On the last day of March, the PartyPoker $200,000 Guaranteedfeatured a final table that included four members ranked in the top 500 on PocketFives. Among them was Poland’s danking, who drove to a first place finish, bringing home a payday of $28,000. There were over 1,100 entrants and danking has risen all the way to #5 in his home nation. We caught up with the Podkarpackie resident to talk about his big victory.

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PocketFives: How are you feeling about your win in the PartyPoker $200K?

danking: When I won the PartyPoker $200K, I was really tired, but also very happy. It was the biggest win of my poker career, which I waited some time for, so this win gave me some self-confidence. Also, at the final table of the tournament were a couple of really good players.

PocketFives: As you mentioned, it was a pretty solid final table with guys like NoPlanB(pictured) and MadsMP. Who at the final table gave you the toughest time and why?

danking: NoPlanB was really solid against me. He was very aggressive, opened many hands, and read his opponents very well. I tried to resist, so consequently we had many big spots against each other. Eventually, we met heads-up and fortunately I had a huge advantage in chips, so he practically could only play all-in or fold poker.

PocketFives: Do you have any plans for the money? Is it all going back into poker or do you have anything else planned for it?

danking: It was a lot of money for first place, but it’s not life-changing. I’ll add it to my bankroll. I don’t have any special expenses planned beyond that.

PocketFives: Tell us about poker in Poland. How is the game viewed and who plays?

danking: In my opinion, poker in Poland has grown very fast. The recent successes of Polish players in live tournaments like the PCA, WPT, and EPT have caused mass media in Poland to be interested in the game and everything like who plays, how poker players live, and many other things. The Poland poker community now looks at poker much better, so we are going in the right direction. I really believe we can be, in the future one, of the best poker nations in the world.

PocketFives: How did you get started in poker originally? What got you hooked? Do you play full-time now?

danking: I started playing poker five years ago. My friend led me to the game and I instantly knew it was for me. In the beginning, I played mainly sit and gos, but for about two years, I focused almost only on MTTs.

Not long ago, I started playing poker and also doing another great passion of mine: basketball. I was a professional basketball player, but for something like six months I didn’t play professionally and focused only on playing poker.

Basketball is still my biggest passion next to poker. Furthermore, I like any kind of sports, especially football, tennis, and going to gym.

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