Russian Players’ Took Off At World Series of Poker Once Again

Russia’s Ivan Demidov was listed with +425 odds at BetCRIS.com to win the 2008 World Series of Poker. Demidov had the second largest number of chips coming into the delayed final which is scheduled to play out this November.

Demidov served as a precursor to this year’s Russian success at the World Series of Poker Europe where two players from his nation have made the final table.

Oh, but wait a moment, one of those two players is none other than Demidov himself. That’s right, while Demidov awaits play in next month’s World Series of Poker (Las Vegas) Final, he will be taking part in Thursday’s WSOPE final nine. For someone who only began playing poker in 2006 and has won a few thousand dollars on the live tournament circuit (just under $40,000 to date), Demidov could become one of the richest poker players by year’s end should he happen to win both World Series of Poker events. The WSOP pays first place $9.1 million while the World Series of Poker Europe will pay its first place winner just over $2.1 million.

Also sitting at the WSOPE final table is Russian Stanislav Alekhin. The relative unknown had the second largest number of chips at 1,278,000 heading into Friday’s showdown.

According to poker player Daniel Negreanu, The World Series of Poker has always attracted a competitive international field. Interestingly, this year’s World Series of Poker event in the US featured more players from Russia than ever before. Negreanu, who is competing with Demidov at the final table of the WSOPE, believes that Demidov has a good shot of winning the WSOP for his Russian homeland. It can be assumed Daniel feels differently about Demidov’s chances to win this year’s World Series of Poker Europe.

"Poker’s popularity is surging in Russia," Negreanu stated. "You can expect to see more Russian names winning on the European Poker Tour and other major international tournaments in coming years.

"Why are so many talented Russian players suddenly bursting on the poker scene? Maybe it’s because of the game of chess. Many years ago, Russian masters dominated their American counterparts in a different game of skill.

"That game, of course, was chess. The battles between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky were epic. And while poker isn’t quite at that point, we’re definitely headed in that direction."

Aside from Demidov and now Alekhin, Russians making a name for themselves on the international poker circuit include Kirill Gerasimov.

The 37-year old Gerasimov worked as an insurance salesman in Moscow, and started entering poker tournaments throughout Europe in 2001.

In May 2003, Gerasimov made his first World Series of Poker (WSOP) final table, finishing 6th in the $1,500 No Limit Hold-Em event and receiving a $24,000 prize.

He would return to the World Series of Poker in April 2004, making an appearance at two final tables: a 5th place finish ($30,060) in the $1,500 Pot Limit Hold-Em event featuring Huck Seed and Tony Bloom, and a 2nd place finish ($100,000) in the $1,500 No Limit Hold-Em shootout event featuring John Juanda, Asher Derei and Daniel Negreanu.

He also made the money 4 times in the 2005 World Series of Poker, including a 2nd place finish ($108,775) in the seven-card stud tournament, and he also made the money in the $10,000 Main Event for the first time, with his 444th place finish earning $16,055.

Gerasimov made two final tables during the second season of the European Poker Tour (EPT), finishing 5th in London and 3rd in Deauville.

As of 2008, Gerasimov has made over $2,000,000 in live tournament winnings. Prior to Alex Kravchenko’s 2007 performance at the WSOP, Gerasimov was number one on the Russian all time winning list.

Speaking of which, Kravchenko is another 37-year old professional poker player based in Moscow, Russia. He made a huge impact during the 2007 World Series of Poker, cashing six times, including finishing fourth at the Main Event and the $1,500 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo event where he won a WSOP bracelet. Kravchenko became the first Russian citizen in history to win a WSOP gold bracelet.

Kravchenko is a phenom on the European poker circuit. He’s also won the Austrian Masters Pot-Limit Championship and the Russian Pot-Limit Championship, both in 2001. He has cashed over 30 times with career winnings totaling $2,611,088.

Then there is the easy-to-pronounce Rafael "Ralph" Perry. Yes, he is from Russia and, yes, he changed his name from Rafael Perivoskin. Perry has won over $2,500,000 on the live poker circuit since 1992, most notably finishing third in the 2002 WSOP Main Event.

Like with the Americans, Russia also has its own celebrity players who were known for something else before they hit it big on the poker circuit. Yevgeny Kafelnikov has had a few impressive finishes at the 2005 World Series of Poker. He is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Russia. He won two Grand Slam singles titles (one French Open and one Australian Open), four Grand Slam doubles titles, and the men’s singles gold medal at the Sydney Olympic Games.

