Hurricane Ivan: Demidov on the Final Table

By Matthew Showell Jul 23, 2008 | 4 months ago

Ivan Demidov going into the final table of the 2008 WSOP

Never in the history of the WSOP Main Event has a Russian walked away with the diamond bracelet. Alex Kravchenko had a chance last year but fell short. This time around it's Ivan Demidov doing his best to become the first Russian World Champion.

Demidov is sitting with $24,400,000, good for second position. PokerListings.com caught up with Ivan as the media circus died down around the Rio Hotel.

Hello Ivan. We don't know too much about you so fill us in a little bit.

Sure. I'm 27 years old. I was studying in university when I first got into poker, studying mathematics. [I was at] one of the best universities in Russia. I wasn't really planning on doing stuff in mathematics but it was a very good classical education.

I started playing poker online and I really hadn't played much live at all before this World Series.

Coming from a math background, do you consider yourself a math-based player?

Yes, but not only math. Obviously I understand most of the important math involved in the game but you can't win with just math. You really have to learn to play the players you're up against, rather than just focusing on the math.

Ivan the not so terrible.

That's the part of the game I've developed the most playing live here. When I started I really couldn't read anyone. But it's slowly getting better.

This is your first WSOP but I know you were here last summer. You played a tournament at Bellagio so how come no World Series in 2007?

[Laughs] I had no money.

You've had an amazing summer for someone with such limited experience in live poker. You almost made a final table in one of the preliminary bracelet events and now you have a shot at becoming the next World Champion.

Tell us a bit more about the development you've gone through and adjusting to playing live versus online.

The transition was actually very hard for me and I'm not sure exactly why. I think part of it is that I'm not used to playing just one table at a time and I'm making too many moves and picking bad spots because I'm impatient. Maybe I'm just not used to playing 12 hours straight with just a few breaks.

At first I felt like I couldn't play the game I was used to. I had a really hard time reading people and it's hard to tell where you are in hands when you're not confident in your reads.

But I just kept playing and playing. Part of it was also my confidence. At one point I wasn't really sure if I was playing my best or if I could compete with all the really good players in these events. I had some pretty good runs in tournaments but got unlucky not to go further. The whole time though I was just picking up on problems in my game and getting better and better.

The obvious question for me to ask is how you feel about the delayed final table. Give us your thoughts on their decision to postpone it until November.

The mad Russian.

The worst thing about it is the possible collusion that could happen. I really hope nothing like that happens. Everyone at the final table is going to be playing a lot before the final table so everyone will probably be a lot better when the final table happens.

And what are you going to do personally in the next four months?

Well, I'm going to be playing a lot of big events, definitely a lot on the EPT. I really don't expect to have a whole lot of success though. These big tournaments are so difficult and you have to get so lucky to do really well. It doesn't matter how well you play. The variance is very hard to deal with.

Thanks Ivan and good luck.

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Poker is finally being seen as a complicated game that requires deep insight and analysis. Coming from a background in math, and a culture that has dominated games like chess and bridge, Ivan Demidov is poised to make his mark on the poker world.

Between now and November PokerListings.com will be following all nine of our final-table players. We'll speak to them on the road and in their homes as we all anxiously await the conclusion of this year's Main Event. You're all invited to follow along with us.