"There's No Better Way to Enjoy Your Money"
Last month, Bernardo bediasDias (pictured) came away with the win in the PokerStars Sunday Millionand boosted his bankroll by $233,000. It was the largest Sunday score for any PocketFiver that week and Dias defeated PokerStars player RudiTurbo heads-up in the 7,789-entrant field.
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“It was unbelievably amazing,” Dias gleaned about his Sunday Million title. “Sometimes I tried to imagine how it would be winning the Sunday Million, but I couldn’t imagine it would be like that. I felt really happy and relieved about the score.” His tracked online cash total stands at $2.3 million and his two largest scores have come courtesy of the Sunday Million.
As far as his plans for the money, Dias told us he plans to travel and invest in his career and his well-being. “For me, there’s no better way to enjoy your money,” he said. The Brazilian has exactly 4,800 in the money finishes for an average of $488 apiece. Eighty percent of his winnings have come on PokerStars.
He was third in chips when the final table of the Sunday Million started and said, “Good players were on my left, but I managed to use the best strategy I could and open raise and 3bet the best spots. When we were three-handed, I was second in chips and we paused the game to see the numbers, but the chip leader wanted more. So, we resumed, I busted him in third place, and then had a big chip lead heads-up, which was over in six hands.”
Dias said the $233,000 score won’t affect his online poker career too much, but he’ll now have a bankroll to play just about any game he wants to. “It’ll give me more chances to hit a big score in live tournaments as well,” he commented. According to the Hendon Mob, Dias has $81,000 in live scores, including an LAPT Punta del Este final table in 2010 for $31,000.
Speaking of live events, the World Series of Poker begins in one month from the Rio in Las Vegas. “I went to the WSOP the last two years and it didn’t go the way I wanted it to,” he admitted. “For us Brazilians, it’s not the best EV because of taxes on our prizes. EPT events have much better value, for example. But still, winning a bracelet could mean a lot, so I’ll probably play some there this year, especially the PLO8 tournaments.” Dias has one WSOP in the money finish on his poker resume.
Dias is the tenth-ranked player in the Brazil pokercommunity, a group that stands at #5 worldwide in our Country Poker Rankings. “Poker is becoming really big in Braziland the process has been quick too. I’m still very impressed with how many people congratulated me because of an online win and cannot imagine how it would be if it were a big live tournament. This recognition is so nice! I’m definitely looking forward to other big career achievements like that.”
The year is only four months old and Dias still has a lot to look forward to in 2014. He told us, “I’m very happy with friends and students I coach from the Bedias Poker Team. I am planning to expand it and have more people playing backed for me. I also want to play bigger tournaments more often, especially live ones. If I hit a big score this year, that’s excellent. If not, that’s fine too. I will keep going and my time will come.”
The Sunday Million runs weekly on PokerStars. If you don’t already have a PokerStars account, sign up through PocketFives’ link and make a deposit to get one free month of PocketFives MTT Training. You’ll also get a 100% up to $600 sign-up bonus. Click here for PocketFives’ PokerStars link.
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