In recent weeks, Brazil’s Joao Simao (pictured), known on PocketFives as joaosimaobh, won the PokerStars Sunday Second Chanceand Full Tilt Super Sized Sunday on the same day for a combined $60,000. He’s a proud Brazilian who has successfully managed to balance poker and his family and even final table a few major live tournaments. In fact, he has $3.2 million in tracked online tournament winnings to go along with $500,000 in live cashes. That’s almost $4 million total!

PocketFives: Nice job winning the Sunday Second Chance and Super Sized Sunday on the same day. Tell us how you’re feeling about it.

Joao Simao: Thanks. I’m feeling really happy. I won two hard tournaments, so now I’ll have a lot of confidence to get back to the grind, including EPT Barcelona and WCOOP.

PocketFives: Tell us about the day. Why do you think it all went well?

Joao Simao: Actually, my day was going very badly. I played 75 tournaments and had five cashes, including these two victories, but I played from my poker house where my horses play, study, and live. Being there makes me stronger, even more so at the end of the day.

If I were playing alone with this terrible start, I probably would have played much worse. So, I think that has really helped me do my best. First I won the Super Sized Sunday, which gave me a lot of confidence and power to keep playing one table for four hours in the Second Chance.

PocketFives: Do you have any plans for the money?

Joao Simao: I don’t have any plans for the money. I have worked hard grinding and on my poker business (my poker school in Brazil and my poker team), so I have a bankroll for my family and my grind. I probably will use the money on my team, including some new horses.

PocketFives: How did you get started in poker?

Joao Simao: I started playing poker in university. I was studying civil engineering, but didn’t know anybody there. So, I started to make some friends. I used to hate cards and video games, but loved the money and competition of poker.

PocketFives: What else do you do besides poker? What else interests you?

Joao Simao: Besides poker, I enjoy being with my wife and stepson, playing sports, and now I’ve started wakeboarding and I’m loving it. I have been playing less during the week so I can enjoy the day.

PocketFives: How happy are you with your live poker game?

Joao Simao: I’m really happy with my live poker game, but don’t really care about my results since my main game is online poker. I have made some big deep runs, like two EPT Main Event final tables and a WSOP final table. I also won a $2,000 Six-Max PCA tournament and made a heads-up deal at the biggest LAPT High Roller, so I feel really happy with my live game and my results.

I have a family to take care of and spend time with, so I will keep playing around six live events per year, so I can’t create too many expectations. That way, I’ll avoid frustration.

PocketFives: Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Joao Simao: I want to add that I’m selecting new players for my poker team for all stakes. The only qualification is that players want to live in Florianopolis, Brazil (pictured), one of the most amazing cities in the world. If you want to play with us, study with us, and have an amazing experience, send a message to contato.joaosimao@gmail.com with the subject “MASSARI TEAM”. Thanks for the interview!

Want the latest poker headlines and interviews? Follow PocketFives on Twitterand Like PocketFives on Facebook.