Rest in Peace, Nikolay Evdakov!

At the age of 47, Russian poker pro Nikolay Evdakov passed away on 6 February, 2012.

Nikolay Evdakov

Following a prolonged illness, former Full Tilt Poker pro Nikolay Evdakov passed away on Monday, 6 February, 2012. The sad news was first published by his loving wife, Natalya, via the cgm.ru Russian poker forum.

“Dear friends, acquaintances and all who loved Nikolay, our family has experienced a great tragedy. Today, on 6 February, Niklay passed away. His funeral takes place on 8 February, 2012 at 14:00 in the Troekurov Cemetery,” she wrote.

Evdakov (died at 47) became a renowned poker pro in 2008 when he made it in the money in no less than 10 WSOP events, which is a record in the history of the poker world championship. In the next year, he was doing excellently once again with 5 WSOP and a WSOPE ITM finishes. His skills even convinced the greatest poker sites and Full Tilt Poker signed him a sponsored pro in 2009.

In the 2011 WSOP, he won his biggest prize ever, finishing 7th in the $25,000 NLHE Heads-Up Championship for $138,852. His total live tournament winnings are $1,151,705, even though he never won the coveted golden bracelet.

Evdakov’s death stroke the poker community hard; all those he knew him say he was a kind, hardworking and devoted player, who was also among the greatest as a person.

He will forever be remembered by the poker community.