Vitaly Avanesyan Leads PokerStars National Championship Final Table
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The final table is set for the PokerStars National Championship in Sochi. Just six players will return to the Sochi Casino and Resort on Thursday afternoon to play for a top prize of RUB 8,310,000 (approximately USD $147,000). The man with the best shot at claiming the title right now is chip leader Vitaly Avanesyan.
The Russian player will start Day 4 with 5,450,000, having a slight chip advantage over his competitors. Fellow countrymen Viktor Kudinov (4,320,000) and Andrey Soloviev (4,065,000) are the closest to catching Avanesyan and will have position on the chip leader for the remainder of the event.
| Seat | Name | County | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seat 1 | Andrey Soloviev | Russia | 4,065,000 |
| Seat 2 | Viktor Kudinov | Russia | 4,320,000 |
| Seat 3 | Georgy Philippovich | Russia | 2,800,000 |
| Seat 4 | Sergey Em | Kazakhstan | 690,000 |
| Seat 5 | Dmitry Chop | Russia | 1,500,000 |
| Seat 6 | Vitaly Avanesyan | Russia | 5,450,000 |
Avanesyan considers himself a recreational player, mostly playing in the live scene. He is already guaranteed his best live score but isn��t a stranger to hoisting hardware. The 26-year old captured a World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit ring after taking down a 96-player $220 Pot-Limit Omaha event at the WSOP-C Georgia stop for USD $5,760.
Though he enters the final table sitting in fifth position, the most notable player has to be Dmitry Chop. Chop has amassed almost a million US dollars in live-tournament earnings including a victory in this very same room just two months ago where he claimed the partypoker Million title for USD $225,000.
Former PokerStars Team Pro Nacho Barbero had his deep run come to an end on the final table bubble. The Argentinian busted ninth for RUB 630,000. Other notables to hit the rail were Andrey Kotelnikov (10th - RUB 515,000), Timofey Vekshin (11th - RUB 515,000), Aleksandr Denisov (12th - RUB 458,000), Harry Lodge (23rd - RUB 281,000), Sergei Chantcev (32nd - RUB 180,500) and Josef Snejberg (37th - RUB 180,500).
Day 4 kicks off at noon local time and will play down until the latest PokerStars National Champion is crowned.