The 2010 WSOP was a breakout party for Vladimir Shchemelev. The Russian poker pro made four final tables, including a runner-up finish in the $50k Players Championship ($963,375). In all, he earned $1,144,617 along with the prestige that comes with so much WSOP success.

Since then, he’s managed to do pretty well after final tabling one tourney and finishing 10th in another $50k Players Championship in 2011. However, Shchemelev has failed to capture the magic that he had in ’10….at least until now that is.

The 40-year-old recently won a 2013 WSOP $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi/Lo tourney and earned a $279,094 payout. Perhaps just as important is that Shchemelev captured his first gold bracelet after beating an extremely tough final table.

Some of the grinders whom the St. Petersburg native was competing against included two-time gold bracelet winner Mel Judah, three-time bracelet winner “Miami” John Cernuto, and bracelet winner Allyn Jaffrey Shulman.

Judah was actually hoping to become the first British player to win at the 2013 WSOP, after a number of close calls. However, he fell just short of his third career bracelet and the first for Great Britain after losing to Shchemelev.

As for Vladimir, he now has $1,748,430 in live poker tournament winnings, which ranks 13th among Russians. He also becomes the seventh Russian player to taste victory at the WSOP, and the first in 2013. Shchemelev also returns to the limelight after his bust-out year in ’10.

2013 WSOP Event #46 $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Final Table
1. Vladimir Shchemelev – $279,094
2. Mel Judah – $172,361
3. Ashly Butler – $124,645
4. Brian Hacker – $91,085
5. “Miami” John Cernuto – $67,262
6. Tyler Nelson – $50,197
7. Andrey Zaichenko – $37,847
8. Allyn Jaffrey Shulman – $28,821
9. Alexey Makarov – $22,171