Winner of the Poker Heaven Depositors Freeroll: "I'm Taking the Money to London"
The Poker Heaven $10,000 freeroll saw a turnout of 918 participants, and the top 5 finishers walked away with a bundle of cash and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play at the PokerStrategy.com TV World Championship in London. Russian PokerStrategist znah took down the freeroll and talked about his win.
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| znah - winner of the freeroll |
Two years ago, a 22-year-old Russian guy known as znah started playing poker. He had a fickle interest in the game, but it wasn't until his friend showed him how much money you could win, that he was totally hooked.
With money on his mind, he started studying MTT strategy articles on the PokerStrategy.com web site. He dreamt of making money from poker and one day playing at the WSOP. He spent his time playing small MTTs to put the strategies in use and gain more experience.
Just last week, a promotion caught znah's eye - the PokerStrategy.com TV World Championship. He pictured himself sitting at the televised event in London with a huge stack of chips in front of him, competing against some of the toughest players around, including PokerStrategy.com's founder .
He snapped out of his fantasy and immediately made his first deposit at Poker Heaven and signed up to play in the $10,000 depositors freeroll.
Four and a half hours into the tournament, his wildest dreams came true. He was the last man standing out of 918 players and won $1,147.60 and even more importantly, his ticket to TV fame. On top of the prize money, he won a VIP package worth $2,500 to accompany him to the televised event in London.
Ballin' in London as a VIP
znah will leave his home in the Arkhangelsk region of Russia and fly to London to play in the event. But he won't be going to London empty-handed because we've hooked him up with the ultimate VIP experience.
The VIP package includes entry to the $1,000 televised event where he'll receive $1,200 for flights and three nights accomodation at a luxurious hotel in London. He'll also get VIP entry to the best London casinos and night clubs, as well as opening drinks and a closing party at the hotel. Plus, $300 extra spending money to spend on whatever he desires.
But znah won't be going to London alone. The four runner-ups from this freeroll will also join him at the PokerStrategy.com TV World Championship. The five of them will head to London in November to face the rest of the qualifiers for the $42,000 prize pool. The winner will be deemed the World Champion and will take home a sweet $20,000.
Going to London with full pockets
It wasn't all smooth sailing for znah. In fact, at one point znah had the shortest stack at the final table. He admitted, "it was a really tough game and after only an hour of playing, it was push-fold." Despite his ups and downs, znah kept pushing on and and finally defeated paradox2, a fellow countryman.
You can see how the last hand went down below.
Blinds: 30,000/60,000
Paradox2 (SB): 404,176
znah (BB): 960,824
Preflop (90,000):
Paradox2 calls 30,000, znah checks.
Flop (120,000): 
znah checks, Paradox2 bets 60,000, znah calls.
Turn (240,000): 
znah checks, Paradox2 bets 115,000, znah goes all-in, Paradox2 calls.
Hole cards:
znah: 
Paradox2: 
River (820,352): 
znah wins 820,352
4 other PokerStrategists joining znah
znah celebrated his big win with a friend and said, "it was a really emotional time." He doesn't have any plans to spend the money just yet and said he'll probably use it as spending money when he goes to London.
Good luck at the TV World Championship, znah!
You can see the top 10 finishers below:
| Poker Heaven $10,000 Depositors Freeroll Results | |||
| Place | Nickname | Prize | Country |
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znah | $1,147.60 + VIP package | Russia |
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paradox2 | $865.95 + VIP package | Russia |
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etseratov | $716.52 + VIP package | Ukraine |
| 4th | mattee | $644.96 + VIP package | Germany |
| 5th | bach23 | $573.30 + VIP package | Russia |
| 6th | mj333 | $497.68 | Russia |
| 7th | w4terman | $497.68 | Greece |
| 8th | xxkatkaxx | $426.58 | Czech Republic |
| 9th | rozz | $313.43 | Russia |
| 10th | wotsss | $213.29 | Slovakia |
You still have a chance to qualify
Good news! There's still more ways you can qualify for the PokerStrategy.com TV World Championship.
• daily $100 freerolls
• 3 x €10,000 rake races
• more to come!
Don't miss your chance at a $42,000 prize pool, TV fame and a chance to represent your community against some of the toughest competition around. For more information, check our our announcement news below:
PokerStrategy.com TV World Championship
Have you ever wondered how it would feel like to play on TV with all eyes on you? Check out our guest article by Barry Carter, Playing on TV - The Voice of Experience, to get an inside view.
