Want to win a million dollars with online poker? You better be pretty good to achieve it. For cash games, you likely need to play at the highest levels, whereas in tournaments, you need to play a lot, be very good ánd have a ton of fortune to boot. If you want to do it in a single tournament, well, there's just a few chances to do so. One of them was the Sunday Million Anniversary Take 2 this past Sunday and Monday, and Dutchman "Daenarys T" was the one to accomplish it!

On Skype, Frank op de Woerd spoke with the 24-year old full-time poker player from Amsterdam. Although he prefers not to mention his real name publicly, he fully opened up about the biggest score of his poker career.

Online, "Daenarys T" was mostly a tournament player before focusing on PLO cash games. Lately, he decided to make the switch back to his former love. Sunday's latest session was his third or fourth sessions since rekindling his passion for tournament poker. Although he admitted, he's become lazier after moving to Amsterdam, playing mostly live instead of grinding online.

"I was truly stressed at the final three and two tables, as well as the final table. I almost fainted, man, I went totally crazy."

On the first day, the focus wasn't even on the Sunday Million for long and "Daenarys T" admitted he wasn't paying that much attention. "I had to play that final table and wasn't really attention to the Sunday Million. It went well; I had a large stack but can't remember much more aside from that. Nothing specific comes to mind. The reason was mostly because this past Sunday, I had my biggest ever online score up until that point, $19,000!" That amount is relatively nothing compared to the $1,000,044 he'd win a day later, but on Sunday the $109 Bounty Builder, where he'd eventually would finish in second place, had priority.

When the Sunday Million resumed on Monday, there was no stress at the start, even with just 735 out of 56,130 players remaining and $1,102 already locked up. That all changed once players started busting in rapid succession and "Daenarys T" was building his stack. "I was truly stressed at the final three and two tables, as well as the final table. I almost fainted, man, I went totally crazy!"

Playing for those amounts might be stressful, it didn't result in a scared-like approach. On the contrary: "I've kept on hammering because everyone was insane scared money. I played ridiculously aggressive throughout the entire day." Even though never playing for these amounts of money, "Daenarys T" wasn't scared money himself. "I was just playing my game and won a lot of all ins. I've lost quite a few as well, but I won every important one. That was nice."

The level of opposition didn't impress him much at the final three tables. "In my opinion, there weren't that many good players left. Everyone was just folding all the time. I simply clicked raise and everyone folded. I was playing ridiculously aggressive and it worked; everyone was extremely scared."

"Daenarys T" dwindled down to a shorter stack at the final two tables and had to adjust his game slightly. At the start of the final table, he was short as well, and tighter play became the norm. "It was a very surreal experience; every time someone got eliminated, I received a hundred thousand dollars more. That's pretty extreme. I don't know man, I thought it was pretty sick. It's the first time I made such a big final table, so it was exciting in that regard."

From the moment play got down to three-handed, "Daenarys T" could bring out his favored aggressive game again. Heads-up, he was facing Rick "ThEcLaiMEer" Trigg, a British regular. There was no deal, even though the difference between winning ($1,000,044) and second ($715,335) was substantial. This wasn't mainly because of PokerStars demanding at least $225,000 to be left to play for heads-up. This way, "only" $60,000 was left to deal. "That's a lot of money, but not that much relatively. And at the end, I simply thought 'this guy is truly bad, let's just play'."

"I just clicked raise the entire time and everyone folded."

The fact that, if he'd win, he could say he'd won a million dollars also counted as well. It turned out to be the right choice when looking at the results. "Heads-up I simply crushed that guy. He's a good tournament player; he was the only regular left at the final three tables, but heads-up isn't his speciality while I'm relatively strong there. I was also running really well, I was done with him in about fifteen minutes."

What happened next read like something out of a movie script. "Daenarys T" was overcome with joy, screaming with happiness as he ran through his house. Upon returning, he said goodbye to his railbirds at Skype and ended up in tears. Afterwards, he called his girlfriend and cried even more. His girlfriend insisted he'd only call her up if he'd finish fifth or better, making up for the lack of sleep. "I called her and woke her up, in shock, so happy!"

Fifteen minutes later, his roommates came home and he had some beers with them, then walked his dog which still needed to be done. That night he only slept one hour. The night after wasn't much better, with just two nights of sleep. The adrenaline was still raging throughout his body.

"It was a very surreal experience; every time someone got eliminated, I received a hundred thousand dollars more.

His avatar, a picture of Dutch cult hero Tim "FysioTim" Hendriks, brought extra attention. Hendriks himself tweeted a lot about it, and the story on his picture even appeared in the Dutch mainstream media. "I don't really know him, I just thought it was funny to have that picture", "Daenarys T". said, "It's just a funny picture.". Even though the avatar brought him good fortune, he's not planning on keeping it. "I'm going to change it again, he's received enough attention by now."

With one million dollar in his PokerStars account, and soon on his bank account, life has taken a sudden turn for the Dutchman. Being part of a backing deal, "Daenarys T" received 49% of first place prize money himself, still a massive amount. Where some people might consider their options first, "Daenarys T" made his first large purchase already: he's wearing a brand-new Rolex around his wrist. He's not really a connoisseur and wasn't able to tell which model it was on the top of his head. Or maybe it was because of the lack of sleep, because he's still stunned by the win. "I'm completely spent, man, I'm still in shock"

Next week, "Daenarys T" will fly with his girlfriend to Ibiza. Upon returning, the SCOOP awaits and after that, plans are still up in the air. He's considering playing on his own dime online, as opposed to having a backer. Live, there's less doubt in his mind: "Live, I'm definitely keeping a backing deal. I'm already playing €1k, €2k, €4k tournaments live, money can go really fast."

There are no specific live tournaments planned on his calendar just yet, but one tournament where he likely won't appear is the WSOP Main Event. With the Dutch government forcing a 29% tax on tournament winnings in the United States, playing the fabled event doesn't seem like the smartest investment to "Daenarys T". The tournaments that will be played is something the Dutchman will decide soon. Remember, if you meet someone with a brand-new Rolex at your table, chances are it's "Daenarys T"!

Sunday Million Anniversary Take 2

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