Those who were present in the international tournament scene in the 2000s probably know who Alexander Kostritsyn is. However, the Russian had been away from MTTs for 14 years. And this Wednesday (15), he could not have had a better return, winning the US$ 25,000 High Roller HORSE, Event 97 on the WSOP (World Series of Poker) schedule.
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The last High Roller of the current WSOP edition recorded 148 entries, running over three days. Among top Mixed Games players and the global scene, Alexander Kostritsyn emerged as champion and pocketed a beautiful US$ 872,052, in addition to the first bracelet of his career.
In the heads-up, Kostritsyn defeated the American Ali Eslami, who was seeking his second bracelet but finished as runner-up and took home US$ 578 thousand. The final table also featured great players, such as the French Julien Sitbon, the Canadian Ari Engel, and the American Shaun Deeb.
Check out the final standings of the High Roller HORSE:
| Position | Name | Country | Prize |
| 1 | Alexander Kostritsyn | Russia | US$ 872,052 |
| 2 | Ali Eslami | USA | US$ 578,718 |
| 3 | Naoya Kihara | Japan | US$ 394,433 |
| 4 | Julien Sitbon | France | US$ 276,297 |
| 5 | Yueqi Zhu | China | US$ 199,071 |
| 6 | Ari Engel | Canada | US$ 147,648 |
| 7 | Walter Chambers | USA | US$ 112,825 |
| 8 | Shaun Deeb | USA | US$ 88,909 |
The journey to the heads-up had Kostritsyn and Eslami sharing the spotlight, so much so that they started the final duel with practically equal stacks. The Russian took advantage of a Stud round to open a lead, and after a break, the action resumed in the Razz format, in which Kostritsyn also showed superiority over his opponent, closing the deal.
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Although this payout was a hefty amount, it was not the biggest prize of Alexander Kostritsyn’s career. This is because in 2008 he won the Aussie Millions, pocketing US$ 1.4 million after defeating none other than Erik Seidel in the HU. According to Hendon Mob, he had no tournament results since 2018, as he focused on cash games. Now, he has returned to MTTs in grand style.
The prize pool of the High Roller HORSE reached US$ 3,478,000, rewarding the top 23 finishers. Since it was an expensive tournament, it was evident that the payout zone would be full of big names. Some examples are Alex Foxen (10th, US$ 60,789), Josh Arieh (13th, US$ 52,857), Jeremy Ausmus (17th, US$ 50,340), and Brian Yoon (22nd, US$ 50,340), all owners of four bracelets or more.
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