From the Volleyball Courts to the Feature Table for Stas Zhelkovskii
While many players came out to Sunny Beach, Bulgaria just for the Cash Game Festival, there are plenty of others around the room that happen to be in town and came to check out the action thanks to the buzz many players are spreading about how great the festival is.
One such player is Russia's Stas Zhelkovskii, who played poker for the second time in a casino last night. Zhelkovskii. aged 34, learned about the festival through Estonia's Maret Komarova while a few of the players here for the Cash Game Festival were enjoying a morning round of volleyball on the beach before poker. Just like any player has the opportunity to do so, Zhelkovskii decided to start today off with some poker action on the televised feature table.
"I am originally from Saint Petersburg and came here for vacation," explained Zhelkovskii. "I met Maret while playing volleyball and thought I would give it a try after I learned about the Cash Game Festival taking place at the casino."
Zhelkovsii joined in on the action last night for the first day of the festival. He described his experience last night as a positive one. Not only is he having a great time meeting new people, but last night, he walked away for four-times the amount he bought in for.
"I did OK last night," shared Zhelkovskii. "I bought in for €100 and walked away with €400. But I am a little sad because I took all my money from a guy also from Saint Petersburg. But it was still a lot of fun!"
It's not often that a player's third live experience is on a feature table, but right now that is the case with Zhelkovskii. However, he has a bit of experience under his belt playing socially with friends and online at free money sites.
"The feature table is only my actual third table at a casino," Zhelkovskii explained. "I played at houses and kitchen tables and that kind of stuff. I also played online for free money. But, I know the game. Aces, kings, etc. are good hands you play with."
Zhelkovskii shared his excitement about being on the feature table and gave us a peek into his mindset heading into the action. He is not nervous thanks to his experience last night along with some liquid courage.
"The feature table is going to be kind of crazy!" proclaimed Zhelkovskii. "I got a couple of drinks in me, so I am not nervous. I also got a little practice in yesterday. I am going to check out my competition and then I will figure out if I need to play conservately or aggressively. It just depends on who is going to be there. I am going to get my strategy together as soon as I see the other seven players I will play against. I will check them out and maybe fold a few rounds. I will see how it goes."
While Zhelkovskii began his life in Russia and is now back in his home country, he spent most of his life in the United States.
"I lived in Saint Petersburg until I was eight years old," Zhelkovskii explained. "My parents then took me to the states in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan in 1992 where I lived for about 21 years. I just recently moved back to Saint Petersburg about three years ago for work and just came here on vacation."
When not on vacation, Zhelkovskii is a director of sales at a jewelry company. It was his work that took him out of the country. He lived in Istanbul, Turkey for three years, before he decided to leave due to recent developments in the country and head back to his roots in Saint Petersburg.
"I work for a company called Grand Bazaar Jewelers where I am the director of sales," shared Zhelkovskii. "We are all over the world. We are an online company with our biggest customer base being in US followed by the UK, Brazil, and Russia."
This probably isn't the last we heard from Zhelkovskii who is in town for 12 days with family and friends.
"I am visiting here with my cousin, her baby, and two of her friends," shared Zhelkovskii. "We got in three days ago and are here for 12 days. I am here for the whole festival, so hopefully I will win some money now and continue my poker career."