BankrollMob Poker News

The 2020 Irish Poker Masters on partypoker has concluded on December 15, and here's one particular player we'd like to feature on - she's a budding poker player who won first place at a certain IPM event!

December 13 was a special day for- her hard work paid off at the partypoker tables when she became the last player standing in the IPM #14 The JP Masters PKO event for €52,902!

Mary is a resident of Sherwood Park in Alberta, Canada with her husband and a teenager. They also have two adult children who live in Edmonton. Mary is a full-time psychologist by day, but by night she is actually a budding poker player at partypoker.

From Play Money to IPM Glory

While growing up, Mary (pictured below) has played various card games with her family and poker was her favorite.

"When my kids were little, my husband and I would have a date night by playing poker online, side-by-side in different games but still together. It was a cheap date with no childcare costs. We started with play money and then began playing micro-stakes tournaments."

"I grew up in a card-playing home and loved playing Texas Hold'em immediately. I loved the challenge and tried to learn everything I could so I could get better. My husband still plays poker, but not as much as me. He will often play other games, like World of Tanks, while I play poker. Most of the time, I play $11 to $55 buy-in and I satellite into the higher buy-ins."

Mary and her husband share their success at the tables, with Mary giving him $100 every time she cashes for at least $1,000 in a single tournament.

"When I cash for over $1,000 in a single game, my husband gets $100 of my winnings to spend on tanks or rewards in his game...but only $100 no matter the win or that would be a lot of tanks!"

Quest to Become the JP Masters Champion

It was Day 1B when Mary entered the €530 buy-in JP Masters event. Around 207 players bought in on that day, with 31 moving on to Day 2. Mary finished her flight with 528,071 chips, good enough for 16th place, right in the middle of the pack.

All those in Day 2 were in the money and guaranteed €554 for their efforts. Mary had already accumulated €937 in bounty payments so was already recording a nice cash and her husband was guaranteed more tanks!

"I remember saying to my husband that I thought I was in the cash but we wouldn't know until tomorrow because there was still another flight to play. In the end, I think we had €554 locked up at that point. Being already in the money was definitely nice, it meant I could play without having to at least make a min-cash (which would be helpful to my bankroll). I didn't really do anything to prepare. Sunday is usually a day of ‘potential' and ‘hope' for me as I play satellites during the week to get into some of the bigger weekend games. This started like many other Sunday, it just ended a whole lot better!"

Pocket Kings Saves the Day

It was all worth it for Mary even if the road to the top did take a lot of grinding. The deck at first was not being kind to Mary and for long periods she was trying to hold on to her short stack, believing at any moment she will bust out before reaching the final table. She did make it to the final table, but was still in the short stack until pocket kings saved the day.

"I eventually managed to inch my way up a bit and then when we were down to seven players, a shorter stack than me opened, I called with pocket kings, and another short stack shoved before the original opener shoved. I had them both covered...I called of course and my kings were against ace-queen and ace-king. I held my breath and was calling out ‘Hold, Hold," and the cards came Q-T-T-8-3 and I knocked out two people, collected their bounties and jumped to second in chips."

"The bounties were so big, I love bounty games but this was above anything I ever experienced. After I came down from that, the thought occurred to me that I had a shot at shipping this thing, but I can't say I was confident I would win."

Mary at the Heads-up Battle

Pavlo Kolinkovsky busted in fifth before UK-based Frenchman Patrice Brandt in fourth-place. Rui Ferreira settled in third-place, leaving Mary and Aleksandr Zhilin heads-up for the title and the lion's share of the bounty prize pool.

"When we went into heads up, he had a huge lead because he knocked out the third-place person and I had lost a lot of blinds trying to knock him out. Still though, I think I had 40 big blinds to his 100. I wasn't confident I would win but I knew I have the potential to win...I knew I COULD win."

Mary managed to claw her way up until the stacks were eventually level. She offered her opponent an even chop of the bounties, but he declined and the two continued their one-on-one battle, which soon went Mary's way.

"How did it feel when I won? It is beyond words! My heart was racing so fast and I yelled out ‘I did it'. My husband had his headphones on and didn't hear me so I texted him a picture of the final screen and he came running."

"We were both so excited. I gave him a big hug and said, ‘I finally managed to realise that equity I keep saying I have every weekend.' I was excited, I felt proud and validated. I've been working hard on my game and it is paying off. I know I have so much more to learn, but days like this make it super easy to keep going."

Mary wins MILLIONS Online Seat and PP LIVE Passport

A total of €52,902 landed into Mary's partypoker account. Take off €100 of that for the deal Mary has with her husband, but where is the rest going?

"It may sound boring but almost all of it is going to bills. That will provide me with incredible relief and pleasure. I will keep some of it in my bankroll and treat myself to a few bigger buy-ins to take shots but then I will return to my regular limits. Christmas will be a little more special for our kids and we will pull out a bit of the money to share with extended family as well. This has been a tough year for a lot of our family and it will feel good to be able to bless others."

Mary is hopeful of continued success in 2021. She has already secured a $5,300 seat in the MILLIONS Online event and has a PP LIVE Passport waiting in the wings.

"Mostly, I just want to keep learning and enjoying the game and occasionally ship a big enough prize to pay bills and help others."

You will definitely see more of Mary at the partypoker tables as it is her primary site for grinding.

"I love the changes that partypoker has made. Their software has improved a lot and their games are well-structured and run at decent times. The Daily Legends games offer good prizes in my buy-in range and I LOVE the satellites they run into the bigger games. I wish evening games like the $109 and $215 Bounty Hunters had satellites into them!"

Work hard, jump into some satellites and anything can happen. Mary is living proof anyone can win big at partypoker, perhaps it will be your turn next?

Source:
https://www.partypoker.com/blog/en/e52k-score-is-just-what-the-doctor-ordered-for-mary-pudmoreff.html