donpeters
Like the man seated on his right, Alexander Klimashin is from St. Petersburg, Russia. Unlike the man on his right, Klimashin is a professional poker player specializing in online cash games. This final table marks not only the first live final table in his career, but also his first live cash. But if Klimashin happens to win here in Warsaw, it won’t be the first time he’s taken home the title in a championship event.
He’s only 28, but Klimashin is a two-time European Champion and three-time World Team Champion in the game of Renju. For those of you not familiar with the game (just as we were a few hours ago), it’s a tournament version of the strategic Japanese board game Gomoku.
When it comes to poker tournaments, Klimashin had this to say: "To be honest, I wanted some variety instead of always playing online cash. Also, I like traveling with my friends and I'm enjoying it. Tournaments are entertainment."
donpeters
The overwhelming chip leader coming into the final table is Oleksandr Vaserfirer. Vaserfirer is from Kyiv, Ukraine and is a professional poker player.
If you remember back to our coverage of EPT Barcelona last month or even further back to EPT Kyiv, his name may ring a bell. Vaserfirer placed twenty-first in Kyiv and then went even deeper in Barcelona, finishing sixteenth. Those two finishes, combined with a cash in a side event at EPT London, have earned Vaserfirer over €40,000 this season alone.
You can often get a sense of someone’s ability by looking in his corner. Seated on the rail behind Vaserfirer every step of the way on the past couple of days has been WSOP bracelet winner and member of Team PokerStars PRO Russia, Alexander Kravchenko. Vaserfirer has a ways to go before he has the same claim to fame as Kravchenko, but adding a win here in Warsaw to his resume of EPT success this season would be one heck of a burst onto the scene.
donpeters
Analtoly Gurtoyov may not be a household name, but he’s not just some random character splurging in an EPT event. Gurtoyov has played several of these events including the last two EPT Grand Finals in Monte Carlo, EPT Barcelona, and EPT Kyiv. He also played in the EPT PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in 2009, finishing in the money.
He resides in St. Petersburg, Russia where he works as a drinks distributor. He’s been playing poker for five years and considers it only a hobby, not a profession. This final table will be Gurtoyov’s best poker accomplishment and he’ll be looking to make the most of it. His quest wasn’t made alone, as his long-time girlfriend has been rooting him on from the rail since the beginning.
Luca Pagano is no stranger to the EPT circuit. This final table marks the fifth of his career in EPT events and twelfth cash. Out of all of those deep runs, Pagano’s best finishes include sixth-place at both the 2008 EPT Monte Carlo and 2009 EPT Dortmund where he earned €337,000 and €153,000, respectively. Although the majority of Pagano’s tournament winnings come from Europe, he does have three cashes to his name in WSOP events.
He got his start after depositing on PokerStars and working his bankroll up to a hefty sum of money. Now, Pagano is one of the most recognizable faces is all of the poker community. He’s even one of the lucky members that can call themselves part of Team PokerStars PRO, where he represents his home country of Italy.
Pagano currently sits in second on the EPT’s all-time Tournament Leader Board. The current number one slot is being held by Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, but come the end of this final table, Pagano could overtake Grospellier if he does well enough. It looks as though he’ll need a sixth-place finish or better to jump into the pole position.
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