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Igor Kurganov is a Russian-born professional poker player, born in St. Petersburg in 1988 and raised in Germany, who has spent most of his career in the high roller and super high roller tournaments of the European Poker Tour, the Aussie Millions and the World Series of Poker. He won the EPT Grand Final €25,000 High Roller in 2012, a WSOP bracelet in the 2017 $10,000 Tag Team Championship and the PokerStars Championship Barcelona €50,000 Super High Roller the same year. In 2014 he co-founded the charity Raising for Effective Giving. [1][4]
Igor Kurganov: key facts
| Full name | Igor Kurganov |
|---|---|
| Online alias | lechuckpoker [4] |
| Country | Russia (born), raised in Germany [1][4] |
| Born | May 5, 1988, St. Petersburg [4][3] |
| Known for | High roller and super high roller tournaments; co-founder of Raising for Effective Giving [1] |
| WSOP bracelets | 1 (24 WSOP.com cashes, 5 final tables) [2] |
| Major titles | EPT Grand Final €25,000 High Roller 2012; Aussie Millions $25,000 Challenge 2013; WSOP $10,000 Tag Team Championship 2017; PokerStars Championship Barcelona €50,000 Super High Roller 2017 [5][1][7][8] |
| Largest cash | 3rd, 2014 EPT Grand Final €100,000 Super High Roller, €1,128,300 [1] |
| Poker Hall of Fame | Not inducted |
| Live tournament earnings | $19,196,724 as of October 27, 2026 [1] |
Early life and first steps in poker
Kurganov was born on May 5, 1988, in St. Petersburg. When he was four his family, both parents engineers, moved to Germany and settled in Dortmund, where he went to school and showed an early talent for mathematics. [4]
He studied mathematics in Munich, and it was as a student there that he started to play poker. [1][4] When his winnings began to outgrow his student income he left university to play full time, putting in up to 14 hours a day at the game, and played online as “lechuckpoker”. [4] The earliest live results on his PokerNews record are 15th place in the 2009 Asian Poker Tour Macau Main Event for $13,057 and 119th place in the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event for $20,000. [1]
Breakthrough: the 2012 EPT Grand Final High Roller
Kurganov’s first major title came at the 2012 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo Casino EPT Grand Final, where he won the €25,000 High Roller for €1,080,000 ($1,428,300). Card Player reported a heads-up match against Daniel Negreanu that lasted more than two and a half hours, with several lead changes. On the final hand Negreanu moved all in with ace-jack and Kurganov called with king-three; a king on the flop gave him the title. The final table also included Philipp Gruissem in third, Justin Bonomo in fourth and Phil Ivey, who finished ninth. [5]
He followed it with three final tables at the 2013 Aussie Millions in Melbourne: he won the A$25,000 Challenge for A$275,000, finished second in the A$100,000 Challenge for A$610,000 and fourth in the A$250,000 Challenge for A$500,000. In June 2013 he finished sixth in the HK$1,000,000 GuangDong Asia Millions Main Event in Macau for HK$8,300,000, or $1,069,137. [1][3]
Playing style
Kurganov’s results come almost entirely from No-Limit Hold’em tournaments with five and six-figure buy-ins. When PokerStars signed him in 2017, its spokesman Eric Hollreiser said that “Igor’s mathematical poker mind and passion for giving back to society represent some of the best traits in poker”, and PokerNews described his “reputation as one of the most analytical players in the game” and called him “ever calm, cool and collected”. [6]
Greatest achievements
Super high roller results
Kurganov’s largest cash came at the 2014 EPT Grand Final, where he finished third in the €100,000 Super High Roller for €1,128,300, listed by PokerNews as $1,559,373. He returned to the final stages of the same event in the next two years, finishing fifth in 2015 for €551,000 and fourth in 2016 for €627,300. [1]
In August 2017 he won the PokerStars Championship Barcelona €50,000 Super High Roller. He knocked out several of the other finalists himself, including Daniel Negreanu, Dietrich Fast and Koray Aldemir, and agreed a heads-up deal with Bartlomiej Machon before winning for €1,078,106. PokerNews reported that it was his 12th tournament win and his first super high roller title in Europe. [8] Later that year he won the €25,500 Single-Day High Roller II at the PokerStars Championship Prague for €371,250. [1]
Tournament results
| Year | Event | Result | Prize | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | EPT Grand Final €100,000 Super High Roller | 3rd | €1,128,300 | [1] |
| 2012 | EPT Grand Final, Monte Carlo, €25,000 High Roller | 1st | €1,080,000 | [5] |
| 2017 | PokerStars Championship Barcelona €50,000 Super High Roller | 1st (after a heads-up deal) | €1,078,106 | [8] |
| 2013 | GuangDong Asia Millions Main Event, Macau | 6th | HK$8,300,000 ($1,069,137) | [1] |
| 2019 | WSOP $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller (99 entries) | 4th | $840,183 | [2] |
| 2016 | EPT Grand Final €100,000 Super High Roller | 4th | €627,300 | [1] |
| 2015 | EPT Prague €50,000 Super High Roller | 3rd | €376,400 | [1] |
| 2017 | PokerStars Championship Prague €25,500 Single-Day High Roller II | 1st | €371,250 | [1] |
| 2013 | Aussie Millions A$100,000 Challenge | 2nd | A$610,000 | [1] |
| 2018 | WSOP $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller | 5th | $381,874 | [1] |
| 2019 | PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $100,000 Super High Roller | 6th | $378,760 | [1] |
| 2016 | Aussie Millions A$25,000 Challenge | 2nd | A$541,680 | [1] |
| 2019 | WPT ARIA Summer Championship (192 entries) | 2nd | $285,650 | [2] |
| 2017 | WSOP $10,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold’em Championship (102 teams), with Liv Boeree | 1st | $273,964 | [7] |
