Ukraine Novice Poker Player Oleksii Kovalchuk Wins WSOP Bracelet

Ukraine- based poker player Oleksii Kovalchuk has won the World Series of Poker Omaha - Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8 or Better event.

Amazingly, Kovalchuk has only recently learned how to play the game, honing his skills while participating in champion league tournaments.

Nolan Dalla of the WSOP explains: 

This remarkable 22-year-old professional poker player from Kiev, Ukraine burst upon the poker scene exactly one year ago, here at the World Series of Poker, when he won his first gold bracelet.  Many first-time winners are flash in the pans – rarely seen or heard from again.  But in the case of Kovalchuk, everyone who witnessed his remarkable victory in the $2,500 buy-in Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em event held last year, knew they were seeing the emergence of a new international poker star.

Proving that $689,000 victory was no fluke, Kovalchuk returned to the 2012 WSOP and decided to diversify his focus. This year, Kovalchuk entered new tournaments which included games he did not necessarily believe he’d mastered, nor even understood.  His philosophy was and remains – there’s only one way to learn a new game, and that’s by playing it.  Preferably, playing it against the world’s very best.

In the case of Event #42, the student came to class and studied.  He observed.  Sure, he made some mistakes, especially the first day.  But the more he played and the more he contemplated his decisions, the more comfortable he became with the games.  By the second and third day, the student had became the teacher.  One by one, school was out, until ultimately class was dismissed.  The student with the highest grade was Oleksii Kovalchuk.  Indeed, he graduated from this tournament with honors.

In addition to the bracelet, Kovalchuk also walks away with $228,014.  Congrats to him.

- Ace King, Gambling911.com