We have all played in an online poker game where we have needed to take a short break. A quickly typed “brb” in the chatbox often suffices as you dash to answer that knock at the door or take a brief bathroom break.

High stakes players tend to agree to breaks in play before they lock horns heads-up. The game’s flow is important, so unscheduled breaks are frowned upon regardless of the reason for wanting one.

With that in mind, spare a thought for the Russian cash game guru Timofey “Trueteller” Kuznetsov, who back in 2012 agreed to take on mass multi-tabling legend Randy “nananoko” Lew in a one-on-one battle at PokerStars.

With that in mind, spare a thought for the Russian cash game guru Timofey “Trueteller” Kuznetsov, who back in 2012 agreed to take on mass multi-tabling legend Randy “nananoko” Lew in a one-on-one battle at PokerStars.

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The talented duo was mid-session when Kuznetsov unexpectedly announced, in slightly broken English, “need a break” followed by “30 minutes probably”. Lew was not keen on the idea of an impromptu break in the action and asked his opponent to play for another hour because he did not feel like sitting around waiting for 30-minutes. What follows next is golden.

“A bear is running around my house,” claimed Kuznetsov, “how will I play?”

It is not every day that someone tells you they cannot continue with a heads-up match due to a bear running amok in their house. Lew, possibly thinking his Russian opponent’s grasp of the English language was a little shaky, asked for some clarification of the bizarre situation.

“What do you mean by bear? Dog?”

Kuznetsov confirmed there was, indeed, a brown bear in his house while he was trying to play poker!

“I leave [sic] in Russia.” Never have four short words been so apt.

Lew, obviously taken aback by the fact he was playing an opponent whose home had become a sanctuary for wildlife, asked if keeping bears as pets were allowed in Russia.

“Not really,” came the reply.We do not know what is funnier, the fact Lew thought Kuznetsov meant a dog and not a bear was in his house, or the fact Kuznetsov continued playing poker despite a brown bear doing its thing in his living room. It shows incredible dedication on Kuznetsov’s part that he requested a break in play instead of instantly sitting out and frantically trying to usher away the bear.

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It is also hilarious that Kuznetsov believed he only needed a half-hour to usher a bear out of his home, almost like it was a regular, everyday occurrence, like trying to get a housefly to leave through an open window.

Joking aside, we imagine having a brown bear searching your house for food is a terrifying experience. While they seldom attack humans on sight, they can grow to 9ft 2in long, 5ft tall, and weigh up to 600kg! Brown bear kill ten people a year on average in Russia, which is no laughing matter.

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