Ivan Demidov - November Nine Russian
Demidov took his talent for computer games to the poker table – and kept on winning, possibly due to his strong Math background.
Background on Ivan Demidov
Ivan Demidov was born in Russia in 1981. He loved to play computer games, especially StarCraft. He studied math at Moscow State University, and this has undoubtedly helped his poker playing skills. He still lives there today but regularly makes his way to Vegas for poker tournaments. He enjoys skiing and skuba diving and for his mere 27 years, he has made a fortune in poker tournaments.
Demidov and the November Nine
Ivan Demidov was an original member of the “November Nine.” This event took place at the 2008 World Series of Poker at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada. It was an amazing event (as these events usually are) and comprised 55 poker championships. It began on 30 May 2008 and all events (except the No Limit Texas Hold’em) ended just over 2 weeks later on 15 July. It was, for Demidov, his first WSOP event and during the 7 weeks, there was hardly a tournament he missed. But he didn’t do so well. By the time the Main Event rolled around he had only netted one cash, 11th place finish which earned him just under $40 grand. But this actually helped him. It meant Demidov hadn’t peaked too soon. This led him to become one of the “November Nine” – the group that competed for the bracelet and huge $9 million cash prize. Doesn’t sound so amazing, but given that the guy had only been playing the game as a professional for two years, it really was something. What made it even more incredible was that it was Demidov who was the last man standing, from his country! Given his limited poker playing history as well as his performance at the WSOP, this was a huge shock and what made him famous.
The Future for Demidov
It looks like Ivan Demidov has a bright future in poker playing. So far for this year, his poker tournament winnings (excluding those on line) have been in excess of $6,450,000. He is very committed to Russia, the country of his origin and where he still resides now. Today he is a member of Team PokerStars Pro and also plays the online version of the game. The fact that he is a math genius inevitably means that logic is on his side. In other words, he is not likely to act emotionally at a poker tournament and blow it that way. Indeed, he has garnered a tremendous amount of respect in the professional poker community and is extremely grounded. After his huge win, he sought to buy a home in Russia and use some of it to enjoy his outdoor activities, but blowing the lot has just never been in his thoughts at all.