Another round up of the week’s poker action including partypoker successfully hosting a $5m guaranteed event in Sochi, 888Poker preparing to open shop in Italy, and much more.

PokerStars dominate the poker news columns, week-in and week-out, but not this week. This week, the column inches belonged to partypoker.

We will begin in Sochi Russia where partypoker successfully ran a $5m Guaranteed partypoker LIVE MILLIONS event. The $5,300 buy-in event attracted 999 entrants, and turned Aleksandr Gofman into a millionaire, after beating the Spaniard David Laka in heads-up action (Laka also banked a combined million bucks after winning the High Roller a few days before).

It was a significant milestone for partypoker in their pursuit of the live tournament crown. When PokerStars held their Championship at the same venue, for the same price, back in May only 387 entrants turned up, and the winner walked away with $515,774. It seems, when it comes to Russian poker, partypoker is the Czar, without question.