Russian poker pro Arseniy Karmatskiy claimed his first EPT title last night after besting a tough final table. The player collected ₽27.3 million (approximately $475,500) for outlasting the EPT Sochi Main Event’s 861-strong field.
Sochi Casino and Resort in Russia played host to the first EPT festival in more than a year. The ₽192,000 Main Event kicked off on March 23 and ran all the way through March 29.
Karmatskiy entered the tournament’s final day as the chip leader. The player was leading a pack of 7 survivors from previous days with massive chip advantage. He managed to maintain his lead over the greater part of the day by busting most of the remaining players at the final table.
Karmatskiy’s fellow countryman Viktor Shegai proved to be the toughest nut to crack. The player played quite aggressively, chatting cheerfully with his table mates at the same time. Shegai even took the lead at some point in play, but suffered a very heavy blow from Karmatskiy thereafter, which left him with just two big blinds.
On that key hand, Karmatskiy went all in with [Jh][Jd] to Shegai’s [As][Kd]. The two players were nearly even in chips at that point, with Shegai being just a little bit ahead. Karmatskiy thus put himself at great risk. The flop brought [3c][8s][Ac] giving great advantage to Shegai. The [8c] on the turn made things even worse for Karmatskiy. The player needed desperately a Jack to continue his run in the tournament. The river delivered the coveted [Js] and Karmatskiy never looked back from that point on.
Just when you thought the aces versus kings hand was the craziest #EPTSochi hand you'd see today… 
Cards-up action continues on YouTube https://t.co/vgEPgZuwyf and Twitch https://t.co/ZarB0RN21O pic.twitter.com/D8t7AqQeYt
— PokerStars LIVE (@PokerStarsLIVE) March 29, 2018
Final Moments of Play
As mentioned above, Shegai was down to just two big blinds after the clash with Karmatskiy. The player managed to recover a bit, but never took hold of the chip lead again. Karmatskiy and Shegai eventually remained the last two men standing in the tournament to square off in a heads-up match.
Two-handed play began with Karmatskiy holding 19.15 million in chips to Shegai’s 4.5 million. The latter put up great resistance. He kept his stack almost intact after a little over an hour of play. The two players then went on a 45-minute break. After play reusmed, Karmatskiy took about 20 minutes to weaken his opponent and than seal the victory.
On what turned out to be the final hand in play, Shegai found himself all in for about nine big blinds with [Jc][8c] to Karmatskiy’s [Qs][10d]. The board ran out [7d][10c][6d][7s][6h] to mark the end of the EPT Sochi Main Event. Shegai hit the rail for ₽16.56 million after his excellent performance in the tournament.
As for Karmatskiy, he also collected a PokerStars Players NL Hold’em Championship Platinum Pass worth $30,000 in addition to the ₽27.3 million first-place prize. It is also interesting to note that Karmatskiy claimed the EPT Sochi Main Event title just days before his wedding.
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