Alexander Dovzhenko

Alexander “Alex” Dovzhenko is a professional poker player from Russia who made his first live-event cash in 2001. In the first 11 years, Alex cashed in 75 events, made 56 final tables, won 9 events, cashed at the WSOP 13 times, and earned over $1.4 million.

Born in Kiev in 1964, Alex grew up to be a professional chess player. In the 1990s he discovered poker and began playing in home games with friends and in poker rooms near his home in St. Petersburg. Although he quickly became skilled in all variations of poker, Stud-8 became his favorite game.

In 2001, Alex began playing live events close to home. He made his first cash at the 2001 Open Championships of Russia in St Petersburg when he finished 9th for $900 in the $500 NLHE. He then made a pair of final tables at both the Moscow Open, and the Winter Tournament Olympia, where he won the $500 NLHE tournament for $11,500. Since the “poker boom” hadn’t hit Russia yet, the fields were small in the events Alex entered, and so were the prize pools.

Alex cashed 6 times in 2002, making the final table in every event, but his biggest cash was in the $200 PLO at the Taleon Masters for $5,400. In 2003, he again made the final table in all of the events he cashed in, with his biggest score being $15,583 for winning the $300 PLO at the Moscow Open. In 2004, he cashed twice at the Summer Poker Weekend in Kiev, winning the PLO event for $1,371, and was runner-up in the $1,000 NLHE at the Korona Russian Poker Championships to earn $13,386.

All 4 of Alex’s cashes in 2005 were at the Taleon Masters where he final tabled every event, winning the $100 NLHE and the $300 PLHE for a total of $9,000. In 2006, after making a final table at the East Europe Poker Championships, Alex won the $300 NLHE at the Partypoker.com Saint Petersburg Poker Open to earn $11,400. He went on to final table events at the Russian Poker Championships, and twice at the Perla Poker Parade where he was runner-up in the €300 PLO for €6,624.

Continuing his final table streak, Alex cashed 7 times in 2007 and once in 2008. His biggest paycheck during that time came at the 2007 Istrian Open Novigrad, when he won the €1,000 NLHE to earn €12,000.

By 2009, Alex had become friends with Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko, who encouraged him to play online and in bigger live events. Although he had some small wins playing at PokerStars as “berserk64,” it was in the live arena that Dovzhenko had his greatest success, eventually rising to the 3rd spot on the all-time Ukraine money list.

At the 2009 EPT San Remo, Alex entered the €5,000 NLHE where he finished 56th to earn €13,700. At his first WSOP, he cashed 4 times with his best effort being a 20th-place finish in the $1,500 Stud-8 for $4,478.

Alex’s other pair of cashes in 2009 saw him back at final tables. At the EPT Barcelona, he won the €1,000 PLO to earn €39,400, and finished runner-up in the Nations Cup at the Poker EM/ European Poker Championship for €22,725. His performances that year won him a nomination at the 2010 Russian Poker Awards for Player of the Year. After playing poker for over 2 decades, Alex’s name was finally being recognized in the poker world.

In 2010, Alex cashed 15 times and made 10 final tables. The highlights of his year included cashing 4 times at the WSOP, where he earned $48,847 in the Main Event. He also finished 3rd for €67,245 in the €1,350 NLHE Main Event at the Partouche Poker Tour Cannes, took 3rd for $51,700 in the $2,300 NLHE Main Event at the Russian Poker Tour, and cashed twice at the Mediterranean Poker Cup where he was runner-up for $11,800 in the $1,100 NLHE, and won the $2,500 NLHE Main Event to earn $104,700.

Alex started 2011 by cashing at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. He then cashed in the Main Event at the L.A. Poker Classic, and finished in the money in the $1,500 NLHE at the Big Event Los Angeles to earn $18,200. After cashing at RPS Kiev and EPT Grand Final Monte Carlo, he made the money in 4 WSOP events, including a 15th place finish in the $5,000 PLO-8 to earn $20,299.

The last half of 2011, Alex cashed at the EPT Barcelona and finished 7th in the €8,500 NLHE Main Event at the Partouche Poker Tour Cannes to earn €160,000. At the WSOP Europe Cannes, he cashed twice, finishing 4th for €37,529 in the €1,500 PLO 6-Max, and taking 11th in the Main Event to earn €67,500. To end the year, he cashed at the EPT San Remo, the GSOP Live, and finished 6th in the €3,000 NLHE Main Event at the WPT Venice to earn €27,035.

Even though Alex has had impressive results in Hold‘em, he has said he is not a big fan of the game and only plays it “because all the younger people play it.” As he approaches his late forties, Alex continues to prove that you don’t have to be young to be a successful poker pro, and is definitely a player to watch in the future.