Player Update: amichaiKK

When we last profiled ‘amichaiKK’ in 2007 the mysterious internet phenom had final tabled the Sunday Million twice in 2 weeks and come runner-up in a WCOOP Event for almost $100,000. A year later and a little bit more is known about one of the most aggressive players in online poker.

Real name Daniel Makowsky, there is some confusion as to where he is from: his Pocket Fives profile says Tel Aviv while several other databases have his birthplace as Germany. Most seem to agree, however, that he now resides in Zurich and from there he has continued to tear up the online tournament scene in 2008 with some stunning results.

‘amichaiKK’ now has prizes of almost $1million on PokerStars and he has remained ultra-consistent on the site all year. The main source of his income has been the $1,000 buy-in Super Tuesday, one of the toughest tournaments and filled with professionals, which he has final tabled three times already this year: In February he came in 4th for $30,720, in April he managed 5th for $17,760 and last month (October) he managed his best performance of 3rd for a score of $44,000. He also boasts outright victories in the $100 Re-Buys (March, $17,640) & $50 Re-Buys (February, $13,872) and in September again managed to final table the Sunday Million, but suffered an early demise to finish 9th for $10,500.

Playing as ‘Kudelykq’ on Full Tilt he has had a couple of large PLO scores on the site this year, finishing runner-up in FTOPS Event #2 back in February ($250 PLO) for a nice pay-day of $33,124 and in April he took down the $20k GTD, $200 PLO for $7,695. Pot Limit Omaha clearly suits his aggressive tendencies and the great Chris Moorman even started a thread on Two Plus Two asking regulars just how to handle ‘amichaiKK’ in a blind vs blind hand example (see here).

Though Makowsky continues to maintain a low profile, he couldn’t avoid the limelight at this years WSOP when after coming 10th in the $2,000 LH (for $12,230) he proceeded to finish runner-up in the $1,500 PLO for a cool $355,050. This was a stunning achievement considering the talent at the final table: Dario Alioto, Ted Forrest, Tim West & winner Layne Flack were all in attendance. Though Flack’s victory took much of the attention away from Makowsky, the poker world certainly took notice and it will be hard for him to avoid increased publicity if he continues to perform so well in high profile live events!