A little over three months ago, dmmikkel set out to prove to his friend Annette_15 that it was possible to go from completely off the radar to top 20 in the Pocketfives Sliding PLB. His campaign included two Triple Crowns, and among the tourneys we tracked, he has 13 wins overall as well as 26 top three finishes. Of his final tables, a huge percentage were wins and over half were top three finishes, a testament to his closing ability. He fell just short of his goal, finishing number 29 on the sliding PLB, but then again it’s tough to pass players like ocrowe, busto_soon, mattg1983, and apestyles. <READMORE>Dag Martin Mikkelson has also ventured out into the live circuit more of late. He went deep in the Norwegian Poker Championship, as well as playing in the Irish Poker Open. Perhaps his time on the live circuit can be blamed for his falling just short of the top 20 PLB ranking, but finishing in the 29th spot after starting above 500th is pretty impressive. When asked about coming so close, dmmikkel said, “Even though I didn’t make it, I was more than close enough to prove it was possible.”
Dmmikkel and Annette had nothing more than bragging rights riding on the challenge, but when asked about his motivation to play 12-14 hours of poker a day, he replied, “the challenge was the motivation. It’s easier to put in the hours when you have the reason for it.” On the importance of goal setting in poker, he stated, “Setting goals can help you if you lack motivation. Playing several hundred thousand hands every year can be tough. For me, the best motivation is winning. Wanting to be the best and win tournaments always keeps me coming back for more.”
There are a lot of exciting new things waiting in the wings at Pocketfives.com, one of which is rankings by country, which will really get dmmikkel fired up. He has joked many times that he wants to knock off Annette_15 as the top ranked Norwegian, and now with a leaderboard to shoot for, he will be gunning for her even more. It is a friendly rivalry, and both root for each other all the time, but the competitive spirit runs deep in these two young poker players, and they will certainly be vying for that top spot. Annette_15 certainly has a cushion to start with, but I am sure she will not be resting on her laurels.
This challenge brought a new focus on MTTs for dmmikkel, but he has been playing online poker for a while. Even so, he had no trouble remembering his first MTT win. “I was playing on the Prima network about two and a half years ago when I won a $3 tourney for about $250. I remember thinking it was a LOT of money. My first big win was in a $30 tourney for $4200. My bankroll at the time was like $2000, so that was a great feeling. Four thousand was a sick amount of money for me to win at the time, and it tripled my bankroll in one night.”
Dmmikkel built that bankroll playing Sit-n-Go's primarily, but he says the skills he learned there have served him well in MTTs. “There are a lot more phases to an MTT, but a lot of SNG theory applies. Sit-n-Go's are great for bankroll building, but I consider myself a well-rounded player overall,” he said of the transition. He does play several variants of poker, not just the popular NLHE. “My favorite game is Pot-limit Omaha 8/b. That is such a fun game. I’m not an expert, but I am a winning player.”
With 3 months of intensive poker behind him, Dag Martin "dmmikkel" Mikkelsen plans to relax and enjoy the summer months in Norway. His vacation is well earned, and I am sure he will continue to put up impressive results this summer, even if not with quite the frenzied pace of the past few months. He has a bright future ahead of him in poker and life, and Pocketfives wishes him the best of luck.
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