WSOP Europe / Matthew Pitt / 14 October 2008 / Leave a comment

When Alex Kravchenko made history at the 2007 World Series of Poker by becoming the first Russian native to win a bracelet, little did he know of the effect this victory would have on his fellow countrymen writes Matthew Pitt

Kravchenko had an amazing World Series. Not only did he win a bracelet in an Omaha high/low event, he cashed a further five times, including a fourth place finish in the $10,000 Main Event, worth in itself over $1,800,000.

One up and coming poker player who was inspired by Kravchenko's amazing run at the WSOP, was 27-year old, Ivan Demidov. Ivan 'Soul' Demidov was born and lives in Moscow, Russia and plays most of his poker online due to the lack of tournaments and cash games in Moscow.
Being successful in an online environment is nothing new for Demidov as he, like many other top online players, played Starcraft and Warcraft 3 professionally before turning to poker.

After fine-tuning his skills online and in a dozen tournaments in Europe, Demidov flew to Las Vegas for the 2007 Five Diamond Poker Classic but did not cash in any of the tournaments he participated in. However, the experience he gained was worth much more than the cash he could have won.

Demidov secured the financial backing of a Russian businessman, and returned the Las Vegas for the 2008 World Series of Poker. After playing in over twenty events, Demidov only had one cash to his name; $39,854 for his 11th place finish in Event #44, the £1,000 No-limit Hold'em with rebuys.

His backer will be more than pleased with his performance in the $10,000 Main Event, as Demidov battled his way through 6,835 players to reach the final table and become on of the 'November Nine'

With a minimum of $900,670 secured, Demidov entered the £10,000 Main Event of the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe, looking to become the first player to win bracelets in the Main Events of both series in the same year.

Mr Demidov performed some heroics during the five gruelling days and found himself at his second Main Event final table in a year!

Unfortunately, Demidov could not quite take the whole tournament down, instead he had to make do with a more than respectable third place after his Qd Td could not outdraw eventual winner, John Juanda's Ad Ac on a board that read 8s 5d 3d Jc . Demidov received £334,850 along with the knowledge that he was the first-ever player to reach the final table of the WSOP and WSOPE in the same year.

Demidov will restart play at the 2008 Word Series of Poker Main Event final table, on November 9, second in chips with a stack of 24,400,000 and will be one of the favourites to claim the $9,119,517 first prize.