At one point last month, we interviewed back-to-back players from Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is a rarity for any country, more or less Bosnia and Herzegovina. First it was Alen lilachaaBilic, who is now #12 worldwide on PocketFives and, perhaps not coincidentally, a good friend of the second player from the European country we spoke to, Marko drjovaside Jovovic (pictured).

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We caught up with Jovovic following his win in the 888 Poker Sunday Challenge for $24,000, a tournament that saw him defeat a field of 883 entrants. “It feels awesome,” Jovovic told PocketFives in an exclusive interview. “I’ve missed a major title a couple of times, so it is a great relief to finally bink one.”

It was the first time Jovovic had ever entered the Sunday Challenge, so he is officially one-for-one in the weekly tournament on 888 Poker. “I noticed the difference between blind levels is smaller than in other tournaments,” Jovovic said. “I had more time to pick my spots, especially at the final table, as I wasn’t a big stack during most of it. The field was a little easier than in PokerStars‘ majors.”

Speaking of PokerStars, last year, Jovovic earned $62,000 after finishing fifth in the Sunday Million, his largest tracked score to date. “I hadn’t had much success in majors until then,” he admitted. “Then, I made it to the final table. It was surreal for me. I decided to play for the win there and played very aggressively, so ultimately I went out in fifth place. I probably could have made a pay jump or two, but I don’t mind.”

His PokerStars winnings afforded him financial independence and the opportunity to play higher stakes games without much stress.

Let’s get to the meat of our interview, talking about what’s in the water in the Bosnia and Herzegovina pokercommunity. “lilachaa is the hardest working player I know,” Jovovic said of his fellow countryman. “He can take beats for days, but still returns tomorrow to grind some more. I guess that’s what makes him a great player.” He added, “We had similar styles even before we became friends, so I guess we improved together slowly.” Read our interview with lilachaa (pictured).

The Bosnia and Herzegovina community is #60 on PocketFives in our Country Poker Rankings. The group is just 85 players strong to start with and they’ve combined for nearly $3 million in lifetime winnings.

Jovovic is finishing his master’s degree in computer scienceand what he pursues after he graduates is anyone’s guess. “I want to finish my degree,” Jovovic remarked. “I value education highly in my life, but I have yet to decide if I will become a full-time poker pro or be some kind of computer developer.”

If he chooses poker, it’s conceivable he’d face some backlash. “My friends and family approve of my poker playing right now, but I have to say I have heard some disapproving comments behind my back from people I don’t know so well about my poker career. They say the standard stuff about poker being a gambling game and about me being a compulsive gambler.”

One of his biggest motivators to enter the poker world in the first place was the Chris Ferguson Challenge in which the embattled former Full Tilt Poker front man tried to turn $0 into $10,000. “I decided I would do the same thing,” Jovovic said. “And did it. I started with freerolls and moved up in stakes.”

He has parlayed his early efforts into nearly $800,000 in tracked scores, a little less than one-third of the haul of his entire homeland, and says he enjoys skiing in the mountains in his free time. There’s a ski resort located right by his home, so we’d expect we’d see him there quite often.

The Sunday Challenge runs weekly on 888 Poker. If you don’t already have an 888 Poker account, sign up through the links on PocketFives to get an enhanced 100% up to $600 sign-up bonus, $88 free in most locations, and one free month of PocketFives Trainingwith no sign-up fee. Click here to get started.

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