Stanislav Barshak

Born in Ukraine but raised in America after his parents relocated the family in search of a better life when Stanislav was just four, Barshak found poker while in his senior year of study at the University of Illinois. Although he graduated as a double major in marketing and international business, the only business he was interested in pursuing was poker. In an interview with WSOP.com, the Ukrainian admitted:

‘My parents didn’t like it, but I ran with it’.

While Barshak spends a lot of his time residing in Costa Rica so that he can play online poker, he does travel to the U. S. frequently to play live tournaments and it also gives him an opportunity to see his family. He is a two-time WSOP circuit winner, making him a holder of two WSOP rings. The first of these came in 2012 after he emerged victorious in the $580 No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event. Incidentally, this was after a deep run in the WSOP $10,000 NLH Six-Handed tournament in the summer where Stanislav outlasted the likes of Jason Mercier, Jonathan Duhamel and Mike McDonald when he finished in 11th. Clearly his time spent competing against some of the strongest players in the world in this short-handed format prepared him for the ring he won in the same type of event just a couple of months later.

Almost exactly one year later at the same WSOP circuit stop in Hammond, Barshak earned his second ring after winning the $1,125 No Limit Hold’em event.

Now with over a dozen WSOP cashes to his name, Stanislav has established himself as a prominent player on the live tournament circuit.