Partypoker’s Anatoly Filatov Flying High After Sochi Main Event Victory

When Russian poker sensation Anatoly Filatov took down the partypoker MILLIONS Main Event in Sochi last week for a massive $844,000 and change, it propelled the 28-year old over the $3million live milestone and cemented his place among his country’s finest-ever players.

One week on, PokerTube caught up with the live and online crusher – his NL_Profit moniker very apt for a man who has also breached the $3million barrier in online winnings – and quizzed the partypoker ambassador on not only his latest victory, but what the future holds…

Q: What are you going to do with your winnings? 

Anatoly: It doesn’t really change my life so much, but I feel safer and more motivated to win. I had a great life even before the win. A beautiful wife, a great job, travelling a lot. Life is good!

Q: What's the next big live event for you? 

Anatoly: I hope to go MILLIONS UK at the end of September at Dusk till Dawn, WSOPE in Rozvadov, and maybe Barcelona. And the huge one in November is the Caribbean Poker Party at Baha Mar. I’ve never been to the Bahamas, so I am very excited!

Q: This just boosted you to over $3M in live earnings. Did you ever think this would happen? Is there a goal? How long until you takeover Bonomo? (ha ha)

Anatoly: We will see what happens. If I start playing SHR and TritonI can easily reach more in prize money. I have people who believe in me, so anything could happen.

Q: You are almost in the top 10 of Russia's biggest live earners. What does it mean to join the club and do you think you can ever take over take Igor Kurganov who has almost $16M in earnings? 

Anatoly: That’s great. It was a historical moment for Russian poker. And I am glad to inspire people to achieve their goal, stay positive and never give up.

Igor has played SHR for a long time, but we also have One Drop…  Anything can happen in this crazy game!

Q: Who was the toughest opponent on this final table? 

Anatoly: The most dangerous opponents for me were Gleb Tremzin and Michael Galitsky. But I was lucky because they busted on the 6th and 7th places. They both are rather strong players with huge experience of playing against me.

Q: Do you feel you have an edge in these high pressure spots/streamed final tables?

Anatoly: I think I had an edge against some of the players on the final table, because, unlike them, I had more experience of playing in such a big tournament. Especially in 3 max, when everyone was completely tired and the payout difference is so huge.

Q: Do you have any idols in poker?

Anatoly: No, and I never had. But I looked up to some players like Daniel Negreanu, Doug Polk or Patrik Antonius. I like how they represent a poker pro.

Q: Online or Live poker?

Anatoly: I like both, but not at the same time.

Q: Any words of advice for young poker players trying to break through in live poker events?

Anatoly: You need to forget about the fear of making mistakes in the game, like playing wrong hand or looking silly by asking questions. All of us are tilting sometimes. We are not robots and we all make mistakes. Just learn from it and stay positive.

For Anatoly Filatov, however, the mistakes are becoming far fewer and further between – and the victories and big paydays are starting to rack up – so don’t be surprised if his globetrotting on behalf of partypoker produces another newsworthy tale sometime soon.