Dateline 24 June,St Petersburg
The main event of the Contigroup's "White Nights" Poker Festival was the $300 No Limit Texas Hold'em.
There were 45 entries,& with rebuys & add-ons,the total prizepool was $43,200.
There were 2 players on the final table in line for the Best All Round Player Title, local player A. Dobzhenko & Finland's Jarri-Pekka Hamalainen & with the Opel Astra car at stake,excitement was high.Both players played
cautiously,unwilling to take too many risks.They were heads up in an early clash,with Jarri going all-in with a small stack holding Ah4h & Dobzhenko with AQ.When the 4 hit the board Jarri was still alive.
Jarri built his stack to a respectable level while Dobzhenko survived an all-in against 2 other players(knocking me out in the process).
Dobzhenko went on to win the event & Best All Round,a remarkable achievement,given that he was all-in late in the proceedings with 18,000 from a chip pool of 580,000.
The standard of poker in St Petersburg is extremely high & given Russia's fledgling status in the world of poker,I expect an emerging group of players will make their presence felt over the next couple of years ,as more Russian players venture to the major European tournaments.
Many from Moscow are already regular tournament competitors in Europe.
Tournament director Sergei Stolbovsky has done an excellent job, conducting these events tirelessly & almost singlehandedly.His commentary on the final tables had the crowd enthralled,creating an almost Olympic style
atmosphere,with the roars of spectators almost deafening whenever a local won a hand.
As ever,Alexei Guly,Poker manager at Olympia Casino,did all the organisational work behind the scenes,arranging hotel accomodation,ferrying players to the casino,picking up visitors from the airport,& generally keeping players informed.
BEST ALL ROUND : FINAL STANDINGS
1. A. Dobzhenko,St Petersburg: ASTRA OPEL CAR & $1,900
2. J-P. Hamalainen-Finland $1,250
From Bill Marczak in St Petersburg
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