In just two months, the Russian Poker Series Grand Final will decide the Player of the Season and the final champion of the season.

Today, the Russian Poker Series announced it will hold its Grand Final in Kiev, Ukraine, May 11-20 at the famous Kreschatik Poker Club. The $3,000 buy-in event will boast a $750,000 guarantee.

Newly-appointed Russian Poker Series tournament director Artur Voskanyan said, "The Russian Poker Series is the richest and most prestigious poker tour in Russia and CIS, and I'm delighted to join a much-loved and well-run live tour. I believe that the series has considerable potential and I will do my utmost to further its development".

The Russian Poker Series final in Kiev will also feature a Ukrainian League event, a $600 buy-in main event with a $20,000 guarantee.

Once the Grand Final is complete, the tour will announce the Player of the Season. The winner will get a 2012 PCA prize package and a special Tag Heuer watch. Among the players vying for the top spot are EPT San Remo winner Andrei Pateychuk and Russian Team PokerStars Pro players Ivan Demidov and Alex Kravchenko.

For more information, see the Russian Poker Series website.

Today, PokerStars officially announced that the Season 2 Russian Poker Series (RPS) Grand Final originally planned for December 9-18, 2011 in Kiev has been re-scheduled and will take place in 2012. The event has been postponed following the closure of a number of poker clubs in Ukraine.

PokerStars apologies for any inconvenience caused and will announce new dates and venue for the Russian Poker Series Grand Final in the future. Seats that have been won online will still be valid for a rescheduled Grand Final. Players who have won a seat/package and would prefer to have a refund should contract registrations@pokerstars.net.

The Russian Poker Series has finished its first season with Russia's Dmitry Gromov winning $201,362 for first place in Kiev.

On the last hand of the night, Shashkov raised preflop up to 250 000 chips, Gromov re-raised to 650,000. Shaskov quickly moved all-in and got the call.

Dmitry Gromov: [Th][Ts]
Denis Shashkov: [Ac][8h]

The board offered no help for Shashkov and he finished on a second place for $140,000. That left Gromov to collect the title.

The RPS Grand Final clocked in as the biggest poker tournament in the region. Nearly 300 players registered for the main event. The top 36 earned a piece of the $787 ,000 prize pool.

Meanwhile, Alexey Zharko won "Best Player of RPS Series" and Konstantin Puchkov was picked as "Player of the Year."

Congrats to Gromov for his championship win.

by RPS staff
Friederich Dollenz, 47, won £104,484.00 in the late hours of Saturday at the final table of RPS Sharm-El-Sheikh. Dollenz beat a field of 212 players here in Sharm-El-Sheikh, where the Russian Poker Series generated a massive €380,434.00 prize pool.

His heads-up opponent was Ernst Hermans from Netherlands, who took €62,000 for second. The final action saw Hermans shove with [Ah][Tc], called by Dollenz who tabled [Ac][9h]. The board ran [Qs][Td][Jd][8d][8h] giving Dollenz the straight.

RPS Sharm-El-Sheikh, the third stop on the PokerStars.net Russian Poker Series has been a success with a field of 212 players and a prize pool of €380,434. A total of 69 players won their seats to the event online by playing on PokerStars.

The next stop on the RPS is the Grand Final in Kiev from November 30 to December 6.

by RPS staff

After three days of play, the Russian Poker Series event in Sharm-El-Sheikh Egypt is down to the final table.

Thirty-six players started on Day 3 and played well into Friday morning before reaching the final nine players. Among the notable players finishing in the money: Alexander Nudin: 19 place (€6800) and Evgeniy Agafonov: 12th place (€6800), the top-ranking PokerStars qualifier of the day.

Now it's time for the final table and the run for the €104,484 first prize. Tomorrow's championship battle is expected to last into the early hours of Saturday morning. Everyone left is guaranteed €87,00. Chip leader Rafael Arendt leads the field with an impressive 1,532,000 stack. His nearest competitor is Ricardas Vymeris with 925 000. Both players will face some strong competition, notably in the form of the experienced Ernst Hermans (PokerStars Qualifier) who will start the final table in 3rd place.

by Russian Poker Series staff

After nine hours of play, the field of 124 players that started Day 2 has been reduced to 36. Those runners now move on to Day 3 where most will make the money in Sharm-El-Sheikh.

Evgenij Agafonov from Russian Federation began the day with 64,725 chips. He rolled though Day 2 and finished as chip leader with 462,000.

Hot on Agafonov's heels in second place is Patrik Westlin from Sweden with 376,500. In third place is Jose Severino with a healthy stack of 321,100. Not too far behind are Alexander Nudin with 318,500 and Ernst Hermans with 282,500.

Day 2 also had its share of causalities with Vadim Markushevskiy and Angel Guillen finishing out of the money.

Tomorrow the 36 remaining players will play down to the money. The top 24 players will walk away with cash. The €380,434 prize pool up carries a €104,484 first prize that will be awarded in a couple of days.

The Russian Poker Series event in Sharm-El-Sheikh Egypt kicked off today with a field of 212 runners playing for a €380,434 prize pool.

Among the those sitting down today were Team PokerStars Pros Ivan Demidov, Maxim Likov, Vadim Markushevskiy, Jose Ignacio Barbero, and Angel Guillen. Each one of them began the day with a chance at the €104,484 first place prize.

When Day 1 ended, 124 players were left with chips. Vladislav Shuravin led the field with 179,725. Not far behind are Alexander Nudin with 139,500 and Filippo Oreto with 134,000.

Among the players still in contention are Team Pros Vadim Markushevskiy and Angel Guillen.

Day 2 may or may not see the money bubble pop at 24 players. In any case, three days of play remain before the RPS names its next champion.

The remaining 124 players return Wednesday for Day 2.