After the winner Andrea ‘lercho90’ Lo Cascio, we also tracked down the second classified in the Monster 50 MicroMillions of PokerStars Poker – Sisal Poker.
The nickname ‘Rosalindo.01’ belongs to Rosario Cocarcea, a 24-year-old living in the province of Foggia: here is our exclusive interview.
The Journey
Hi Rosario, to start, tell us about your journey with poker!
I’ve been playing since I was 18. Lately, I haven’t been playing much, but there have been periods when I played every day. In the last month, I’ve hardly played at all, but I decided to try this Monster 50 because I always try to participate in big tournaments.
Do you also study and play live?
I don’t study, but I watch a lot of live streams on Twitch and videos on YouTube. Ever since I was younger, I’ve followed Canelupo, and now KingMave and all his videos; it’s a world I’ve liked for many years. Now, after this win, we’ll see. Live, I occasionally go to a small club in Foggia; they have nice little tournaments. I even won one, and in another, I got fourth place, which isn’t easy because there are also online regulars playing there, and the level isn’t very low, let’s say.
Is this second place in the Monster 50 the best result of your career?
Yes, although 3-4 months ago, I came third in a €50 Galactic Series tournament and won around €4500. Then there were other smaller tournaments, good amounts, but still much smaller tournaments.
The Decisive Hands of the Monster 50
Tell us how the tournament went then!
My first bullet was gone immediately against a pair of aces. After being eliminated, there were 18 minutes left until the end of late registration, and I told myself to try again. I entered, and within 20 minutes, I already had an average stack, practically. I played pretty well, I’m very happy, especially because I changed my way of playing a bit in this tournament.
In what way?
Usually, I’m much tighter, much calmer, I fold a lot. This time, however, I decided to be a bit more aggressive. I have to say that I also saw a lot of good hands, I played suited connectors and connected well, it always went very well, and the boards also helped me a lot. I stole a lot, then some bluffs went well, and from about 600 players left, I started to gain momentum more and more. Until 50-60 players left, I always had an average stack or above. Then, around 35 players left, a decisive hand came.
Tell us about it
I had KK and opened, an occasional player called from the big blind. Flop, 6-Q-4, he bets, I re-raise, he four-bets, shoves, and calls me with 6-4. Turn 2, River 2, beautiful like that, and there I became the chip leader and stayed there until about 13-14 players left. Then I lost a nasty hand, AQ vs AT with T on the river, and I reached the final table with the third-highest stack.
In heads-up, ‘lercho90’ put immense postflop pressure on me, and I wasn’t seeing any cards even in my dreams, losing all the hands.
Rosario Cucarcea
Final Table and Deal
Did you know any of the final table opponents? How did you approach it?
At the final table, the opponents weren’t terrible; there was Notorius, there was ‘lercho90’ who won, and I had also noted ‘alupoalupo’ as a good player. So it wasn’t easy. In fact, at the final table, I didn’t play that much, at least initially. I was third, but slowly I went down, at most I stole a few blinds. While before I was much more aggressive, at the final table I was much calmer, I would open and then often fold. Then I eliminated ‘alupoalupo’, and after a couple of other eliminations, we made a deal.
Read also: One of the most iconic bluffs in history on Greenstein and Eastgate explained by Tom Dwan
Based on what considerations did you accept the deal?
To be honest, it was hard not to accept it. Until that moment, there were more or less four of us with the same blinds and one short stack. But then, when the short stack doubled up, it was convenient for everyone. I was second in chips at that moment, so it was very, very good.
After the deal, did you still want to win the tournament? How did you react after the hand that eliminated you?
In the hand where I was eliminated, I open-shoved almost 40x because I saw that ‘lercho90’ was putting immense postflop pressure on me, and I wasn’t seeing any cards even in my dreams, losing all the hands. But I’d say it’s okay, I’m very happy with the result.
Will you celebrate?
Definitely, unfortunately, I’m away on a work trip right now, so as soon as I get back, I’ll celebrate with my girlfriend and all my friends with whom I occasionally play poker. I’ll treat them to a round.
The Graph
On PokerStars, ‘Rosalindo.01’ played his first tournament in January 2020. Today, he has played 1,192 MTTs with an average buy-in of €10.9 for a profit of €12,465.
The surge from his second place in the Monster 50 is clearly visible in his graph.
Projects
Does this result change anything in your poker journey?
Yes, it changes a lot because such an amount greatly helps the bankroll. A few years ago, I bought ‘Bench B,’Bencb789”s course, but I never studied it thoroughly, partly because I struggled a bit more with English. Now, I think I’ll buckle down and study it. I also need a good coach; I’ll look around and see who’s best. Maybe then I can start becoming a regular player myself. In many spots, even in the Monster 50, I found myself in difficulty because I had never studied them. It wasn’t easy.
From a live perspective?
Look, I’m in Paris for work right now. I’m supposed to leave on the 14th, but I saw that the EPT starts on the 18th, so I think I’ll stay a few extra days to play some low buy-in tournaments. Maybe I’ll try a couple of bullets. Or I might try going to Malta with a couple of friends, so if poker doesn’t go well, we’ll still have fun.
What are your plans with poker now?
As soon as I get back to Italy, I definitely need to upgrade my PC because the one I have now is a bit old. In fact, I played the entire Monster 50 on my phone, just like the other tournament where I came third. I’m actually quite comfortable playing on my phone, but I know a PC is needed for good multi-tabling.
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