Streamer Alexander «VooDooSh» Shalchinov commented on the absence of Ilya «ALOHADANCE» Korobkin at BetBoom Poker. The main reason was the high fee requested by the Ukrainian and the expensive flight.
«When ALOHADANCE was invited, as far as I understand, he wasn't entirely opposed to coming. He lives in Canada, so flying him business class would have cost a fortune. It's financially expensive. As far as I know, he requested a pretty hefty sum compared to other participants.
As for the notion that ALOHADANCE would've crushed everyone at the tournament, that's what people who don't understand poker write. He didn't have any advantage over me or other players. The structure is heavily turbulated. Essentially, it's a lottery. You fly out, no matter who you are — Aloha, VooDooSh, or anyone else. There's no scenario where ALOHADANCE or Papich would come and wipe everyone out... Everything would still depend on motivation, randomness, and other factors. It's extremely challenging to showcase skill edge in such a field. Conversely, ALOHA's style didn't quite fit the table. Because everything was colliding, there was a colossal dispersion, and so on», — Alexander «VooDooSh» Shalchinov.
On May 26, VooDooSh won the poker championship from BetBoom. He earned $24.7 thousand for first place. The tournament also included Rustam «Adekvat» Mavlyutov, Nurlan Saburov, Alexander Zubarev, and others.