Mikhail Lakhitov

A newcomer to the world of poker, Mikhail Lakhitov has accomplishments over the past year that bode well for his future in the game.

Born in 1981 in Cheboksary, Russia and now calling Moscow home, Mikhail was an officer in the Russian Army until 2006. During his military career, he spent his off hours with his fellow officers exploring different games and their nuances. Coming upon poker, Lakhitov was immediately intrigued with what would become his career following his discharge.

Mikhail would study the game with his friend, Russian pro Kirill Gerasimov, but it wasn’t until 2010 that Lakhitov would enter into the tournament poker world. His first tournament cash came in a side event at the European Poker Tour Snowfest stop in Hinterglemm, Austria in March 2010. In a €500 NLHE tournament, Lakhitov would finish fifth for a payday of €6900, setting the course for further success during the 2010 calendar year.

Mikhail would earn his first two cashes of his World Series of Poker career in 2010, with a near miss of the final table (eighth place) in the $1500 Six Handed NLHE event. Lakhitov would go on over the remainder of the year to earn four more cashes on the EPT – and win a $1000 NLHE tournament during the Bellagio Cup – to prime himself for his breakthrough on the tournament poker scene in 2011.

Two deep runs in EPT Main Events in Copenhagen, Denmark and Berlin, Germany, primed Mikhail for his second run at the WSOP in 2011. In one of the more charming stories of the 2011 WSOP, Lakhitov naively admitted that he didn’t know that bracelets were awarded to WSOP champions after their win.

“In 2010, I finished near the top in one tournament and came in eighth place,” Lakhitov stated to WSOP media director Nolan Dalla. “I did not know there was such a thing as a gold bracelet. Later, I saw there were pictures with the winner and the bracelet. So, this year on my way to Las Vegas, I promised to my lovely wife that I would win a gold bracelet. That was my motivation.”

That motivation moved Mikhail to earn one of poker’s most cherished trophies during the 2011 WSOP. In a $2500 NLHE tournament, Lakhitov would work his way through the 1734 player field to make the final table. After playing on what was originally expected to be the final day of play, Mikhail was able to work his way up to second place before action was suspended. Coming back for a fourth day of play, Mikhail was able to outlast Hassan Babjane to take home his wife’s promised bracelet and his largest career cash to day of $749,610.

Following that tournament win (Lakhitov’s fifth cash of the 2011 WSOP), Mikhail entered into the pantheon of players who have earned over $1 million in tournament poker earnings. He has won two events, made eight final tables and cashed eighteen times since he began his career in early 2010. Along with calling himself a WSOP champion, Mikhail can also claim career earnings of $1,103,902 as of July 2011.

As a result of his fine play to this point of 2011, Mikhail has some of poker’s biggest awards within his grasp. He is currently in the Top Fifty on CardPlayer Magazine’s Player of the Year race and will be in ninth place on the WSOP Player of the Year leaderboard when the WSOP Europe is contested in October in Cannes, France (for this first time, the cumulative results of the WSOP Las Vegas and WSOP Europe will determine the POY). With solid play over the remainder of 2011, Mikhail can claim these prizes despite having less than two years of live tournament experience under his belt.

Now firmly entrenched as Russia’s latest poker champion, Mikhail Lakhitov is poised to become one of the forces on the international tournament poker stage for years to come.