Earlier this month, Russia’s Alexandr BlackkTrofimov (pictured) continued his assault on the upper echelons of the PocketFives Online Poker Rankingsby taking down the 888 Poker Sunday Challenge. The $90 buy-in, one rebuy tournament runs once per week on Sundays, has a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool, and shelled out a first place prize of $23,000. He stands at #31 worldwide after being as high as #24 earlier this year.

“It was a very important win for me because I didn’t run as well as I expected to in SCOOP,” Trofimov told PocketFives in an exclusive interview. Over 700 players turned out for the Sunday Challenge on 888 Poker and Trofimov defeated Finland’s nunununuts heads-up.

The final 30 players in that Sunday’s 888 tournament consisted of five members of the top 200 in the PocketFives Rankings, making for some stiff competition down the stretch. Despite the obstacles, Trofimov conveyed that it was mostly smooth sailing: “I was very lucky that throughout the tournament I had rather weak tables. At the final table, I almost always had the chip lead, so that also played rather easily.”

888 Poker offers PocketFives members a special 100% up to $600 sign-up bonus instead of the usual 100% up to $400. PocketFivers can also get $8 free plus one free month of PocketFives Training with the sign-up fee waived, a $65 value, by signing up for 888 Poker through our links. You’ll also be helping our community. Just e-mail support@pocketfives.com to claim your Training.

We asked Trofimov for his assessment of 888 Poker’s tournament structures. He responded, “I don’t play a lot on 888, but I do play tournaments there whose structures are very good. 888 Poker adding some good rebuy tournaments would be a good idea.” You can lend your suggestions for 888 Poker by clicking over to the 888 Poker Official Support Thread here on PocketFives and weighing in.

What does it mean to be at the cusp of the top 30 in the PocketFives Rankings? “It’s not bad being in the top 30 in the Rankings,” he told us. “At the very least, it means I play a lot and sometimes win. I’m not going to the WSOP this summer, so I’ll continue to play a lot online and hopefully will rise higher in the Rankings.”

PocketFives’ Russia pokercommunity has over 550 members spread across the giant nation. Trofimov is one of four community members from Murmansk and said he got started in poker four years ago: “For two years, I played Fixed Limit and reached $50/$100. After that, I became interested in the MTT scene and since then have only played tournaments. I was very lucky and did really well in SCOOP and FTOPS early on. After that, I went into a dry spell, but now the luck is coming back.”

Last October, Trofimov won the PartyPoker $100,000 Guaranteed High Rollerfor $35,000. Two months ago, victory was his in the Big $162 on PokerStarsfor $21,000. All told, he’s closing in on a $2 million cash badge and currently stands at nearly $1.9 million in winnings in his PocketFives profile.

Finally, one of the hot topics in the PocketFives community as of late has been the possibility that PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker room, will acquire the assets of Full Tilt after the latter’s deal with Groupe Bernard Tapie fell through. We asked the Russian for his take on the situation: “What I have left on FTP is not that much money. So, I do not really watch the news and details, but I think the fact that PokerStars could be buying Full Tilt Poker significantly increases the chances of a comeback.”

Sign up for 888 Pokerto play in this week’s Sunday Challenge. Remember to e-mail support@pocketfives.com to claim your free PocketFives Training if you create an 888 Poker account and make a deposit.