Recently, the MiniFTOPS Main Event played out on the virtual felts of Full Tilt Poker. The tournament drew 13,000 entrants and $1 million was paid out. Over $140,000 in prize money separated first place from ninth, and taking second when all was said and done was André galatrixo Pereira (pictured), who calls Portugal home. He was the biggest winner among members of PocketFives that weekend.

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“It was pretty cool and felt rewarding for sure,” Pereira told PocketFives in an exclusive interview. He had plenty of tables going while the MiniFTOPS Main Event was in its early stages and explained, “As the tournament went on, obviously the number of tables went down and it got more interesting. There were a couple of hands that were huge though – one where I made probably one of the biggest calls ever and another where I two-outed a guy on the river when there were 12 or 13 players left.”

The final table included the likes of fellow PocketFivers donvito1st, p0cket00, floppinhel, and intervention, who finished third, fourth, fifth, and ninth, respectively. He explained, “The final table had a few good players, but also a few weaker guys. Funny enough, I managed to get heads-up with who was, in my opinion, the weakest player at the table, so I was kind of bummed not closing it out.”

Earlier at the final table, Pereira took a hit to his stack and remained one of the lowest on the totem pole until he took down a major pot with A-K against A-Q in what he called “a cooler spot for my opponent. From there, I kind of felt like I had control of the table except for maybe a few times here and there when p0cket00 (pictured) chipped up and put some pressure on too.”

One of the major hands of the tournament, the one he referenced as a “one of his biggest calls ever,” took place when Pereira had A-6 offsuit in the big blind. His opponent min-raised from the small blind with 40 big blinds behind him. Pereira just called and the flop came 5-4-4. Pereira’s opponent made a continuation bet of 120,000 into a pot of 300,000 and Pereira called. The next card out was a 10, which gave no flush draws, and Pereira’s opponent min-check-raised him to 480,000.”

On the check-raise, Pereira explained, “It didn’t really make sense. He’d play his value hands like that, so I decided to call. The river came a 6 and he shoved. I made the call and he flipped up A-7. It gave me a pretty good confidence boost apart from all of the chips too.”

He is up to $350,000 in lifetime tracked MTTs, about half of which has come on PokerStars. On how the money will change his career, if at all, he admitted, “It won’t change it that much. I play backed, so not all of that money went to me. It can definitely change my career in a sense that it was a confidence-booster and definitely motivates me to work on my game.”

Pereira got started in poker after running across the game randomly. He began teaching his friends and it wasn’t long before he was playing for real money in home games and online. He explained, “I’d like to send a shout out to the whole Naza Team and to Naza114 (pictured) in particular for being a sick coach and always trying to make me work harder.”

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