Poker Player Profile – Ivan Demidov Poker Player

Poker player Ivan Demidov is the only player to make it to the final table of both WSOP and WSOP Europe Main Events. He has yet to win a WSOP bracelet.

Entry To Poker

Ivan Demidov, the Russian professional poker player, was born in 1981. Like many other poker professionals Demidov started out on the computer game StarCraft. He soon achieved a semi-professional status on that game. Demidov graduated from Moscow State University in 2004 with a degree in mathematics. By that time he had started playing poker professionally. He used to play both online and in the card rooms of Moscow. At that time Moscow had joined the poker boom that was taking place around the world.

Live Poker Tournaments

In the beginning Demidov built a bankroll by cashing in a few local tournaments in Moscow. He first made a name outside his home town in the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic in 2007. In a side event in that tournament he cashed in third place. The next stop for Demidov was the WSOP 2008. He first cashed in the $1,000 No Limit Hold'em side event. This prepared him for the grueling Main Event. After 11 days and almost 7,000 eliminations Demidov made it to the final table. In the break before the final table Demidov participated in the inaugural WSOP Europe Main Event in London. He made it to the final table in that event as well and eventually finished third. He thus became the first poker player to make the final table of both World Series Main events. In the WSOP Main event he finished second losing to poker professional Peter Eastgate of Denmark. His payout was $5.8 million. Ironically after the taxes were deducted by the respective countries Demidov was left with a greater amount than Eastgate. Demidov said that a part of his winnings would go to a Russian financial supporter who had sponsored him in some earlier tournaments. Demidov's total earnings are about $6.5 million. He has had for cashes but has yet to win a first place in any major tournament.

Online Poker

Demidov belongs to that category of poker players who have made it by starting out with online poker. Despite his success in live tournament poker Demidov still concentrates on online poker games. He has recently become a member of Team PokerStars Pro of the online poker room PokerStars. He plays there using the screen name 'Ivan Demidov'. Demidov was thrilled to be taken up by PokerStars. The reason being that his idol, Russian poker professional Alex Kravchenko, was already a member of Team PokerStars Pro. Demidov thought it to be a great honor to be playing alongside Kravchenko.

Other Poker Achievements

Demidov tops the all-time money list for Russian players, having overtaken compatriot Kravchenko. Incidentally Kravchenko had finished 4th at the WSOP 2007 Main Event and Demidov has overtaken him on that score as well.

Demidov has appointed Poker Royalty for managing his interests worldwide and across all major platforms. Poker Royalty will pursue new sponsorships, endorsements, branding and licensing opportunities for Demidov. Poker Royalty has the best of poker professionals as its clients.

He continues to live in Moscow. Demidov is not married and enjoys skiing, white water rafting and scuba diving.