The European Poker Tour (EPT) Sochi Main Event 2018 is in the books, but the excitement still continues around Arseniy Karmatskiy, who won it for 27,300,000₽ ($464,100 USD). The victory for Karmatskiy was not easy, as he had to defeat a strong 861- entry field. Interestingly, this win was the biggest score of his career and it took his live tournament earnings to an impressive $786,447.
On the final day of the event, Karmatskiy resumed the action as the chip leader. Soon, he went on to further extend his lead by eliminating 3 key players – Andrey Kaygorodsev (7th – $62,019 USD), Sergey Kerzhakov (6th – $88,230 USD) and Mikhail Kovalyuk (5th – $117,696 USD).
Karmatskiy’s biggest opponent at the final table of the EPT Main Event 2018 was Viktor Shegai, who went on to win a huge pot and took the lead from Karmatskiy. A little later, Karmatskiy came back strongly and won big preflop with his pocket Jacks against Shegai’s A-K.
Karmatskiy continued his aggression at the final table and very soon went on to knock-out 2 more well-known players – Vahe Martiroysyan and Ernest Shakarian in the 4th and 3rd places.
Later, Karmatskiy began the heads-up play against Shegai with a 4-to-1 chip advantage. While Shegai gave a good fight, he couldn’t go all the way. On the last hand of the dual, Shegai moved all-in with Jc-8c against Karmatskiy’s Qs-10c. The board ran out 10c-7d-6d-7s-6h, giving the coveted title to Karmatskiy. Shegai finished runner-up for an impressive $281,520 USD in the prizemoney.
A Quick Look At The Final Table Payouts:
| Place | Player | Earnings (USD) |
| 1 | Arseniy Karmatskiy | $464,100 |
| 2 | Viktor Shegai | $281,520 |
| 3 | Ernest Shakarian | $198,696 |
| 4 | Vahe Martiroysyan | $149,022 |
| 5 | Mikhail Kovalyuk | $117,696 |
| 6 | Sergey Kerzhakov | $88,230 |
| 7 | Andrey Kaygorodsev | $62,019 |
| 8 | Mikhail Plakkhin | $43,860 |
| 9 | Dmitriy Zhukov | $34,680 |
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