The final PokerStars Sunday Warm-Upof 2012 saw 3,446 players turn out. Nearly $700,000 in real money was on the line and the un-chopped final table saw inwookecome away with the win and pocket $108,000. Taking third place for about half that amount was Turkish PocketFives member Ozgur phaplap Arda (pictured), who logged his first five-figure score on PokerStars, where he’s booked nearly $600,000 in tracked cashes.

“I’m happy,” Arda perhaps understated to PocketFives when asked how he was feeling about the score. “I have waited for that day all year and was almost about to give up, but I got what I wanted. I’m still a little upset about the hand I busted out on, but it was my first five-figure score on PokerStars. I tried to get a six-figure score, but maybe the next time I can do it.” He has one other five-figure online MTT score on the books, a fourth place finish in a MiniFTOPS tournament on Full Tilt in mid-2010 for $51,000.

He was up and down throughout the final stages of the tournament. When a dozen players remained, Arda had a scant 20 big blinds, but when the final table began, he was the chip leader. He explained, “I tried to use ICM and tried to avoid big spots. Finally, we reached three-handed play, but I was the short stack with 6.5 million in chips, or 13 big blinds. The player on the button had 12 million and the player in the big blind had 14 million.”

On his final hand, the player on the button open-shoved and Arda had A-K in the small blind. The Turk called for his tournament life and was in a race against pocket fours. The flop came A-2-X, leaving his opponent drawing to a runner-runner straight or a set, and a three and a five dramatically altered the fortunes of both players. He cashed for $56,000 after the unfortunate runner-runner.

We mentioned that the Sunday Warm-Up was his first five-figure cash on PokerStars and the second five-figure cash overall that we’ve logged for him. So, what are his plans for the money? Party like he’s never partied before? He responded, “I don’t have too many plans. the real roksand Zima421 backed me all year. Now, I am going to play for myself. That’s my plan for the money. I hope I will run like I did at the end of 2012 and make some more money in 2013.”

His Sunday Warm-Up final table occurred just two days before the start of 2013. We asked him how he spent the first day of the new year: “It is kind of a family day. We were together with my sister and her fiancé just drinking some beer and resting all day.” Sounds like a pretty relaxing day for the top ranked player in Turkey on PocketFives.

Speaking of Turkey (pictured), we asked Arda how the game of poker is viewed in his home country. Is it celebrated or shunned? His answer was rather one-sided: “It is not really accepted here right now. We have maybe 10 regulars in the entire country and don’t have many chances to play live. The only way to improve is to go to Cyprus for some tournaments or cash games, and we still don’t have a book about poker in our language.”

PocketFives has 84 registered members from Turkey, perhaps not surprisingly. Arda recapped that he got his start in poker by playing Five Card Draw. He proceeded to go on vacation back to his hometown and when he returned, his friends had transitioned to Texas Hold’em. He initially called the game “weird” and explained, “I met with sheriifffand we talked some about the game. He offered me to help me learn and said he wanted to back me. I have been playing full-time since 2010 and have two good friends who have helped me with my game: Code.exeand bounatirouIMO.”

Check out what’s making headlines in PocketFives’ Turkey poker community.

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