BBZ student turns $5 into $23K: “Thank you BBZ Poker. Couldn’t have done this without you”

It’s always exciting to see a BBZ Poker student post a big five-figure score in the Brags section of our Discord, particularly when the player generally plays low-stakes tournaments.

So when Arno, a 48-year-old recreational poker player from Tallinn, Estonia dropped this doozy in the Discord, we had to find out more.

Arno began playing poker for play money before moving on to $1-$3 games. “Sometimes I won, sometimes I lost. But after a while, I started to think about how I could play so I would actually win.”

He began reading some articles and looked around online for free classes. He found one he felt was very good for beginners with zero knowledge, but after a while, he outgrew it.

Then six months ago, he found BBZ Poker.

“BBZ is more for intermediate learners,” he says. “I started attending the Daily Seminars, which come with access to all MTT charts. That really helped me improve a lot as the charts are a huge help.”

Arno also purchased the River Simplification Bundle. “It’s complicated stuff but once you get to know it, it helps a lot with your difficult decisions.”

Since he began studying with BBZ Poker, he has now moved up to playing MTTs with buy-ins up to $10, enjoying a few four-figure scores. One of the tournaments he plays regularly? The $5 buy-in Mini Global Millions on GGPoker, an event that comes with $300K guaranteed.

This particular edition had more than 86,000 entries.

“When you’re in a big field tournament, you need luck as well,” he says. “I’m sure that many players, better players than me, dropped out in the early stages. I didn’t make any illusions about winning, I just enjoyed the game and did my best.”

As you can see from his chip graph below, it wasn’t a smooth ride. (Arno’s stack is the red one).

But overall, it went well. Really well.

He found himself on the final table.

“To reach the final table is always very exciting,” he says. “But this one was really nerve-wracking. There were big money jumps and my hands were shaking but I did my best to reach the top.

“During the game, I tried hard not to focus on the money. I just focused on my play.”

He remembered things he’d learned from the Daily Seminars.

“BBZ Poker really helps give you the right mindset on how to study, and how much there is to study,” he says. “The teachers are so professional and how they teach is so inspiring. Sometimes I feel sad that I have other things to do in my life, I’d rather study poker!”

Well, the studying he WAS able to do really paid off.

He ended up finishing second out of 86,299 players, turning his $5 into $23,517.

“I drank a few glasses of wine with my wife to celebrate,” he says. “I only play poker as a hobby and I’ll probably stay a recreational player for a while.

“But I’ll definitely invest some of the winnings back into my poker studies.”