The Ukrainian poker professional Denys Chufarin is the subject of the third episode of GGPoker’s documentary series Online Poker Millionaires. The high-stakes poker professional, who walked away from a lucrative law career to pursue his poker dream is now one of poker’s elite. In the emotional documentary, Denys tells his story, including how the recent war in his home country prompted changes he couldn’t avoid and how he maintains his poker level.

A Background in Law

“I knew that he could do anything from nothing.”

In the first episode of Online Poker Millionaires, we met the Greek poker pro Alex Theologis. In Episode 2, action turned to Brazil, and the journey of GGMillion$ champion Kelvin Kerber. The latest episode is the story of Ukrainian poker pro Denys Chufarin. The 43-year-old learned poker at his grandmother’s hip, and quickly picked the game up. Despite his love of games and gaming, he then turned to a legal career, qualifying as a lawyer. But poker called him back and while he started at small stakes, he soon found that he could win at the game in the formats he played.

“I was playing Sit N Go’s and played so many!” he says. “You can go small, you can go big. I could do what I want to.”

As Denys describes, his love of gaming transferred easily to the game of poker and playing on GGPoker, he built a strong reputation. His wife Katya always believed in him and identified a trait of being able to improve quickly at something he loved.

“We were young, and he was trying different things, but I knew that he could do anything from nothing.”

Denys acknowledges her praise with a jovial declaration that: “She was right!”. As he describes, however, poker soon took over and as he became more and more successful, he saw that the game was not simply a chosen profession but a vocation to him.

“This is not just a career, this is a life,” Denys says of poker. “I earned $4 million from [depositing] $65. I was playing Sit n Go’s (SNGs) and cash games. In cash games, you can choose your opponent and in a bunch of super high stakes cash games, fields will be stronger.”

The War Changes Everything

“Poker gives you freedom of will and freedom of thought. You can see the whole picture.”

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, everything changed for Denys, now a dad himself.

“When you are a father you think about safety in a different way,” he says. “In my mind, there was a chance that Russia would attack us.”

It was at that moment that Denys used his poker-playing strategic mind to work out the odds of danger that his family might be in.

“As a poker player, you have another guy [on your shoulder] telling you it’s 5%. The price is too high. Poker gives you freedom of will and freedom of [thought]. You can see the whole picture.”

When Russia invaded Ukraine, Denys took himself and his family to Thailand for six months, before extending their stay for 16 months. Then moving to Canada, Denys could keep playing against the toughest players in the game… and winning.

Streaming the Dream

“This is the best job in the world for me – streaming and making content.”

Now relocated permanently to Canada’s British Columbia region, Denys has played and streamed poker ever since. Denys was winning at poker, but adding in tournaments to his schedule made a big difference.

“Tournaments are not about money, they’re about winning – the emotion and the moment. It’s a different feeling.”

Adding in live streaming, Denys became part of the lucrative streamer’s model on GGPoker that pays players back for the content they create.

“I started streaming because I decided I would put my energy into content. It is 100% rakeback when you use the streamers model. This week, I made $4,500 total rakeback. This is the best job in the world for me – streaming and making content.”

Now a huge tournament player, Denys even won his dream event, the weekly $10,000-entry poker event called GGMillion$. He tells the documentary team just how excited he was to seal the deal in the biggest event.

“Even in my dreams, I would not have imagined I could win the GGMillion$, the biggest $10k online tournament in the world.” he says.

Life in Canada Ticks Every Box

“You have to find your place and poker gives you that choice.”

It’s clear that Denys and his family love life in British Columbia, where they hike once a week in the Canadian forest, lost among the pines and solitude that nature provides.

“I don’t like fancy life. When I was younger, maybe I was different, but after four years in Canada you love this, to give this opportunity to kids, and to travel in different places.”

Denys says that while he has become a millionaire himself by playing at the GGPoker felt, money alone is not what has made him happy, but rather the family and life that he has nurtured via poker. As he asks aloud in the forest, ‘What is it for?’

“I know millionaires who are unhappy and people on $50,000 – $100,000 a year who are happy. You have to find your place and poker gives you that choice.”

The conclusion of the episode features Denys at the virtual felt as he comes sixth in the $1,500-entry GG World Championship out of 7,309 players. With just under $1.4m up top, Denys sold 14% to his viewers via GGPoker and won $379,801 meaning a windfall for him and those who backed him.

The third episode is probably the best so far in the Online Poker Millionaires series, and was directed and edited by Michael Bailey, with narration by Emma Topping.

As Denys Chufarin himself says, “Money matters, but not much. The game matters.”

You can watch Episode 3 of Online Poker Millionaires starring Denys Chufarin right here.

Photography by Dominic Iaquinto and Danny Kim