Another Deep Run in the $50K for Russian Phenom Vladimir Shchemelev
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Last year, the World Series of Poker was taken by storm with the emergence of Russian Vladimir Shchemelev. First, he stormed his way to the final table of the $50,000 Player's Championship en route to a second-place finish behind Michael Mizrachi. Then, he made three more final tables during the 2010 Series.
His finishes at last year's WSOP include a seventh-place finish in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship, another seventh in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo 8 Championship and a fourth-place finish in the $2,500 Seven Card Razz. In total, he earned $1,144,617 at the 2010 WSOP.
This year, Shchemelev has been rather quiet. He only has one final table and that came back in Event #3: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better. Unfortunately, his run ended in eighth place for $25,174 -- much farther from the gold he dreams of. Shchemelev also finished in the money in the $2,500 Limit Hold'em / Six Handed event for $4,743. So far, he's locked up nearly $125,000 with this in-the-money finish.
Although we may have lost our defending champion on Day 2, we could see a repeat runner-up performance from Shchemelev -- or better, he could win. Is it the Russian's time? He sure has a lot of ork cut out for him as his stack is short, but anything could happen in these swingy games.
Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for coverage on his run.