Two of the nine Moscow final table finalists at the Russian Poker Tour were PokerStars pros – Ivan Demidov and Alex Kravchenko – but these pros couldn’t stop Vitaly Lunkin from claiming the victory.
All nine players at the final table were from Russia, an appropriate turn of events for the PokerStars Russian Poker Tour main event championship. Lunkin, a former backgammon player, took down around $445,000 for his first place finish – 14,323,000 rubles – but Lunkin didn’t rely on luck. His rise from nearly last in chips to the winner was fuled by past experience, including winning a WSOP bracelet last summer in the 1,500 No Limit Hold'em event
Final table payouts (in rubles):
1. Vitaly Lunkin, 14,323,000
2. Vyacheslav Goryachev, 7,877,000
3. Alexander Khoustov, 4,028,000
4. Oleg Shamardin, 3,133,000
5. Sergey Artamonov, 2,685,000
6. Ivan Demidov, Team PokerStars Pro 2,238,000
7. Dmitry Vitkind, 1,790,000
8. Alex Kravchenko, Team PokerStars Pro, 1,342,000
9. Evgeny Onishuk, 895,000
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