Antonios Onoufriou
Antonios Onoufriou makes his way into the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino for Day 2 of the 2019 WSOP Main Event (photo: 888poker)

Every poker player dreams of playing in the World Series of Poker Main Event. Thanks to 888poker, dozens will see that dream turn into a reality as they won their way via 888poker qualifiers. Cyprus’ Antonios Onoufriou is one of those players and he made his maiden voyage into the WSOP Main Event in 2019 on Friday’s Day 1c.

Onoufriou, who plays on 888poker as ‘antoniocy83,’ could very well be the rags-to-riches story we all covet. He got his start playing social poker on Facebook through Zynga Poker before he felt he was good enough to try real-money gaming. That’s when Onoufriou hopped on over to 888poker and deposited $100 with the plan to run it up and get to the WSOP.

“I started with real money and small buy-in tournaments,” Onoufriou said. “I deposit $100 on 888poker and decided that if I make it $1,050 that I will play the satellite that had five packages guaranteed.”

With a goal set, Onoufriou got to work. After getting used to real-money online poker through low buy-in tournaments, Onoufriou started playing $.50-$1 Omaha. After he made a couple hundred bucks at those stakes, Onoufriou moved up to $1-$2. From there, he worked his bankroll up to nearly $1,000.

Still short of the $1,050 he needed to enter the 888poker satellite he wanted to play, Onoufriou deposited another $100 to meet the goal. He then entered the satellite and won a $12,600 package to the 2019 WSOP Main Event.

“It’s the first time I’m going to play in the Main Event, but this is the third straight year I’ve come for the WSOP,” Onoufriou told PocketFives. “My goal is to make a big score and quit my job and become professional poker player.”

Onoufriou’s day job is currently a policeman in Cyprus, but he’ll likely be playing more poker once this trip is over. Already at the 2019 WSOP, Onoufriou has cashed three times, including a 17th-place finish in the $400 Colossus worth $20,596. Overall, Onoufriou has five WSOP cashes.

“The different thing for this year is that I am more experienced compared to other years,” Onoufriou said. “Going deep in Colossus was nice but also disappointing at the same time as I lost and busted 17th on a flip with queens versus ace-king. That could’ve changed everything.”

Finishing 17th in a field of 13,109 entries is nothing to dismiss, and the experience gained by Onoufriou should help him in the WSOP Main Event. It will be similar in the sense that the tournament is long and there are thousands of players in the field. Compared to the Colossus, the WSOP Main Event structure is much better, though, and will allow for Onoufriou’s skills to shine.

“My deep run in Colossus, I think, will help me mentally because I will be playing with good psychology.”

Onoufriou started his 2019 WSOP Main Event on Friday, July 5, in the Day 1c starting flight. He bagged 96,800 in chips from the 60,000 starting stack