On the final weekend of September, Steve Illini213Barshak (pictured) took down the 888 Poker Mega Deep outright for $33,000, defeating a field of 715 entrants. While it wasn’t the largest score he has recorded, it snapped a month of bleeding. As he put it, “The WCOOP didn’t go nearly as well as I hoped, but that’s how it goes sometimes. It was a very rough three weeks before Sunday, so I am thrilled I could cut some of my losses.”

Given the number of players online for the WCOOP, Barshak called the fields that weekend “insanely soft,” pointing out, “Even the $5K WCOOP Main Event field was quite weak. It was definitely one of the best weekends of the year in online poker.”

The $215 Mega Deep runs weekly on 888 and, if you’ve never played it, we asked Barshak how the tournament stacks up to other $215 ones on PokerStarsand Full Tilt. He explained, “The structure in the $215 on 888 Poker is much better than the structure of the Stars $215 tournaments. In a lot of the Stars ones, the average stack is much closer to 30 big blinds when you get deep, while in the 888 Mega Deep, the blind levels are 30 minutes and the average stack was probably 50+ big blinds at the final table.”

He added, “I really enjoy the structures at 888, especially the deep stack events. It really makes for a lot more play and I feel like the better players will come out on top much more often with these great structures.”

Barshak has had plenty of success over the years, including a second place finish in the FTOPS Main Eventin December of last year for $261,000 and victories in a WCOOP $1,050 NLHE event, the Sunday Warm-Up, and the Sunday 500, just to name a few. He has had a comparatively slow 2014, although he’s won the Mega Deep twice.

“The middle of 2014 was pretty rough for me overall,” Barshak told us. “I was on the biggest downswing of my poker career in mid-2014. I wasn’t playing well enough in many spots and needed to make a few adjustments with how the game has evolved. I am feeling great about my game right now, though, and plan to have a good mix of live and online poker coming for me in the next six months. I am craving some ridiculously massive live score very badly!”

On the live scene, Barshak has almost a half-million dollars in winnings according to the Hendon Mob. His largest cash was $68,000, which came by virtue of a fourth place finish in WPT Denmark in late 2012. He has 11 in the money finishes in WSOP events stretching back to 2010 and is the owner of two Circuit rings.

If your game seems to be stuck in a rut and you’re not sure what to do, Barshak advised, “Being a top poker player is all about adjusting with the times and not letting your ego get in the way. You have to appreciate and love the challenge of getting better.”

If you’re wondering what Barshak did specifically in order to stop his bleeding, he told us he started “being more disciplined in certain post-flop spots where you might have to make a tough laydown on the river or something of that nature.” Additionally, he has gotten better at “dealing with the ridiculous aggression of online poker. Small things like knowing when not to c-bet can go a long way.”

“Adjustments a lot of times come from noticing leaks in your own game, figuring out how you bust certain tournaments or are losing big spots, and making adjustments accordingly. Adjustments are all about noticing your own leaks, being honest with yourself about it, and fixing it. Sometimes it can take months to make changes since it’s quite easy to not think you are doing much wrong.”

Barshak is from the US, but makes his home in Costa Rica alongside a bevy of other PocketFivers. In fact, he is one of 156 players with PLB scores in Guanacaste and was ranked #2 on PocketFives in 2012. He called the Costa Rican atmosphere “the most relaxed lifestyle possible” and “a great environment for poker.”

Some of his fellow Costa Rican players like Brian brianm15England (Four-Max bracelet, pictured) and Chris Big Huni Hunichen (two runner-up finishes) also excelled during the recently completed WCOOP. Maybe there’s something in the water?

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