Source: gambling911.com

Online Gaming Leads to Gambling Addiction for Some

When Derek Norman, a psychology senior, started playing online poker, he couldn’t stop. Soon he found himself playing eight to 10 hours a day, neglecting school work and finally losing over $2,000 in a roller coaster of highs and lows, Norman said.

Despite being a "terrible poker player," Norman was encouraged by big wins and started to look at poker "more as a career than a hobby," he said.

As poker’s popularity among college students continues to rise, so does the number of students who develop bad gambling habits that can lead to a pathological gambling addiction later in life, said Jeff Friedman, a therapist at Cottonwood de Tucson.

An article published in the New York Times magazine stated that in 2005 an estimated 1.6 million out of 17 million U.S. college students gambled online – mostly on poker.

Poker, particularly Texas Hold ‘Em, owes most of its increasing popularity to its presence on cable TV.

The escalating presence of poker in mainstream media has created an atmosphere of acceptability, said Rick Pyper, director of the Arizona Office of Problem Gambling.

"Poker is different from most forms of gambling because the player has the ability to make many more decisions and exert more control over the game. This is why poker attracts action gamblers while compulsive gamblers, who play to escape their problems, prefer to play games of pure chance like roulette or slots," Pyper said.

The element of skill is what initially attracted Norman to the game and, after walking away from poker for several months, he realized this is exactly what he had lacked.

Norman began picking up poker books and reading online forums.

Soon after turning 21, Norman went to Las Vegas and played in person for the first time and won $2,000 in three days.
Now Norman believes he’s a good player but acknowledges that at first he had "no idea how to play the game or manage his finances."

Mike Gelfund, a 22-year-old former UA student, agrees managing money is critical to being a successful poker player and actually has a separate bank account for his poker money.

"You can’t risk money for things you really need like rent or food," Gelfund said. "If you are afraid to lose your money, you won’t be able to put all the chips out there when you need to," he said.

Gelfund is very aware of gambling addictions and has seen many of his friends "go on tilt" and lose large amounts of money.
One of his friends lost $5,000 in 15 minutes while on the way to Las Vegas because they decided to play blackjack.
When he goes on tilt, Gelfund likes to take a break, breathe deeply and "try not to throw over the poker table," he laughed.

A successful poker player is someone who consistently wins, not someone who wins big once or twice, he said.
Gelfund and Norman agree poker is getting much more popular among students at the UA.

A study done by the Annenberg Public Policy Center concluded that the number of college males who reported gambling online once a week or more doubled in 2005.

Friedman has also seen an increase in the number of pathological gamblers that come into Cottonwood de Tucson, but attributes this mostly to the fact that there are more opportunities to gamble.

Most college students that report gambling problems come for treatment of a substance abuse problem and don’t meet the criteria for pathological gambling because they don’t have enough money, Friedman said.

If you have a problem with gambling or know someone who does, Friedman recommends you call Gambler’s Anonymous at (520) 570-7879 or go to their website, www.gamblersanonymous.org/mtgdirAZ.html to see their meeting times.

Source: media.wildcat.arizona.edu

Online Poker Player AIM Accounts Hax0rd!

Online Security: Pro Poker Player Durrrr Gets Haxor3d

According to the rumor mill, Tom “Durrrr” Dwan’s AOL Instant Messenger account was hacked into this weekend. The would be scammers used the account to hit up friends of the Pro Poker Player for cash. Asking other online poker players (Mikey41414) for instance if they would send him cash via Money Gram in exchange for online poker chips. This is a pretty common practice among online poker players.

In the conversation below, you’ll see that Dwan’s messenger contact MIKEY41414 was more than willing to make the trade, asking the swindler on the other side of the internet screen where he’d like the money sent.

However, when the slimey culprit impersonating the online poker pro known as Durrrr answered Limi Peru, the virtual gig was up.

MIKEY41414: how about I get Tom to give me 10k to find the person behind the computer right now and cut your ****ing throat out you disgusting little rat ****

MIKEY41414: I hope your children get ritualistically raped for the next 30 years and that your face gets burned with a blow torch like that **** from Hostel – get a job you ****

As the conversation continues, MIKEY41414 threatened the would be scam artist with torture by blowtorch while outing him in the 2p2 poker forums. In an apparent effort to ensure the future safety of this not-so-smart internet scam artist, Tom Dwan made an offer in the 2p2 thread that provided for a $50,000.00 reward to anyone that can recover solid info on the alleged would be thief, and see him [safely] behind bars.

