The Newest Winner of the $4 Million Badge Is… Sheater
On November 21, just five days ago, Sweden’s Sheaterlanded his $4 million cash badgehere on PocketFives. He has generated an outstanding $4.07 million from tracked MTT across some of the largest online poker rooms in the world. Sheater is also just a few weeks removed from a victory in the weekly Full Tilt Poker Sunday Brawl, so we caught up with him to talk about his chest-full of achievements.
PocketFives: Thanks for joining us. Tell us how you’re feeling about winning the Sunday Brawl.
Sheater: I feel great. I usually lose on Sundays, so it feels good to get a nice bink.
PocketFives: Walk us through how the tournament went in general.
Sheater: I woke up late, so I late-regged it two hours after it started. I probably entered it once or twice before getting a stack. I was really close to busting with around 15 people left when I lost most of my stack with A-Q against J-J. I called a 3bet in position and he check-called Q-X-X with a flush draw. The turn came a jack with another flush draw and he donk-led. I was worried, but shipped it over his bet anyway. I had three or four big blinds after that, but I managed to double up a few times to get back into it.
PocketFives: Did you think you were probably out after that hand?
Sheater: More or less. I have been there a few times before and that’s usually when I bust, but not this time. I got some nice spots to shove my stack in directly and held in the all-ins.
PocketFives: Do you have any plans for the money?
Sheater: I’m saving for an apartment, but prices are at an all-time high in Sweden now, so I will probably wait it out a bit.
PocketFives: You have been doing well this year, with four tracked scores of at least $33,000 so far.
Sheater: I think I have figured out how to play in most spots now. After four years of playing, I have also cut down a bit on the number of tables I have open and therefore have played better. I have been running pretty well too.
PocketFives: Why and when did you decide to cut down on the number of tables?
Sheater: I started doing it during SCOOP when I played some $2Ks and wanted to focus on them. I realized I played a lot better with fewer tables.
PocketFives: Is your HUD more or less useful with fewer tables open?
Sheater: I’m not sure, probably the same. I do have more time to look at it now. Before, my time bank was always empty, so I didn’t have time to look.
PocketFives: Remind us how you got started in poker and what all of your friends and family think about the game and your poker career.
Sheater: I was studying abroad in Sydney four years back and was supposed to go back to Sweden in November to finish my Masters thesis. I was kind of fed up with school at that point and the Aussie summer was coming up, so I decided to stay and try out poker full-time.
The Sunday Brawl runs weekly on Full Tilt Poker. If you don’t already have a Full Tilt account, sign up through PocketFives’ links to get a free $25 in most locations plus one free month of PocketFives Training. Get started here.
