Online player Maratik made headlines recently when he won the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker Main Event last week. The player from Russia, Marat Sharafutdinov, was able to turn 40 Frequent Player Points into over $1 million which is one of the greatest poker stories in recent years. Little was known about the poker player until recently when he sat down with PokerStars to discuss the game.
Sharafutdinov was able to outlast the field of 1,825 players to win the WCOOP Main Event which had a buy-in of $5,200. The player was able to outlast many top players in the competition, which was new for the player who usually hits the microstakes tables. PokerStars Blog posted an interview with the player and he commented on FPP play by stating:
“I noticed that with enough luck you can qualify for just a small amount of FPPs so I began to play them often. It was the same way I won a couple of seats in the $215 Sunday Million and in one of the nightly $150 tourneys.”
Many would think that Sharafutdinov would be intimidated by the top poker pros in the competition but he stayed his ground and played several big pots. The player spoke about one key hand which was near the money bubble by stating: “There was a hand where I had queens and the big blind three-bet me and then bet all three streets. It was not far from the money and I understood that it was a regular who was trying to push out a micro-limits player. He thought I would be afraid of elimination, but I called without much doubt. He had bluffed and after that sat out for some time.”
Marat continued his game play and was able to reach the final table. By this time, the player was ready to open up his game and he stated that he started using his rock image to start opening up with bluffs. The story of the poker player is a great one and it gives many players hope that they too can accomplish great things by playing online poker. Players can read the full interview at the PokerStars Blog
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