The Russian Poker Tour, run by PokerStars, was created late in 2008 to help serve the poker
boom in Russia. Backed by two of PokerStars brightest young professionals, Ivan Demidov (2008 WSOP Main Event Runner-Up) and Alexander Kravchenko (4th place in the 2007 WSOP Main Event), the RPT finally launched January 25th, 2009 in St. Petersburg. A few months later, the RPT found itself in Moscow for another week of big
buy-in multi-table tournaments.
While the
RPT is still young, PokerStars is hoping it will help reach out to another market. Having already moved into Europe, Asia, and South America, PokerStars is truly becoming a global poker brand. The second season is slated to
open late in November 2009 in Kiev.
There are many ways to qualify for
RPT events, and the easiest option is to go through online satellites. Players could qualify for the inaugural event for as little as $2.20 or 111 Frequent Player Points. For the second season, PokerStars is once again running online satellites, starting with the Kiev Event. The qualifiers work somewhat like a Step system, with lower
buy-in tournaments leading to the main $225+$15 satellite, which grants a travel package for every $4,500 in the prize pool. The $240 ticket can be won in smaller $8 and $22 events.
The inaugural
RPT held in St. Petersburg only had a handful of events, including a $5,000 Main Event with a prize pool over $1,000,000. The
final table was without any big names in poker, and was won by Oleg Sounstov.
The second
RPT Event was held in Moscow in May, 2009. The Main event was a $7,000 entry and drew 206 players creating a $1,442,000 prize pool. The final table was full of Russians including the aforementioned Demidov and Kravchenko. The title, and over $443,000, went to two-time WSOP
bracelet holder Vitaly Lunkin.
1. Vitaly Lunkin $443,731
2. Vyacheslav Gorjachev $245,627
3. Alexander Haustov $125,604
4. Oleg Shamordin $97,696
5. Sergey Artamonov $83,726
6. Ivan Demidov $69,787
7. Dmitry Vitkind $55,817
8. Alexander Kravchenko $41,847
9. Evgenie Onishchuk $27,909
The RPT’s final stop in 2009 comes in Kiev, where an expanded tournament series awaits a world-class field:
Russian Poker Tour Kiev Tournaments
There are more
RPT Events on the docket for 2010 including stops in the Ukraine and Egypt.