An Estonian man who had never played tournament poker before 2024 has won $7.9 million across two tournaments in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Vladimir Korzinin, whom many online compared to a poker wizard because of his age, demeanor, and long grey beard, took home $4.35 million on Thursday.
The previous amateur outlasted 122 players in the Triton Super High Roller $150,000 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Handed event to pick up his first tournament win. And a handsome one, at that.
Other players in the tournament included former World Series of Poker online world champion Fedor Holz and all-time poker tournament winnings leader Bryn Kenney.
Korzinin also finished second in the $200,000 Triton Poker Invitational earlier this week, in which he won $3.3 million.
The Estonian’s first poker tournament cash was in October, when he finished third at a minor European Poker Tour event. He has now been catapulted into being one of the highest-earning poker pros in Europe and the world after less than a year in the game.
The quiet and reserved Korzinin refused interviews throughout the week, despite much interest in his sudden appearance and rise in the poker world.
The Tournament Victory
The $150,000 tournament had a mix of rich amateurs and seasoned high limit poker pros. That included three players from the top 10 of the all-time poker earnings leaderboard – leader Kenney, sixth-place Stephen Chidwick, and eighth-place Fedor Holz.
Korzinin played a loose game throughout the tournament. At one point, he made a crazy prescient fold on a pair of 8s after an opening limp from Patrik Antonius, who held a pair of 10s.
He also went all in pre-flop on a seven two suited, as fellow final tabler Ossi Ketola had previously told the table that was his favorite hand (after folding it).
Korzinin, however, won the 2-7 suited all-in by picking up a straight against Ketola’s King 9.
After picking up the $4.5 million tournament win, Korzinin handed over the trophy to runner up Ketola. The 69-year-old had “no room for it” he said.
He briefly spoke to a Triton representative to say he had “no words” after winning the tournament against some of the world’s top poker players.
Wizardly Skills
The crazy hot run in a high stakes game, and his calm, grey-bearded presence, led to many fans watching the Triton stream calling Korzinin “Gambledore,” a reference to the wizard Dumbledore from Harry Potter.
Some Reddit forum discussion was sparked as to the origins of this rich, and now clearly even richer, old man. Korzinin is rumored to be some sort of inventor, or even connected to NASA.
It is known that he is on friendly terms with high limit poker legend and Hall of Famer Antonius, who he was seen speaking to closely during last week’s $200,000 Invitational. Korzinin actually ended up losing to Monaco resident Antonius in the heads up, but still walked away with a $3 million payday.
His $7.4 million in tournament winnings puts him about a million dollars shy of cracking the top 100 all-time poker earnings list. That’s after just three known tournament entries.
David is an online casino expert who specializes in online slots and boasts over 10 years experience writing about iGaming. He has written for a wide range of notable publications, including eSports Insider and WordPlay Magazine.
David graduated Derby University with a BA Degree in English Literature and Creative Writing.
