In December, we wrote an article on PocketFives.com talking about Steve Illini213Barshak’s first five-figure score. At the time, Barshak took down the PokerStars$50,000 Guaranteed for $18,000. Fast-forward just two months to February 7th. It took him all of eight weeks to come out on top in the PokerStars Sunday 500, recording a win in his first weekend major. Barshak boosted his bankroll by $88,000 in the event and no chop took place. PocketFives.com sat down with the Illinois resident to get his take on his recent dominance.

PocketFives.com: Congratulations on taking down the Sunday 500 just two months after your first five-figure score. How has your game been progressing?
Steve Barshak: It feels incredible. It’s still pretty surreal and it’s incredible how much I’ve learned since my first five-figure cash just two months back. I met some great players at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) and they had a good influence on my game. Consequently, I’ve really changed my game around in the last month to play more optimally against top-tier players.

A big influence was Zackattak13. He's a great player and helped calm down my aggression, helped me be more selective with it, and helped me pick and choose my spots better. Also, Nickdawgg helped me a lot with playing better against top pros.

PocketFives.com: Are there any hands you can remember from the Sunday 500?

Steve Barshak: I had been playing very aggressively, 3betting a lot, and Carter bdybldngpkr Phillips (pictured at left) was to my right. I had already played a few hands with him pretty aggressively. A random person raised in late position, Phillips 3bet about 2.3x from the cutoff, and I had K-K on the button. I made a standard 4bet, about 2.2x, and I knew that Phillips was probably getting really tired of me re-raising him, so he was going to make a move sooner or later.

Phillips snap-shoved with A-J, I called, and amazingly held. That put me into second or third about to get into the final table with the third largest stack. There were a lot of good players at the final table and a lot of tough hands. I dropped in chips with about six players to go. Then, I got it all-in with A-Q and 4bet shoved a guy who 3bet me every time I opened. He snapped with Q-Q and I hit an ace on the turn. Other than that, I was just playing a really aggressive game and trying to feel out my opponents.

PocketFives.com: Have you had to adjust your game given your newfound success?

Steve Barshak: I’m really aggressive and starting to get a reputation for that, so it’s important to adjust. I remember reading one of Michael rock3656 Rocco’s articles a few months back. He said that high-stakes pros started adjusting to him when they realized how light some of the moves he was making were. It’s kind of the same way for me. Also, picking and choosing spots to harness my aggression is very important. I’ve realized that I can’t always have my foot on the gas pedal late in tournaments.

PocketFives.com: Remind us how you got started in poker.

Steve Barshak: I stared playing micros and freerolls. I did really well in those and started working my way up. I never thought that poker would get to this point for me, where I’ve hopefully garnered a lot of respect in the high-stakes arena. It feels amazing and it’s just crazy.

PocketFives.com: We’d wager that you have several players to extend shout outs to. Lay them on us.

Steve Barshak: I wanted to give a shout out to a couple of guys who have had a big influence in my game over the last month like Zackattak13 and Nickdawgg. I’m also thinking that the University of Illinois might be poker capital of the world. Check out our talent: Faraz The-Toilet Jaka (pictured at right), Ravi govshark2 Raghavan, Tyler dabears87 Reiman, greenerbels, and Taylor Green Plastic Caby. We have a lot of sick ass players.