How mantelo won his WSOP trip from zero
Our Bankroll Challenger had a goal of getting to the 2017 WSOP and after a string of huge results it looks like he is going - find out how he did it!
First a big congrats on not only crushing online but also with your recent offline success. "From zero to hero", does that describe your challenge sufficiently?
Thank you! This challenge clearly exceeded my expectations. At the beginning of the year I started with the the goal to attend the WSOP. But my start was very slow and I also had to change the rooms away from PokerStars after they retreated from Lithuania. My results were quite modest so in the beginning I was not sure if I would make it. However, I was very happy with my learning procces and I improved my mental side of the game a lot. So I decided to give another shot on a different room, which appears now to have been a good decision.
"Poker is not dead"
Obviously starting from 0 and ending up with such big profit proves poker is not dead. What are your recommendations for people starting with a small bankroll and going for big goals? What's realistic?
Indeed, poker is not dead, but you have to put in effort if you want to succeed. I‘ve read that a fellow PokerStrategy member proved the cash games are still beatable, my example follows the same on tournaments. And I do believe Doug Polk will prove both ways as he has just announced his own challenge to turn $100 into 10k.
My 1st tip – choose a small poker room which offers some freerolls. The other advantage of small room is that you can skip this first step, too. With a deposit you can often hunt for the overlays in guaranteed tournaments and play for the deposit bonus at the same time.
Next tip – be patient. It‘s hard to keep your head up after a breakeven period and many players start to question their own skill level at that time. Especially if you play tournaments, you have to be prepared for droughts over the weeks and still be happy with it. Small rooms help here as well, as less participants = less variance.
3rd tip – devote time for studying, both technical plays and mental side of the game. The 80/20 rule applies here, so if you intend to play for four hours, dedicate at least one hour for videos/books or any other type of learning material. PokerStrategy offers a great variety of this so just take it!
Another important factor is your physical shape. In tournaments all the money goes to the players at the Final Table, so you need to keep your focus and energy until the very end. Lots of top players are now advocating for a healthy lifestyle (sports, gyms, yoga, meditation, healthy food, hydration, etc.), so just follow their examples. Find an activity that gives you the most energy and perform it before every session. Last but not least – enjoy what you are doing. If you feel that this challenge is more like a job and not like an adventure, you should just cancel it (or postpone) and look for a way how to make this more attractive for yourself.
Let's look at your story now: do you continue with the dream and crush the WSOP next year or will you spend some money now? Any new hobbies you have thanks to poker?
Yeah, I have very good memories from Las Vegas so I will do my best to visit the WSOP next year. I still consider myself an average tournament player, so I hope I will keep my enthusiasm until next summer.
As for hobbies, probably all poker players list traveling as their main one related to poker. Every 2 months I visit amazing countries and I hope it stays this way. At this time I have a tournament ticket in Morocco for the next MPN stop and Kings of Tallinn. I have never been to Africa, so I can't wait to tick another mark on my traveling map.
"You have to plan your poker day right"
How do your family, friends and girlfriend react to your hobbies - before and after your successes?
I didn't tell my parents that I play poker until I made my 1st cash out. At that point I wasn't sure if poker would be my main finance income so we didn't have much debates on this topic. Little by little my results improved even more, so my parents had little reason to say no. Nonetheless, I always had a job to keep my social life complete although it was always -EV in money.
And my girlfriend is happy with my profession as she is coming to most live events with me. We met when I was already playing and since then she had no complains about it. And even if she had, a pair of new shoes always help
What is a typical day looking like for you?
I used to get up very early, but because I‘ve started to play more late evening tournaments, my routine hours changed a lot recently. Still the procedures are the same – get up, drink a glass of water, go outside for a short exercise, take a shower, eat breakfast and then PLAN THE DAY. I try to complete my most important tasks before the lunch, and usually it includes studying poker. Midday is my free time and I perform many activities which makes me happy general in life: time with my girlfriend, a book, Game of Thrones , just to name a few. And I always go for a run before my evening sessions as I found it helps me to maintain my energy levels until the late night.
So are you a pro yet?
I don't consider myself as a pro, although I do believe my attitude is more professional than many stars have. Probably semi-pro is a fair label which the Lithuanian press called me. This year I have even less reason to call my self as a pro, as I have established a football team in my country. We started from the bottom (like my poker challenge), but I do have big hopes to promote this team till the top. Football was my biggest passion all the time, and it gives me joy to commit my time for the things I love. And yes, my mom would be more happy to call me pro manager than pro poker player
Thank you for the interview and good luck at the tables!
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He isn't currently a Bankroll Challenger but special mention has to go to blogger and member rihard4a who came third in a partypoker event for $14k - why not join the challenge Sir?
The winner of a status upgrade this week is......husky333!
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| Rank | Nickname | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit |  |
fernandocosta | $216 |
| Hands |  |
srna10 | 10,962 |
| Bankroll increase | |
fernandocosta | 11% |
| Rank | Nickname | Hands/ MTTs |
BR | BR+ $ |
BR+ % |
goal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|
|||||
| badbojo | 7460 | 4473 | 75 | 2% | $5,000 | |
 |
|
|||||
| srna10 | 10962 | 973 | 61 | 7% | $1,500 | |
|
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|||||
| samni | 0 | 597 | 0 | 0% | $1,000 | |
|
samni | 0 | 597 | 0 | 0% | $1,000 |
|
la55i | 1612 | 532 | 28 | 6% | $1,000 |
|
eatyourpeas | 1958 | 6286 | 80 | 1% | $12,000 |
|
vonki | 781 | 0% | $1,500 | ||
|
fernandocosta | 5936 | 2167 | 216 | 11% | $5,000 |
|
rhodriguez | 1746 | 525 | 44 | 9% | $1,250 |
|
alleen86 | 501 | 2191 | 12 | 1% | $5,305 |
 |
2reac | 18345 | 0% | $50,000 | ||
 |
chriskwns | 349 | 0% | $1,000 | ||
|
pokerplayernumber1 | 310 | 0% | $1,000 | ||
|
coreysteel | 2436 | 0% | $10,000 | ||
 |
230 | 0% | $1,000 | |||
|
metalmonkey80 | 728 | 0% | $3,250 | ||
|
xdimax | 5300 | 2319 | 73 | 3% | $11,000 |
 |
silvos84 | 273 | 0% | $1,500 | ||
|
nlgr1nd3r | 176 | 0% | $1,000 | ||
|
aspbacken | 505 | 0% | $3,000 | ||
|
artemace | 4602 | 147 | -2 | -1% | $1,000 |
|
altairsky | 813 | 178 | -7 | -4% | $1,234 |
|
thazar | 1235 | 0% | $10,000 | ||
|
jmackenzie | 3808 | 5100 | 0 | 0% | 50.000 |
 |
pen155 | 100 | 0% | $1,000 | ||
|
advancedtn1984 | 300 | -80 | -21% | $3,250 | |
|
husky333 | 294 | 87 | -33 | -28% | $1,000 |
|
wimnp | 85 | 0% | $1,000 | ||
|
wazzza16 | 74 | 0% | $1,000 | ||
|
paulpkrward | 71 | 0% | $1,000 | ||
|
dierich | 49 | 0% | $1,000 | ||
|
stirfri14 | 20 | 0% | $1,000 | ||
|
catonthemat | 2986 | 8 | -221 | -97% | $1,000 |
 |
bigdog63 | 6500 | 17 | -138 | -89% | $4,000 |
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