In seat 7, (probably actually seat 2 if they shouldn't have redrawn), we have 36 year old Moscow citizen Alex Kravchenko, the first WSOP bracelet winner from Russia in the 2007 WSOP Event 9, $1,500 Omaha High-Low 8/OB, (second place was 2p2er MaverickUSC, Bryan Devonshire.) Though Alex is our short stack with 6,5570,000, he brings a lot of experience to the FT.
Alex has a long list of cashes at
The Hendon Mob, totaling
$551,946 lifetime.
Cardplayer details some of his successes:
Alex Kravchenko is a 36-year-old businessman originally from Archangel, USSR. He has been playing poker for about eight years. He is married and has two children. Kravchenko became the first Russian citizen in history to win a WSOP gold bracelet when he was victorious in the $1,500 buy-in Omaha High-Low championship at this year's WSOP – in what was the largest Omaha High-Low field in history.
Russian immigrants have won previously at the World Series. But Kravchenko's victory was clearly a milestone. Kravechenko has an impressive history of poker tournament wins in Europe. He won the Austrian Masters Pot-Limit Championship in 2001. He also won the Russian Pot-Limit Championship held that same year. He also won a Limit Hold'em title at the Helsinki Frezeout in 2002. He has cashed over 30 times in what is becoming an illustrious poker career.
This is Kravchenko's fifth time to cash at the WSOP in 2007. Kravchnko faces the biggest challenge of any player in the finale, as the lowest stack at the table.
Here's a video interview with Alex after winning his
Omaha bracelet.
Pokerlistings has an interview with Alex on July 14 including:
How do the Moscow games compare to your experience here?
There are many more Limit games here. I like Limit games; and mixed games. In Europe it's bad - there are almost no tournaments like this. I really like these tournaments: Hi-Lo Split, Stud, Stud Eight-or-Better, H.O.R.S.E. - just I'd like the structures to be better.
I think the structures here this year were not good. It was too slow in the beginning and too fast on the second day.
In Europe, the difference is it's almost only No-Limit Hold'em. I would like it to be more mixed, with different games. I think people play well, both here and in Europe - I don't see any big difference. The structures here are just better, so there's more play. There are more flops; and there is more play.
That's the difference - generally the structures are much better than in Europe. I mean with No-Limit events - I can't compare the Limit events, because there are no Limit events in Europe; but if I compare No-Limit Hold'em events, the structures are better here.
Watch his WSOP FT interview
here.
Beat: Alex reports he's got a cold from all the air conditioning and hasn't been feeling well.