Alex Kravchenko(credit: Wikipedia)
The Russians are coming! Well, actually the Russians are already here, tearing up the felt and dominating in the world of poker.
Russian poker players have been around. It wasn’t unheard of to discover that a great poker player was from Russia, but it wasn’t until recently that players from Russia started to grab the global poker spotlight. Here are two of the front runners to watch out for:
Ivan Demidov
Straight from Moscow to the Final Table of the 2008 World Series of Poker (coming up on November 9th), Demidov may be the first Russian to win a WSOP championship. Born in 1981, Demidov started to get some attention this year when he finished deep in a $1k NLHE Rebuy event, and of course when he became one of the November Nine. He also finished 3rd in the WSOP Europe main event this year. Keep your eye on Ivan.
Kirill Gerasimov
Another player from Moscow (a Moscow-vian? Moscow-ite?), Gerasimov is ten years older than Demidov and has a bit more experience in the power world. He started playing European tourneys in 2001, made his first WSOP final table in 2003, made TWO final tables in 2004, and as of this year has won more than $2 million in live tourneys.
Ralf Perry
Not a very Russian- sounding name, sure, but when Ralph Perry came to the US his name was Rafael Perivoskin. Ralph was playing long before his countrymen, starting in 1992, and won his first WSOP bracelet in 2006, one of the only Russian players to have done so. HIS career tourney earnings exceed $2.5 million.
Alexander Kravchenko
Kravchenko was the first to really get people focused on Russian poker players. In 2007 he cashed six times at the World Series of Poker, making it all the way to FOURTH in the main event. He is currently the leader in all time money winners among Russians, with more than $2.6 million.
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