Small Talk with Vitaly Lunkin

We had the opportunity to chat with Russian professional poker player, Vitaly Lunkin during the last break of the day, yesterday. Lunkin, with $6,4 million in live earnings, has a long experience in live poker of more than 15 years. Lunkin, from Moscow, is ranked in 5th place on Russia’s all-time money list but is also well-known for bringing his personality to the table!

– You discovered poker in 2003 and built an impressive career. What are, in your opinion, the main changes you saw throughout the years in the industry of poker and in the game?

The industry has been growing a lot, there is much more players today and thanks to that the organization of the tournaments has improved a lot too. The industry and partypoker is really trying hard to become better, obviously sometimes they do mistakes but at least they’re not afraid to admit it and they always try to fix them. In terms of the game, players are totally different today. They were used to give up easily on the flop when they didn’t hit but now it’s not like that anymore! Even if they don’t hit today, we’re going to see the turn so it’s a much more technical game. I accept that the game will continue to change with the new generation of players coming.

– In such a long career, you must have gone through difficult moments, did you ever think about quitting the game?

Yeah, I almost stopped playing a few times. In 2015 and 2016 I had difficult times. I always had to face ups and downs but because of the tax situation in Russia it was complicated, and I was playing less. But now things are improving and there should be a new regulation, so I’ll probably play more in the future.
– Do you have a favorite WPT stop?

Unfortunately, I didn’t play that many WPT events in my career so it’s hard for me to pick one. I always try to come when there is a WPT Main Event here in Sochi or somewhere close to Russia. I always liked the WPT events I went to so I would like to travel to more WPT stops in the near future.

– And what motivates you to continue playing and learning for all these years?

I really enjoy and always enjoyed a lot of live poker. I like to watch my opponents; it feels like my mind is resting when I’m doing that. And, I really like the table talk. I’m a social player, but I didn’t really practise my English so… that’s why I also didn’t travel that much on the US circuit. I always try to say a couple of words in English but when people reply to me, I’m not able to continue the conversation so it’s a bit frustrating for me. But talking at the table is something I really like and for that reason and also because I love the game, I think I’ll keep playing poker for a long time.