Seat 1: Andrey Bondar, 44, Orenburg/Russia, Live satellite winner - 4,350,000

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Andrey Bondar's road to the final table was a quiet one, but now there are just seven opponents between him and the prestigious PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo Main Event title. The 44-year-old from Russia won his seat in a live satellite, and then slowly continued through each of the days. He was in the second half of the rankings after Day 1 only to finish Day 2 in mid-table. Day 3 was critical for Bondar, who survived the day with less than 20 big blinds to sit in 38th place out of 45 remaining runners. But he made it through yet again, and then dodged a deadly bullet on Day 5 when he doubled with ace-king against ace-queen of Dmytro Shuvanov, who spiked a queen on the flop. The river brought a king to bring a huge relief for Bondar, who could remain sitting firmly in his chair. So far, Bondar has 11 reported live cashes to his name, worth just over $200k combined. His best result was €66,780 for 19th place in the EPT12 Grand Final €25k High Roller. Bondar's second-largest payday came also here in Monaco. Two years ago, he finished third in the EPT11 Grand Final €2k Event, earning €62,489.