Pavel Shirshikov Once Again Leads the PokerStars Championship Sochi Main Event
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A short Day 4 at the PokerStars Championship Main Event in Sochi has come to an end with Russian player Pavel Shirshikov once again claiming the chip lead. With just 16 survivors, it took just over three 90-minute levels to decide the final two tables, beginning the day with 30 hopefuls.
For the second day in a row, Shirshikov bagged the best stack, ending Day 4 with 1,576,000. Sitting atop the counts with Shirshikov is Nadar Kakhmazov with 1,274,000. Kakhmazov won a monster pot against PokerStars Team Pro Chris Moneymaker during the final level to vault up the counts. Seyed Ghavam (1,214,000), Vladimir Troyanovskiy (1,209,000), and Lavrentiy Ni (915,000) round out the top five.
Team PokerStars Pros Moneymaker and Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier made it through Day 4 bagging 177,000 and 181,000 respectively. Grospellier started the day around the top of the leaderboard but seen his stack chipped away. Grospellier lost a big chunk after running into Daniyar Aubakirov’s quads, before having to fold a hand on the river to Ni.
Moneymaker, on the other hand, started the day among the shorter stacks but saw a nice rise to his stack as the day progressed. Moneymaker received large boosts doubling through Ghavam and taking a pot from Dmitry Chop. Moneymaker would eventually get the rest of Chop's chips as well, eliminating him in 18th place. Unfortunately, amonster cooler at the end of play against Kakhmanov crippled Moneymaker, leaving him with just 12 big blinds.
Among the other survivors include Aubakirov (763,000), Timur Bubnov (710,000), Alexander Lakhov (669,000), Said Butba (580,000) Vitaliy Li (574,000), and Dmitry Vitkind (522,000)
Though 14 players were eliminated on Day 4, all of them left with some consolation. Players removed from contention include Chop (18th - 1,485,000 RUB), Artsiom Zhadinsky (19th - 1,485,000 RUB), Jonas Lauck (21st - 1,335,000 RUB), Artem Savchenko (26th - 1,185,000 RUB), and the first casualty, Mikalai Vaskaboinikau (30th - 1,035,000 RUB).
Players will return at noon local time tomorrow to play down to a final table of six players. Day 5 will start with 58:04 left in the 21st level. Here is what the players left are fighting for:
Remaining Payouts PokerStars Championship Sochi Main Event
| Place | Prize (RUB) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29,100,000 | $514,893 |
| 2 | 18,450,000 | $326,453 |
| 3 | 13,335,000 | $235,948 |
| 4 | 10,785,000 | $190,829 |
| 5 | 8,535,000 | $151,017 |
| 6 | 6,570,000 | $116,249 |
| 7 | 4,890,000 | $86,523 |
| 8 | 3,540,000 | $62,636 |
| 9 | 2,865,000 | $50,693 |
| 10-11 | 2,370,000 | $41,934 |
| 12-13 | 2,055,000 | $36,361 |
| 14-15 | 1,815,000 | $32,114 |
| 16 | 1,635,000 | $28,929 |
Day 5 Seat Draw:
| Table | Seat | Name | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Alexander Lakhov | Russia | 669,000 |
| 1 | 2 | Pavel Shirshikov | Russia | 1,576,000 |
| 1 | 3 | Chris Moneymaker | USA | 177,000 |
| 1 | 4 | Vitaliy Li | Russia | 574,000 |
| 1 | 5 | Daniyar Aubakirov | Kazakhstan | 963,000 |
| 1 | 6 | Lavrentiy Ni | Kazakhstan | 915,000 |
| 1 | 7 | Nadar Kakhmazov | Russia | 1,274,000 |
| 1 | 8 | Oleg Chebotarev | Russia | 445,000 |
| 2 | 1 | Said Butba | Russia | 580,000 |
| 2 | 2 | Mikhail Rudoy | Russia | 337,000 |
| 2 | 3 | Vladimir Troyanovskiy | Russia | 1,209,000 |
| 2 | 4 | Seyed Ghavam | Iran | 1,214,000 |
| 2 | 5 | Junya Yamada | Japan | 468,000 |
| 2 | 6 | Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier | France | 181,000 |
| 2 | 7 | Dmitry Vitkind | Russia | 522,000 |
| 2 | 8 | Timur Bubnov | Russia | 710,000 |