Hi Tomas, could you introduce yourself to us - where are you from, how old are you and what do you do for a living.

Hi everyone, my name is Tomas Telek, I'm 30 years old, I'm from Filakov and I'm a poker pro.

How long have you been playing poker?

I was introduced to poker when I was 15 and for the first couple of years I saw it as something you just play with your friends on the weekends. I was always losing, whether it was in a game of pennies against my mates or online for play money. Well, since I hate losing, I started studying the game in more detail, and soon I found that I loved it. I've been playing poker full time since I graduated from college.

What different formats have you been through and what are you currently playing?

I played tournaments for the first couple of years, then I switched to cash games. So my competitive advantage is that I have an overview of both worlds. I've played exclusively online my entire career. I currently play cash games, up to NL1000, but I'm also very happy to turn on tournaments during the bigger series.

There was only one entry with your name shining on HendonMob, and that was in October this year in Malta - did you qualify there as well?

No, Malta was part of my "pre-match preparation". As you well know I am a newcomer to the live tournament scene. Luckily I qualified for the Bahamas back in late September on one of the first online days, so I had 2 months to gain some experience, watch some live tells, get used to the atmosphere, etc. I've been to Banco a couple of times to play, and then a friend asked me to join them on a trip to Malta. They were a bunch of experienced live players who I had a lot to learn from - it was the perfect opportunity for me!

The WSOP Paradise Super Main Event produced the biggest guarantee in poker history at a buy-in of $25k - how did it feel to qualify for such an event? How was your Day 1 journey online? All the online days were packed with some of the best players, what was it like battling it out in such a competitive field?

I was proud of myself and it was a great motivation for me as I don't normally book a tournament like this. The buy-in was definitely out of my comfort zone, everything else I'm more or less used to. I played almost all of Day 1 online deepstacked, where I feel very comfortable. I normally meet very strong players at cash game tables, so I had some idea of how I should play. And I also had the advantage of nobody knowing me. I knew that they would consider me a money-centered player, and they would play more aggressively against me, bluff more, and throw more on my bluffs.

These feelings were confirmed several times during the tournament, and once I surprised Michael Addam because of it, which cost him a nice amount of chips. Before the tournament, I was a little worried that the money would have a negative effect on my game. But in the end I managed to play very focused, and I stuck to my plan nicely from start to finish. In the first half of the tournament, I got short with 12 blinds, and there I managed to win 3-way all-in with a bit of luck. After that everything went well, I was even chipleader for a while.

As far as I know, you also qualified for this day, and supposedly for free? How did all this happen?

The whole story of how I got to the Bahamas was unbelievable, because I wasn't planning on going there at all! I was at a wedding on Saturday, and the next day I found a $2500 satellite ticket in my GG account. As far as I know, no arcade gives out $2500 tickets just like that, and the other thing is that I never play when I'm drunk, at weddings and such. I honestly didn't understand what was going on. GG texted me that it was some sort of all-in flip-out draw during the WSOP Online.

I wanted to sell the ticket afterwards, nobody wanted it, so I had to use it. Two hours into the satellite, my coach suddenly showed up at my table, having told me the day before that he didn't want to play it. We both advanced there and I texted GG to see if they would give me $25k if I couldn't travel to the Bahamas. There was still a chance that I would get nothing out of the $25k because only the first 15% would make it to the ITM in the Bahamas. No answer came from them and so I "had" to play day 1 online... then the next day I found an email from GG in my spam folder saying they would give me the 25k if I couldn't travel. Unfortunately or thankfully too late :D

How was the trip to the Bahamas? Did you go with any poker buddies or did you take someone from your family with you? How did you feel about the country, the hotel and overall?

I flew with a poker buddy and then we met some other Hungarian players in the Bahamas, which made for a great group. Experiencing the Bahamas just before Christmas was an experience that is hard to describe in words for me, an ordinary Slovak. The only thing I didn't like about the island was its over-sweetened and high-calorie American cuisine. But one could find tastier and high quality alternatives on the island.

What did you play there outside of the Super Main Event?

I originally had tickets for 2 weeks, but ended up only being able to go for less than a week. So I decided I'd rather enjoy the Bahamas. It was just the high roller events that were the only time I spent there. So apart from Maine, I ended up only playing the 1M GTD Invitational.

You made a valuable dent in the tournament when you knocked David Peters ( K s T h vs A c 8 c )out of the game ...who else from the world's top names have you had the opportunity to play?

I've been reseeded as many as 6 or 7 times, so I've had a few familiar faces. I also knocked out John Juanda with KK against 99... I mean, he didn't officially get eliminated, he was left with 2 blinds and he busted right after that. I threw in a bit of a chat with him over the break as well, I have to say he's a very nice guy. Besides that, I've played with Justin Bonomo, Chris Hunichen, Chris Moneymaker, Nick Petrangelo or Alexandra Botez.

Your journey through the tournament ended on Day 3 in 121st place for $67,300 after losing a flip with ATs against a pair of 88s at the hands of late winner Yinan Zhou. What a feeling you had at the time, and you assumed that this particular youngster could win it all.

I'll tell you what kind of debate was going on between us. Yinan: "How well you're doing. You stole the blinds 2 times in a row and doubled your stack without a showdown." Me: "Thank you, but it's still only 10 blinds. Next hand I might as well be all-in again, and lose it all". I didn't even have time to finish, I already had ATs on my hand, so you already know the end of the story :D Nobody could have expected that a tournament full of poker stars would be won by an unknown young player. In retrospect, though, it makes me feel good that he won it too.

Best experience in the Bahamas?

Meeting the best I've ever seen on a daily basis, who I've only ever seen on screens.

What are you going to do with the winnings?

The sensible way is that I will invest the money and spend some of it on experiences, and on people I love. The path of ego would be that I will buy useless, and expensive things just to impress people.

What are your next poker and life plans and goals?

As far as poker is concerned, the plan is clear: I'm going to pick up where I left off. Next stop is NL2k, which I'm pretty close to finishing as well. My ultimate goal is to get to a level where I can play whatever I feel like playing. This of course assumes reasonable game selection, so I don't mean any HS cash game regwars here, and I don't mean MTT SHRs either.

I've been playing for some time now with the idea that I'd love to experience Asia or Latin America. It is to Asia that my poker buddies and I are headed for 3 months. I'm expecting it to give me a lot in terms of poker growth because I'm going there with very strong players.

Are you going to focus more on online qualifiers for live events or are you going to stay in your comfort zone and play online cash games where you're like a fish in water?

Honestly, I really enjoyed playing live, I think that's exactly what I needed in my life! New challenges, a feeling of uncertainty, in short something that pushes me out of my comfort zone. And the fact that I get to travel, and spend time in places that take my breath away, is just icing on the cake. Anyway, ever since GG abolished private cash games, High Stakes action globally has been pretty weak online. Which is to say, if I want to get into the HS world, I have to be open to new opportunities. So online cash games remain the priority for now, while I'll also turn on online MTTs once in a while, and even live tournaments now.

Thank you for the interview, Tomas, and I hope we'll have more opportunities to write about your successes in 2025!