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Russian Poker Phenomena Mikhail Lakhitov Signs with GuruPlay

November 4, 2011

Russian poker pro Mikhail Lakhitov has recently joined the GuruPlay UK online casino team as a sponsored poker player. Thirty-year-old Lakhitov will now be sponsored at live poker tourneys around the world and will be playing online at GuruPlay as part of his sponsorship duties.

Before he became a pro poker player, the Moscow resident served in the Russian military. It was here that he met and befriended Kirill Gerasimov, whom he studied and played poker with in his free time. When he was discharged, Lakhitov tried his hand a career in poker and entered his first live poker in 2010. It didn’t take long for him to realize that poker was his true calling.

He had five wins on the European poker circuit before he knew it and in 2010 he had cashed nine times, profiting nearly $200K in just his first year. The next year was just as phenomenal and he was on his way to Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker. He cashed five times earning more than $850K and received a first place win in the $2500 NL event which earned him $750K. He didn’t even know that to win a WSOP event meant to earn a gold bracelet as well, even though he’d played in the 2010 WSOP the year before.

He says, “In 2010, I finished near the top in one tournament and came in eighth place ($41,645). I did not know there was such a thing as a gold bracelet. Later, I saw there were pictures with the winner and the bracelet. So, this year on my way to Las Vegas, I promised to my lovely wife that I would win a gold bracelet. That was my motivation.”

Thus far, Lakhitov has 2011 earnings total more than $907K, giving him a career total of $1.1+ million. He’s now one of the biggest names in Russian poker with less than two years if professional experience.

Written by Maria · Filed Under Poker News 

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