PokerStars to Launch Russia’s Biggest Ever Tournament

Only last month, partypoker made all the poker headlines by announcing the upcoming launch of its Million National event at the Sochi Casino and Resort in Russia, which with a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million and a first place prize of at least $200,000 would have made it the country’s biggest ever live poker tournament.
I say would have because barely a few weeks later, and PokerStars has upped the ante by announcing that it would in fact be the operator sponsoring Russia’s biggest ever poker tournament, this time with a potential prize pool of $2.6 million up for grabs.
Both tournament series will be hosted at the Sochi Casino & Resort, with the partypoker Million National Sochi taking place between March 12-27, and the PokerStars Championship Sochi from May 20-31. However, while partypoker’s $1,100 Main Event will guarantee a prize pool of at least $1 million, the PokerStars $5,590 Main Event has committed to a minimum prize pool of RUB 150,000,000 ($2.6m).
PokerStars is the world’s largest online poker operator, and is currently showing a 7-day average of 14,000 cash game players, whereas partypoker is currently in 8th place with 1,050 players. In the meantime, PokerStars has been making the most of having wrestled the limelight away from its much-smaller competitor, and has announced that one of the site’s recent signings, Russian pro Igor Kurganov, would be attending the 11 day tournament series.
“I’m excited to see PokerStars first ever sponsored live event in Russia and will be competing in the events, of course,” explained Kurganov.
Edgar Stuchly, PokerStars Director of Live Events, also added his thoughts on the upcoming series, stating:
“Sochi is a premier location for hosting world-class events and we are looking forward to bringing PokerStars Championship Sochi to this exciting location. With its vast array of 5-star hotels, outdoor activities, and 300 sunny days a year, alongside a brand new casino, Sochi is fast becoming a prime vacation spot and gaming destination, all in one.”