Vitaly Lunkin Wins the PokerStars Russian Poker Circut Moscow Tournament

On May 19th, 2009, Vitaly Lunkin won the PokerStars Russian Poker Circuit Moscow Championship this weekend, edging out an all-Russian final table. The backgammon enthusiast and Renju champion won a total of $445,709 1st place cash from a final table that featured Team PokerStars members and world series of poker Main Event final table members Alexander Kravchenko and Ivan Demidov.

Lunkin, a Full Tilt poker pro, was one of the short stacks coming into the final table but managed to quickly change things around going into a heads-up showdown with poker pro Vyacheslav Gorvachev holding a substantial chip lead. In the end, Lunkin's pair of 10's held steady against Gorvachev's ace-six to win in front of a jubilant hometown crowd at Moscow's Renaissance Hotel.

A total of 206 participants paid up to $7,000 for the tournament. The top twenty-seven players were paid. The former manager of a dietary supplement organization, Lunkin has been a prominent figure in the growing Russian poker circuit over the past 5 years and won a World Series of Poker bracelet in a $1,500 No-Limit Holdem event in 2008.

06/11/2009, Thursday
Matthew Dorst

Vitaly Lunkin Wins the PokerStars Russian Poker Circut Moscow Tournament

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