Andrey Kotelnikov wins World Poker Tour Mix-Max title for $488,508

Andrey Kotelnikov has won the World Poker Tour World Online Championships Mix-Max Championship, earning himself the $488,508 top prize, as well as a ticket into the $15,000 WPT Tournament of Champions, a Hublot Classic Fusion Titanium watch and, of course, his name on the newly re-christened Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup. 

In the latest hugely popular online version of the WPT’s events hosted on partypoker, there were 989 players in with a chance, and a huge number of those players qualified for the event via satellites which have proved very popular. By the time the field was trimmed to a seven-handed final table, it wasn’t the Russian Kotelnikov who was chip leader, that honour instead falling to Ukrainian player Oleg Vasylchenko, who sat behind 23.5 million chips to Kotelnikov’s 12.5 million.

Those chipcounts would change, obviously, but they weren’t the only ones. British player Stuart Guite came into play as the shortest stack with just 5.7 million to his name, but he would eventually finish runner-up for over $350,000 with a very strong performance.

WPT Champions Club member Oleg Vasylchenko didn’t hold onto his lead, but Guite doubled-up to put himself back into contention, while Canada’s Jerry Wong busted in 7th place for $69,300 when his ace-ten couldn’t overtake Stuart Guite’s pocket queens.

Dimitar Danchev is a well-known professional player, but the poker table levels any field and he made his way to the virtual next in 6th place, cashing for $89,016. He was followed from the virtual felt by Britain-based Maciej Gasior (5th for $124,500) and Vayslchenko himself, the former chip leader busting in a disappointing 4th place for $190,500.

With three players remaining, Kotelnikov was taking over, and he busted Swedish player Sven Joakim Andersson in 3rd place for a superb score of $271,903. Heads-up then began, and with Kotelnikov holding 69.2 million chips, far more than Guite’s 29 million, the British player, despite having 48 big blinds, needed to play catch-up.

As it happened, that’s exactly what he did in an entertaining duel that saw both players trade the lead on multiple occasions. Guite at one flopped the nut straight to take the lead, but Kotelnikov always seemed to have a double-up in him and when Guite, now behind, flopped two pair, the set-up was on for Kotelnikov, who turned a straight and was all-in only needing to fade the river to triumph.

That’s what the Russian did when no card came to help Guite on the river and a new WPT champion was crowned. This is how the World Poker Tour announced the news to their fans on Twitter:

Congrats to Andrey Kotelnikov 🇷🇺for winning the #WPTWOC Mix-Max event on @partypoker!

Kotelnikov takes down $488,508, a seat to #WPTTOC presented by @Baccarat Crystal, a @Hublot watch, and a set of Everyday Baccarat tumblers 🥂👏 pic.twitter.com/cfJGS7vRNm

— World Poker Tour (@WPT) August 25, 2020

The name Andrey Kotelnikov goes onto the WPT Mike Sexton Champions Cup, and not only did the Russian win a huge $488,508 to add to his bankroll, but he will also await the FedEx delivery of a Hublot Classic Fusion Titanium watch worth $7,500, as well as his entry into the prestigious WPT Tournament of Champions worth $15,000.

World Poker Tour Mix-Max World Online Championship Final Table Results: