Russia’s Andrey Kotelnikov Wins WPT Online Mix-Max Championship
It was a career day for Russia’s Andrey Kotelnikov on Tuesday as he navigated his way through the final table of the $3,200 World Poker Tour Online Mix-Max Championship to capture the $488,508 first-place prize and his first WPT title.
At the start of the day only seven players from the 146 that made Day 2 of the event remained with the experienced Kotelnikov finding himself bunched up in the middle of the chip counts with some work to do.
The final table started with plenty of play left and as a result it took over an hour before the first player hit the rail. After an open by Maciej Gasior in late position, Jerry Wong three-bet from his ten big blind stack with 
. The UK’s Stuart Guite, who earlier doubled through Wong and now had him covered, then shipped his stack with 
. It folded back to Wong who made the call with his tournament on the line. The 
board ran out clean for the pocket queens and Wong was eliminated in seventh place.
Half an hour later, the bustouts picked up. From the small blind, Dimitar Danchev shipped his twenty big blind stack holding 
right into Sweden’s Sven Joakim Andersson’s 
. Danchev, at risk, was looking for serious help. He picked up a few extra out on the 
flop. But the turn and 
turn gave the hand to Andersson’s pocket aces and sent Danchev to the rail in sixth place.
Just a few hands later, Kotelnikov put in a raise from the button with his 
. It folded through to Gasior in the big blind who shoved his final seventeen big blinds in with 
. Kotelnikov quickly called. The table watched as the board ran out 
never really giving Kotelnikov a sweat and ending Gasior’s tournament in fifth place.
With four players left, Ukraine’s Oleg Vasylchenko open-shoved his nearly 20 big blind stack from the small blind holding 
. Kotelnikov, who had him out-chipped also had him out-pipped with his 
. Kotelnikov made the call and put the Ukrainian at risk. Again, the 
run out never really gave Kotelnikov much to worry about. Vasylchenko, a satellite winner into the event, finished in fourth place.
On the very next hand, Kotelnikov involved yet again. Guite folded his button and Kotelnikov shipped his big stack from the small blind with . Andersson, in the big blind with 16 big blinds behind, made the call holding the . Kotelnikov took the lead in the hand on the 
flop but Andersson still had some backdoor outs and his over card. All of those outs evaporated when the hit the turn, leaving Andersson drawing dead to the 
river. Andersson, also a satellite winner, exited in third place.
The heads-up match between Kotelnikov and Guite lasted over an hour and saw both players hold the chip lead at one point. In a battle that looked like it could last a lot longer than it did, a bit of a cooler decided the tournament.
On the final hand, Guite put in a raise from the button with 
and was called by Kotelnikov in the big blind with . The flop came 
giving Guite two pair and Kotelnikov an open-ended straight draw. Kotelnikov checked it over to Guite who put in a bet. Kotelnikov called. The turn came the and with his made straight, Kotelnikov checked. Guite bet again, this time Kotelnikov check-raised big and Guite made the call. The 
hit the river and Kotelnikov moved all-in on Guite. With his two pair, Guite made the call and as a result, ended up as the runner-up.
Andrey Kotelnikov is the winner of the WPT Online Mix-Max Championship for $488,508, a $15,000 entry into the WPT Tournament of Champions, and a spot on the WPT Mike Sexton Champions Cup.
Final Table Payout
- Andrey Kotelnikov – $488,508
- Stuart Guite – $366,604.80
- Sven Joakim Andersson – $271,903.20
- Oleg Vasyichenko – $190,500
- Maciej Gasior – $124,500
- Dimitar Danchev – $89,016
- Jerry Wong – $69,300