Suntsov Wins Inaugural Russian Poker Tour

Top competitors in PokerStars tournament

Russian professionals Ivan Demidov and Alexander Kravchenko, and Team PokerStars star Vanessa Rousso were among a field of 201 poker players who competed in the inaugural PokerStars Russian Poker Tour in St. Petersburg this week.

With a buy-in of $5 000, the prize-pool topped a million dollars, generating a first prize of around $300 000 - over 10 million roubles in Russian currency. entry fee. By Sunday the final table had been decided, and comprised: Oleg Suntsov, Vadim Markushevsky, Alexander Pantukhin, Sergey Solntsev, Bulat Bikmetov, Sergey Popuk, Anatoly Ozhenilok, Dimitru Gaina (chipleader) and Evgeny Zaytsev.

The heads up saw Russian player Oleg Suntsov opposed by Vadim Markushevsky of Belarus, with the former holding the lead and maintaining his supremacy to take the title and the Roubles 10 616 000 main prize. Markushevsky won half that amount for his second placing.

The second and final leg of the inaugural tour moves to Moscow and is scheduled to play from February 22 through 28th, with a $10 000 buy-in NLHE tournament.