ShareIgor Kurganov is back in action after a trip to the Lodge Card Club in Austin, Texas. The Russian high-stakes tournament star hasn’t been seen playing televised or streamed poker since the pandemic started, likely devoting most of time towards his charity work, including helping out the world’s richest man, Elon Musk!
High Stakes
The livestream cash game action at the Lodge has become one of the most popular in recent months. Since Doug Polk invested in the club, the venue has become a regular pilgrimage for many well-known faces in the game.This particular game was $50/$100 with a $100 ante. $950 in the pot before the action starts means this is a game you can’t take your eyes off with all players having serious money behind.
The evening didn’t go as planned for Kurganov. The WSOP bracelet winner ended up $23,900 down at the end of play but we doubt that amount will bother him too much.
Check out the video below for a replay of all the action.
Teaming Up with Elon Musk
Igor Kurganov’s charity work has put him in as many headlines as his poker exploits. His activities in the space even led to him striking up a friendship with Elon Musk.Back in 2014, Kurganov and long-time girlfriend Liv Boeree set up Raising For Effective Giving, an organisation dedicated to effective altruism. Boeree was friends with Musk’s then-wife, Claire Boucher, known as “Grimes,” and this circle of friendship led to Kurganov being tasked with overseeing charitable donations for the Tesla founder.
This all sounds like it was a match made in heaven and Kurganov would be allowed to knuckle down and see that this money would go to those who need it most. Unfortunately, infighting in Musk’s inner circle led to Kurganov being targeted by Musk’s right-hand man, Jared Birchall, and there was even a hatchet job written in the New York Post attacking Kurganov’s character.
The headline read “How Elon Musk entrusted $5.7 billion to a Russian pothead poker player,“ hardly fitting for a man who has given so much of his time to help people in need.
“Musk’s trust in Kurganov has reportedly rankled Jared Birchall, the 48-year-old wealth manager and “fixer” who oversees many of his personal and business affairs.
“Birchall confronted Musk and objected to Kurganov’s attempts to gain control of efforts to steer vast amounts of his $219 billion personal fortune toward philanthropic endeavors.”
The article then castigated Kurganov for admitting that he was kicked out of college because he smoked too much marijuana.
Musk relented to the pressure from his advisors and gave Kurganov control of a $5.7bn fund that was already earmarked for charitable causes.
