Igor Kurganov Victory Caps Off a Glorious 2017

Igor Kurganov has topped off a glorious year in style after taking down the PokerStars Championship High Roller in Prague for €371,250 ($438,493). A total of 52 players entered the €25,500 buy-in tournament to create a prize pool of €1,274,000 ($1,504,754), with the Team PokerStars Pro subsequently overcoming all his opponents, including Mexico’s Juan Carlos Alvarado heads-up, to claim his third title of 2017.
The tournament took place at the Hilton Prague Hotel in the Czech capital, with its final table of seven including such pros as Erik Seidel (7th), Vladimir Troyanovskiy (6th), Thomas Mühlöcker (5th), Stephen Chidwick (4th), and Christopher Kruk (3rd).
Kurganov then began heads-up play holding a 3.35m to 1.85m chip lead over Alvarado, although the scores were soon evened up after the Russian lost an all-in with pocket fives against the K-Q of his final competitor. The duo then agreed a deal in which both players were guaranteed at least €319,750 apiece, with €50k and the trophy going to the eventual winner.
Soon after, the deciding hand was played with Alvarado (10-7) shoving all-in on a 7-3-2-10-5 board, only to walk into a made straight on the river by Kurganov.
Final Table Results:
1: Igor Kurganov €371,250
2: JC Alvarado Mexico €319,750
3: Christopher Kruk €185,000
4: Stephen Chidwick €140,000
5: Thomas Mühlöcker €108,000
6: Vladimir Troyanovskiy €83,000
7: Erik Seidel €67,000
As a result of his latest victory, Kurganov further consolidates his position atop Russia’s ‘All Time Money List’ with $14,656,127 in winnings, with a second placed Ivan Demidov a long way back on $6,843,791. This year, Kurganov added a total of $2,613,586 to his bankroll, with his biggest score recorded after taking down the €50,000 PokerStars Championship Super High Roller for €1,084,100 ($1,273,165).
Perhaps his finest moment, however, came after capturing a career first WSOP bracelet at the $10,000 Tag Team Championship for $136,982, alongside his girlfriend Liv Boeree. The UK pro joined PokerStars as an ambassador back in 2010, and this year Kurganov was also offered a sponsorship deal with the world’s biggest poker site. As Eric Hollreiser, vice president of corporate communications, stated at the time:
“Igor’s mathematical poker mind and passion for giving back to society represent some of the best traits in poker. We’re eager to have Igor contribute his talents to our brand and to our business.”