This week, the largest online poker site in the world announced it was invading the Russian market with the first ever Russian Poker Tour. PokerStars is banking on the popularity of World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event runner-up and Russian sensation Ivan Demidov, who also made the final table and finished third in the WSOP Europe Main Event. Demidov became the first player ever to accomplish the feat. His WSOP Main Event second place finish was worth $5.8 million. The eventual winner, Peter Eastgate, banked $9.1 million.
Two stops are on the docket for the inaugural Russian Poker Tour (RPT). The historic city of St. Petersburg will host a $5,000 buy-in event that begins on January 25th at the Nevskiy pr, Concert Hall Premier. The tournament runs through February 1st. The RPT will them move to the capital of Russia, Moscow, for a $10,000 buy-in event on February 22nd. The tournament will crown a champion six days later. Demidov has already logged one six-figure cash on European soil, taking home £334,850 for the showing. He also narrowly missed another final table appearance during the 2008 WSOP slate of events, finishing 11th in a $1,000 rebuy No Limit Hold’em tournament for $39,854.
Another popular Russian player on today’s poker circuit is Alex Kravchenko, who took down his first WSOP bracelet last year in a $1,500 buy-in Omaha High-Low Split Eight or Better event for $228,000. Despite the bracelet win, Kravchenko was introduced to the masses in 2007, when he took fourth in the WSOP Main Event for $1.8 million. Of the 6,358 players who entered the tournament, Kravchenko was outlasted only by Raymond Rahme, Tuan Lam, and Jerry Yang, who was the eventual victor and cashed for $8.25 million, one of the largest poker prizes ever doled out. Kravchenko is also a member of Team PokerStars Pro.
Like his fellow Russian poker player Demidov, Kravchenko also found success on the WSOP Europe felts. In 2007, she finished fifth in a £2,500 buy-in HORSE tournament for £17,850. Kravchenko had to master fives poker games played as part of HORSE, which includes Hold’em, Omaha, Razz, Stud, and Stud Eight or Better.
In celebration of its newest live poker tour, PokerStars is running satellites on the online poker room that start at $2.22 or 111 Frequent Player Points (FPPs). These tournaments begin daily, Monday through Saturday, at 10:30pm ET until December 30th. The satellites can be found in the poker lobby under “Events” and “Special.” Interested poker players should also note that visitors to Russia require visas for entry with the exception of natives from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel, Kazakhstan, China, Cuba, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Serbia and Montenegro, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, and Croatia. Contact the Poker Style Group and the Russian Sport Poker Federation for more information about visas.
The Main Event in St. Petersburg, which will begin at 15:00 local time, will dish out 15,000 starting chips to each player. It features 60 minute blind levels and the structure will be the same as events held on the European Poker Tour (EPT). Other PokerStars sponsored tours take place around the world and include the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) and Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT). The APPT will wrap up its Grand Final in Sydney on Sunday. Australian Grant Levy won the 2007 installment of the event and took home AUD $1 million for his efforts. The next tournament on the EPT circuit will be held in Prague on December 9th. Friday marked the first day of play in the LAPT’s stop in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico. Other planned LAPT events include festivities in Chile, Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina.
