Georgy Philippovich Wins PokerStars National Championship Sochi
Yesterday Russian professional poker player Georgy Philippovich outlasted a 756-entry field in the RUB 66,000 PokerStars National Championship in the Sochi Casino and Resort. The 26-year-old from Yekaterinburg took home RUB 6,313,500 (approx. $112,172) for his efforts after a three-way deal.
Reflecting on his victory, Philippovich, who enjoys riding his bike or playing table tennis and football in his spare time, said that it was an incredible result for him.
“I’m so proud of winning an event at the first Russian PokerStars Championship after so many legally difficult years for poker here in Russia."
Coming into the PokerStars National Championship, Philippovich had won less than $30k in live tournaments, but with a solid online background, dozens of five-figure cashes earned on PokerStars and a podium spot in a Sunday Million, he successfully transitioned his skills from the virtual realm to the live felt.
"I tried the play the same way I usually play online and it worked out," Philippovich revealed his winning strategy.
When Philippovich is away from live or online tables, he likes riding a bike or playing table tennis and football.
Philippovich beat the start-of-day chip leader Vitaly Avanesyan heads-up to add the extra RUB 700,000 left for the champion. Avanesyan secured himself RUB 5,495,000 while the third-place finisher Viktor Kudinov took home RUB 5,151,500 in the aforementioned three-way deal.
Runner-up Avanesyan (RUB 5,495,000)is a recreational player from Ulyanovsk, and already owns a ring from WSOP Circuit Georgia where he beat a 96-entry field in the $220 PLO Event for a $5,760 payday.
Third-place finisher Kudinov (RUB 5,151,500) also celebrated his career-best result today, as did Andrey Soloviev (fourth for RUB 2,710,000) and the only non-Russian in the field 38-year-old Sergey Em from Kazakhstan who laddered from shortest stack to 5th (RUB 2,150,000).
Dmitry Chop was the first player to leave the table on the final day, busting in sixth place for RUB 1,625,000. Chop had already had a win from Sochi to his name. He took down the partypoker Millions Main Event here in Krasnaya Polyana just two months ago for $225,000.
The RUB 66,000 PokerStars National Championship drew 756 entries (551 unique players plus 205 re-entries). The top 111 finishers shared pieces of the RUB 43,999,200 prize pool. Among the notable players who cashed were Nacho Barbero (ninth for RUB 630,000), Andrey Kotelnikov (tenth for RUB 515,000), Timofey Vekshin (11th for RUB 515,000), Aleksandr Denisov (12th for RUB 458,000), Harry Lodge (23rd for RUB 281,000), Sergei Chantcev (32nd for RUB 180,500), Josef Snejberg (37th for RUB 180,500), Alexander Lakhov (44th for RUB 158,000), Nikolay Fal (52nd for RUB 158,000), Dmitry Ponomarev (70th for RUB 139,000), Alexander Moiseev (77th for RUB 121,000) and Mikhail Korotkikh (91st for RUB 121,000).
PokerStars National Championship Sochi final table results:
1st - Georgy Philippovich, Russia, RUB 6,313,500 (approx. $112,172) *
2nd - Vitaly Avanesyan, Russia, RUB 5,495,000 (approx. $97,630) *
3rd - Viktor Kudinov, Russia, RUB 5,151,500 (approx. $91,527) *
4th - Andrey Soloviev, Russia, RUB 2,710,000 (appox. $48,149)
5th - Sergey Em, Kazakhstan, RUB 2,150,000 (approx. $38,199)
6th - Dmitry Chop, Russia, RUB 1,625,000 (approx. $28,871)
7th - Van Thach Vu, Russia, RUB 1,166,200 (approx. $20,720)
8th - Rudolf Babayan, Russia, RUB 798,000 (approx. $14,178)