How to make $5k in 10 weeks
Read how Mareccc90 took down his own Bankroll Challenge to turn $1,000 into $5,000.
We sat down to speak with mareccc90, a Slovakian member who recently oversaw the successful completion of his Bankroll Challenge when he breached the $5k mark in 10 weeks.
Here he tells us how he did it and what the future holds.
Congratulations on finishing your challenge in record time, was it that easy, which stakes did you play at and where?
mareccc90: Hello and thank you. I wouldn’t say that it was easy but I also wouldn’t say that it was tough. I just put the effort in and I think it went OK. 90% of time I played NL50 and the other 10% was spent playing NL25, both only at PokerStars Zoom tables. It was around 100k hands which isn’t anything huge considering I was playing on Zoom tables
"Back in 2010-2012, I played in some really crazy live games where winning €5k in one night wasn’t anything spectacular"
Tell us about your journey so far, how did you start playing Poker?
mareccc90: Well my journey over the last 10 years has been pretty crazy. For a taste, you should read the intro to my blog. But, basically, I started to play poker in 2006 in a pub with a couple of friends. We played 5 card draw and, after a little bit of time, a friend introduced to us to no limit Hold’em and everyone immediately fell in love with it. I was constantly looking for private games where I could play and was making quite good money at the time. Later on, I started to play online and visit more and more live poker rooms before I got my first job in a casino as a poker dealer. It was a great time for me back then as poker was my only thing I did, either working, playing live games or staying at home and playing online. That is basically a very short introduction of my poker career but you can check out out the whole story in my blog which is quite funny but also sad.
We have heard that you have significant live poker experience where you can win €5k easily, why?
mareccc90: Well, back in 2010-2012, I played in some really crazy live games where winning €5k in one night wasn’t anything spectacular. It wasn’t that I played high stakes, it was about people creating action even when it wasn’t possible. For example, I witnessed a PlayStation FIFA game played for €5k and still have the photo of a broken joypad from that match. Recently, I went to Marbella casino a few times where the games are so juicy that it looked like 2008 again.
"I think people at NL50 Zoom play too tight, tending to focus only on their hand strength only and not of their opponent"
Coming back to online poker, winning $5k requires serious skills, where do they come from?
mareccc90: Well, I have been playing fulltime regularly since 2009 so I guess it caught up to me but also mainly because I’m willing to put the effort in and not afraid to play long sessions and long days.
If you have to give 3 quick tips to beat your limit what would they be?
mareccc90: I think people at NL50 Zoom play too tight, tending to focus only on their hand strength only and not of their opponent. I don’t consider NL50 being a very tough limit to beat as you don’t need any special skills for it, it’s just simple poker. I’m not that kind of a guy who wants to boost my ego against the others, I’m here to make money. That’s why I try to focus on bad regulars and bad players. Don’t get me wrong, I’m talking specifically about NL50 limit, anything higher requires other skills for sure. I think that the main leaks are; 3 betting only strong hands, not thinking about positions, especially folding too much on the button, cut-off and small blind where the steal is very visible. But I think the third and main leak is calling too much on the river. People on this limit just don’t bluff enough so it can't be profitable calling this often.
Did you tell your girlfriend about your $5k goal and, if so, what is she doing with the winnings now or do you have any interesting hobbies that you want to support with poker?
mareccc90: My girlfriend she is hard-working and earns money by herself so she doesn’t need support from me. She knew about my challenge because I started it a week after we got back home from living in Barcelona for two years and she was asking me what my plans are when we get back home. At the end of the day, it is "only" $5k so let’s not overreact, but my biggest hobby is travelling and I have already spent some of that money on that. I do have much bigger plans in my life and still have some dark history that I need to deal with (It’s all in my blog) so some of the money went there too.
What is your goal in Poker, do you have an end boss that you would like to beat?
mareccc90: Well my biggest goal in poker has always been the freedom so I can thank poker that I got to live for two years in Barcelona and explore the whole of Spain. I don’t have any specific end boss, I just want to be happy in life and have freedom. I don’t need millions, just enough that I can do whatever I want and go wherever I want. When I started the challenge, I got back home to Slovakia with no future plans but, right now, I’m in super-sick grind mode because I want to make enough money that I can travel more. My plan is to earn enough money to leave for south Asia with my girlfriend. We want to go to the Philippines and rent a house for at least a year. Hopefully, we can travel throughout Asia always coming back to our base in the Philippines. My girlfriend works online so she has the same needs as me; computer and the internet. So, my future plans are that I want to see the world and be happy.
What will be your next challenge?
mareccc90: My next challenge will be to start grinding and learning PLO. I have tried many times to start but always end up back playing NLH. I think perhaps I was too lazy to start something new but I’m sure that PLO is future so I want to learn it very badly. I have played many hours of PLO live games but as we all agree it’s quite a different game and I have never studied PLO. I think I’ll be opting-in to a PLO challenge very soon I think.
Thanks for answering the questions and good luck at the tables!
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Joining the challenge is easy:
- Create a blog
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