"Maratik" Became Flesh and Blood

"maratik" is the Russian microstakes grinder that took down the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event last week.

It's a true Cinderella story. Maratik turned 40 Frequent Player Points (FPPs) into more than $1 million.

PokerStars spoke with Marat Sharafutdinov, the man behind the name "maratik" moniker. Sharafutdinov made it through 1,825 runners to win the $5,200 WCOOP Main Event.

"I noticed that with enough luck you can qualify for just a small amount of FPPs so I began to play them often," he told the PokerStars Blog. "It was the same way I won a couple of seats in the $215 Sunday Million and in one of the nightly $150 tourneys."

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