November 2009 

by: John Wenzel

With the World Championship of Online Poker completed and the Full Tilt Online Poker Series upon us, all is good in the online poker world. Despite the whining I hear from some online pros about it getting tougher to make good money online, there still is plenty of action and new players are still signing up in droves. The higher-stakes games may be a little tougher, but there are still fish in the sea – you just have to be smart enough to find them. After all, game selection is a poker skill too. And the tougher games will make you a better player, if you can stand the heat. If you can’t, well, maybe it’s better you find out now rather than down the road.

One player who seeks out the toughest tournaments – both online and live – is Ukrainian-American Yevgeniy Timoshenko. Just look at this resume:

* Won the 2009 World Poker Tour Championship, earning $2,149,960.

* Won the Asian Poker Tour’s Macau event in 2008 for $500,000.

* Finished third in the WSOP Europe Event 1 in 2008.

Timoshenko has 11 live cashes, nine final tables, and has already earned more than $3 million live and about the same online. And oh yeah, he’s only 21 years old.

Timoshenko plays on Full Tilt Poker under the alias of “Bballer88,” while on PokerStars you will no doubt recognise his screen name, “Jovial Gent.” Who wouldn’t be jovial with all that money!

Timoshenko, who immigrated to Washington State on America’s northwest coast at the age of 10, loves online poker. Last month he took down the main event of the WCOOP, defeating a 2,144-player field to walk off with more than $1.7 million (see page 18). Then the very same night he took third in the weekly Full Tilt Poker $1,000 NL hold’em event for another $53,000. It’s obvious, this guy just loves poker, plain and simple.

This guy is a true prodigy, but there is more to becoming a long-term successful player than just poker skills. There are also life skills. It will be interesting to watch Yevgeniy over the years and see if he is a prodigy in that department too.