- Over $315K in Career Tournament Earnings
- Won the 2010 Aussie Millions AU$1,500 No-Limit Hold ‘em Bounty Event
Jonathan Karamalikis plays online at Full Tilt Poker.
Jonathan’s first experience with poker was in play-money games with his friends in Adelaide, South Australia. He was instantly drawn to the game and played all the way through to the end of his first, and only, year in university. Once Jonathan realized that he could make a living playing poker, he ditched his Accounting and Property studies for life at the felt.
Jonathan built his bankroll through Freerolls as he learned his trade. “I eventually won $3,” he says. “It may have been the happiest moment of my life, after a year of grinding Freerolls and play money games. It took me a few months to work that $3 up to $3,000 on low-stakes Sit & Gos. From there, I raised the stakes and built it up to about $30K.” When Sit & Gos didn’t thrill him anymore, Jonathan started playing MTTs. In November 2007, he had his first big live cash in a local tournament – the Skycity Adelaide Championship Series Main Event – for almost AU$31K ($28K) and never looked back.
In January 2009, Jonathan took 2nd place in the Aussie Millions AU$1K No-Limit Hold ‘em event for over $85K. He followed that result up in January 2010 with his biggest score to date. He took top prize in the Aussie Millions AU$1,500 No-Limit Hold ‘em Bounty Event for over $113K, bringing his career tournament earnings to over $310K.
Preferring tournaments to ring games, Jonathan credits his predatory instinct for his success. “People are much more afraid when they are playing for their tournament life, deep into the tournament,” he says. “I believe I have a natural instinct that helps me to exploit that type of player.
“My favorite games are deep-stacked, 6-max No-Limit Hold ‘em tournaments. These games are run more by flow and meta game than the actual cards you’re dealt, and you must pay attention and adjust to people’s betting frequencies. You can also tilt people a lot easier by three-betting them constantly, until they’re close to putting in a large stack with very marginal hands.”
When he’s not working the tournament circuit or playing online, Jonathan goes to the gym four times a week and does Muay Thai training twice a week. His other passion, after poker, is NBA basketball, which he watches religiously.
Look for Jonathan at the tables at Full Tilt Poker.