It seems that another one of Russia's relentless sporting marches is on the cards. Having already reminded the world of the nation's strengths in events as diverse as football, hockey, tennis and the bizarre art-sport fusion of Eurovision, a young and hungry pack of poker players are out to add another sporting suit to Moscow's impressive medal haul.
Ivan Demidov's second-placed finish in this week's World Series of Poker final series, is merely the ace in a flush of card-table talent which has seen the double-headed eagle flying high from Moscow to Las Vegas. Demidov led the way, banking a cool US$6m as his WSOP November Nine prize in Vegas this week came hard on the heels of a third-placed finish in the WSOP Europe finals in London last month. In that event, he was edged out by his compatriot, runner-up Stanislav Alekhin. Demidov became the first player to make the final table in WSOP events on both sides of the Atlantic. Meanwhile, Nikolai Evdakov lit up the Euro tour, cashing in a record-breaking ten tournaments. The previous record was eight money-winning finishes in one season.
Demidov lost out to Denmark's Peter Eastgate in the Vegas showdown, with the 23-year-old Dane entering the record books as the youngest ever gold bracelet winner. But Demidov picked up the plaudits of top poker pundits for his stone-faced demeanor at the tables and the aggression he picked up in his early years as an internet player. Indeed, despite losing to a relative youngster, he still found himself one of the least experienced challengers among the ‘November Nine' finalists, having started playing tournament poker as recently as 2006 and earning his first ‘live' cash win in the qualifying rounds of the WSOP challenge. Demidov began the year ranked a lowly 246.
Admittedly, the diffident Demidov has found himself thrust into the limelight and may find it tough to deal with the publicity. On qualifying for the November Nine, he told ESPN: "I'm not shy, but I don't like a lot of attention. My family and friends didn't really know how big this thing was until one day I phoned and told them I'd won a million dollars - then they went nuts! People are going crazy on the Russian forums: maybe my life won't change much now, but maybe it will be completely different."
A $5.8m prize this week says it probably will be.
However, he's hardly the only one raising the stakes in Russia's poker-playing world. Buoyed by the government's recognition of poker as a sport in 2007 - which exempts it from planned restrictions on gambling due to be enforced next summer - a raft of talent has followed in the footsteps of Ralph Perry (Raphael Perivoskin on his birth certificate), a US-based Russian who has earned around $2.5 million since 2002. Then there's Moscow-based businessman Alexander Kravchenko, who made his reputation at last year's Omaha High-Low tournament, and the likes of Alekhin and Evdakov.
The future also looks bright: Demidov's friend Alexander Kostritsyn, who helped coach him to his November Nine success, and WSOP 08 Ladies winner Svetlana Gromenkova are hotly-tipped for future glory. Kostritsyn, aged 21, won this year's Aussie Millions in Melbourne and has the potential to erase Eastgate's name from the record books.
Gaming commentator Aaron Angerman believes poker is peaking here and that the poker as a sport ruling could become ‘one of the more important poker rulings in history.' After years of getting jack, Russia's poker lovers are feeling like kings.
By Andy Potts
