Pavel Plesuv (pictured), who can be found on PocketFives under the user name 3p3nipa, rebounded from a downswing in impressive fashion by taking second in an FTOPS Two-Day Event, winning a separate FTOPS event, and taking down the PokerStars $162 Sunday Six-Max for $122,000 combined… all in just two weeks.

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“I’ve been playing fewer tables and was trying to play my best,” Plesuv told PocketFives, “but of course I was running hot and getting lucky at the same time.” As we mentioned, he was coming off a not-so-stellar start to 2014, but he explained, “I understood that all I had to do was continue working on my game, trying to perform the best I can, and I knew the results would come. I think that confidence in yourself plays a big role in getting out of a downswing, so I never gave up.”

He’ll be playing many of the high-stakes SCOOP events on his own dime now and could have had even more of a bankroll had it not been for top-ranked PocketFiver VnilaVader(pictured), who won the FTOPS Two-Day Event, beating Plesuv heads-up. “He played very aggressively,” Plesuv said of VnilaVader. “He put a lot of pressure on players and the table wasn’t resisting. Since I was trying to keep myself in second position in chips, I was his #1 target, so it wasn’t easy. I think he is over-aggressive in some spots, but he definitely knows what he is doing.”

Plesuv got started in poker five years ago after seeing his college friends reading about strategy and rules. “At the time, I didn’t even know about poker,” Plesuv admitted. “So, I asked them to show me. I got very interested and give it a shot. I’m still passionate about the game to this day.”

The Czech player has not one, not two, but three WCOOP Second Chance wins under his belt, which came in 2010, 2012, and 2013. “I’ve had great success in WCOOPs, which are held in September after an enjoyable summer time,” he remarked. “I would say that a good rest was very important both physically and mentally. Taking some time off from poker is very useful and, when you get back to playing, you have a fire in your eyes, if you know what I mean.”

Before he got into poker, Plesuv was playing pool semi-professionally and was also in university. He still has a few final exams to complete and, after he graduates, you’ll see him playing poker more than he currently does. He forecasted, “I’ll be playing more live poker during the next few years, hopefully, because I’d like to travel, see the world, and meet different people.”

Plesuv has $1.3 million in tracked winnings, nearly $1 million of which has come on PokerStars. He’s currently at #171 worldwide in the PocketFives Online Poker Rankings, his highest position ever, and #2 in the Czech Republic poker community.

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