In Russia poker still has not invaded and is gaining its strength throughout the country, yet there are a few professionals who are making it big in the poker world – one of them is Kirill Gerasimov.
He was born in 1971 in Moscow, and still lives there with his wife and son. Before he stepped into the poker world, Kirill Gerasimov was an insurance agent in Moscow and only played poker for fun from time to time in the local casinos. He thought it was fun and started playing more and more not only for the money, but for the game itself.
To gain more knowledge about the game, Gerasimov read Doyle Brunson’s Super/System, and that was only the beginning of the development of his talent – soon the Russian was referred to as a natural poker player. Later he opened an account online and began playing poker there as well, continuing to go to casinos every now and then, when he had the chance. Then, encouraged by his friends, Kirill Gerasimov began to try live tournaments as well. He started with several final-table finishes and even a win at the Euro Finals of Poker in Paris. It was his participation in the Ladbrokes Casino 2002 World Heads-Up Poker Championships in Vienna in June 2002 when people started to notice the rising Russian star.
Later Kirill Gerasimov took on some of the best players in the world such as Tony G, Erik Sagstrom and Surinder Sunar and earned the amount of $60,000 which helped him step on the European poker player map. In 2002 he had many final table finishes and even won the 2002 European rookie of the year award. He went through 2003 just as strongly with some big hits that made the world sit up and give attention to the “Red Square Rookie.”
With the support of an online poker site, Kirill Gerasimov headed to Las Vegas for the World Poker Tour Championship and he made it to the final table, settling for the 2nd place with earnings of $506,625. In 2005 he had another second place finish, this time in the $1,500 Seven-Card Stud event. That same year Kirill Gerasimov made his debut in the European Poker Tour. He got to the final table of the EPT Grosvenor World Masters main event in London in September 2005 to finish 5th. His next big achievement was at The World Series of Poker 2006 – seven cashes found place in his bankroll again for the year.
Against all odds, he had been rather quiet on the small tournament circuit after that. Despite earning more than $1,6 million in career winnings, he spends most of his energy and time in playing online and traveling only to major tournaments, avoiding all the smaller events he used to participate in. What made him switch back to online games? The money he earned online was probably nothing compared to what he was winning in live tournaments - as of 2008, he has made over $2,000,000 in live tournament winnings.For Gerasimov, though, playing does not mean money - he always points his attention at how well he plays and not how much money he might win. In fact, he has even passed some of his knowledge to help other people win. Kirill Gerasimov is determined to show the whole world that he can be a real winner, and not just some good money maker.
As of 2008, he has made over $2,000,000 in live tournament winnings.