We saw that the Monster 50 MicroMillions on PokerStars Poker – Sisal Poker concluded last night with ‘lercho90’ winning after a five-way deal.
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Less than 24 hours later, we ‘caught’ the winner, who goes by the name of Andrea Lo Cascio, a 35-year-old from Besano, in the province of Varese, who has been approaching poker professionally for a year. Here is the transcript of our phone conversation. Here you can find the story of the tournament with the hands of all the final table eliminations.
The journey with poker
Hi Andrea, how long have you been playing poker?
I’ve always played since I was 20, in an amateur way. In the last two or three years, I’ve approached poker more professionally. Last year I stopped working as a tire dealer in Switzerland because the job no longer satisfied me; I felt the need to change my life. I dove into the only thing I really liked.
Did you have any coaches on your journey?
My coach is Andrea Cardinali; I started with his courses before moving on to private lessons. Then for a few months, ‘ChrisChris19’ took over, and then in the last few months, I returned to Andrea. In these months, I think I’ve taken a really important step forward.
Do you also play live?
Yes, I narrowly missed the trophy at the Pokerstars Open Mystery Bounty 400; I was the runner-up. Mystery bounty tournaments aren’t my favorite, but the results say otherwise.
I arrived at the start of the Mystery Bounty with 160x but didn’t make any particular splashes for the bounties.
Andrea Lo Cascio
The story of the Monster 50
How did the Monster 50 go?
I don’t remember much; Day 1 was smooth. I immediately doubled up and went monster deep right at the start. Then, with the twenty-minute levels, I always floated around 150x. Day 2 started as Day 1 ended. I never risked anything. I won important showdowns, also because people were shoving happily to accumulate stacks for the mystery bounties. I found good spots.
With the arrival of the mystery bounties, how much did you widen your calling ranges?
I arrived at the start of the mystery bounty phase with 160x but don’t think I made any particular splashes for the mystery bounties. I was a bit unlucky with the mystery bounties; I got 13 in total, but almost all of them were the base amount. The tournament went on quite calmly until I lost a few unlucky spots in blind wars and found myself with 30x around 80 players left. Then two important hands came.
Tell me.
In the first, I opened AA from UTG. A chip-equal player shoved 30x AQ straight; I won this spot and went to 60x. From there, I managed easily, and then another very important spot came that launched me. UTG limped, I isolated x5 with AA with 65x. Oppo played 53x, and I isolated big because he seemed quite aggressive. He made it 12bb, and I shoved straight because he only had top range. Indeed, he turned over KK; thanks to the favorable cooler, I went to 120x, and from then on, I applied continuous aggression. I leveraged my stack and reached the final table as chip leader.
The most feared opponent
At the final table, was there any opponent who intimidated you?
The only one I was afraid of was ‘BLF0RZ41NT3R,’ whom I busted pre-final table in a very nice hand where I made him bluff with blockers while I had the nuts straight. I breathed a sigh of relief then; he was one of those opponents I didn’t want at the end because they are tough to beat. At the final table, I think only ‘alupoalupo’ was a regular.
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What reasoning led you to accept the deal?
To tell the truth, it was six in the morning; I had 65x, three opponents were around 50x, and one had 25x. I told myself I would deal at 4 left because you never know; in the end, one bad hand is enough to change everything. In the end, it wasn’t the Sunday Million; I got a little more than second place.
After the agreement, you were basically only playing for the mystery bounties: did the dynamics change?
Look, in the hand immediately after the deal, I got JJ, and right after my open, someone shoved 40x. I told myself I would never fold; he had TT. Then the games went more calmly, except for one who kept playing to win because he wanted the MicroMillions badge. But I didn’t have it either.
The graph
On PokerStars, ‘lercho90’ has played 13,836 tournaments with an average buy-in of €16.23 for a total profit of €56,349. The drawing of his graph clearly shows a before and after.
“For the first two years, there were no results, and I wondered why. Now I understand: I worked nine hours every day and then started grinding!”
The celebration and poker plans
Did you want the badge too?
Of course, whether we dealt or not, when we get there, I’m only interested in coming first. Plus, after the deal, we didn’t know if there was still a percentage set aside for the winner. There was nothing, but just in case, I played to come first.
Did you celebrate after the win?
I was overjoyed! The only thing is that I was alone because my girlfriend had gone away for two days with her friend and the baby. A friend called me immediately, who was very happy. We will definitely celebrate all together.
Will this victory change anything about your poker habits?
Live, I can’t currently make foreign trips because I became a father two months ago and don’t have much free time. The only ones I go to are Campione and Mendrisio. If the opportunity arose, I might even go to Rozvadov for two or three days, but that’s very much a maybe. Online, I was already slightly increasing my average buy-in, but I think I’ll stick to how I was already playing.
We’re at the goodbyes!
I definitely want to thank my coach Andrea Cardinali, to whom I owe everything that has been happening to me in recent years. Heartfelt thanks also to all the guys in the study group. I dedicate the victory to my girlfriend, my son, and my family, as well as to “omar9222,” who is a great friend and my biggest fan.
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