Partypoker has announced the first location for the new Million National global tour and it’s the first visit to Sochi, Russia.
What are the odds?
On the day Vladimir Putin tells the whole world that Russia’s prostitutes are the ‘best in the world,’ partypoker announce plans to host an event there.
The online poker giants will host their inaugural partypoker Million National Event in Sochi, Russia, 24-27 May 2017. The event will feature a $1m Guarantee with $200,000 reserved for the winner, and I think the Russian locals will turn up in their droves.
The $1,100 buy-in is the first partypoker Million National Event released to the general public. The announcement comes a week after partypoker announced plans to move away from their long-term partnership with the World Poker Tour (WPT) to launch a global live tour with the Million brand acting as the beating heart.
Appearances in Russia are sparse from the largest live tour operators in the world. PokerStars launched the Russian Poker Tour (RPT) in 2008 but had to disband the event after the Russian government dropped the hammer and sickle on gambling activity in 2009.
The exodus happened after Russia introduced Federal Law N 244-FZ, banning gambling in all but four areas of Russia: Primorie, Siberian Coin, Yantarna, and Krasnodar, and it’s in one of these locations that the partypoker tour bus will park up for a few days in the Spring.
Sochi, in Krasnodar, was the venue for the 2014 Winter Olympics, and the five-star Sochi Casino & Resort will break bread with partypoker players for the first time.
Artur Voskanyan is the founder of the Poker Club Management and Manager of the poker club at Sochi Casino and Resort. The former World Poker Tour (WPT) Main Event final tablist said he was delighted to finally welcome one of the big boys to Russia, and called the partnership with partypoker ‘only the beginning’ prompting speculation of a potential $5m Guaranteed Million event if Sochi can pull in the numbers.
The Million events allow players to compete online and live during the Day 1 action. These begin on Sunday 12 March, including satellites where people can qualify for a trip to Russia for only a cent.
Partypoker Million Sochi Schedule
Sun, 12 March: 9 pm partypoker Million Sochi Online Day 1A
Sun, 19 March: 9 pm partypoker Million Sochi Online Day 1B
Fri, 24 March: 2 pm partypoker Million Sochi Online Day 1C
Sat, 25 March: 9 pm partypoker Million Sochi Online Day 1D
Sun, 26 March: 10 am partypoker Million Sochi Day 1E 6-Max Turbo
Sun, 26 March: 2 pm partypoker Million Sochi Day 2
Mon, 27 March: 2 pm partypoker Million Sochi Final Day
