EPT Sochi 2019: Kartik Ved Reaches Final Table of EPT National; Aditya Sushant & Jayjit Ray Post Scores

The penultimate day of the European Poker Tour (EPT) Sochi series-opener, the ₽77,000 EPT National, is in the books and Team India is reigning supreme! Three Indian pros, namely Aditya Sushant (456,000), along with PokerGuru Team Ambassadors Kartik Ved (178,000) and Jayjit Ray (121,000) had qualified for Day 2. While Sushant and Ray finished in the money, Ved stormed his way into the eight-handed final table with a workable stack of 1,385,000.

Ray was the first of the trio to fall out, and he finished 73^rd for RUB 135,100 (₹1.44 Lakhs). Sushant cracked into the top 50 and ended his deep run in 30^th place for RUB 227,500 (₹2.43 Lakhs).

Ved had started off with a modest stack on Day 2, but by level 24, he was one of the top stacks with a count of 3,000,000. Towards the end of the day, he orchestrated the back-to-back eliminations of Mikhail Khabarov (13^th for RUB 511,000) and Andrey Subbotin (12^th for RUB 511,000), taking his stack to 2,350,000. Though he lost some of his chips to Yury Masliankou during the last few hands of Day 2, he still made it to the eight-handed final table where he will start the final leg of the tournament placed seventh in chips with 1,385,000.

While all the Day 2 players were already in the money for at least RUB 122500 (₹1.31 Lakhs) and the final eight are all guaranteed to take home at least RUB 889,000 (₹9.51 Lakhs), the last eight are all racing to win the title and the top prize of RUB 93,17,000 (~₹99.76 Lakhs).

While Yury Masliankou (5,260,000) from Belarus leads the eight finalists coming into the final day, Giorgiy Skhulukhiya (4,145,000) and Leonid Bilokur (3,210,000) round out the top three stacks. The event will play down to a champion today.

Day 2 Recap

The EPT National this year registered 721 entries, overtaking last year’s record of 705 entries. By the time the three starting flights were in the books, only 108 (Day 1A – 37, Day 1B – 13, Day 1C – 58) players were left standing.

Day 2 was stage to intense play on the felts with players falling quickly even before the first break. Nearly 10 hours later the tournament was down to the eight-handed final table.

Keeping Team India`s title hopes alive at the event is Team PokerGuru Ambassador, Kartik Ved. Ved had entered on Day 1C where he bagged a stack of 178,000 and will resume the final table action with 1,385,000. Ved played valiantly to climb up the ranks considerably despite setbacks. In Level 19, Ved found himself tangling with Andrey Subbotin who held against his . Subbotin couldn’t have hoped for a better flop as the brought him two pair making the turn and the river redundant. Ved came down to 400,00 after this hand but he chipped up again, and by the time Level 24 got over, he held 3,000,000.

The maverick Indian pro scored several knockouts on Day 2. In Level 25, Ved had an all-in showdown with Mikhail Khabarov who held against Ved’s . Ved remained ahead on the flop and hit top pair on the turn, but Khabarov still had outs to make a wheel. His hopes were quashed when the appeared on the river, eliminating Kharbarov in 13^th place (RUB 511,000).

Several hands later, Andrey Subbotin who held only 275,000 moved all in and was called by Ved. It was clear when the cards were tabled, that Subbotin’s was ahead of Ved’s but the board ran in Ved’s favor, and he won the pot with a pair of deuces, eliminating Subbotin in 12^th place (RUB 511,000). Though Ved found himself losing a chunk of his stack to Yury Masliankou, he still managed to carry a stack to the final table.

WSOP champion Aditya Sushant had 456,000 when Day 2 kicked off and had a choppy ride. In Level 17, Sushant eliminated Viktor Wall with his pitched against the latter’s . The flop of was safe for Wall, but the saw Sushant surging ahead. The river was the , and Wall was eliminated. With this pot, Sushant chipped up to 625,000. However, he couldn’t maintain the momentum and was eventually eliminated in 30^th place (RUB 227,500 ~ ₹2.43 Lakhs) at the hands of Vasiliy Tsapko. It all came down to a cooler where Tsapko held the pocket aces against Sushant’s pocket jacks, and Sushant couldn`t find another jack on the rundown.

The third Indian on Day 2 was Team PokerGuru Ambassador, Jayjit Ray who made an early exit in 73^rd place (RUB 135,100 ~₹1.44 Lakhs).

In the eliminations coming towards the fag end of play, Artur Martirosyan (10^th for RUB 574,000) and Anton Ostanin (11^th for RUB 574,000) fell places short of the final table.

Just a few hands before the play was halted, Sergey Petrushevskiy (9^th for RUB 700,000) found his ace-ten cracked by Alexandr Sergutin’s pocket aces.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Yury Masliankou – 5,260,000
2. Giorgiy Skhulukhiya – 4,145,000
3. Leonid Bilokur – 3,210,000
4. Daniil Lukin – 2,595,000
5. Andrey Lukyanov – 2,380,000
6. Alexandr Sergutin – 1,985,000
7. Kartik Ved – 1,385,000
8. Sarkis Karabadzhakyan – 670,000

Day 3 is currently underway, and Sarkis Karabadzhakyan has hit the rail in 8th place (RUB 889,000). Ved who started with a stack of 1,385,000 was at the time of posting this report the shortest of the remaining players, but latest updates indicate that he has chipped up and is presenting sitting with a stack of 1,400,000.

Content & Images Courtesy: PokerNews

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