Ivan Demidov

Ivan Demidov accomplished the most impressive poker feat of 2008 on his way to finishing in fourth place in the Card Player Player of the Year race. He also made the final table of the 2008 World Series of Poker $10,000 no-limit hold'em world championship main event in July. He also made the final table of the World Series of Poker Europe main event in October 2008. Demidov finished in third place in London to take home £334,850 in prize money. Many picked Demidov to make the heads-up match and possibly win the world championship. He made the final heads-up battle with Peter Eastgate, eventually finishing in second place, to win $5,809,595. Demidov was the unofficial Rookie of the Year in the POY race. He indeed made history in the year 2008.

Ivan Demidov admits that it’s probably an achievement that I will never do again. Not just making the final table, but something close to that like winning two titles in one year is going to be almost impossible. He also admits it’s the best year so far for him "I’m just enjoying myself and the freedom that money gave me and the ability to play anywhere that I want and to travel a lot. That’s the most important part for me." He told CardPlayer

He says there are a lot of good young Russian players. There mainly cash players, but if they convince themselves to switch to live tournaments and play them for a little bit he thinks they will have great results. They’re still under 21 so they can’t travel and play here in the U.S. We’ll have to see in a couple of years but the Russian poker scene is really growing. He looks optimistic about the Russian Poker Tour.

He intends on playing here and then at the Bahamas, and then the Aussie Millions. Then hes is going to play all of the EPT events and most of the big tournaments in Europe, the Russian Poker Tour, Asian Poker Tour, and definitely the World Series, and definitely the WPT Championship in April. He says "I’ll probably concentrate on Europe because the fields are really small this year here in the U.S. In Europe…EPT London was sold out and there was a long waiting list…it really makes sense to concentrate on Europe right now for me, especially considering the travel times. And also it’s sponsored by Poker Stars and I have some relations with them."