Last month, Moscow’s Ravic85(pictured) took down the PokerStars Sunday $109 Rebuyoutright for $63,000. There were well over 1,100 entrants that day and Ravic85 outlasted five other PocketFives members at the final table. Now, he’s camped out in Las Vegas for the annual World Series of Poker.

“The last few months haven’t gone well, so this win came at a great time,” Ravic85 told us after the fact. “I am particularly pleased that on the same day I also managed to take fourth place in the Bigger $109.” The Sunday $109 Rebuy represented his largest online tournament cash to date by a factor of two, surpassing a $32,000 score in the 888 Poker Mega Deep in 2014.

Ravic85 was the short stack for a chunk of the final table and said he admired the play of knutante, whom he beat heads-up. No deal was struck, so the runner-up cashed for $45,000.

Ravic85 told us he was headed to Las Vegas this month for the WSOP. Consequently, he was planning to spend his winnings on live events: “I plan to play a few No Limit Hold’em tournaments and a big tournament at Aria. I am also going to play $5-$10 cash games and, of course, the Main Event.”

Speaking of the Main Event, he has reached Day 6 of poker’s most prestigious tournament before.

This will be his third trip to Las Vegas (pictured), so we asked him for advice for newcomers. He told us, “Don’t drink too much alcohol the night before a tournament. Go to a show, eat at nice restaurants, get great steaks, and go to the lake and take a ride on a boat and jet skis. If there is a free day, then it’s cool to go to the Grand Canyon, but you have to leave early in the morning.”

What do his friends and family think about his poker exploits? Do they approve or shake their heads in shame? He told us, “They have long been accustomed to the fact that I prefer non-standard ways of earning money, although many people still believe that sooner or later I will lose an apartment playing cards.”

He is up to 65 tracked wins and is approaching $2 million in career online tournament winnings. Ravic85 is #83 worldwide in the PocketFives Online Poker Rankingsafter reaching an all-time high of #69 earlier this year. He’s the #3 ranked player in Moscow and #4 in our Russia poker community.

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