I was looking over some World Series of Poker statistics and information and came across something that mentioned Yevgeny Kafelnikov. He played in the 2005 World Series of Poker and did pretty well. This guy used to be a world class tennis player and now he’s trying to make a living as a professional poker player.

I remember reading an article on espn.com late last year discussing Kafelnikov’s career change. The tennis world was a little bummed the day he quit. At one point, he was even the # 1 ranked men’s tennis player. He won numerous titles including the 1996 French Open and 1999 Australian Open.

Before Kafelnikov was able to tackle the biggest poker event in the world, he needed a poker coach. His mentor is a fellow Russian named Kirill Gerasimov. Kirill has made several finals tables and even won the World’s Heads Up Championship in 2002. Kafelnikov made a good decision going with Kirill. Kafelnikov cashed in 3 WSOP events this year including a 9th place finish in 7 Card Stud. Check out the below link for the other events he cashed in.