date.
After a brief recess, Iskandarov and Sarkarov sat down for what turned out to be an epic heads up battle. Over three hours and fifteen minutes, the chip lead swung back and forth with both challengers vying hard for the win. In the end though, Sarkarov was eliminated after bluffing all in on the river on a paired board and running into Iskandarov’s trip fives. It was a great effort from the chip leader coming into the final and he will take ₽5,579,000 ($85,755) home for finishing as runner up.
Speaking to Iskandarov after the dust had settled, the father of two explained that he plays poker online regularly but doesn’t usually have time to play live. He made this trip with some of his oldest friends and they wanted to combine a holiday with playing poker. When asked how he felt following his win, Iskandarov explained “to be honest it was very, very stressful! It was challenging to be playing against such good players.” Hopefully Iskandarov can now take some time to relax and celebrate with his friends, after all the excitement of the last few days.