Ivo Donev

Ivo Donev, born on 25 December 1959, is a Bulgarian with an Austrian passport who is a professional chess and poker player. His father Hristo Donev was a national master at chess, and Ivo won the 1989 CSSR International Chess Tournament, which brought him International Master status. When he and his family emigrated to Austria in 1990 he taught at a chess school for 10 dollars an hour to support his study of computer science, and he wrote a German-language chess book on endgame ideas. He studied the poker books of David Sklansky, Mason Malmuth and Tom McEvoy and won a bracelet in the 1,500 dollar Limit Omaha event at the 2000 World Series of Poker for 85,800 dollars. In 2002 he made his only appearance on Late Night Poker, finishing fifth, and in 2003 he was a semi-finalist in the World Heads-Up Poker Championship. He is number one on the Austrian all-time money list.