[ITW] Ara dignified40, Expresso Million winner: ‘Tell me it’s a joke!’ – News

From 0 to €800,000, just two hours after registering on Winamax: Romain, aka Ara digne40, tells us the behind-the-scenes story of those few minutes that changed his life.

As he was about to go to bed, a 27-year-old from Nîmes, a tattoo artist in civilian life, won €800,000 on Winamax in a few minutes, on an Expresso Million table. And this only two hours after opening his account. An unusual story that Romain, aka Ara digne40, tells us, two weeks after the one time of his life.

It’s 1:30 in the morning on Friday, June 7th… You start a €25 Nitro Expresso, and you see your table adorned with gold. What do you feel at that moment?

When I saw the million euro jackpot appear, the first thing I said to myself was ‘Tell me this is a joke’. Honestly, it must have taken me a good five minutes to realize that what was happening wasn’t just a dream. To ensure this, I first checked that I was playing for real money. You will certainly think I am crazy, but I then took around fifty screenshots to have proof that it was real and not in Play Money.

Once you have recovered from your emotions, do you opt for a particular strategy?

Recovered from my emotions, that’s a big word. Even if I’m not the type to stress when I play poker, with such amounts at stake, I’m not going to say that it was easy to keep calm. However, it didn’t necessarily impact my way of playing. I’m an instinctive player. The kind of player who does what he wants at the moment. I didn’t really have time to think about any strategy, especially since I hadn’t planned to play in the first place. And if I didn’t necessarily deliver a game worthy of a top reg from Winamax, which I am not, I knew how to do well to dominate opponents who were certainly taken by the stakes.

“If I hadn’t gone to my friend’s house that night, I might never have created my account.”

You said you didn’t plan on playing that night. But then what made you do it?

Basically, I went to a friend’s house who offered to cut my hair. He was playing Expresso on Winamax. I watched him play and told him that if he lost his game, I would reimburse him for it. A simple bet between friends. Not being able to repay it straight away, I went home to my mobile home, and decided to create an account. I deposited €50, launched a few Expressos at €5 and €10. I went up, then came back down, before saying to myself: ‘come on, I’ll do one last one for €25 and I’ll stop after this one’. Well, then what happened happened [rires].

This famous hand #4 sparked quite a few reactions. Could you explain your thinking process on this one?

The famous one! I’m not about to forget that one. At the start, I observe what my two opponents are doing. Then comes this fourth hand where I find myself with KJ offsuit, my best hand of this early game. On a limp from the button, I decide to isolate him. At this point, my strategy is quite clear: I will go to the end of this hand, even if I don’t hit anything. That’s what happened. On the turn, if I was a little scared when I sent my last three blinds to the middle of the table, I was quickly relieved when my opponent clicked on the fold button. After reviewing the hand, I still have trouble understanding how my opponent could have folded. But I’m not the type to judge the way my opponents play, so maybe that’s what had to be done, I don’t know. The fact is that I won that hand and it gave me the lead in this game.

At that point, your stack was twice that of your opponents, how did you handle that?

I haven’t changed my way of playing yet. But, when I saw that my opponents were not necessarily the type to throw big bags, I naturally started to play more aggressively. Sometimes even too much. There is this hand #7 where I don’t understand what my opponent is doing post flop. I am convinced that he has nothing. I decide to pay with my height ten and my backdoors. I suspect that I will never have to pay, but I don’t know, I had a feeling at that moment. Once I won, I continued to put pressure on the last remaining player and ended up winning like a dream.

“Just talking about it with you brings tears to my eyes…”

What was your reaction right after you won?

The second I see the little box appear telling me that I have just won €800,000, I see everything change. I am in an indescribable state, I want to cry, I see so many things going through my head. Once I have calmed down, I decide to call my best friend to ask him to come and help me out with a cigarette. Without asking any questions, he joins me in my mobile home. I show him the screenshot, and I can tell you that he couldn’t believe his eyes either. But the funniest thing about this story is that since I hadn’t yet validated my account, I couldn’t believe that this money was actually going to end up in my bank account. It was only the next day, when I saw that Winamax had validated my account and was processing my withdrawal request, that I began to realize. Two days later, I see on my account that the money has been transferred, and there, I can assure you that I felt something I had never felt before. Just talking about it with you brings tears to my eyes. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Will this winnings of €800,000 change some of your life plans?

Yes and no. You should know that I was very short of money during my childhood. But, being a fairly down-to-earth person, I will continue to work. Especially since I am lucky enough to have a job that I really enjoy. I am a tattoo artist and passionate about this world, so even if I don’t earn thousands, I will continue to do what I enjoy. The most important thing for me now is to know that I will be able to have my own roof and very different living conditions. And maybe, who knows, Winamax will allow me to have a family life, something I have always deprived myself of having, due to lack of means. I also aim to invest in real estate. Buy an apartment, rent it out, and maybe even start my own business so that I can work with my friends.

And in terms of poker, will this change your habits?

On this level, I don’t have any particular goal. I’ve always liked this game, but, at the moment, I’m aware that I don’t have the level to go and play the most expensive tournaments in the room. Especially since I’ve just started playing again. Being someone who is quite patient thanks to the work I’m doing, I plan to gradually start playing tournaments again. In fact, I qualified for the first Small Final of the Super Freeroll, so you never know! [Spoiler alert : Romain a terminé 3659ᵉ, mais il reste encore 9 petites finales au programme !]. Concerning Expresso, I of course intend to continue to make a little of it. With what I experienced a few weeks ago and all the adrenaline that this format gives, I’m not going to stop there!

The final word ?

Just one? Thanks Winamax.

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