Holding your head up in the face of adversity can be a daunting task. Staring down the face of a losing streak, some poker players would give up, walk away, and accept a 9-5 desk job. Being confident can be even more difficult considering how much poker changes from year to year.

Last weekend, Paul ‘Fold Machiii‘ Dandowon the 888 Mega Deep and cashed out for $28,000. It was the definition of a confidence-booster, a score that will keep Dando on the road to success. “No one ever made it in poker by giving up,” Dando said. “It has been a rough start to the year for me, so this score came at just the right time. There’s never really a wrong time for a $28,000 score, I guess, but this one was really well-timed.”

Dando, like many poker players, knows that downswings are simply part of the game, the time when variance comes back to bite you in the butt. “I normally try to play more when I’m in a funk, but it’s hard,” Dando explained. “Working with BBZ Staking, the company I just started one-on-one coaching with, means my workload has increased. It’s surprising how much I still learn from the guys I coach. I get my game reviewed on a regular basis, which helps with confidence and reassures me that it is just a downswing and not me.”

“Shout out to Goat Squad,” he exclaimed. “Shout out to MOC, Croat Crew, and all the folks at BBZ.”

Dando has $1.5 million in career online tournament winnings, including almost $1.2 million on PokerStars alone. Accordingly, he said, “I have always been confident. I don’t know why in general, but with poker I’m confident because I work hard.” He hit #65 in the PocketFives Rankings last year, his highest position ever, and can currently be found at #126 in the world. In his hometown of Winchester, England, he’s the #2 ranked player.

In school, Dando admitted he didn’t excel academically, but that didn’t erode his confidence. Neither did the lack of a real world job. Instead, his outgoing personality and unwavering self-assurance have pushed him ahead in life.

If confidence is so important for a poker player to ride the highs and lows of the game, can it be taught? Can someone who lacks confidence learn it? Or is it an innate trait that you either have or don’t?

“I think it’s a mixture of the two,” Dando contended. “I can’t make someone else be confident, but you can go over spots multiple times with people until they truly understand. Maybe the next time they play that spot they will be more confident about what to do.”

As he said, his staking group has allowed him to reach out to fellow players one-on-one, impart his knowledge, and see the latest trends in the game. “I don’t usually ask my students how confident they are directly,” Dando said. “Remember, you can be quietly confident, which is probably the most dangerous.” Players like 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event winner Peter Eastgate, nicknamed “Icegate,” come to mind as quietly confident players.

2016 is only two months old, but Dando is already looking forward to taking down a larger Sunday Major title this year than the Mega Deep, and he appears pretty sure he can do so. The closest he has come in that department is a fourth place finish in the PokerStars Sunday $109 Rebuy last August.

“I want a big Sunday Major title,” Dando said. “I have wanted one for a long time. Any of the big Sunday ones would be fine like the Sunday Million, Sunday Warm-Up, or Sunday 500. Any of those would be good. I’d also love a SCOOP title. I might want a SCOOP title the most of anything. Those are the best events and you know everyone brings their A-game for them.”

In terms of what kind of SCOOP event he’d have the best chance at winning, Dando said a Progressive Knockout because “it’s hard for other people to do the right math in them. I think some people stack off too wide in spots and too tight in others.” He’s confident of his mathematical aptitude in Progressive Knockouts and should be a force to be reckoned with in them when SCOOP returns in a couple of months.