by Christian Zetzsche
The World Poker Tour returns to the stunning Casino Sochi for the first-ever WPTDS Sochi Festival, which is slated to take place from August 6 to 14, 2021. Not far away from the ski slopes of the former Olympic Winter Games, the venue is located right in the mountains of the Krasnaya Polyana region. Casino Sochi has become the home of live poker in Russia and hosted the most prestigious competitions, attracting some of the biggest names in the world of poker.
Since 2019, the WPT has visited Sochi on three occasions for stops of the Main Tour. The inaugural WPT Sochi festival from 13 – 27 January 2019 also included a WPTDeepStacks Main Event with a buy-in of ₽99,000, which attracted 306 runners for a prize pool of approximately $439,247. However, the upcoming series will be the first time the WPTDeepStacks brand heads to Sochi on its own.
The festival is held in cooperation with partypoker LIVE and Poker Club Management. Included in the schedule are 13 tournaments and additional satellites with buy-ins ranging between ₽7,000 and ₽245,000.
Festival headlined by ₽119,000 Main Event
All eyes will certainly be set on the flagship ₽119,000 Main Event (∼ $1,630), which features four starting days in total:
Day 1A: Monday, August 9 at 16:00 UTC+3
Day 1B: Tuesday, August 10 at 12:00 UTC+3
Day 1C: Wednesday, August 11 at 12:00 UTC+3
Day 1D (Turbo): Wednesday, August 11 at 18:00 UTC+3
All players start with 30,000 in chips and the levels for the regular flights last 60 minutes each, whereas the final turbo heat on August 11 will see the duration cut in half. The Day 1 survivors then combine on August 12 and the registration remains open for the first four levels and the following break. Day 2 will play down to the money before wrapping up for the night, the final table will then be determined on the following day.
Other Notable Tournaments
The festival at Casino Sochi gets underway on August 6 and the opening day features the first flight of The Opener, which comes with a price tag of ₽38,500 (∼ USD 528). Three starting days in total await and the champion will be crowned on Monday, August 9. The opening day also includes a Ladies Event with a buy-in of ₽15,750 (∼ $215), followed by various satellites the days thereafter.
Another notable event that will certainly attract some of the most well-known regulars in Sochi is the ₽245,000 (∼ $3,360) High Roller. It runs alongside the first starting days of the Main Event from August 8 to 10, giving the high-stakes aficionados the chance to participate in both tournaments without losing too much sleep.
All those that have secured a stack for Day 2 in the Main Event can jump right into the ₽53,900 (∼ $740) Big Stack on August 10 and 11. The two-day event features a starting stack of 30,000 and levels of 25 minutes. Last but not least, all those that bow out of the Main Event earlier than they are hoping for can enter The Closer from August 12 to 14. With an elevated price tag of ₽77,000 (∼ $1,057), the tournament features three starting days, and there will be plenty of money up for grabs to boost the bankroll.
A Glance Back at WPT Russia 2021
It isn’t the first time in the current year that the World Poker Tour is visiting Sochi. Big names such as Artur Martirosian, Konstantin Generalov, and Maksim Pisarenko were among the Side Event winners during WPT Russia 2021, which took place from February 19 to 28. The first major live poker festival on European soil in 2021 was a thorough success with more than 1,700 entries and nearly $2 million in prize money across the 14 trophy events.
In the flagship ₽245,000 Main Event, a field of 251 entries emerged filled with mostly local players. The prize pool of ₽54,247,551 (∼ $727,000) was split among the top 32 finishers and 19-year-old Maksim Sekretarev was crowned the youngest WPT champion on Russian soil. Many notables that joined the action back then are expected to enter the fray once more.
Frequent news articles during the upcoming 2021 WPTDS Sochi Festival will be published right here on the WPT website. Furthermore, the WPT.com team will also provide live updates as of Day 3 and until the conclusion of the pinnacle Main Event from August 12 to 14. Stay tuned to find out who will claim one of the trophies in the days to come.
2021 WPT Russia Main Event champion Maksim Sekretarev