In a room stuffed with poker players it's often easy to select the celebrities of the sport. You look to the table that is surrounded by video cameras; you take a look at the webcast feature table, that's always got a few big names on; you search for the players that experience patches on their arms and are self-assured with chips in front of them; you listen for the loud voices coming from grinders playing high stakes games of 'Lodden thinks'. If you happen to were to make use of any of these usual techniques then you definately would have overlooked 26-year-old Vladimir "shabalinvlad" Shabalin on the EPT Grand Final, and also you would have missed an enormous player in doing so.
Shabalin has done what only two other players have managed before him, he's broken the 10,000,000 VPP barrier at PokerStars. Team PokerStars Online's George Lind was the primary to take action and was given a vacation of an entire life in doing so. Check out your individual Lifetime VPP total. Now then, do not feel emasculated; Shabalin's total is something quite extraordinary.
Last year, Shabalin clocked up 4.5m VPP's playing high stakes sit & go's, which equates to 22.5m Frequent Player Points (FPP's) or, if you happen to were to cash them in on the VIP store, good enough to get seven Porsche Cayman S sports cars. This year he's already burned through greater than 2m VPP, that is enough to get three more luxury cars. It's mind-blowing stuff, but you would not are aware of it to satisfy him.
We arranged to fulfill Shabalin on the end of Day 2 of the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final. He started the day with chips but ended the day with none, but he didn't appear to mind an excessive amount of.
Vladimir Shabalin, not Vlad, "It was a mistake after I made my nickname," was thrilled to satisfy and be interviewed by Russian EPT presenter and makeshift translator Ilya Gorodetskiy, an uncle figure for plenty of within the Eastern European poker playing community.
After being presented with a luxury SLYDE watch (who're the Official Watch Sponsor for EPT Season 10, no less) by PokerStars Head of Poker Communications Lee Jones and collaborating in a stunning interview with PokerStars.tv's Sarah Grant, PokerStars Blog got an opportunity to interview Shabalin within the amazing Salle des Etoiles of the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort, at one of the crucial outer TV tables no less. And that watch? That was for passing just 5m VPPs. That's how hard and fast this guys is grinding.
Although Shabalin's English was pretty good - and got better the more that he relaxed - Gorodetskiy helped out with translating into Russian and back again. Shabalin, who's from Berezniki in Russia, was playing full time for 5 and a half years, but has only just decided to dip his toe into the live game.
"It's my first time in Monte Carlo, but my second time playing the EPT. I played one month ago in Vienna," said Shabalin. "Monte Carlo is an overly strong experience for me, very powerful, because it is a luxury city. Everything is like in a fairy tale. Everything is so beautiful and in addition the ambience is like something really important and beautiful is going on right now, here". Well, that's what the events team works tirelessly to create, so kudos to them.
"I'm really grateful for PokerStars," said Shabalin. "THAT IS the one site that I play through my whole career. I ACTUALLY appreciate the software and client service. Everything is organised to be comfortable for the players and that is really important for me."
That statement was made unprompted, I'd love to add. Sure, Shabalin may need one eye on joining Team PokerStars Online and makes sense enough to grasp that flattery never hurts, but, let's accept it, PokerStars does do a very good job in any respect of that.
"Poker gave me numerous opportunities, a large number of chances to fulfill different people," said Shabalin. "It was essential because poker forced me to organise my life and to organise myself. The principle quality of poker as a qualified is that everything is determined by you."
And up to now he's doing an excellent job of organising himself. Having completed his psychology studies at university Shabalin's been hitting the high stakes sit & go tables hard. Although he dabbled with cash games to start with, he soon found his calling, ""I FEEL that the best approach is to make a choice one discipline, one form of game," said Shabalin. "For me, this sort of game is sit-&-go's."
"I'm a large fan of travelling but there's two totally different periods in my life. When I'm playing I'm only playing. I'm concentrating fully at the game so I'm playing all day long, but if that period is completed I enjoy travelling so much and spending time with my girlfriend. I'm a large soccer fan but travelling's my main hobby."
Well, that may be very convenient because when your VPP counter ticks over the 10,000,000 mark a bell goes off at PokerStars HQ to muster the PokerStars VIP Club team. They've a vacation of an entire life to organise. That's right. On top of everything else, all of the bonuses, freerolls, $5k WCOOP tickets and (did we mention this already?) sports cars, 10m VPP Hall of Famers get an all-expenses paid once-in-a-lifetime trip to enjoy. Understanding whether you must four-bet pocket eights at the bubble is one thing, but seeking to decide where on the planet to head for without equal vacation? That's really difficult. So, where is Shabalin's favourite holiday destination?
"Right now, Monte Carlo is actually my choice as it was actually it was just about my first poker journey," said Shabalin. "I'm playing poker in a very beautiful place and that i met numerous nice people and many players I HAVE NOT met before. It is a great combination. I'VE almost zero experience in live poker, but sooner or later I BELIEVE that I'll play more live."
I've got bad news for the VIP team. It looks as if you guys have really got your work cut out for you. Shabalin's ultimate journey is the overall frontier, "My dream is to become an area tourist so I'm dreaming about sitting down in a shuttle and watching our Earth from there," he said. "I now have a possibility to satisfy poker stars, but real stars are my goal."
A big PokerStars Blog way to Ilya Gorodetskiy for his time and help.
Are you taking advantage of the PokerStars VIP Club?The PokerStars VIP Club offers a large number of benefits and bonuses. Listed below are only a few that are bobbing up soon. Discover more concerning the VIP Club here.
1. Free money for the high rollersThere's one million Dollar Quarterly Freeroll for Supernova VIP's going down on May 24.
2. Scooping up SCOOP tciketsThere are three fantastic SCOOP satellites for SilverStars and up. There are three VIP Bash tournaments,one for every level of SCOOP going down on Saturday, May 17 at 2:30 ET.
SCOOP-L: 500 FPP satellite (250 entries guaranteed)SCOOP-M: 5,000 FPP satellite (75 entries guaranteed)SCOOP-H: 25,000 FPP satellite (2 entries guaranteed)
3. Living it up in LisbonThe next VIP Club Live is on June 7 in Lisbon, Portugal. You should buy a ticket for you and a guest from the VIP Store, the ticket will provide you with entry, food, drink and entertainment. It's free for Supernova Elite VIP's, but you'll be able to come along whatever your level. Test it out under 'VIP Club Live' within the store.
Click through to live updates, features and interviews from the EPT Grand Final Main Event and the EPT Grand Final Super High Roller.
Rick Dacey is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.
Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: PokerStars VIP Club]
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