For most, the festive period is one of rest, a time to ravage a turkey, share a tipple with the in-laws, and blow off the one-year dust from the Monopoly. For Black Belt Poker player Martin 'OMGDannyRudd' Malone, however, it was a time for making money... real money.
As December 25 drew to a close and the final mince pies were consumed, Martin received a belated, but welcome Christmas present when he defeated a 725-thick field to take down iPoker's $100,000 Guaranteed tournament.
A 27-year old former youth worker from Southampton, Martin is an MTT specialist who plays tournaments ranging from $5 rebuys to the Sunday Majors. On this occasion, he managed to turn an initial investment of $200+15 into a juicy $30,450, thus ensuring he finished 2011 with a bang.
"It felt great to win," revealed Martin. "I think I shouted 'Boom!' quite a lot and ran to tell the Mrs. I had won it. She was eating breakfast at the time having already had a full night's sleep - its a strange world all this poker stuff!
"There was a huge jump from second to first of around $15,000," he continued, "so it was pretty sick playing heads-up for double the prize of second. In the back of my mind, I couldn't help but think that if I finished in the runner-up spot, I'd have to replay the whole tournament and come second again just to win the amount I was currently playing for!"
Several other Black Belt Poker players made the money, including Andrew 'LegendKing1' Dwyer (28th: $841.00) and Jerome 'GONGONONGO' Bradpiece (92nd: $203.00). Martin isn't the only Black Belt Poker player to win the event; Blue Belt Kevin Williams achieved the same feat earlier in the year for a whopping $42,000, although with a less 'seasonal' guaranteed prize pool of $200,000.
Although Martin doesn't consider himself a pro, he does label himself an 'online grinder', and just one week later he was back at the table to defend his title. Amazingly, the New Year celebrations almost echoed the Christmas cheer when he made an incredible second consecutive final table and finished ninth for $1,899.80. In the same tournament, Orange Belt Chris 'SchnauzerSoze04' Cope finished 15th for $1,024.00.
Martin's feat, and near back-to-back wins, was an exceptional achievement, and a great way to greet 2012. To learn more from Black Belt Poker's most in-form player, I caught up with him just a couple of days ago to talk about his victory, second final table, and how the heck he convinced the Mrs. to exchange a festive evening in front of a log fire for a lengthy session behind the monitor.
Check out the interview here...
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