PokerStars continue to experiment with their new live product with the announcement of a new PokerStars Championships in Sochi, Russia, and a low buy in MEGASTACK event debuts in London’s Hippodrome Casino.

The next 12-months are going to be critical to the Sochi Casino & Resort after PokerStars announced plans to take their Championship Tour into that part of the world.

The news comes a fortnight after rivals partypoker announced plans to host a Millions National Event in the same gaff, only PokerStars are planning something much bigger.

Instead, of testing the waters with a PokerStars Festival, the world’s largest online poker room is going all-in with an 11-day PokerStars Championship Series including a $2.6m GTD Main Event, making it the largest prize pool for a live tournament in Russia’s history.