Russia’s Vitaly Lunkin Wins WSOP Event 27

The 2008 WSOP Event #27 is now in the books and in the end it was Moscow’s Vitaly Lunkin who stood victorious pocketing the $628,417 top place prize money and the first WSOP bracelet of his career. It’s quite an accomplishment for any player to survive a field of 2,706 players, but it’s even more impressive when it’s done by an amateur player making his first trip to the Rio all the way from Russia.

While until yesterday Vitaly Lunkin’s occupation would’ve been best described as general manager of dietary supplement company; he did not come to the poker world out of nowhere. Since 2003 Lunkin has been playing poker part time in Moscow Russia, during which time he’s racked up $79,151 in career winnings. His most recent previous cash was for $25,000 for a fifth place finish at the Moscow Millions this past November.

It was Lunkin’s business associates and friends that encouraged him to come try his World Series luck this year. His initial planned after receiving some staking was to come out here and play the Omaha cash games and then play the $10,000 buy-in Main Event. His decision to play Event #28 came only after top ranked Russian player Alex Kravchenko told him “The $1500 buy-in event is for you”. Lunkin took the advice of the player he considers the best in Russia, and as a result has a new bracelet and $628,417 cash to show for it.

Event #27 Day 3 Recap:

The day started with seventeen players rather than the typical nine players, so today we played out the final two tables. It took roughly four hours before our official final table of nine was reached. Here is a quick run down of hour we got there:

About 20 minutes into the day, Deric Fitzgerald hit the rail in 17th Place ($21,972) when his pocket AJ failed to outrace Brett Kimes’ pocket pair of eights. Six minutes later Frank Simpson was eliminated in 16th Place ($21,792) when he also failed to win a race, he had AK vs. Carl Jerome pocket tens. The last woman in the field Deb Blair was eliminated in 15th ($29,180) place when she was all in for her last 50K from the SB against Richard Alm and Philip Yeh. She must have known she was in bad shape when the other players continued to bet while she was all in. The board eventually ran A-6-8-6-4 with no flush possibility. She tuned over K3 and was beat by Alm’s AQ and he was beat by Yeh who took the pot with AK.

Shortly after the first break Jeffrey Brown was eliminated in 14th place ($29,180) when he got his money in preflop with AJ vs. Kimes’ AK. It was an emotional hand as the flop came J-8-8, but Kimes re-sucked-out when the turn was a King. Another half hour passed before our next elimination. On this hand Carl Jerome limped from the SB and Barry Schultz checked his option. Both players checked all the way down on a board of 2d As Qs Tc Jc, but on the river Schultz last to act bet 120K and Jerome check raised over the top all in, Shultz beat him in the pot showing Kc 5d for a backdoored Broadway. Perhaps Carl Jerome has never been told not to slow play in tournaments, especially on draw rich boards and likewise has also never heard or at least did not stick to “don’t go broke in a small pot”. In whatever case his slow play cost him, but at least he had $36,567 to collect for his 13th place finish.

About seven minutes later, Bashar Ramahi pocket sixes where no match for Brett Kimes pocket queens and he hit the rail in 12th place also receiving $36,567. About fifteen or twenty minutes later Jordan Smith pushed in with A5 and was called by Bobby Firestone who tabled pocket eights. The board ran 6-Q-6-4-9 and he was to the rail in 11th place also collecting $35,567.

At this point players were all placed on a single table, but for official WSOP ranking purposes only nine will be considered final table players. At this point the chip counts were:

Brett Kimes – 1,500,000
Philip Yeh – 1,360,000
Barry Schultz – 1,340,000
Vitaly Lunkin – 1,030,000
Bobby Firestone – 920,000
Kenneth Terrell – 650,000
Richard Alm – 500,000
Robert Brown – 310,000
Tony Gargano – 285,000
Trevor Donaldson – 265,000

It took nearly two more hours before the official Event #27 $1500 NLHE final table was determined. This happened after Tony Gargano pushed all in from the SB on a steal with Qd 2c and was snap called by Vitality Lunkin who held Ad Jd. The board ran 8-A-9 and was all over when the turn was the 3h. Gargano received $36,567 for his tenth place finish.

Only two hands into the official final table Philip Yeh was eliminated in 9th ($57,990), and Vitality Lunkin was the once again responsible for the casualty. On this hand Yeh moved all in with A9 and Lunkin called from the cutoff with AJ. The board ran 7-J-Q-5-5 to send Yeh to the rail. At this point Lunkin had the chip lead with over 1.9 million chips.

