Over the last weekend of August, Russia’s MAMOHT_T(pictured) came away with the victory in the 888 Poker Mega Deep. Defeating a field of 681 entrants meant a $32,000 payday, as he defeated fellow PocketFiver Grind24seven heads-up.

In part as a result of his recent performance, MAMOHT_T has found his way into the top five of the PocketFives Online Poker Rankings, settling in at #5 in the world, and just lapped $4.6 million in online tournament winnings. We caught up with the top-ranked Russian to talk about his latest claim to fame.

PocketFives: Nice job on the 888 Mega Deep win. How are you feeling about it?

MAMOHT_T: I feel great and very happy, of course.

PocketFives: Can you walk us through how the tournament went in general for you and give us your thoughts on its structure, field, and buy-in?

MAMOHT_T: The tournament went pretty calmly for me. Until there were 40 or 50 players left, I managed to gradually increase my stack – nothing really special. Starting when there were 40 opponents, the field began to play more aggressively and I had to fight back. When there were six players left, I became the chip leader and remained at the top until the end, busting one opponent after another. The tournament is very good. It has a very good and smooth structure and the buy-in is also okay for its structure.

PocketFives: You’ve had several five-figure scores this year, including a win in the Full Tilt $250,000 Guaranteed. Tell us about what has been going right for you this year and why.

MAMOHT_T: I play a lot, try hard in every tournament, and sometimes get lucky. The result is victories and it’s awesome when a victory comes with a five-figure score.

PocketFives: Do you have any plans for the money? What have you used your poker winnings for this year?

MAMOHT_T: Nothing special. I live for fun, go on holidays with my wife, and help my parents. I am thinking about getting a good car this year.

PocketFives: Speaking of this year, what goals do you have poker-wise for the rest of 2014?

MAMOHT_T: I would like to win one or two events during the WCOOP and then go to an EPT stop, as I really want and like to play offline, although I do so rarely.

PocketFives: What do you do besides poker? What else interests you?

MAMOHT_T: Poker takes up a lot of my time, so I don’t have a lot of time to spend on other interests. I love to travel to visit interesting places in other countries, play Dota2 periodically, and the rest of my time is given to my wife, friends, and parents.

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