The end of the PokerStars Sunday Stormon December 30 featured a three-way deal. The participants: two Ukrainians and a Russian, who received nearly even paydays of $24,000 and played on for another $6,000. When the smoke cleared, Yuriy Kudrynskyy (pictured), known on PocketFives as yarik1903, came away with the win and added $30,000 to his bankroll.

“The other Ukrainian player was very good,” Kudrynskyy said of his competition. “He played aggressively. The Russian player always pushed all-in. Before that tournament, my bankroll was suffering, so a chop was good for me.” There were over 45,000 entrants in the Sunday Storm, a weekly tournament on PokerStars that has an $11 buy-in and guarantees $300,000. You can do the math to see that on the final weekend of 2013, nearly half-a-million dollars was up for grabs.

He’ll use his newfound $30,000 to pay bills and fuel his bankroll. Interestingly, the Ukrainian said he didn’t receive an abnormal reaction from friends and family, whom he noted are used to the swings of poker.

Kudrynskyy’s big claim to fame is finishing third in a PokerStars WCOOP $215 No Limit Hold’emevent in 2011 for $144,000 officially. He is over $600,000 in lifetime tracked scores and has 27 wins.

He is likely the first player we’ve interviewed who owns a mini market on the side, which his mother and nephew still manage. He said, “I started playing poker four years ago. I started playing full-time after getting third place in the WCOOP event. Before that, I was an entrepreneur and still have my mini market.”

He began a full-time poker career “because I have loved playing cards ever since childhood for money. I love playing Hold’em MTTs and Omaha cash games right now.” He has been able to spend time playing Omaha during live events like EPT Deauville and online.

Speaking of EPT Deauville, which takes place in France, he cashed four times during the series in 2013, turning in second, eighth, 12th, and 16th place finishes for $21,000 combined, according to the Hendon Mob. We wouldn’t be surprised to see him on the live felts for more events going forward after his big splash in the Storm.

Finally, we wanted to discuss the Ukraine poker community. Kudrynskyy sits at #8 in his home country (pictured) according to PocketFives and is tops in Chernivtsi, which has a population of a quarter-million people.

The Sunday Storm runs weekly on PokerStars. If you don’t already have an account on the site, create one through PocketFives’ links to get a 100% deposit bonus up to $600 and one free month of PocketFives Training when you make a deposit. Plus, PokerStars will host a special PocketFives Open as part of a three-tournament series on January 28. Get started here.

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