Last weekend, Joe jcada99Cada (pictured), who won the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event, added to his bankroll by taking down the Full Tilt Sunday Brawlfor $42,000. The field numbered over 1,000 entrants and Cada defeated fellow online and live pro Kevin ImaLuckSac MacPhee heads-up. The Michigan native who plays online poker across the bridge in Windsor, Canada has undergone vast changes since winning the Main Event five years ago and sat down with PocketFives to dish about it.

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PocketFives: Congrats on your Sunday Brawl win. How are you feeling about it?

Joe Cada: It felt good. I keep knocking at the door in these larger prize pool tournaments every week. I keep being in the final 50 and 40, but in those pivotal pots that make or break you, I haven’t been able to get over the hump. Tournaments are rough. They are high-variance and I play them largely just on Sundays. I keep making deep runs, though. I’ve run deep in the Million the last few weeks.

PocketFives: You told us that you travel between Michigan and Ontario, Canada in order to play online poker. What’s your schedule like?

Joe Cada: I generally wake up, take care of errands, and drive over to Canada. I have been playing a ton online lately and don’t play much live. I feel I have more enjoyment playing online. Live, I need a close friend to come with me. I hate traveling by myself and there’s a lot involved in playing just one tournament. I get crap for it because people ask questions like, “When was the last time Joe won a live tournament?”

You get more hands in online. You can also learn easier online than live. I’ve been playing online almost every day of the week. I’ve been playing a lot of $2/$5 Zoom on PokerStars. I have been trying to get into the larger cash games, but every time a $10/$20 or $25/$50 game does run, I’m not fast enough to catch it and there’s a huge wait list. I’d rather be in a Zoom pool with a bunch of dead money.

PocketFives: What are your plans for this year’s WSOP, which starts in late May?

Joe Cada: I normally try to get out right when the series starts and stay there the whole time. I’ll play the $25Ks and lower. I’ll play all of the No Limit events. Mixed Games I should probably put more time into learning, but I have so much experience at No Limit and am comfortable in those games, so I’ll largely stick to them. I’ll play some PLO too.

PocketFives: Have you been playing any Open-Face Chinese Poker?

Joe Cada: I played a lot last summer. I had about a dozen games going with a bunch of people, but I don’t think I collected from anyone. I played at the Rio and ran really well.

PocketFives: What’s it like looking back on the last five years since you won the Main Event?

Joe Cada: The year after the Main Event, my WSOP didn’t go well and I didn’t cash in any tournament. I don’t know if it was because of variance or if I was complacent from winning the Main Event. I didn’t take shots at too many big cash games and didn’t have much success at the nosebleeds live.

The last few years, I’ve had three WSOP final tables and done well online. I was in a pretty serious relationship after my Main Event win and had a lot of time devoted to running a charity poker room and bar, but I don’t have either of those now. The last month or two, I’m on a $90K or $100K upswing playing $2/$5 Zoom and standard Sunday events. I just keep playing and have been putting in a lot of volume.

The Sunday Brawl runs weekly on Full Tilt Poker. If you don’t have a Full Tilt Poker account, sign up through the links on PocketFives to get $25 free plus one free month of PocketFives Training, a $30 value. Get started here.

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