By Lisa Yiasemides
January 2020 sees the WPT Main Tour return to Russia. It will be the second WPT outing on Russian soil, with Denys Shafikov winning the first. In the inaugural WPT Russia Main Event, a huge $1,358,200 was generated in prize money and of that, the Ukrainian cut himself a tasty slice worth $255,259.
Casino Sochi opened its doors on January 5, 2017, meaning the venue will have just celebrated its third birthday when the WPT Main Tour gets underway.
In that short time, Casino Sochi has established itself as a hub for live poker in Eastern Europe… But what makes it so popular?
The Cardroom
The entire venue has been meticulously planned in minute detail from the entrance, all the way through to the poker room upstairs.
Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the cardroom is designed with amateur players as well as professionals in mind.
No-Limit Texas Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha are Casino Sochi’s mainstays but 7-card Stud, Hi-Lo, Crazy Pineapple and other versions of poker are available on request.
There are ten poker tables, each with a shuffling machine, in the dedicated poker room but adjacent is another room that is used to house larger international tournaments such as the WPT, meaning space is never an issue.
The Food
Casino Sochi is as famous for its world-class cuisine as it is for its gaming.
Brunello, Baffet and Royal Bar are the three signature options for enjoying food or some drinks, whatever your mood.
The luxury Brunello restaurant will satisfy even the most discerning guest with a wide range of delicacies available including sea urchins, black or white truffles, lobster and crab, and caviar.
The Baffet restaurant is the more affordable eatery of the two but its menu is no-less interesting, covering cuisines as broad-ranging as Russian, European and Pan-Asian.
The menus in both restaurants have been carefully thought out and presented by Brand Chef, Ilya Zakharov.
The Royal Bar does what it says on the tin, offering a sumptuous setting for anyone who would like to take a break from the tables and sit in comfort whilst enjoying a drink. Guests can order from both restaurant menus and not only that, big screen TVs show all the major sporting events from around the world.
The Competition
The result was that WPT Russia 2019 drew not only a big crowd, but one that included lots of well-known poker players, in particular several prominent Russian heavyweights.
Anatoly Filatov, Andrey Pateychuk, Alexander Lakhov and Konstantin Puchkov (all of whom feature in the top 20 on Russia’s all-time money list), attended last year’s festival.
Team partypoker pro Filatov, who has amassed $5.1 million in tournament cashes, had a deep run in the Main Event (48th) last season. Undeterred, Filatov moved straight onto the next tournament – the WPT Highroller – and took it down for $105,906.
Andrey Pateychuk, who is just behind Filatov with $4.9 million in lifetime tournament earnings, finished runner up in the WPTDeepStacks Russia 2019 event for $58,423.
WPT-circuit regular Alexander Lakhov was also in attendance. Lakhov notably finished runner up in the $15,000 + 400 No Limit Hold’em WPT World Championship in Borgata, 2015 for a huge $573,779, which is still a career-best result.
Finally, Russian poker legend Konstantin Puchkov ran deep in the Main Event last year and may well decide to return in 2020 in order to try and improve on his 18th-place finish.
With so much on offer – from the food and setting, to the world-class poker room – many of those big names and more, are expected to walk through the doors at Casino Sochi next month…and this is your chance to join them!
WPT Russia Festival by partypoker LIVE
January 17- 26, 2020
Play online on partypoker: January 12-16, 2020
Structures provided by partypoker LIVE
WPT Opener ₽30,000,000 Guaranteed + 20 seats to WPT Russia Main Event Day 1A
Dates: January 17-21, 2020
Play online Day 1s on partypoker: January 12-16, 2020
Buy-in: ₽31,500 + ₽3,150 = ₽34,650
WPT Russia Main Event ₽95,500,000 Guaranteed
Dates: January 21-26, 2020
Play online Day 1+2 on partypoker and arrive ITM at the venue: January 12 and 19, 2020
Buy-in: ₽192,500 + ₽17,500 = ₽200,000
WPT High Roller ₽15,000,000 Guaranteed
Dates: January 20-22, 2020
Buy-in: ₽301,000 + ₽21,000 = ₽322,000
WPT Closer ₽15,750,000 Guaranteed
Dates: January 24-26, 2020
Buy-in: ₽63,000 + ₽6,300 = ₽69,300
WPT Ladies Event
Date: January 18, 2020
Buy-in: ₽14,000 + ₽1,400 = ₽15,400