The World Poker Tour crowned its latest winner of Season XVII with the tour’s trip to Casino Sochi in Russia. WPT Russia, held in partnership with partypoker LIVE, attracted 503 entries and saw Denys Shafikov emerge victorious for $255,258.

Shafikov, a Ukrainian, is now a member of the WPT Champions Club and will compete in the season-ending Baccarat Crystal WPT Tournament of Champions.

Shafikov entered the final table as the chip leader in what was the second WPT cash of live poker career. At the end of 2018, Shafikov placed 91st in the record-setting WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $20,381. He entered WPT Russia with nearly $750,000 in live tournament earnings and a career-best score of $461,132. That score came as a result of a fourth-place finish in the EPT 12 Barcelona Main Event back in 2015.

With the victory, Shafikov added 1,000 points in the Hublot WPT Player of the Year race and now has 1,050 total on the season. That moved him into 15th place in the race, right behind Tony Tran and right ahead of Ema Zajmovic, both fellow WPT champions. The winner of the Season XVII Hublot WPT Player of the Year will win a custom Hublot timepiece and a $15,000 WPT Passport to be used in any Season XVIII global WPT event, including WPT Main Tour, WPTDeepStacks, WPT500, and WPT Special Events.

Season XVII WPT Russia Final Table Results

1. Denys Shafikov – $255,258*
2. Aleksey Gortikov – $171,236
3. Yauhen Kontush – $110,736
4. Nikolay Fal – $79,768
5. Mikhail Galitskiy – $62,751
6. Oleg Pavlyuchuk – $51,051

*First-place prize includes a $15,000 seat into the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions.

First to bust at the official WPT final table was Oleg Pavlyuchuk. According to the WPT coverage, he fell to Aleksey Gortikov on the 24th hand of the final table when his pocket eights couldn’t come from behind against Gortikov’s pocket nines.

On the 58th hand of the final table, Shafikov eliminated Mikhail Galitskiy in fifth place. Galitskiy had moved all in with the for 865,000 with the blinds at 40,000-80,000 with an 80,000 big blind ante. Shafikov called on the button with pocket fives – the – and the board ran out to finish off Galitskiy with Shafikov’s full house.

Shafikov was back at it on the 77th hand of the final table when he sent to the rail in fourth place. This time, it was in dominating fashion as Shafikov’s held up against Fal’s .

Three-handed play lasted until the 116th hand of the final table. That’s when Yauhen Kontush was sent home in third place thanks to Gortikov. Gortikov moved all in from the small blind with pocket jacks, covering the stack of Kontush in the big blind. Kontush called with pocket nines but couldn’t come from behind.

Shafikov entered heads-up play with a large lead over Gortikov, but Gortikov quickly found a double up to pull the stacks much closer to even at 8.9 million to 6.4 million. The double didn’t seem to phase Shafikov, though, as he went right back to work extending his chip lead. Entering the final hand of the tournament, Shafikov had more than 10 million in his stack and Gortikov was under 5 million.

On the final hand, the 168th hand of the final table, Gortikov moved all in for 4.5 million with the after Shafikov raised on the button to 375,000. The blinds were 75,000-150,000 with a 150,000 big blind ante at the time. Shafikov called with pocket nines – the – and won the hand, and the tournament, with the  run out. Gortikov was eliminated in second place and took home $171,236.

Next up for the World Poker Tour is the Season XVII WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open, currently running through January 31, 2019. That’s when the final table will be set before the final six head to Las Vegas on March 13 to compete for the title. The reason for the break is the WPT’s new schedule and structure for televised events, of which the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open is one. The WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open is the second WPT event of Season XVII to go on such a break, following the recent WPT Gardens Poker Championship.