PokerListings.com Meets $6m Man Eugene Katchalov: From Day Trader to Poker Multi-Millionaire

    VALETTA, MALTA, April 16, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- In the summer of 2003, recent NYU grad Eugene Katchalov had aspirations of becoming a Wall Street day trader.

The 29-year-old Ukranian-born Brooklyn native knew little if anything about poker, much less online poker.

Even as he gradually honed his skills in $10 home games, he still didn't see poker as much more than a hobby.

Today, he's the newest member of Team PokerStars Pro, has over $6.1 million in career poker tournament earnings and travels the world playing events with buy-ins up to $100k.

As for the trading?

"I still dabble in trading a little, and may get back into it in the future if poker doesn't seem appealing any more for some reason.

"Although that's probably not happening any time soon."

In an exclusive new interview with PokerListings.com, Katchalov explains how it all played out.

"When I first started playing I didn't even know you could play poker online so we just had home games with friends. Like 8-9 of us would get together and play like a $10 Sit and Go or some very small limit Hold'em cash game, like 25c/50c.

"After a while I learned that you could play online and that No-Limit Hold'em was the most popular and interesting.

"Success wasn't quick, but limited success was. I was probably making $20-$30 per day playing in those days, which was good enough for spending money at the time. I slowly moved up from there and started to play much larger field tournaments.

"I remember winning like $500 in a $5 buy in tournament and from then on was hooked. From there on poker was always a way for me to make side money while I worked as a trader."

Some modest success in the world of online poker didn't take Katchalov away from trading right away, but a $2.4 million win on the World Poker Tour in 2007 started to tip the scales.

Having a father and grandfather who played cards professionally in the former USSR also helped when it came to family support for making the shift.

Still, trading had its appeals.

"I figured I'd play poker to pay the bills, and at the same time learn to trade. Even though I eventually became a pretty good trader and really liked it, poker grew on me a lot more.

"I really loved and enjoyed the game and was becoming consistently more and more successful at it. But I still loved trading and wanted to do both.

"About a year ago I realized I couldn't do both, since to be really good at either I needed to concentrate and give 100% to only one.

"Since poker was going great and I enjoyed the freedom and traveling, I chose poker."

Trading's loss has been poker's gain, as a few more big wins recently have pushed Katchalov past the rest of the crowd vying for poker stardom.

In January he added another seven-figure win to his impressive resume by taking down the $100,000 No-Limit Hold'em Super High Roller Event at the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Days later he finished second in the $10,000 Six-Max High Roller event for another six-figure score.

Within a few weeks, Team PokerStars came calling and the NYU grad signed on as its latest sponsored pro.

To see the full Q and A with Katchalov, visit the PokerListings blog.

About PokerListings.com
www.PokerListings.com was launched in 2003 and quickly became the largest online poker guide in the world. It provides poker players with in-depth reviews of the best online poker sites, the world's best sign-up bonuses and promotions, daily poker news and exclusive poker strategy articles for all skill levels.

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