Poker in the News — Weekly Round-up for June 02, 2017

By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Jun 7, 2017

Shirshikov Wins Pokerstars Sochi Main Event

Single largest score of career

30-year-old Russian local, Pavel Shirshikov, has outplayed a field of 387 to win the inaugural PokerStars Championship Sochi Main Event title and RUB 29.1 million (approx. $515,000), the single largest score of his career.

Shirshikov dominated the final table, emerging victorious from heads up play with Vladimir Troyanovsky.

“My friends were believing in me more than I was believing in myself,” Shirshikov said. “I had a very nervous day.”

Final table results were:

1    Pavel Shirshikov    RUB 29,100,000
2    Vladimir Troyanovskiy    RUB 18,450,000
3    Seyed Ghavam    RUB 13,335,000
4    Dmitry Vitkind    RUB 10,785,000
5    Lavrentiy Ni    RUB 8,535,000
6    Timur Bubnov    RUB 6,570,000
7    Daniyar Aubakirov    RUB 4,890,000
8    Nadar Kakhmazov    RUB 3,540,000

MPN Festival Of Speed Ready For Take Off

Fast play, lots of action

The Microgaming Poker Network’s (MPN) Festival of Speed is set to kick off June 8, 2017 combining fast-paced action across a multitude of poker variants.

The promotion, running until June 25, 2017 offers a series of Super Turbo tournaments, Turbo and Super Turbo Sit & Gos, and the return of its Blazing Cannon mini-game within Blaze Poker games.

Players who participate in all three parts of the promotion can earn an exclusive entry to the €5,000 Festival Flash Freeroll on July 2, 2017.

“In summer players don’t have as much time to spend at the tables. There are family BBQs to go to, festivals to attend, and heatwaves to complain about. Therefore, it’s the perfect time for the MPN to focus on high-speed play. Players can take part in some top-notch poker action without having to stay indoors for hours on end – that’s what the Festival of Speed delivers!” Alex Scott, Head of Product (Network Games) at Microgaming, said.

Full details here : https://www.mpn.poker/promotions/festival-of-speed/

IFP To Develop Pro Indian Match Poker League

Poker meets Bollywood for first Indian Match League

The International Federation of Poker (IFP) will launch the Match Indian Poker League (Match IPL) in partnership with Viaan Industries Ltd owned by Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and her entrepreneur husband Raj Kundra.

The Match Indian Poker League (Match IPL) will see city-based teams compete in the world’s first professional match poker league, a press statement reads.  The teams will be owned by “leading figures in Indian business and entertainment,” players of which will be selected based on their skill-based ranking and performance against advanced poker bots using the Match Poker app which will launch in August.

The league will initially comprise eight teams representing the cities of Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Kolkatta and Mumbai.

The Match IPL, set for launch in September, will be played over a weekend to determine the most skilled Match Poker team.  This event will also serve to identify six players who will represent an Indian National team.

Match Poker is the skill-based poker variant in which players compete for points and not for stakes. Cards are dealt digitally and the game is played on smartphones and tablets, which the IPL believes eliminates the randomness of the cards and amplifies the skill.

“We are delighted to be working with Viaan Industries and with Shilpa and Raj who have had the vision to recognise the potential of Match Poker and the business instincts to create an exciting and entertaining, sporting framework which will attract massive interest among players, sponsors and commercial backers in one of the world’s fastest growing markets,” IFP President Patrick Nally, said.

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