Russia’s Egor ‘Egorrr’ Boriskin says there’s a little Fight Club in all of us

In 1996, 20 years ago, Chuck Palahniuk released a novel called Fight Club. The psychological thriller later caught the attention of director David Fincher, who turned it into a movie starring Edward Norton and Brad Pitt, two icons of the gambling film world with their roles in Roundersand Ocean’s Eleven, respectively. And although the movie largely bombed at the box office, it hit the jackpot in DVD sales.

It’s probably hard for most people to relate to Fight Club, in which the narrator, played in the movie by Norton, suffers from insomnia and dissociated personalities. But, for Russia’s Egor ‘Egorrr’ Boriskin, Palahniuk is one of his favorite authors and, therefore, the novel holds a special place in his heart.

“It’s really about me,” Boriskin said of the general concept behind Fight Club. “I feel like I sometimes feel two different people fight inside of me and inside of each of us. I hope Tyler Durden will win inside of me, but for most of people the whole concept of Fight Club is unreal.”

Let’s hope he isn’t involved in anything remotely resembling Project Mayhem.

Boriskin knows it’s important to find something outside of his profession to like. Similar to the book, it’s an escape – an alternate reality where you can take a mental and physical respite from the daily grind.

“Many people want to live simply. They go to their hated job in the morning, then go home, watch TV, and go to sleep,” the Russian said. “And it happens like that every day of the week. I really don’t understand their purpose. Why don’t they want to find and do something interesting and go outside of their comfort zone?”

As the quote from Fight Club goes, “If you don’t claim your humanity, you will become a statistic.”

For Boriskin, an escape into the world of reading has helped him stay sane, almost as if Tyler Durden were a bookworm rather than a pathological troublemaker.

“I like to read books,” he said. “My favorite authors are Chuck Palahniuk, Irvine Welsh, and Viktor Pelevin. I like their books for their singularity and their thoughts. I also like to play the guitar, have a nice family with two children, and I very much like to spend time with them. Unfortunately, poker doesn’t give me too much time for reading, but I try. I think it’s a very good and useful activity outside of poker.”

If you’re looking for a good read, listen up. His favorite books by each of his three top authors are as follows: Fight Club from Palahniuk, Filth from Welsh, and Yellow Arrow from Pelevin. “They are all about the hidden and interesting parts of our lives,” he said.

He just hit $2 million in online tournament winnings, a milestone that invariably wouldn’t have been possible without Boriskin’s external hobbies. He said that reading, for example, improves his thinking, intellect, and imagination. He’s also played the guitar for 15 years, but admitted, “My skill level isn’t too good and I don’t play when other people are at home. It’s only for my own pleasure.”

“Playing the guitar and reading help me digress a little bit from poker,” he said. “For example, if you play many days in a row and you want to relax slightly, you can go read or play the guitar.”

Boriskin and his family

Boriskin passed the $2 million milestone on June 27. Today, he’s all the way up to #161 worldwide in the PocketFives Rankings on the strength of recent cashes like a third place in the PokerStars Sunday Mini-Million for $23,000 in March, a victory in the partypoker Heavyweight Uppercut in April for $11,000, and a gold in the PokerStars Saturday Eliminator in May for $6,700.

The Russian is ranked #12 in his home nation and #1 in the riverside city of Cheboksary. While he’s certainly proud of topping $2 million in career scores, he said, “I would be more excited if it were $2 million in profit, but there are some good challenges on PocketFives and it’s always nice to accomplish a new one.”

With his blissful demeanor from being able to put in some light reading to calm his poker nerves, he has a few goals in mind over the next 12 months. “I want to play high limits with a good ROI and I want to play better and better,” he said. “In life, I would like to relax in some other country with my family and probably combine that with a few poker series.”