From Monte Carlo to the PokerNews Cup: Meet Russia's Anna Yamshchikova
Those who are used to frequenting top international live poker events have immediately noticed that Russia's Anna Yamshchikova was amongst the players who opted to enter the tournament room at King's Casino in Rozvadov to play in the first starting flight of the 2015 PokerNews Cup Main Event.
"I first heard about the PokerNews Cup when someone invited me to join the event on Facebook," Yamshchikova told PokerNews during a break. "I had a look at the calendar and at the buy-ins, and I thought 'why not?' After that, coming here to play was an easy decision."
With nearly $78,000 in live tournament winnings, according to the Hendon Mob, Yamshchikova has slowly been making a name for herself on the circuit.
While her current personal best comes from a second-place finish worth $13,502 in the European Poker Tour Grand Final Women's Event in Monte Carlo in 2013, Yamshchikova has been putting together results almost nonstop from 2008 on.
I like the challenge that comes with the game and I really think poker should be considered as a sport.
The list of her live poker scores includes other remarkable ones like a first-place finish for $4,259 in the EPT Kiev Ladies Event in 2009, a second-place finish at the 2012 Eureka Poker Tour Ladies Event worth $3,738, and a third-place finish in a side event part of Redbet Poker's 2014 Prague Poker Festival worth $3,067.
Despite this, as she openly admitted, her favorite events are not the ones with only ladies in the field.
"The ladies events used to be much easier in the past," she said. "Years ago, women were not too good at poker, but today this has changed. Right now, I prefer events like this one, with not too many ladies in the field. I don't meant to say that men are bad, but the ladies events became a lot tougher than they used to be."
Over the years, Yamshchikova managed to put together a number of good results outside of Europe as well, as she cashed for a total of 11 times in Las Vegas between 2008 and 2008, and finished in the money in two PokerStars Caribbean Adventure events back in 2010.
To join the second PokerNews Cup of 2015, Yamshchikova came all the way from St. Petersburg, Russia, where she lives and work as a producer in a movie company named Cipher. Before Rozvadov, as her personal page on the Hendon Mob shows, she has been busy in other events that included the Deep Stack Extravaganza I in Las Vegas back in February.
"I like Las Vegas, but the tournaments there are a lot different from he ones here," she said. "The organization can hardly be compared and the fields are totally different. There, you get thousands of players. Here, you don't often have more than a few hundred in the tournament room. Personally, I prefer smaller events like this one. Here I feel at home.
"I like to come to Europe and to play in Europe, especially as I can't play in Russia anymore since the government decided to ban poker. Right now, I really like to spend time in Prague and I am also considering to go back there in December and play some of the events taking place there."
Asked about how did she get into poker, Yamshchikova explained that her adventure in the game begun more than seven years ago.
"I like to play casino games like Russian poker, blackjack, and roulette, and I used to go brick-and-mortar casino rooms in Russia and spend some time with my friends there," she said. "Then I discovered about poker and I immediately started to like it. I like the challenge that comes with it, and I really think poker should be considered as a sport."
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