Michael Robionek Dares to Dream at PSPC and EPT Barcelona
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Last year, Michael Robionek dared to dream of a Platinum Pass to play in a live tournament that he could never fathom buying into. Primarily an online freeroll and small-stakes sit-n-go player in his free time, Robionek discovered some potential in himself during the week he played in the PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold'em Championship (PSPC) – and his life was forever changed.
The entire process was a lot of things for Robionek, who had to borrow money up front from a friend to make the trip to the Bahamas in January. That friend got a 1% sweat for the loan which worked out well for all.
"Some people say 'time is money,' but I think money's also time — I can do such trips for three days, four days now."
Flying in from Germany just before the start of the event, Robionek jumped right in and pressure built with each day he bagged chips. The entire week, sleep proved an elusive commodity for Robionek. It took all he had left on Day 4 to try to process everything around him having never had to make poker decisions with five-figure pay jumps on the line, let alone doing so while physically and mentally exhausted. But he did his best with what he had to work with in the moment.
"On the one hand, it was a big success. On the other hand, it's a bit unfortunate if you're playing for $5.1 million and don't know what's going on," Robionek told PokerNews during a break of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event.
In the EPT Main Event, Robionek was feeling much more rested without stress about rent money weighing on his mind, a nice contrast with his experience in the PSPC.
Life-Changing Experience
A total freeroll to $150,600 — the payout for 21st place — opened up a world of possibilities that did not exist beforehand to the German. But more than that — it sparked a level of self-confidence that had been but a distant memory as a result of a long run of bad luck in his work life.
Financial pressures subsided for the first time in his recent personal history and Robionek continued dreaming, armed with the most powerful weapon of all — belief in himself. For the first time in a long time, Robionek was confident he could accomplish anything he set out to.
"On the one hand, it was a big success. On the other hand, it's a bit unfortunate if you're playing for $5.1 million and don't know what's going on."
In life that meant continuing to pursue his passion for organizing recreational fútbol games in his hometown in rural Germany. In poker, Robionek kept right on with his strategy of soaking in knowledge and trying to qualify for bigger live events online.
He learned from his PSPC experience, not only in-game, but later by scrutinizing his own play over the course of those four days battling with some top players in the game.
In the meantime, he's also been gaining a bit of fame in his home country. As the German who went the furthest in the PSPC, a feat amplified by the fact he had freerolled his way in, Robionek was invited by PokerStars to be the face of a new "Dare to Dream" campaign for the PokerStars.de play-money site.
Less than a year ago he was grinding freerolls; now, he's appearing in TV commercials, becoming an inspirational German poker icon.
Round Two
As the WSOP Main Event played down to a final table in Las Vegas, Robionek dared to dream again, inspired by another recreational player taking his shot — eventual fourth-place finisher Garry Gates. Watching Gates' Cinderella story unfold on the daily streams, Robionek decided to register for a $55 satellite and try to win himself an EPT Barcelona Main Event and EPT National package.
He busted his first bullet, but kept dreaming. He rebought, accumulated some chips, and the bubble loomed with the prized packages going to the top nine.
As he waited for the next WSOP stream to sweat Gates in the Main, Robionek hung around the satellite with the shortest stack and finished in ninth place, receiving the same package as the eight players ahead of him when the qualifier came to a halt.
He was heading back — another opportunity, another trip, another chance to win life-changing money — this time for just a small investment. He watched Gates win $3 million and the dream, along with Robionek's belief in himself, were strengthened once more.
EPT Barcelona
Robionek had won travel money with the package and, of course, flying to Barcelona was an option — But flying can be boring. Besides, he had already treated himself to a used car with some of his PSPC winnings, so he decided to make a road trip out of it and cruise through France — alone with the road, the countryside and his thoughts. He used the time to prepare mentally for the upcoming tournaments.
"Some people say 'time is money,' but I think money's also time — I can do such trips for three days, four days now," Robionek said.
Money, freedom, experience and confidence weren’t the only things he won at the PSPC. The friendly and enigmatic German also forged lasting friendships. Robionek met up with some of these friends in Barcelona well before the event kicked off, sharing an apartment with three other German poker players including two fellow PSPC qualifiers in PokerStars Team Germany Pro Felix "xflixx" Schneiders and Nils Pudel. They enjoyed their time in lovely Barcelona and Robionek felt rested and refreshed when it came time to play poker.
"Now I live more for the moment and analyze afterwards."
He couldn’t get anything going in the €1,100 National but he saw every hand as a learning opportunity and enjoyed every moment. He changed hotels and moved to his complimentary room at the Hotel Arts before the Main Event kicked off, another perk of the online package. He played Day 1b and hovered around starting stack through the dinner break.
"I still enjoy every minute," Robionek said during a break in the action. "It's huge to play with people of such a high level, how they organize this event; I can really recommend this [stop] to other people."
Robionek went on to bag two-times the starting stack and was quite pleased to do so after getting off to a slow start. He returned to Day 2, once again rested, but it wasn’t meant to be this time. Robionek was eliminated before the money was reached on Wednesday, but he knows better than to measure the success of the experience in terms of financial gain.
He still lives in the same small flat for €300 a month and continues organizing fútbol events, but one thing in Robionek's life has drastically changed: "I sleep much better," he said with a smile.
While he'll likely continue to pursue opportunities to qualify into live poker events, Robionek has learned over these last months to take life as it comes and not make too many future plans.
"Now I live more for the moment and analyze afterwards. I want to focus every time on the issue that's now so the most important person in my life is in front of me every time — whoever I'm speaking to at the moment."
Though Robionek is out of the EPT Barcelona Main Event, the action continues at Casino Barcelona and you can follow the updatesright here at PokerNews.
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