Are you a trophy hunter or money means more for you than the trophy?

I don't have that much trophy to be honest. I came second twice in the EPT Main Event, it was quite painful. I have two trophies from EPT side events. So yeah, it´s quite nice to win another one, but as a professional player I play for the money.

I saw that you are playing for more like 15 years, is it true?

I almost played for 16, I think. We just chatted with András at the final table because we started together. I know him for more than 15 years, since 2009. It was fun to play with him on the final table.

Did you enjoy this tournament?

Yeah, yeah, obviously. Actually, the first day I didn't enjoy that much because I busted twice. I couldn't re-enter so I came back to play day 1C and then I busted again. I went to the cashier to buy-in for the fourth time, but that bullet was the lucky one.

There were a lot of really, really great players in this tournament, was it tough one for you?

Yeah, obviously as you approach the final tables, you get more and more experienced players. At the beginning it was quite soft and good, but at the end of day two and during the whole day three, I had to play with very tough opponents. For example, we played three-handed with András and Dániel, they are both excellent players. Playing with them is always very tough, the edges are quite small.

When you went to the final table you were short stack, you got something like third smallest stack?

Yeah, I came like 7 out of 10. András had a massive chip lead. And then there was István second one and then like six guys were pretty close together.

Yeah, András had almost 40% of all chips before the Final Table, so what was your tactic? Was it something like, try to double up as soon as possible, or to wait for some shorts to bustout first?

No, actually, in final tables, you know, laddering, waiting for other opponents to bust is quite important as well because of the pay-jumps. If you just fold for a few orbits, like two or three guys can bust and you can win a couple of millions of forints. In this case one payjump at the beginning of the final table was like one million forints. So if all I do is fold, fold, fold, maybe one guy is going to bust. Two of them had quite tiny stacks. So I didn't risk that much. Obviously, I played some hands, but at the beginning of a final table, especially when you have a huge stack who's playing quite aggressively, as a medium stack you kind of have to wait for the good spots, the good cards. I was lucky because I was able to double up early and busted my opponent. I 3-bet queens on the button and he went allin with nines on the small blind, so I went up to like one million or so.

Do you think this one was the crucial hand or what was the key hand of the whole final table for you?

That was the big one because I went up from short stack to the second or third biggest stack. This was important, because with a 40-50bb stack I had more room to play against my opponents. Another key hand was, when I doubled up in a huge pot against András. I got really lucky on the river, he had a two pairs with Q s 7 h and we went all in on the turn 2 c A c Q d 7 d ​​​​​​​. I had A s ​​​​​​​T s ​​​​​​​ and the river was 2 d ,  that was a massive pot aswell which gave me the chip lead.

I see that you will have birthday in one week, yeah? Is it correct?

Yes! Actually, me and my son. He was born one year ago exactly on my birthday. So it's a nice gift for both of us.

That was also my next question. I saw that you got a child - is it hard for you to combine the life of the poker pro with the family life?

Yes, actually I had to switch between games. I was playing mostly MTTs and cash games. If you play MTTs, you kind of have to play nights. Long night sessions ending 2am, 3am, whatever. And it wasn't really compatible with my family's life. Especially when kids wake up at like 6am. So had to adapt and I ended up studying Spin and Go’s, which I can play before noon. That is the perfect schedule for me. I can wake up early with my family and usually finish my session by noon. Which leaves me time to play with my son and do some training afternoon and I don't have to grind long night sessions. Spin and Go is an awesome format, you can cancel a session whenever you need. I really enjoy it as a father now. You know when we were young or when I was younger I played lot of really long night sessions and I never slept before midnight but since my son was born at 10 pm I'm usually dead.

What was the biggest multiplier you hit on the spin and go?

I got max 50x, I think. But I've been playing them only for five - six months.

And what about live poker? I saw that you were playing in Las Vegas almost every year, but this year you weren't there, I assume because of the family.

Yeah, obviously, I can't afford to be away for like a month and Vegas is a long journey. I played a few EPT stops, they are great because it's close, I have to fly only few hours and then I play there for one week or so and I come back home. I still really enjoy playing live and I want to play 4-5 live events a year but for shorter periods. So I won't play in Vegas for almost two months because it's too long without my family and my wife obviously needs some help.

If you were to compare poker in Europe and in Vegas, do you think it was easier in Vegas?

I think every poker player dreamed about playing the WSOP in Vegas. There are bunch of casinos and tournaments every day with massive fields. And usually fields are softer & easier because online poker is banned in most of the states. But I really like the atmosphere of EPTs aswell.

Are you going to EPT Prague this year?

Yeah, I'm going next week, I plan to play most of the major tournaments there.

We will be there also doing live streams, so would be great to see you there! Two years ago we were here doing interviews with István because he won BPO, and then next week we met him, he was on the final table of the EPT Prague Main Event. So, now it's your turn!

I really hope, it would be great to win a second trophy this year and to break the curse of second places.

​​​​​​​

Okay, maybe last question. What is your poker dream that you still want to accomplish?

I don't know, maybe win a big EPT event, like a tough one – Main Event or some High Roller. I came close, really close two times in EPT Mains. So yeah, it would be great to break it and become the first Hungarian Main Event champion. We Hungarians lost like 6 or 7 heads-ups in EPT Main Events, I lost 2, my friend lost 1, we all finished second for some reason. So that would be great to be the first in history.

Hope it will happen in Prague! Good luck and congratulations one more time!

Yeah, let's hope, that would be really awesome. Thank you so much!