While poker is still in the early stages of invading Russia and gaining in popularity in the nation, already it has a few pros making it big in the poker world, including Kirill Gerasimov.

Born in 1971 in Moscow, Russia - where he still lives today with his wife and son - Gerasimov didn't first sit down at a cash poker table until 2001. He was living and working comfortably as an insurance agent and began playing poker at the casinos.

"I went to the casinos in Moscow with my friends, just for fun, and I did quite well," Gerasimov told PokerListings.com at the 2005 World Series of Poker. "It was a lot of fun and I started playing more and more."

To brush up on his knowledge of the game, Gerasimov read Doyle Brunson's Super/System. His talent just took off from there, which has led many to describe the Russian as a natural poker player.

Gerasimov opened up an account online and began playing poker there as well as occasionally at the casinos. At the encouragement of his friends who told him he was a good player, he also began to try live tournaments as well.

By the end of 2001, he'd made two final tables and cashed in a total of three events.

His momentum carried through into 2002 as well, starting with several final-table finishes and even a win at the Euro Finals of Poker in Paris. It was his win at the Ladbrokes Casino 2002 World Heads-Up Poker Championships in Vienna in June 2002 that started to get people's attention, though.

Gerasimov took on some of the world's best players - Tony G, Erik Sagstrom and Surinder Sunar - head-to head and came out on top. The $60,000 prize money was fairly moderate, but helped put Gerasimov on the European poker player map.

He polished off 2002 with many more final-table finishes, and earned himself the 2002 European rookie of the year award.

He started out 2003 just as strongly with a big cash that made the whole world sit up and take notice of the "Red Square Rookie."

With backing from an online poker site, Gerasimov headed to Las Vegas for the World Poker Tour Championship. He made it to the final table where he faced Alan Goehring, Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, Ted Forrest and James Hoeppner.

Gerasimov eliminated a couple players from that list, including Ivey, before coming down to Goehring for heads-up action.

Gerasimov admits to being a little nervous this first time at a televised event, which perhaps contributed to him making some mistakes during heads-up play that he normally wouldn't. In the end Goehring pulled off the win and Gerasimov settled for his $506,625 second-place payday and international notoriety.

Undaunted, he stuck around in Vegas for another month and took on the World Series of Poker where he came in sixth in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event. His dominance in the European tournament circuit continued as well through the rest of the year.

His close-but-not-quite major tournament finishes continued in 2004 and 2005 with World Series of Poker bracelet wins nearly within his reach. In 2004 he cashed in three events, one being a second-place finish in the $1,500 No-Limit Shootout as well as two final tables.

In 2005, he had four more cashes in the World Series with another second-place finish, this time in the $1,500 Seven-Card Stud event.

2005 also brought Gerasimov's debut in the European Poker Tour. He made it to the final table of the EPT Grosvenor World Masters main event in London in September 2005 to finish in fifth place. Five months later he turned up at an EPT final table again at the French Open where he took third place.

The WSOP was good to Gerasimov in 2006 as well. Seven cashes boosted his bankroll again for the year.

Gerasimov has been a lot quieter on the tournament circuit though. Despite racking up more than $1.6 million in career winnings, he spends most of his time and effort playing online and traveling to major tournaments instead of putting in appearances at all the smaller ones he used to play.

The money he has won in live tournaments is probably only a drop in the bucket compared to what he earns online playing his specialty, Pot-Limit Omaha. But that's a number Gerasimov prefers to keep to himself.

"The more important question is how much I lose," he told the St. Petersburg Times.

For Gerasimov, tournaments just aren't about the cash. His focus is always on how well he's playing, not how much money he might be winning. He's even passed some of his knowledge on to help other people improve their game. He mentored fellow Russian Evgeny Kafelnikov when he decided to take up poker after retiring from pro tennis play.

In his relatively short career so far, Gerasimov has packed in a lot of poker experience. One of his remaining goals is to win a major tournament. According to Gerasimov, second places don't count. It's about winning events, and he wants to show the rest of the world he can win, not just make good money.