The Russians are Coming to Poker
Written by Renee K | Sunday, July 27th, 2008
Last year the Russians advanced quite a bit but did not finally make it. Alex Kravchenko made it to the final table of the WSOP Main Event but had to settle for fourth place.
Though he did pick up a bracelet in the in the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo event on the way.
This year his compatriot Ivan Demidov is the Russian Challenge, being in second place in the final nine.
Demidov is 27 years old and has an academic background in mathematics from one of Russia’s best universities. He agrees that understanding the mathematics of poker has helped but is quick to add that playing poker goes way beyond mathematics. The most important skill in live play is being able to read ones opponents and this is something Demidov is still learning. Like many poker players today he began playing online and has only recently started on live tournaments, which makes his feat all that more creditable. He came to Las Vegas at last year’s WSOP but could not afford to play.
The transition from online poker to live poker has been difficult for Demidov. Online he is used to multi table play and is always in the thick of things at some table or the other. Also online he can play in short bursts. In live tournaments Demidov had to spend up to 12 hours at the table at a stretch. Not used to being away from the action he used to enter when he should have folded and this led to his losing out. It is to his credit that he persevered and overcame his shortcomings one by one.
Every poker player today has an opinion on the delay of the final table and every one of the nine finalists more so. Demidov is no different. He does not like it though the reasons he gives are far from convincing.
According to Demidov everyone will improve a lot by November so the players playing at the final table will be different me. Four months ought not to make a difference for professional players, but then Demidov is earlier on the learning curve than his co-finalists and this practice should help him most. He plans to get a lot of it and will definitely be doing the European Poker Tour. He also fears that the break could result in collusion and prays that such a thing does not happen.
The online casino industry has already recognized that the Russians are coming. Many casinos have software in Russian and more are adding Russian. The latest to do so is Titan Poker, which is one of the biggest online poker rooms. Now Russian players can access all pages, software and support services in Russian.
The number of players from Russia and Russian speaking countries has shown tremendous increase at Titan Poker according to Robin Steele, the manager of the poker room. Hence it became essential to add Russian so that players can play in the comfort of their own language. This move will undoubtedly fuel further increase in the number of Russian players.
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· Written by Renee K · Filed Under Poker News · Comments Off
