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Far from terrible
In only a couple years, Ivan Demidov is one of the top tournament money winners of all time
In 2006, Ivan Demidov was making a name for himself among Russian poker players. He finished in 5th place in a Pot-Limit Omaha event at the Russian Poker Championships. But being a big name in Russian poker circles is like being the star quarterback of your high school football team. Getting a spot on the college team, let alone a career in the pros, is still a long shot. But then Demidov saw fellow countryman Alex Kravchenko finish fourth at the WSOP Main Event in 2007. Like young Russians a generation before who were inspired by Yuri Gargarin, the first man in space, Demidov decided to make a big leap of his own, and landed in Vegas.
Demidov’s first cash in the majors was a 5th place finish at the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic. He took home $3,517. It wasn’t much, but things would soon get better. At the WSOP the following summer, he missed the final table at the $1,000 No-Limit Hold 'em event by two places. Still, it was good for $39,854. Then something amazing happened, out of a field of over 6,400 players, Demidov made the final table at the Main Event. He was guaranteed to win at least a million dollars. The only trouble was he had to wait three months.
Demidov made good use of the time. In October, he played in the WSOP Europe Main Event and repeated his feat by making the final table. He finished in third and added $600K to his bank account. In November, action kicked off in Vegas for the WSOP Main Event and Demidov made it to heads-up play. His second place finish was good for almost $6 million. Like Kravchenko and Gargarin, he made history by being the first player to have a seat at both Main Event final tables in the WSOP and WSOPE in the same year.
Demidov graduated from Moscow State University in 2004 with a degree in math. His big year in 2008 shot him to 26th among all-time tournament money winners. Now he has the luxury to pursue his other passions, including downhill skiing, white water rafting and scuba diving.
