When your A-K loses to A-Q and A-10 pre-flop for the chip lead deep in the PokerStars Sunday 500, you probably think it’s over, right? Grab a beer, pack it in. You’re stuck on the short stack with two tables to go, waiting for that perfect moment to strike… or punting your stack with 7-2.

“I had to ninja my short-stack for the final two tables.” That’s a quote from Russia’s ‘RhoNin‘, who maneuvered his way through a minefield of big stacks to take third place in the Sunday 500 in November for $35,000. Not to be outdone, he muscled his way to a Super Tuesday victory this week for almost $100,000.

“I know I’m supposed to be over the moon about five-figure scores, but the truth is I had a sensational month, which made it less exciting,” ‘RhoNin’ said. “I feel very fortunate, though, as I had to ninja my short-stack for the final two tables all the way down to three-handed play.”

Despite losing that fate-changing pot with Big Slick, ‘RhoNin’ stayed patient. The Sunday 500’s twenty-minute levels allowed him to remain calm, wait for an optimal hand, and, as he put it, “not rush it.” He was rewarded with what, at the time, was his second largest score to date.

Nineteen days before his $35,000 score in the Sunday 500, he took down the 888 Volcano for $24,000, defeating a field of 191 players in the $600 buy-in tournament. “That tournament actually meant a lot more to me when it happened,” he said. “It is the toughest MTT on the site and, much like the Sunday 500, always has a final table stacked with professional players.”

“I still remember how I entered the Volcano. I came back from watching a Champions League match and had a few beers, which probably made me not care about the fact that I was late registering with only 16 big blinds,” said ‘RhoNin’. “I managed to become the chip leader in less than an hour thanks to a lot of big hands right from the start.”

They say “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” For ‘RhoNin’, trips to Uruguay and Berlin for live poker tournaments meant virtually no time to play online. By the time he returned home, he was amped up to open 888 and PokerStars. The result: a Volcano win, a Sunday 500 final table, and a Super Tuesday victory.

‘RhoNin’ got started in poker by gathering around the kitchen table with friends. He got a $50 bankroll from a training site, which he proceeded to donate, and then spent four years away from the game.

The very first time the Russian played a live game, however, his fortunes were much different. He won 10 stacks at NL400 and recalled, “I thought I was a poker genius, but it wasn’t long until I met my maker. I had a few more good sessions, but then my money-splashing, paired with variance, caught up to me. I deposited some of what I had left online and realized the only games I could beat were $2.50 sit and gos. So, I started there.”

‘RhoNin’ is up to almost $600,000 in online tournament winnings and is the #7 ranked player in Russia. He’s tops in the city of Orenburg and only plays part-time. The rest of his day is devoted to completing his BA in International Business.

He added, “Apart from university and poker, I like to travel and watch football and basketball at the arenas or in local pubs. I’m an avid supporter of FC Bayern Munchen and the LA Lakers, though the former are making me cry these days.” The Lakers have nine wins in 40 games.

The Russia poker community on PocketFives is almost 2,000 players strong. Players from Russia have combined for $202 million in total winnings, $11 million of which has come in the last three months. Russia is #5 in PocketFives’ Country Poker Rankings with a combined PLB score of its top 20 players of 87,152 points.

‘RhoNin’ is on the brink of entering the top 100 worldwide in the PocketFives Rankings and should make the leap next week due to his Super Tuesday win. He wanted to extend shout outs to ‘neverfoldQ5’, Garik, Oljieha, ‘johnnycash90’, ‘kuhmuhkun’, JOCHEN, Majo, and ‘Big Pun’.