Stoyan Madanzhiev won the biggest first place prize in online poker history worth $3,904,686 at the 2020 WSOP Main Event. We spoke with him about this life-changing cash. Check out our Stoyan Madanzhiev Interview below!
VIP-Grinders.com: First of all thank you very much for taking the time. Would you please introduce yourself for the people, who don’t know you yet?
Stoyan Madanzhiev: Thank you for the opportunity. My name is Stoyan Madanzhiev. I am 29 years old from Bulgaria and won the 2020 WSOP Main Event online.
VG: You won the biggest first prize in online poker history worth $3,904,686 at the WSOP 2020 Main Event. How did your life change since becoming a poker world champion?
SM: Since I won the WSOP Main Event, I am getting a lot more attention. In addition to that, I started moving up in stakes and to play a bit higher.
VG: What was the first thing you bought after your victory or are you planning on saving/investing the money for now instead?
SM: I haven’t bought anything big yet. Just a few bottles of champagne to celebrate. I am the kind of guy, who would rather invest the money or play higher stakes. Of course, I might buy some stuff such as a new motorbike, we will see.
VG: Your victory was a huge surprise for many poker experts considering that you only have $31,268 in live winnings. What did make you decide to play the WSOP Main Event given its large buy-in of $5,000, which probably represented a considerable chunk of your bankroll?
SM: I mostly play online, therefore most of my cashes are also online and this is the reason, why I was unknown to the general public until now.
So it is totally normal that I am a surprise winner for some poker experts, but I’ve been working constantly on my game for years and I was doing well online already before I won the main event. Losing $5,000 once wouldn’t really change my financial situation, that’s why I decided to take a shot.
VG: Were you staked or did you have 100% of your action?
SM: I sold a little bit of my action.
VG: You are the first Bulgarian to ever win the WSOP Main Event? Do you feel a lot of responsibility and pressure on you now?
SM: On the first day all the people I know and many others were trying to contact me, which made me feel a little pressure.
However, I don’t feel any responsibilities as I don’t represent anyone yet, but I will try to represent the game in a good and honest way.
VG: Bulgaria always had great tournament players. What do you think is the reason for that and can you please describe the Bulgarian poker scene?
SM: I think that the reason for that consists of several factors. There are successful Bulgarian poker players, who started travelling to live tournaments and scoring big pretty early, which motivated many others.
In addition to that, you can make a really good living from poker in Bulgaria, which is making it attractive for many people.
VG: You are one of four players coming from BetKings that has been able to win a WSOP bracelet. Tell us about your experience at this online poker site?
SM: Yes, I play at BetKings. Their staff is really helpful and they give very good support to their players. I am very happy with this online poker site.
VG: We saw on your Instagram that you are enjoying travelling, skiing and playing chess. What do you spend the majority of your time on, when you don’t play poker?
SM: I love playing games and sports. I like action and am always down for activities as I am trying to explore life fully.
A big part of my free time I spend on researching stuff on the internet and that is how I find new hobbies and interests.
VG: Do you play only tournaments or also cash games? What are your stakes and how does your daily or Sunday Grind schedule look like?
SM: Lately I play all kind of games. Spin & Gos are the format I’ve spent the most time studying. Then I also play many tournaments obviously, but mostly when there is an interesting online or live tournament series running.
When it comes to cash game, I enjoy playing Short Deck Poker and also sometimes PLO, but mainly live.
VG: What are your plans for the future and is there anything in life that you always wanted to do and haven’t done yet?
SM: I just stared to make plans now, but nothing certain don’t yet. I will probably still be active in poker in the near future, but also will think about other opportunities.
There are many things I would like to try in my life. Before the pandemic, I was about to go to India for some time to practice Yoga.
VG: Thank you very much for taking the time and all the best for your future!
SM: Thank you very much! Good luck to you and your community!
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