It takes a certain amount of run-good to barrel through a high-stakes tournament, especially one that brought in over 3,200 people at a price tag of $215 a pop. Earlier this month, worst_nuts, whose real name is Michael, took down the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up for $94,000 following a heads-up chop with DaHussstla. Now, a trip from his homeland of Norway to Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker might be in the offing.

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“I wouldn’t say I ran godly in this tournament in terms of sucking out on people,” he told us, “but more like no one coolered me, and if they did, it was always some short stack.” He added about his run through the Warm-Up, “I kind of played under the radar most of the time, winning most pots without showdown. At about three or four tables left, I was starting to get close.”

Two of the top three finishers in the Sunday Warm-Up that week were PocketFivers, and the group included fellow Norwegian kelbuxx, who hails from Oslo and finished third. Michael told us, “I noticed there were some regs left, although thankfully kelbuxx took care of almost all of them with his monster stack. From that point on, I really just watched him bust everyone and stole some chips in the process.”

Everyone who made the final table was guaranteed at least $5,200. Michael gave his recollection on how the final nine went down: “At the final table, everyone was basically playing scared money, so I had to take advantage of that and play really aggressively, opening a lot. I ran a bit good in a few places, although most of my chips I kind of bullied myself to. When we got heads-up, I didn’t feel like leaving it up to variance, so I just quickly decided to chop to seal the deal. Luckily enough, DaHussstla wasn’t that great heads-up and I got some good cards, so it was over in just a few hands.”

He is currently staked, but doesn’t plan to go on his own despite raking in nearly $100,000. Why? “Poker is more like a hobby to me even though I can see how you can make a living out of it,” he admitted. “I don’t think much will change even after the win. I’ll still play and try to get better, but I doubt it’ll ever be full-time.”

Even though his poker career might not change much, his life as a whole could be altered. Michael explained, “I’m a full-time student and my scholarship alone isn’t a lot. It was kind of funny since the day before, I was joking to my friends that I would win the Sunday Million and we were going to go to Las Vegas. Now, it suddenly doesn’t seem that far-fetched!”

He is about to graduate, which means several career paths will be at his disposal. Poker could be at the forefront of his options, as he told us, “My biggest ambition is to create a successful company and maintain it. I’m not sure exactly what I’d make, but I’m still thinking. Before that, I would probably like a job within marketing or something to do with marketing. It would be a big plus if it’s flexible so I still have time for both live and online poker. I want to continue playing poker, though.”

He got started in poker a half-decade ago when his friends hosted a home game. “I was the only one who had never played it,” Michael said. “It’s safe to say I quickly got hooked. Not long after that, I discovered online poker and, like almost everyone else, I started spending and losing money on it. That changed when, a few years after that, I discovered staking and started playing for someone at really low limits.”

We found his take on poker staking quite humorous, so we definitely wanted to quote it here: “The whole idea that someone would send you money to play for them was absurd to me, but I didn’t complain. Shortly after, a stable picked me up, still playing pretty low-stakes. Two years later, here I am, basically achieving my goal in poker, which was final tabling a Major, which was basically what kept me going since Day 1.”

He closed by sending a shout out to the cat of Luke Bit2Easy Reeves (pictured), which was paramount in his victory. We’ll leave it at that!

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