Anatoly Filatov won the 2018 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Russia RUB318,000, defeating a field of 916 total entries to win the RUB60 million first-place prize.
Before this prestigious event—the largest poker festival held in Russia that year—Filatov had already amassed over $2.1 million in live tournament earnings, including two victories in events hosted by his sponsor, partypoker. His impressive track record also included a deep run in the 2017 Caribbean Poker Party, where he finished in the $5,300 Finale for $165,000. In the same year, he secured 11th place in the partypoker MILLIONS Grand Final Barcelona €10,300 High Roller (€50,000) and a seventh-place finish in the partypoker MILLIONS North America C$10,300 Finale (C$60,000).
Filatov entered the final day of the tournament in eighth chip position with 11 players left. He navigated his way to the final eight, where he eliminated Konstantin Uspenskii. Holding K♥Q♣, Filatov outdrew Uspenskii’s A♠K♦, making two pair by the river and sending him home with $63,000. He followed up with another knockout, using pocket kings to hold against Mikhail Galitskiy’s A♥Q♠, eliminating Galitskiy in seventh place for $90,000.
Filatov continued his momentum, busting Alexey Melnikov in fifth place ($180,000) and moving into second in chips, trailing only Gor Kazaryan. He then took the outright lead when he called Viktor Khodorenko’s all-in shove with pocket queens against Khodorenko’s A♦7♣. Filatov made a set on the turn, eliminating Khodorenko in fourth place ($270,000).
Kazaryan briefly regained the chip lead, but Filatov reclaimed control after knocking out Andrey Malyshev in third place ($400,950), setting up the final heads-up battle. Kazaryan entered with 534,000,000 chips, while Filatov started with 378,000,000.
The decisive hand came with blinds at 6,000,000-12,000,000 and a 12,000,000 big blind ante. Kazaryan limped in from the button with Q♠9♥, and Filatov raised to 27,000,000 from the big blind with J♥10♥. Kazaryan called. The flop brought Q♣9♦7♣, and Filatov checked. Kazaryan bet 35,000,000, and Filatov called. The turn came K♠, giving Filatov a straight. He checked again, prompting Kazaryan to bet 55,000,000. Filatov moved all-in, and Kazaryan called with his two pair. The river was the A♠, sealing Filatov’s victory. Kazaryan finished as the runner-up, earning $585,000.
2018 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Russia Main Event Results:
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in RUB) | Prize (~ in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anatoly Filatov | Russia | 60,000,000 | 886,200 |
| 2 | Gor Kazaryan | Russia | 39,000,000 | 576,030 |
| 3 | Andrey Malyshev | Russia | 26,730,000 | 394,802 |
| 4 | Viktor Khodorenko | Belarus | 18,000,000 | 265,860 |
| 5 | Alexey Melnikov | Russia | 12,000,000 | 177,240 |
| 6 | Gleb Tremzin | Russia | 8,400,000 | 124,068 |
| 7 | Mikhail Galitskiy | Russia | 6,000,000 | 88,620 |
| 8 | Konstantin Uspenskii | Russia | 4,200,000 | 62,034 |
