Anatoly Filatov is not any stranger to success on the poker desk, however even for a participant together with his resume, March 2025 was particular.
Filatov racked up 4 cashes on the Triton Tremendous Excessive Curler Collection Jeju, together with a career-best rating of $1.88 million within the $25K WPT International Slam. It was his first stay match win in over 5 years and propelled him to a $2.5 million haul in South Korea.
The Russian professional racked up 1,261.83 GPI factors in March to assert the International Poker Index (GPI) Participant of the Month honors. It was a tightly contested race through which lower than 100 factors separated the highest 5. He completed forward of Ben Tollerene, Biao Ding, Alex Foxen, and Daniel Negreanu.
Anatoly Filatov March 2025 GPI Scorecard
Following his GPI Participant of the Month win, PokerNews caught up with Filatov to get an inside look into his poker journey.
Poker Origins
As a teen, Filatov envisioned a standard future, working a gradual 9-to-5 job at a significant firm, the form of path his college research in pc science appeared to naturally result in. However like lots of poker’s trendy stars, he stumbled upon the sport throughout his diploma, and what adopted was a butterfly impact he by no means might have predicted.
Filatov began taking part in on the backside of the poker ladder, taking part in micro-stakes money video games and tournaments. Reveals like Excessive Stakes Poker and deep diving into technique articles saved him hooked.
“I used to be obsessive about the sport and began to play all day. Throughout college, I performed loads, many, many lengthy classes,” he confessed. “I did not anticipate to be knowledgeable poker participant and work on this business.”
“I simply liked to play, after which I grew to become higher, and I confirmed higher outcomes. Then I made the weblog, and so forth, and did some media stuff…I used to be anticipating myself to work in a giant firm or one thing like that and do a traditional job.”
With over 15 years within the recreation, the 36-year-old has firmly established himself as one in all Russia’s biggest poker gamers. His stay match earnings have exceeded $8 million, to not point out the thousands and thousands he is amassed on-line. these spectacular figures, it is clear that the sudden profession path he stumbled upon was the proper one for him in spite of everything.
$2.5 Million Haul in Jeju
Filatov first entered the Triton area two years in the past in Cyprus, and issues did not fairly go as deliberate. That point round, he fired bullets into 4 tournaments and bricked in every of them. Nonetheless, a $300K rating in a web-based $10K Bounty throughout that collection helped Filatov stability the books.
Then adopted fatherhood. The start of his first baby meant that Filatov’s stay grind was put totally on pause, with only a few stay stops performed, however he could not go up the chance to provide Triton a second go when the 2025 Jeju collection was introduced.
Going again to Jeju was considerably of a return to his familial roots.
“I am half Korean from a grand, grand, grand relative… earlier than this collection, I stated that is the cease I need to go to,” he stated, alongside not having the ability to go up on a few of the juicy fields that Triton can provide though he was not at his A-game.
“I am nonetheless not in the very best form that I might presumably be. However [At Triton], there are some gamers which you can beat as a result of a variety of newbie gamers prefer to play…I believe you’ll be able to anticipate to win throughout this collection.”
After his WPT International Slam win, Filatov cashed within the collection’ $30K and $50K occasions for $81,500 and $89,000, respectively, however a deep run within the $100K Major Occasion padded his bankroll with one other $480,000. Regardless of practically half 1,000,000 going into his pockets, Filatov appeared considerably upset about not having the ability to go additional than his Eleventh-place end.
“I might have put in a greater efficiency; I made just a few errors. I used to be overtired through the lengthy collection, I assume, however it’s what it’s.”
Watch the Full Interview
Are you curious to listen to extra from the GPI Participant of the Month? Filatov dives deeper into key matters presently shaping the poker world. He shares his ideas on the way forward for on-line poker, his perspective on latest controversies involving ambassadors utilizing Actual-Time Help instruments, and offers perception on tips on how to break down palms like a real professional.
Calum Grant
Senior Editor & Stay Occasions Government
