Igor Zhuravlev

Igor Kurganov was born on 5 May 1988 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and immigrated with his family to Germany at an early age. He studied mathematics in Munich before turning to professional poker.

Kurganov's first major tournament was the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, where he finished 119th for $20,000. He burst onto the high roller scene in April 2012 by winning the EPT €25,000 High Roller in Monte Carlo for $1,428,300, defeating Daniel Negreanu heads-up. In 2013, he made three final tables at the Aussie Millions and finished 6th in the GuangDong Asia Millions Main Event for over $1,000,000. At the 2014 EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final, he placed 3rd in the €100,000 Super High Roller for $1,561,116. He won the 2017 PokerStars Championship Barcelona €50,000 Super High Roller for $1,275,071 and earned his first WSOP bracelet in the 2017 $10,000 Tag Team No Limit Hold'em Championship alongside Liv Boeree, taking home $273,964. As of 2025, his live tournament winnings exceed $19 million.

Kurganov has one WSOP bracelet, one final table, and 15 cashes for total winnings of $1,897,362. His bracelet came in the 2017 Tag Team event.

Kurganov is renowned for his high roller performances, with top cashes including the 2012 EPT High Roller win, the 2014 EPT Super High Roller third place, and the 2017 PokerStars Championship Super High Roller victory. He also cashed in the 2019 WSOP $100,000 High Roller for $840,183.

In 2014, Kurganov and his wife Liv Boeree founded Raising for Effective Giving (REG), a charity promoting effective altruism. They donated 50% of their 2017 WSOP bracelet winnings to REG, which as of July 2020 had raised over $14 million for highly effective charities. Kurganov also briefly consulted Elon Musk on charitable coordination in 2021-2022.

Kurganov has been in a relationship with British poker player Liv Boeree since 2014; they married at Burning Man in 2025. He lived in Munich and London, then moved to Austin, Texas. He played online under the nickname "lechuckpoker."