Ivan Demidov is a poker professional from Moscow, Russia. Ivan finished in 3rd place at the 2008 WSOP Europe Main Event in October. Demidov was also one of the 'November Nine' who made it to the Final Table of the 2008 WSOP Main Event. He finished in second place at the 2008 WSOP Main Event and was defeated by 2008 WSOP Champion Peter Eastgate. Demidov became the first player in poker history to make it to the final table of the WSOP Main Event and WSOP Europe Main Event.

Ivan Demidov Tournament History

Ivan Demidov started the 2008 WSOP Main Event Final Table with the second most chips (24.4 million) right behind Dennis Phillips (26.3 million). Oddsmakers gave Demidov the third best odds to win the WSOP Final Table. Demidov had been primarily an online poker player but had switched his focus to live play in an effort to prepare for the 2008 WSOP Main Event. Ivan told the World Series of Poker Media that he has received "no special coaching or anything, just playing and studying myself."

Demidov is quite humble and recently stated that making the Final Table was like "winning the lottery." He finished third in the WSOP Europe Main Event in Ocotber 2008, and cashed for 334,850 Euros. Demidov's final hand was against the eventual winner John Juanda. He was knocked out by Juanda who was holding pocket Aces when he couldn't connect on his straight and flush draws. Demidov's incredible success comes with just two years of real poker experience. He got started playing online poker while attending college as a mathematics student.

Coming into the 2008 WSOP, Demidov had live tournament cashes of $65,081. He used those winnings to buy-in for the $10,000 Championship Event. He also bought into all of the 2008 WSOP preliminary events and managed to cash in 11th in a $1,000 No Limit Holdem Rebuy tournament. He won $39,854 for his eleventh place finish in Event #44 of the 2008 WSOP. He is a fierce competitor with a history of excelling at various games beyond poker, like the video games StarCraft and World of Warcraft.

When asked by the World Series of Poker who he thinks will be his toughest competitor at the WSOP Final Table, Demidov said, “Peter Eastgate. He was the toughest to play against and he is a very strong online player, which I respect a lot. However I haven't played a lot with some players at the final table like Montgomery for example, so it's hard to judge them and their skill.”