Ivan Demidov

…he bought into the Main Event the old-fashioned way: $10,000 cash.

The Russian final tabled the WSOP & WSOPE Main Events in the same year….

The success of Alex Kravchenko & Nikolay Evadkov at recent WSOP’s has highlighted the bourgeoning Russian poker scene and now Ivan Demidov looks set to continue the mantle.

Kravchenko cashed 7 times at the ’07 Series and came 4th in the Main Event for over $1.8million. Evadkov cashed a phenomenal 10 times this time around. Demidov is certainly following the success of his countrymen.

The 27-year old Moscow resident went into the Main Event final table second in chips (on 24.4 million), just two million away from chip leader Dennis Phillips. A self-described ‘semi-professional’ poker player, his bankroll has mostly been formed online since he started playing in 2006 but had shown some live promise before the ME kicked off.

A modest cash in the 2006 Russian Poker Championships (5th for $3,517 in the $200 PLO) must have whetted his appetite for offline poker and he made his first trip to Vegas the following year.

In December 2007 he started with a bang by going very deep in the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, eventually busting in 3rd for $21,710 (ironically, Evadkov came 10th in the same event). This is his first World Series but he already has a cash under his belt, coming 11th for $39,854 in the $1,000 NLH re-buys (Event #44). Of course, his takings significantly increased from the $65,081 accumulated before the WSOP.

As a result of this, he brought into the Main Event the old-fashioned way: $10,000 cash. Soft-spoken and shy, he confessed his final table appearance is the equivalent to “winning the lottery” but Demidov did his country proud by becoming the highest placed Russian finisher in Main Event history.