Felipe “improved” Montenegro has lived up to his screen name in a big way so far in 2008. He first played online in the fall of 2006, but he soon discovered that depositing $50 at a time to play $1-$2 NL is a good way to burn through his money. Everything changed when he discovered Multi-table tournaments. “I am super-ultra competitive, so I really don’t care that much about the money but I always want to win,” he says about his love of tournament poker. <READMORE>His Triple Crown consisted of wins in the PokerStars 25k Guaranteed, the UltimateBet 20k Guaranteed and the Bodog $30 rebuy. THe three wins add up to over $20,000!

"Improved" has already won nine tournaments in 2008, and he was two thirds of the way to a Triple Crown earlier in February. The second time around he sealed the deal and joined the Pocketfives Triple Crown Wall of Champions. His win in the Pokerstars 25k Guaranteed is the largest we have recorded for him at $12,384. Like many of our past Triple Crown winners, "improved" has shown no sign of slowing down as he took down the Stars 20k on Saturday for over nine thousand dollars.

Improved puts up impressive results, especially when you consider the fact that he still works full time as a collegiate tennis coach. He was born in Costa Rica and came to the United States to pursue tennis as well as an education. He earned a degree from Drake University in Iowa and took his tennis skills on the pro circuit. He never made the big time on the tennis court, but it was in his downtime on the tour that he first discovered poker. He and his buddies played $2 sit and gos at night in their hotel rooms. “I didn’t have much money back then so if I lost too much I didn’t eat lunch the next day,” he said of his introduction to poker.

Lenny: Congrats on the Triple Crown. Did you adjust your playing schedule at all to try to capture the Crown?

improved: Yes, actually. I rarely play on Bodog other than Sundays. I didn’t even know they counted for the Triple Crown until I got the first two wins. I added the $100 and the $33 rebuy. I finished sixth in the 100 and in the rebuy I forgot to add on after the first hour, but somehow I managed to grind out a win!

Lenny: So, you list your location as Farmville, Costa Rica. I’m pretty sure there is no Farmville, Costa Rica. What gives?

improved: [laughs] Well, I am still in Farmville, Virginia, but I am moving home this summer. I am from San Jose, Costa Rica and I will be back there in May, and now I have bragging rights over my friend Lucky Seven as top player in Costa Rica!

Lenny: Ok, I guess we’ll let that slide. You said you went broke a few times at first playing way outside your bankroll. Did someone clue you in to BR management or did you figure it out on your own?

improved: Well, I lost about $200 total early on and then I won a $27 turbo SNG. I felt like Hellmuth! I never really looked back from that. I read the bankroll management articles and threads on Pocketfives and I was set. I played a lot of $10 45-man SNGs and did well.

Lenny: When did you make the jump to MTTs?

improved: I met an online player, "VVubanga" actually. I followed him around and watched and learned. I was hooked immediately.

Lenny: Do you remember your first big win, let’s say over $1k?

improved: Definitely, it was a $20 180-man on Pokerstars. I had about a $400 bankroll at the time, so I decided to take a shot [laughs]. I went NUTS when I won. I had a buddy over and he was watching me. I called my brother, my girlfriend, everyone!

Lenny: It sounds like you were very excited. Has anything since then topped that feeling, or is every win special?

improved: Nothing has topped it. That was my first big win and it was just really special. I haven’t had a $100 rebuy win yet, something big like that might top it, but I doubt it.

Felipe “improved” Montenegro is currently just outside the top 100 players on the Sliding PLB, and his Bodog win has yet to post, so we may see him ranked very soon. Come this summer, he will be devoting more of his time to poker when he moves home, so watch out... this talented player could start climbing the leaderboard very quickly. He joins an elite group of players on the Wall of Champions, and I wish him continued success on behalf of the Pocketfives community.
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