Oleksii KovalchukUkraine

WSOP Cashes:4
WSOP Bracelets:1
WSOP Earnings:$720,699

Anton Makiievskyi was the Ukrainian who made the WSOP main event final table, but Oleksii Kovalchuk may be the star of the rising class of Ukrainian poker pros. Kovalchuk won his first WSOP bracelet in the six-handed, $2,500 event last June and has continued his hot streak ever since.

Over the past year, Kovalchuk won IPT Nova Gorica, finished third in the Partouche Poker Tour main event, won IPT San Remo and made a final table at EPT Madrid. In less than 16 months, Kovalchuk has earned $1.8 million through live tournament play, and that doesn't include his online efforts in which he gains the majority of his poker experience.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: 2011 WSOP bracelet winner | Two-time Italian Poker Tour champion