MEET THE LATEST WSOP CHAMPION – OLEKSII KOVALCHUK
The 2012 World Series of Poker $2,500 Mixed-Split Omaha / Seven Card Stud champion is Oleksii Kovalchuk, from Kiev, Ukraine.
Kovalchuk is a 22-year-old professional poker player.
Kovalchuk was taught to play poker by his father. He started playing in 2007. He plays about half the time online, and the other half in live games. Kovalchuk has played in several tournaments in Europe.
When he’s not playing poker, Kovalchuk enjoys tennis, motorsports, and chess.
This is the second year Kovalchuk has attended the WSOP. He has cashed seven times and now owns two gold bracelets.
For his victory, Kovalchuk collected $228,014 for first place.
Kovalchuk is to be classified as a professional poker player (in WSOP records and stats).
Kovalchuk is one of three Ukrainian poker champions in history at the WSOP. The first was Eugene
Katchalov, who won the $1,500 buy-in Seven-Card Stud championship in 2011. Also, Ukrainian Lenny Martin won an event last year, as well.
Kovalchuk is the first two-time gold bracelet winner in history not only from Ukraine, but from Eastern Europe.
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