You wouldn’t think that a country with 45 million people and an average annual income of $2,000 would be a poker powerhouse – especially in the WSOP, where most buy-ins far exceed the aforementioned incomes. However, somehow Ukrainians have managed to fly halfway across the world to have one of the best WSOP’s out of any Non-US country. And this fact has been highlighted by Anton Makievskyi, who is currently leading the 2011 WSOP Main Event with just 22 players left.
Currently, the 21-year-old pro is out in front of everybody with 20 million chips after a strong showing on Day 7; this is about one million more than Eoghan O’Dea, who’s sitting in second place. And regardless of the goofy powder blue jackpot that Makievskyi wore to the table, he’s managed to gain everybody’s respect after becoming the first 2011 Main Event player to surpass 20 million chips.
As for his countrymen, here’s a list of the other Ukraine-born players who’ve had success in this year’s WSOP:
Arkadiy Tsinis – The former chess champion, who now lives in Las Vegas, managed to win the Event #38 NLHE tournament and $540,136. Tsinis is friends with Ylon Schwartz, who finished fourth in the 2008 Main Event.
Oleksii Kovalchuk - Won a $2,500 NLHE 6-handed tournament along with $689,739, and wore the exact same powder blue jacket as Makievskyi.
Eugene Katchalov – Finally got the monkey of his back after winning the Event #5 $1,500 Seven Card Stud tournament. In all, Katchalov has well over $6 million in live tournament winnings.
