"Karma is building towards WSOP Paradise" - Mantelo
We chat to our Bankroll Challenge hero about bubbling the NAPT, playing with Phil Hellmuth, and working on his mindset ahead of WSOP Paradise.
What was it like playing against Phil Hellmuth at the NAPT?
mantelo: Everyone treated Hellmuth like a king, both staff members and players, and he acted in that role pretty well. Most pots he entered, he won, no bad beats, no cooler hands, so there was nothing for him to rant about.
You bubbled the Main Event, which sucks, but do you see it as a good sign for the WSOP Paradise because it means you got close to the money?
mantelo: Making it to the money would be a much better result than bubbling. Even though I never play for a mincash, and that money would not change my life in any way, it still disappoints being so close. I was trying to figure out why it felt that way, as in my career I have spent a lot of time on the mental game, including how to deal with similar situations. It doesn't bother me in online games, so probably live poker is a different animal. You travel half the world, play a couple of days, only one tournament at a time, and so on. And when it sums up, you have much bigger emotions than in front of a computer. So at this moment, my only good sign for Paradise is that Karma is building something big for it.
"I'm working on my mental game"
Any highlights of the trip away from the table?
mantelo: I was travelling alone this time, so I wanted to concentrate on poker this time. Still had some free time to visit Strat from where you can see all the city from high above. I didn’t realize that Las Vegas was so big in all directions, and it was a very good look at night with all those neon signs.
Has the experience left you feeling sharper for live poker ahead of WSOP Paradise?
mantelo: Kinda the other way I guess. My last three trips were not very successful, including this one, although I am quite happy with my game overall. It's like in football, when you lose three games in a row, you start questioning if that was because you played badly, maybe opponents were very strong, or it was just pure bad luck. No matter what the answer is, the confidence gets lower, and now I'm working on how to build it back.
Do you think the NAPT was tougher than WSOP Paradise will be?
mantelo: NAPT was the toughest field tournament in my career by far. When I saw chipstacks even in day 1 updates, 8 out of 10 players had winnings over a million. I already mentioned Phil Hellmuth, but there were constantly high-profile players at my table, including Coleman, Ramero, Affleck, Baker, just to name a few. So I guess Paradise will have a similar lineup.
There is not long now until WSOP Paradise, how are you preparing from now till then?
mantelo: Most of my work will be on the mental side, as I need to shake that monkey off my back. I'm very confident in my technical game, so the only thing I need is to be fresh with no negativity in my mind once that new tournament starts.
Win a piece of Mantelo in Paradise
In case you missed it, community legend mantelo is going to the WSOP Paradise thanks to PokerStrategy.com and GGPoker.
Our hero is very grateful to GGPoker for helping him play this bucket list event, so there are three ways to win a piece, whether you have a GG account or not.
If you can do more than one of these things, you will increase your chances of winning a 1% stake.
- 10% available for all members: 10% will be raffled in 10 x 1% increments to anyone who opts-in to this thread by wishing Mantelo luck in the WSOP Paradise Main Event by December 6.
- 15% available for GG Players: An additional 5% will be raffled in 5 x 1% increments to any PokerStrategy.com tracked GGPoker account (New and existing) that earns at least one StrategyPoint between November 3 and December 6. This in addition to the forum opt-in above means 15% of the 20% is available to this group.
- 20% available to New GG Players: A final 5% will be raffled in 5 x 1% increments to any new accounts making their first deposit on a PokerStrategy-tracked GGPoker account between November 3 and December 6. If those players also earn 1 SP and opt-in, they have the most chances to win.
The draw will take place on December 8, just before the Main Event starts.
Opt-in to win a share of Mantelo's Main Event
*The 20% is based on Mantelo's first bullet in the Main Event, if he plays a second that does not count towards this promotion. This is a private initiative by Mantelo which PokerStrategy.com has helped to organise. Mantelo will do his best to take care of fast settlement with any winners and find suitable payment methods after any tax has been deducted.
What's going on? Did I miss somehting?
mantelo really appreciates the opportunity he has been afforded and has pledged to share it with the PokerStrategy.com community:
"My first steps in poker were taken with PokerStrategy.com and throughout my career, I always tried to improve myself with the material it provided. So naturally I want to give something back and hopefully, it could kickstart someone's career too."
He doesn't normally sell action when he plays, so this is a big opportunity, he told us:
"I tried to sell a couple of times but I felt kinda bad for other people if I bust out of the tournament before reaching money. So recently I decided not to put more pressure on myself and play on my own completely."
This is different, however, because he is giving away 20% of his action for free*, so no added pressure! Along with PokerStrategy.com you can also expect plenty of coverage to rail him while he is in the Bahamas:
"My PokerStrategy.com blog will be the thing to follow. At the end of each day of playing, I will update my tournament situation and the most interesting hands, as well as the overall feeling of the festival and venue."
If you are railing the live updates, look out for his real name Mantas Urbonas.
