Earlier this month, Israel’s Kingido87(pictured) finished third in an un-chopped version of the PokerStars Sunday Million, coming away with a $93,000 payday. There were just over 5,700 entrants that day and PocketFivers captured almost 40% of the prize pool. It was Kingido87’s largest score to date.

“As an MTT player, you always want to win and you’re always disappointed when you don’t, but this was a very big score and I feel like I played pretty well, so overall I’m happy,” he told us about his mindset. The prize pool of the Sunday Million ended up at $1.1 million and you can find him on its host site under the screen name reshafim87.

We asked for a recap of how the final table went. His take on it: “The dynamic at the final table was pretty unique. One guy had all of the chips and the rest of us had between 5 and 20 big blinds each. I had to play very tight and not make any big ICM mistakes. Obviously, the chip leader gave me the most trouble because in this situation it’s very easy for him to put a lot of pressure on everyone else.”

His resilience paid off to the tune of $93,000. Now, he’s looking to buy an investment property in the north of Israel where he’s originally from. He’s also planning to go on vacation for a few weeks before the 2015 WCOOP begins. First place in the Sunday Million, in case you’re curious, went to fellow PocketFiver Allinnet.

2013 was a breakthrough year for Kingido87. The Israeli recorded three of his four largest scores to date that year, namely wins in the Big $109, Big $162, and a SCOOP $27 NLHE Six-Max event. He relayed, “I enjoy the game a lot and love to try new strategies and creative lines. That’s what keeps me going mostly.” In 2014, Kingido87 moved and therefore played a bit less overall.

Now, he mainly fires up MTTs with an occasional 180-man turbo sprinkled in for good measure. “I’m super competitive and have always loved board games and computer games,” he said of his poker origins. “When I started playing poker with friends, I was instantly fascinated by the game and when I found out you could play on the computer and make real money, my mind was blown. I knew right away that poker fit me perfectly and I needed to do everything I could to be a good player and play for a living.”

When he made the decision to start playing poker, he was fresh off serving three years in the Israeli army and had gone to the United States to work. He explained, “I started playing online in the evenings after working all day at sales. After a while, I saw I was making more money playing online poker than working at my job. I decided to quit my job, come back to Israel (pictured), and play full-time. I have been doing it since then.”

Kingido87 is #332 worldwide in the PocketFives Poker Rankingsand was ranked as high as #51 two years ago. He’s the #4 player in Israel, which has 174 PocketFivers with PLB scores. Over the years, he has amassed 3,100 in the money finishes at an average of $383 apiece. He owns 207 top-three finishes and took third in the Bigger $55 two weeks ago for $16,000.

Outside of poker, Kingido87 enjoys flying remote-controlled airplanes (who doesn’t?) and “all kinds of extreme sports, mostly off-road motorcycles and ATVs. When I move to Tel Aviv, I’m going to the beach a lot and will bike ride in the city.”

He closed by sending a shout out to his family “for understanding and accepting this unique and unusual job that I chose.”

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