The arms race between PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker continues to heat up, with both rooms snatching up every top poker player available, as the two online poker powers battle for poker supremacy. The latest addition to the Team PokerStars Pro lineup is Russian online phenom Maxim Lykov.
Lykov has been playing at the PokerStars tables since 2005, and has turned two $40 deposits into an ever-swelling bankroll. Lykov has also started wetting his feet at live poker tournaments, and has had a string of good results, and is approaching $1 million in career earnings according to the HendonMob.com ($944,804 to put an exact number on it).
Lykov’s biggest win to date was at the 2009 EPT Kiev Main Event where he finished 1st, earning a $468,000 payday. According to pocketfives.com, Lykov has over $1 million in online tournament winnings, playing at a variety of sites including Full Tilt Poker (kaKeTKa), Absolute Poker (MuckAndLose), and of course PokerStars where he plays under the screen-name ‘justdec’.
Lykov joins Liv Boeree (formerly of UB), David Williams (formerly of Bodog), and Vanessa Selbst as 2010 PokerStars signings. Although the site has parted ways with 2008 WSOP Main Event champion Peter Eastgate, Hevad Kahn, and poker’s first Triple Crown Winner (EPT, WPT, and WSOP winner) Gavin Griffin.