Ok, so no… the  Toy Story  pic is not meant to express our  love for the film or popular memes, in fact it is quite the opposite, the story behind that picture is a different one. Yesterday,  we presented you with the results of the WCOOP: $5,200 NL Hold´em Main Event where Coenaldinho7 became the champion and took $1,300,000.  Because of this great achievement, the people at the PokerStars Blog  searched for him to interview him and managed it; with a caveat, the Belgium player chose to remain anonymous  “for personal, job related, and security reasons»  and when a picture was requested to be published with the article, he answered by sending the one we see here.

Coenaldinho7 is a 38 year old player who resides in Limburg, Belgium. He plays football and tennis. He recently became a father and he is the head of transport for a Belgian meat producer. “My main hobby is working day and night all week long. I don’t really have a lot of  free time”.

The Belgium player started to play poker in belga 2004: “Since then I’ve felt attracted to the game. I learnt the rules in five minutes, but in time, I realised that you have to work the odds, strategy, bluffs, steals and position. YouTube became a source from where I could watch the most legendary players. Right from the start, I thought if  I had the chance to compete at a main event, I would be able to prove to myself and everyone else that I could do just what they do”.

And how did you get to play the Main Event at the WCOOP? “Only recently I have had some more means to do so, but $5,200 is (or was) a lot of money for me, too. I pulled (my WCOOP entry) off for $1,700 in a S&G”.

Coenaldinho7 swears he is not a seasoned player, he has a couple final table in his history. “I have experience with final tables but for $5,000-$20,000. This is something else, I must admit. Now, I believe it has been all worth it because I learned, learned, and learned. I am not the best player around, but instead of gambling, I steal, bluff and change tactics every hand”.

Many of us whoo’ve seen the final table, came to the conclusion that the Belgium who made it to the FT as the player with the least amount of chips, was pushing for a deal no mattere what it took. They all thought he was just an impatient fish trying to cash out for more money; however, out protagonist told us it was all part of a strategy of his: “It’s very simple. Nothing to lose at that point. I got my $100,000 and chose this tactic: constantly misguiding the others, or trying to at least, to let them believe I was so desperate to make these crazy request for deals, they didn’t know what to think of me. That–and I am so convinced of this–made my 3-bet steals look much stronger. Along the way I realized this did not make me very popular, but I was in fact entertaining the table and the spectators. I kept this strategy until the end, still shifting tactics on the table however. It worked, and I really got a feeling this ship wasn’t about to wreck before docking at its destination. With my hand on my heart, I am much sweeter, calmer, and more reserved than the chat yesterday. Believe me: All tactics. All tactics”. Hence the words on the pics:  “I asked them to all to take half a mill… Now, I’m grabbing the lot”.

Coenaldinho7 best day to spend his «One Time».

In one of the comments he made at the chat room, he pointed out that his girlfriend hated poker. PokerStars Blog asked if her appreciation of the game had changed since he won, and the champion fired back:  “She was in shock. I told her about the $100,000 I already had before she turned in, and she couldn’t believe that for starters. After I won, she was sleeping. I sent her an email with the tournament results listing my name on top. She sent back that this is not realistic anymore and came down with a sad face saying that she was loving our life as it was going and why did I change that forever now? I understood her immediately and told her we’re not changing a lot right now.Today she was enthusiastic and planning stuff. Go figure”.

And what will he do with the money? “Finalizing my house without much help of my own two hands now. No new car, no luxury, trying to help a good cause now and then”.

Word of the champion. How did they sit with you?