Thirty five minutes later Robert Brown pushed his last 250K chips into the pot with Qh Jh and Trevor Donaldson called with AQ. The board ran K-5-3-7-K and Brown hit the rail in 8th place good for a $84,954 payday. About ten minutes later Barry Shultz raised to 150K from middle position and Booby Firestone reraised all in from the big blind, Shultz made the call with 44 and it was his tournament life that was on the line. He was in good shape when Firestone turned over As 2s and in even better shape when the flop came 8-J-2, but the turn was an ace giving Firestone the winning hand. Shultz collected $112,657 for his seventh place finish.

45 more minutes passed with no eliminations and the players then took a dinner break. At this time the chip counts were:

Vitaly Lunkin 2,480,000
Bobby Firestone 1,450,000
Brett Kimes 1,203,000
Kenneth Terrell 805,000
Richard Alm 775,000
Trevor Donaldson 600,000

About 15 minutes after the break Richard Alm was eliminated in sixth place receiving $149,594 after his A8 failed to outrace Bobby Firestones’ pocket sevens. Twenty minutes later Trevor Donaldson ran his AK into Bobby Firestones pocket kings and he was to the rail as well, taking home $190,255 for his fifth place finish. Forty minutes later Kenneth Terrell finished in fourth for a $190,225 payday after his AJ ran into Vitaly Lunkin’s pocket jacks.

When three handed play started the chip counts were Vitaly Lunkin 3.47 million, Bobby Firestone 3.18 million and Brett Kimes 1.55 million. Kimes was the player who made out best during three handed play about 90 minutes into it a hand occurred that saw Firestone raise to 250K, Brett Kimes re-raise to 750K, Firestone re-re-raise all in and Kimes call..

Kimes tabled Ad Td
Firestone tabled 3d 3c

The board ran 7d Ah 7c 8c 7h

When this hand was complete the chip counts were:

Brett Kimes – 4,325,000
Vitaly Lunkin – 2,100,000
Bobby Firestone – 1,695,000

About twenty minutes later a hand saw Vitaly Lunkin limp from the small blind and Bobby Firestone check his option. The flop cam 6h Td 9h, Lunkin checked, Firestone bet 200K and Lunkin responded with an all in. Firestone called turning over T3 for top pair while Lunkin tabled Js 8s for an open ended straight. The turn was 5h, changing nothing, but the river was 7s which gave Lunkin the winning straight that sent Bobby Firestone to the rail in 3rd place; he collected $277,206.

When heads up play started the chip counts were:

Brett Kimes 4,700,000
Vitaly Lunkin 3,500,000

Early in the heads up match Lunkin took a 4.6 million to 3.6 million lead when Kimes limped on the button, Lunkin raised to 375K and Kimes called. When the flop came 2-J-2 Lunkin lead for 350K, Kimes min-raised to 700K, Lunkin immediately moved all in and even quicker Kimes folded.

A while later Lunkin had the tournament pretty much won when on a flop of 5d 6d 9d Kimes lead for 1.1 million and Lunkin quickly moved all in. Kimes responded with “I think my gut is right” and after a min called. Lunkin turned over 7h8h for the nut straight and Kimes was drawing to a miracle with Ac 6h. He got that miracle in the form of running diamonds for a chopped pot.

A short while later Brett Kimes again limped then called a bet, this time 600K. The flop came Jd 2c 4s and both players checked. When the turn came 8h Kimes glanced at Lunkins chip’s and then at his own, something Lunkin clearly picked up on, but fired for 1 million nonetheless. As anyone with any poker experience fully expected based off the read when the turn was dealt, Kimes moved all in and Lunkin snap called. “Have a jack?” asked Kimes and cursed when Lunkin turned over As Jc and he disappointedly turned over T8. The river came Ks and Lunkin is the 2008 WSOP Event #27 $1500 NL Champion receiving a bracelet and the $628,417 first place prize money and Kimes received $387,837 for his runner up finish.

Vitaly Lunkin carried a huge grin for the next 20 minutes as he celebrated and posed with the bracelet and winning hand for photographers. In his post interview he mentioned meeting a lot of great people here and said “I love America, and I love poker!

Poker-Prop offers huge congratulations Vitaly Lunkin believes he’ll be a great champion and hopes his victory continues to increase the popularity of poker in Russia.