Ivo Donev
Encyclopedia
Ivo Donev is a Bulgaria
n, with Austrian passport, who is a professional chess
and poker
player.
Ivo Donev won the 1989 CSSR International Chess Tournament, progressing him to International Master status. When he and his family emigrated to Austria
in 1990, Donev taught for a chess school at $10 per hour to support his study of computer science
. Ivo Donev is the author of the chess book "The most important ideas in the end game" in German language.
, Mason Malmuth
and Tom McEvoy
and practiced using poker computer software
.
Donev won a bracelet in the $1,500 Limit
Omaha event at the 2000 World Series of Poker
(WSOP), where he took home $85,800 for his first place finish.
In 2002, Donev made his one and only appearance on Late Night Poker
. He finished 5th out of an impressive field including Peter Costa
, Dave Welch
and Ram Vaswani
. In 2003, Donev finished as a semi-finalist in the World Heads-Up Poker Championship
.
A professional chess player before starting his poker career, he is currently number 1 in the Austrian All-Time Money list, and was the first Austrian to reach $1,000,000 in major tournament winnings.
, Austria.
His life and career is also discussed in the James McManus
book
Positively Fifth Street.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n, with Austrian passport, who is a professional chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
and poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
player.
Chess
His father, Hristo Donev was a national master at chess.Ivo Donev won the 1989 CSSR International Chess Tournament, progressing him to International Master status. When he and his family emigrated to Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
in 1990, Donev taught for a chess school at $10 per hour to support his study of computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
. Ivo Donev is the author of the chess book "The most important ideas in the end game" in German language.
Poker
Donev studied the poker books of David SklanskyDavid Sklansky
-Life and career:Sklansky was born and raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, where he graduated from Teaneck High School in 1966. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, but left before graduation. He returned to Teaneck and passed multiple Society of Actuaries exams by the time he was 20, and worked...
, Mason Malmuth
Mason Malmuth
Mason Malmuth is an American poker player, and author of books on both poker and gambling. He is the owner of Two Plus Two Publishing, which publishes books and runs an online gambling discussion forum.Malmuth was born and grew up in Coral Gables, Florida...
and Tom McEvoy
Tom McEvoy
Thomas K. McEvoy is a professional poker player and author. He is best known for his win in the 1983 World Series of Poker main event.-Early life:...
and practiced using poker computer software
Computer software
Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....
.
Donev won a bracelet in the $1,500 Limit
Betting (poker)
In the game of poker, the play largely centers on the act of betting, and as such, a protocol has been developed to speed up play, lessen confusion, and increase security while playing...
Omaha event at the 2000 World Series of Poker
2000 World Series of Poker
-Preliminary events:-Main Event:There were 512 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter the tournament.Ferguson had a 10 to 1 chip lead when starting his heads-up vs Cloutier. After a see-saw battle, Ferguson decided to call Cloutier's AQ all-in with his own A9...
(WSOP), where he took home $85,800 for his first place finish.
In 2002, Donev made his one and only appearance on Late Night Poker
Late Night Poker
Late Night Poker is the pioneering television show that helped pave the way for the explosion of interest in poker in the 2000's. With it's ground breaking use of "under the table" cameras that enabled the viewer to see each player's cards, the show became a cult hit on Channel 4 UK when it first...
. He finished 5th out of an impressive field including Peter Costa
Peter Costa
Peter Costa to Greek Cypriot parents is a British professional poker player based in Las Vegas, Nevada.He is most well known as the winner of the sixth series of the popular Late Night Poker television series during his time living in the United Kingdom, where he defeated Austria's Jin Cai Lin in...
, Dave Welch
Dave Welch
Dave Welch is an English poker player based in St. Albans, who made several appearances on the Late Night Poker television series, including the season 1 grand final and the season 6 semi-final....
and Ram Vaswani
Ram Vaswani
Ram Vaswani is an English professional snooker player, turned professional poker player and the youngest member of The Hendon Mob...
. In 2003, Donev finished as a semi-finalist in the World Heads-Up Poker Championship
World Heads-Up Poker Championship
The World Heads-Up Poker Championship is an annual elimination-format poker tournament of one-on-one no limit Texas hold'em matches. The tournament was co-created by Late Night Poker's Nic Szeremeta, PokerInEurope's Jon Shoreman, and gaming journalist Rich Geller.The event has run since 2001 and...
.
A professional chess player before starting his poker career, he is currently number 1 in the Austrian All-Time Money list, and was the first Austrian to reach $1,000,000 in major tournament winnings.
World Series of Poker Money Finishes
- 20002000 World Series of Poker-Preliminary events:-Main Event:There were 512 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter the tournament.Ferguson had a 10 to 1 chip lead when starting his heads-up vs Cloutier. After a see-saw battle, Ferguson decided to call Cloutier's AQ all-in with his own A9...
$1,500 Limit Omaha - 1st place ($85,800) - 20012001 World Series of Poker-Preliminary events:-Main Event:There were 613 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter what was the largest poker tournament ever played in a non-online casino at the time.-Final table:-Other High Finishes:...
$2,500 Seven Card Stud - 10th place ($5,530) - 20022002 World Series of PokerThe 2002 World Series of Poker was held at Binion's Horseshoe.This edition was historically notable for two reasons. It was the first WSOP in which pocket cams were installed to allow broadcasters to show the players' hole cards, although only for the Main Event...
$1,500 Pot Limit Hold'em - 10th place ($5,670) - 20042004 World Series of PokerThe 2004 World Series of Poker was held at Binion's Horseshoe after Harrah's Entertainment purchased the casino and the rights to the tournament in January...
$1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout - 6th place ($16,560) - 2004 $2,000 Pot Limit Hold'em - 3rd place ($47,700)
- 20052005 World Series of PokerThe 2005 World Series of Poker opened play on June 2, continuing through the Main Event No Limit World Championship starting on July 7. The conclusion of the Main Event on July 15 marked the close of play, and the largest prize in sports and/or television history at the time was awarded to the...
$2,000 Pot Limit Hold'em - 18th place ($6,955) - 2005 $2,500 Limit Hold'em - 21st place ($5,145)
- 2005 $2,500 Pot Limit Hold'em - 10th place ($11,730)
- 2008 £2,500 WSOPE - H.O.R.S.E.- 2nd place ($95,543)
- 2009 $3,000 - N L Holdem- 64th place ($6,929)
- 2010 $2,000 - Limit Holdem- 26th place ($6,237)
- 2010 $2,500 - Limit/NL Holdem- 51st place ($4,512)
- 2011 $1,500 - H.O.R.S.E.- 83st place ($2,899)
- 2011 $1,500 - Limit Hold'em Shootout - 55st place ($4,118)
Personal life
He has two children, and lives in Lochau bei BregenzBregenz
-Culture:The annual summer music festival Bregenzer Festspiele is a world-famous festival which takes place on and around a stage on Lake Constance, where a different opera is performed every second year.-Sport:* A1 Bregenz HB is a handball team....
, Austria.
His life and career is also discussed in the James McManus
James McManus
James "Jim" McManus is an American poker player, teacher and writer living in Kenilworth, Illinois.-Poker and Positively Fifth Street:...
book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
Positively Fifth Street.