Anton Makievskyi: Beast From the East

21-year-old Anton Makievskyi is the latest in the long line of Eastern Europeans to make their mark in poker's showpiece series. Find out more about the talented young Ukrainian here.

Anton Makievskyi: Seat 5, 13,825,000 in chips

So serious...Anton Makievskyi

Stony faced Anton Makievskyi is bidding to become the fifth Ukrainian to secure a bracelet at the 2011 WSOP.

Makievskyi, who heralds from the industrial city of Dnipropetrovsk, draws inspiration from the first Ukrainian bracelet winner Eugene Katchalov, as well as close friend Oleksii Kovalchuk. Kovalchuk bested 1,378 players to take down Event #26, the $2.5k 6-max Hold'em, for $689k.

If the $8.7 million jackpot isn't a great enough incentive, then the chance to eclipse Joe Cada as the youngest ever Main Event champion certainly is.

With very little tournament experience (his solitary cash is for $17,500 at the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure), Makievskyi is the surprise package at the final table. He grabbed the headlines when he finished Day 7 as chip leader - scooping a 21 million pot from Chris Moore after flopping a boat.

Makievskyi admits that the pressure of being chip leader got to him in the closing stages of Day 8, "It was the first time that I really felt pressure. I was really nervous. … I was nervous, but now I'm just happy".

Makievskyi, who was only granted a visa a few weeks before flying out to Las Vegas, still feels overawed by it all, admitting "I don't even understand how I feel right now".

Anton has harboured ambitions of being a poker pro for several years. Although he'll be one of the underdogs at the table, the fact he is an unknown entity may pay dividends.

All November Niners and their stories:

• Sam Holden
• Anton Makievskyi
• Pius Heinz
• Badih Bounahra
• Ben Lamb
• Phil Collins
• Matt Giannetti
• Eoghan O'Dea
• Martin Staszko