Poker in the News — Weekly Round-up for April 06, 2018

By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Apr 6, 2018

Local Poker Pro Wins European Poker Tour Sochi Main Event

Karmatckii wins $478,451 after besting a field of 861

The 2018 Pokerstars European Poker Tour Sochi main event is in the record books following the end of the competition in Russia over the long weekend, with local poker pro Arsenii Karmatckii claiming the first prize of $478,451 after besting a field of 861 hopefuls.

Karmatckii also became the latest winner of a PokerStars Platinum Pass valued at $30,000, which includes entry into the $25,000 PokerStars Players Championship in the Bahamas next year.

The Russian pro is on something of a roll after taking down the PartyPoker German Poker Championship last August, earning Euro 185,000, but this is his biggest pay day to date in live tourneys.

By the time the final table had formed Karmatackii was in a dominant position with double the chip stack of his two nearest rivals, and he managed to retain control through to the departure at third place for $204,840 of Ernest Shakarian.

That set the scene for the heads up, which saw Karmatackii starting with a 4 to 1 chip lead over his last opponent, fellow Russian pro Viktor Shegay.

The latter gave a good account of himself, mounting a determined comeback and threatening Karmatckii’s lead before the chip leader turned up the aggression and extended his lead to 9 to 1.

That was too high a hill for Shegay to climb, and he was eliminated at second for $290,225.

For Karmatckii the big win comes at a good time… he is getting married this week.

Other final table cashes included:

Vahe Martirosyan $153,630
Mikhail Kovalyuk $121,335
Sergei Kerzhakov $90,958
Andrey Kaygorodsev $63,937

Cody Doubles His Poker Winnings… In A Single Roulette Bet

Brit poker pro risked GBP 42,000 winnings on a single spin of the roulette wheel…and won!

A month on from the incident comes news of an audacious bet by Brit poker pro Jake Cody (29) that doubled his money.

Cody emerged from a High Roller live tourney event at Dusk Til Dawn in Nottingham, England with the first prize of GBP 42,000 and, urged on by friends, decided to “create a story” by betting it on a single colour on the roulette wheel in the casino, owned by poker player Rob Yong.

Yong and Cody shook hands before the spin, and along with a large and noisy crowd watched the ball spin around the wheel to land on black, doubling Cody’s wager.

Neil Giblin, general manager for Dusk Till Dawn, said: “Jake and Rob have been friends for many years, and have played poker together all over the world. As soon as he saw Rob he decided to have a bit of fun and offered the bet, the GBP 42,000 he’d just won in the UK Poker Championship High Roller tournament.

“Luckily for Jake, he picked the right colour, his friends erupted and Rob settled up the bet in good spirits.”

View the big moment here (caution there is colourful language): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWJOtbZUpP4

WSOP Europe 2018 Scheduled

King’s Casino Rozvadov, Czech Republic – October 11 – November 2, 2018

The 2018 WSOP Europe tournament has been scheduled at King’s Casino Rozvadov from October 11 to November 2, 2018.

2018 WSOP Europe will offer 10 official WSOP gold bracelet events with each Main Event filmed for television and other events receiving live reporting and live stream coverage.

“We have long searched for a great venue and host for WSOP Europe, and we believe we’ve finally found it,” said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart. “King’s Casino has been a terrific host, and with their expansion complete, we’re pleased to commit to holding WSOP Europe annually each October in Rozvadov.”

Further details on the schedule will follow at a later date.

Pokerstars Announces Tenth S.C.O.O.P.

May 2 to 21 tournament should provide plenty of online action

The tenth annual Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) makes a return to PokerStars from May 6-21, 2018 with at least one $1 million guaranteed tournament per day, with the action pitched at three levels (Low, Medium and High), with buy-ins ranging from $2.20 to $25,000.

“It is an honour to celebrate 10 years of SCOOP and thanks to the loyalty of our players we have created something really unique, with at least one $1 million guaranteed tournament every day,” said director of poker innovation and operations Severin Rasset.

Highlights of the event include:

* SCOOP will be another opportunity for players to win a package to the PokerStars Players No Limit Hold’em Championship (PSPC). Platinum Passes worth $30,000 will be awarded to the Low, Medium and High Main Event winners, the player who tops the SCOOP series leader board and the winner of the All-In Shootout Challenge;

* A Phase tournament, which will run throughout the series; $2.20 with $150,000 guaranteed, $22 with $1 million guaranteed, and $215 with $1.5 million guaranteed;

* High Roller Events on Wednesday, May 9 at 13:00 ET; all three levels will feature a $1 million or higher guarantee;

* Main Events will be held on Sunday, May 21 at 14:00 ET, $109 buy-in with $1.5 million guaranteed, $1,050 buy-in with $4 million guaranteed, and a $10,300 buy-in with $5 million guaranteed

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