Russian Ivan Soshnikov Wins $1 Million First Prize in SCOOP 10K Main Event

This time last year, nobody had heard of @Ivan Soshnikov; then a few months ago he was the talk of the poker community when he won the EPT Prague High-Roller for $525,854; this week, his name is in everyone's poker tweets and news articles - the young Russian won the 10K Main Event of the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) and the prize of $1,048,000.

Ivan Soshnikov is a 23-year-old Russian from Ivanovo and plays poker for a living. As many of his fellow countrymen he was forced by national gambling regulations to seek opportunities abroad. Soshnikov scored his first live tournament cash - $2,860 - in Kiev, at the famous Khreschatyk Poker Club, which used to host events of the Russian PokerTour before the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

A series of ITM finishes at WPT and EPT events then led up to his fantastic performance at the EPT Prague High-Roller, when he topped a field of 176, including such notables as @Vanessa Selbst @Mike McDonald and @Olivier Busquet .

And he hasn't stopped scoring since - at 2014 PCA,at EPT Vienna, and most recently a 13th place at #EPTGrandFinal in Monte Carlo, adding another $95,456 to his live earnings of $723,132.

Soshnikov has shared he enjoys enormously his travels around Europe and the EPT has been very good to him so far. His latest 1 million-dollar SCOOP prize may prove an incentive (if he needed any) to test his skills across the Atlantic and we might see him at the WSOP very soon.

More on RankingHero:

Poker Under Siege in Kiev, Ukraine

Crimea - A New Home for Russian Poker?

Suspense on the Bubble at EPT Grand Final

Read a detailed account of the SCOOP final table on PokerNews:

Ivan "vandir4rek" Soshnikov Wins 2014 PokerStars SCOOP $10K Main Event for $1 Million