Despite many players traveling for the holidays, the final PokerStars Sunday Millionof 2012, which occurred on December 30, garnered a field of 8,292 entrants. For PocketFives member Flavio flavioreis88Reis (pictured), the last Sunday Million of the year was a big one, as he barreled through the pack to land in third place and walked away with $124,000. The un-chopped tournament saw ante_geia_AA pull in nearly a quarter of a million bucks for first place.

“I am very happy with this achievement,” Reis told PocketFives in an exclusive interview. “I had a very good year and this result capped off the great job I had during that time. Unfortunately, I did not win, but third place was phenomenal.” The top 1,260 players finished in the money and Reis recorded his first tracked six-figure online MTT score.

Sure, he didn’t take the top spot, but was he disappointed in not being able to close out the tournament or was the $124,000 consolation prize enough to fall back on? He explained, “I was a bit disappointed to fall in third and the hand I went out on ended up being quite tragic. I really wanted the title, but couldn’t claim the top spot.” At least he was able to pay off any outstanding credit card bills leftover from Christmas.

In late October, Reis came away with a win in the weekly PokerStars Sunday 500 and officially banked $74,000. Three members of the top 25 in the PocketFives Poker Rankingsappeared in the top 25 of the tournament and Reis edged out PokerStars player j_t_s80heads-up. Needless to say, he has been on a mini-tear as of late.

“I’ve experimented with my game recently,” Reis said when asked what he attributed his recent success to. “I realized I was ready for major achievements, invested enough time fixing my mistakes, and ended up being rewarded for it.” Overall, a considerable amount of maturing ultimately led to his success.

What did he change specifically about his poker game? And how has that helped him dominate Sunday Majors? He told us, “I changed mainly the way I face great players. I have always been very good against less experienced players, but ended up being detonated by regs. Today, I think I am more competitive against regs. Another facet of my game I worked on was feeling safe playing high buy-ins. Playing without pressure is always better.”

He started playing poker with friends and remembered that it was “love at first sight. I began studying and made my first deposit. Going broke several times until you understand bankroll management was essential.” He has over $1 million in tracked cashes on PokerStars alone and owns the eighth spot in the Rankings for his home country of Brazil. He is tops in the state of Paraiba, which is situated on the Atlantic coast.

2013 is already upon us. Now that we’re three weeks into the new year, what are Reis’ poker goals for the 11-and-a-half months to come? Win another Sunday Major? Get ranked #1 on PocketFives? He remarked, “I want to continue traveling the world doing what I love, growing even more as a player, and getting another big title like the LAPT, WSOP, or WCOOP.”

In 2011, Reis took down the Brazilian Series of Poker’s No Limit Hold’em Main Event in Sao Paulo for an amazing $244,000. The tournament drew over 1,400 players and Reis defeated fellow Brazilian PocketFiver Guilherme kurtxGarcia heads-up. For his efforts, Garcia made $153,000. In February of last year, Reis was the runner-up to American Ariel ArielBahia Celestino (pictured) in the Latin American Poker Tour’s Grand Final, also held in Sao Paulo, for $52,000.

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