| 2013 | Aussie Millions A$25,000 Challenge | 1st | A$275,000 | [1] |
World Series of Poker
Kurganov’s only WSOP bracelet came in Event #2 of the 2017 series, the first $10,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold’em Championship. Playing as a team with Liv Boeree, he beat a field of 102 teams; the heads-up match against Ankush Mandavia lasted 90 hands, and the team of Mandavia and Joe Kuether took $169,323 for second while a team led by Daniel Negreanu finished third. The winners received $273,964, and Kurganov and Boeree said they would give half of it to Raising for Effective Giving. [7]
His largest WSOP cash is the $840,183 he won for fourth place in the 2019 $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller, from 99 entries. He was also fifth in the 2018 $50,000 High Roller for $381,874 and 18th in the 2017 $111,111 High Roller for One Drop for $166,666. [2][1] His WSOP.com profile, listed under the screen name “betcheckbet”, shows one bracelet, 24 cashes and five final tables. [2] His most recent WSOP cash was 13th place in the 2026 $10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em Championship for $51,713. [3]
Later career
Card Player’s record of his more recent cashes includes 48th place in the 2023 WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas for $111,300, eighth in the 2024 WPT Alpha8 for $94,350 and eighth in the 2025 National Heads-Up Poker Championship for $75,000. [3]
PokerStars and Raising for Effective Giving
Raising for Effective Giving (REG) was founded in 2014 by Kurganov and Liv Boeree. The organization encourages poker players and others to give to charities chosen for their measurable impact, and according to PokerNews it raised $1.5 million in its first two years. [1] When PokerStars signed him, he was already wearing an REG patch at the tables. [6]
In February 2017 PokerStars signed him as the 30th member of PokerStars Team Pro, at a time when he had $12,042,540 in live tournament earnings; he said the company was also interested in supporting REG. [6] In November 2019 Kurganov and Boeree announced that they were leaving PokerStars as sponsored players. [9]
In his own words
- “I was a naive person who just started off in poker and I was also running well.” On his early hopes of a sponsorship, February 2017. [6]
- “I very much enjoyed just me doing my own thing in poker.” February 2017. [6]
- “Love or hate PokerStars, it’s going to be the major force in poker over the years to come and has been for the last years.” On joining Team Pro, February 2017. [6]
- “The money is nice, but for me it’s winning the bracelets together that matters the most.” After the 2017 Tag Team Championship. [7]
Iconic hands and moments
Best of Igor Kurganov (PokerStars)
Run it Back with Igor Kurganov (PokerGO)
Flopping quads in a Super High Roller at MILLIONS Europe 2019 (partypoker)
FAQ about Igor Kurganov
How old is Igor Kurganov?
Igor Kurganov was born on May 5, 1988, so he is 38 in October 2026. [4]
Where is Igor Kurganov from?
He was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and moved with his family to Dortmund, Germany, at the age of four. PokerNews lists his nationality as Russian. [4][1]
What is Igor Kurganov’s net worth?
There is no reliable public figure for his net worth. What can be verified is his live tournament record: $19,196,724 in earnings as of October 27, 2026, according to PokerNews. Prize totals do not show buy-ins, staking deals or the share of his action sold to others. [1]
How many WSOP bracelets does Igor Kurganov have?
One, from the 2017 $10,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold’em Championship, which he won with Liv Boeree for $273,964. [2][7]
What is Igor Kurganov’s biggest tournament win?
His largest tournament win is the 2012 EPT Grand Final €25,000 High Roller, worth €1,080,000 ($1,428,300). His largest single cash is the €1,128,300 he received for third place in the 2014 EPT Grand Final €100,000 Super High Roller. [5][1]
What is Raising for Effective Giving?
Raising for Effective Giving (REG) is a charity initiative founded in 2014 by Kurganov and Liv Boeree that encourages donations to charities selected for their impact. PokerNews reports that it raised $1.5 million in its first two years. [1]
Is Igor Kurganov still sponsored by PokerStars?
No. He joined PokerStars Team Pro in February 2017 and announced his departure in November 2019. [6][9]
What is Igor Kurganov’s screen name?
He has played online as “lechuckpoker”. [4]
Related Poker Legends
Read more about Liv Boeree, his partner in the 2017 Tag Team Championship and fellow co-founder of Raising for Effective Giving, Justin Bonomo, who finished fourth in the 2012 EPT High Roller that Kurganov won, and Isaac Haxton, who cashed in the 2017 Barcelona Super High Roller.
Sources
- PokerNews, Igor Kurganov player profile (earnings data from The Hendon Mob), accessed October 27, 2026.
- WSOP.com, player profile with Igor Kurganov’s results (listed under the screen name “betcheckbet”), accessed October 27, 2026.
- Card Player, Igor Kurganov player profile, accessed October 27, 2026.
- PokerListings, Igor Kurganov, accessed October 27, 2026.
- Card Player, Igor Kurganov Beats Daniel Negreanu For European Poker Tour €25,000 High Roller Title, May 1, 2012.
- PokerNews, Exclusive: Igor Kurganov Joins PokerStars Team Pro, February 2017.
- PokerNews, Liv Boeree and Igor Kurganov Win WSOP $10,000 Tag Team Championship, June 2017.
- PokerNews, Igor Kurganov Wins PokerStars Championship Barcelona Super High Roller, August 2017.
- PokerNews, Liv Boeree, Igor Kurganov Split With PokerStars, November 2019.
Last verified: October 27, 2026. Figures that change over time, such as career earnings, are given with the date they were checked.
