It’s deep, Mega Deep. In recent weeks, Brazilian PocketFiver Anao19(pictured) finished fourth in the 888 Poker Mega Deep. The tournament, which, as its name suggests is deep-stacked, attracted 2,785 entrants and members of the PocketFives community raked in 42% of the prize pool. He had already finished fourth in the Sunday Warm-Up, so we wanted to chat about his latest claim to fame.
PocketFives: Congrats on chopping the 888 Mega Deep. Tell us how you’re feeling about it.
Anao19: I’m feeling very satisfied. Although it was not the best result of my career, it had a very special meaning because it was my first big result outside of PokerStars.
PocketFives: Walk us through how the tournament went in general.
Anao19: It is quite a deep tournament addition to being quite long, lasting about 13 hours, and then extreme concentration was necessary for a long period of time. Also, I started playing regularly on 888 a little while ago, so I’m still not fully used to it. It was tiring, but in the end it was worth it.
PocketFives: Do you have any plans for the money?
Anao19: I’ll probably invest in something, but I still have not thought about it.
PocketFives: Do you have a defining moment of your poker career? Something that happened that propelled you forward?
Anao19: I believe that the life of a poker player will always be filled with defining moments. Often, small details can change our lives, but a turning point of my career for sure was my fourth place finish in the Sunday Warm-Up. At my engineering college, I was often criticized for giving top priority to poker and that was my first big cash. Recently, my second place in a TLB left a lot of people around me proud, which made me very happy.
PocketFives: How did you get started in poker originally? Why was it interesting?
Anao19: I learned how to play with my friends Raphael Macedo and Bruno Carassai. As I said, the life of a poker player is full of defining moments. Surely, when they taught me, they did not know they would be changing my life. I ended up attracted to poker because it is a game of extreme logic and yet still unpredictable.
PocketFives: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Anao19: I could not miss this opportunity to thank, once again, my friend Amanda Lima, my parents, and my brother for everything they do for me. I am extremely blessed to have around me people who fill me with inspiration and support.
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