“does anyone know law well enough to know if it would be illegal for me to like hypothetically offer a 50k bounty for anyone who got this guy 6 months in jail? strictly hypothetical obv, i mean hypothetically people could pm me if they did it and i could pay them if they proved it b/c he definitely could go to jail if someone got the proof right? hypothetically obv.

btw: i’d assume this is someone inside of aol doing the hacking. B/c the last time the accounts were hacked i had them fixed and made very random passwords/answers, and haven’t used the account in a very long time.” – Poker Player DURRRR asked in the public forum.

nt months, however, It would appear, do to the low amount requested by the scammer, he didn’t know just who’s AIM he had control over.
This incident is one of several instant messenger scam attempts targeting online poker players over recent months, and as far back as a year ago when Andy Bloch’s AIM account was hacked.

“Someone got control over my AOL AIM account last night and went through my buddy list asking people for money. (I’m not sure whether he cracked the password or convinced AOL support that he was me and that he forgot his password.) If you got an AIM from me in the last day or two, or get one from me soon, it’s not me. I’m not sure if I will create a new AIM account since it seems that they are easily hackable.” – Andy Bloch September 2007

Source: 4flush.com

The High Roller: Jimmy Chagra, Gambling & Poker

Poker has become one of the most popular games worldwide. It is played by millions of people of all ages in countries all over the world, at casinos, home games, bars, and the past few years on the internet. Poker has become an accepted form of entertainment, loved by cops, criminals and regular citizens alike. But poker wasn’t always this popular, and it’s reputation not as good as it is now.

Since poker is considered gambling by law it is illegal to play for money outside the casinos. Of course home games are played. Not to mention the money bet on the dozens of online poker sites. More and more people are rejecting the law, and idea, that poker is gambling. They consider it a skill game, combined with a bit of chance. The fact that there is a group of players who consistenly win cash games and/or tournaments seems to support that. If it is purely a game of luck then how come there is even the title of «professional poker player»? Is there even such a thing as being professional at luck? So let’s agree that poker is a skill game with the profits that only a gambling game can bring.

Back in the 1970s poker was a game played by many but mastered by few. Those few masters were operating in the Mecca of gambling: Las Vegas. Here the best poker players played their game, winning money off wannabe professionals, rich businessmen, and those men who treated money with as much disrespect as they did themselves…the gangsters.

The high stakes poker tables at Vegas casinos such as Binion’s Horseshoe casino and The Dunes were occupied by legends such as Doyle Brunson, Johnny Moss, Puggy Pearson, and Jack Straus. These men were all sharks waiting for fish to arrive which they could devour. One day a man arrived in Vegas with millions to burn, and nothing to lose. That man was Texas drug dealer Jimmy Chagra.

Jamiel Chagra (photo on the right) had made hundreds of millions smuggling marijuana and cocaine, but he listed his occupation as gambler, naturally. He made frequent trips to Las Vegas gambling huge sums on anything from craps, to golf, to poker. On each trip he would arrive with millions in cash stuffed into suitcases. The guy was a dream for the sharks, but playing in a game with him was not that easy. «At one game the minimum stake was $50,000, but few of [the players] risked sitting down with so little, because time after time Chagra would throw in $20,000 bets blind, which he said were ‘just to liven the game up a little.’ There would be an average of $2 million on the table every night.» When a waitress brought him a complimentary bottle of water, he tipped her $10,000. But in the end Chagra mostly lost at the poker table. When a pro gets the right cards not even a million dollar bet will make him fold.

Jimmy Chagra is still a Las Vegas legend. The stories about his high stakes antics are endless. At one point Caesars Palace was hit hard by a bad run of luck at the baccarat tables so they borrowed $10 million in cash from Chagra for a 24-hour period. A saying used by a lot of wiseguys when talking about rich mobsters is «He has more money than God,» Jimmy Chagra certainly belonged in that category. I write belonged because currently his money is not under his control. After being convicted of drug smuggling he would serve decades behind bars (Thanks to the brilliant Oscar Goodman who served as his lawyer and managed to convince the jury that Chagra had nothing to do with the murder of the judge who presided over his drug case. He faced life.), from where he still managed to gamble away millions. In 2003 he was released due to health reasons, and is now said to be in the Witness Protection Program.

By David Amoruso
Posted on May 22, 2008
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