“I want to leave online poker with such a big difference that that legacy will last forever.”
– Juan “Malaka” Pardo
Juan Pardo Domínguez recently gave an interview in Spanish to La Comunidad (The Community). Since Juan is one of the world's strongest MTT players, we couldn't miss translating it to English for readers. You can find the original article on the La Comunidad website.
— Where are you at the moment? After the PokerStars Open Malaga series, I imagine you're experiencing some special days away from the tables.
How is Malaka doing right now?
What a joy that series was! After many years of suffering, it was an immense joy for all of Malaga and for me. Now it's time to enjoy it.
I'm taking a bit of a chill approach to grinding right now, as I'm only playing on Sundays, and everything else is quieter.
But I'm still studying every day I'm in Andorra, eating well, training hard… doing all that invisible work to finish the year in good shape at the tables.
— You've won a lot online and live, but you're still competing at the highest level. What keeps you going today?
I'm driven by being true to myself, and that translates into feeling like I'm improving every day in different aspects of my life. That's where I find happiness.
Poker makes me very methodical in all areas and always makes me investigate how I can bring out a better version of myself.
I still have so much to build and I feel like my career is just beginning.
— When you look back on your career, at what point did you feel that you were elite and more than just "very good"?
I would say I started to get that feeling between 2017 and 2018, when I moved to Cardiff and started competing in my first live High Rollers.
Seeing myself compete head-to-head with the best, and later, in 2019, the era of daily $25,000 online tournaments for several months. I was the top winner of the year, and that gave me the confidence that I was on that level.
A Bit of Historical Context About Juan Pardo
In the fall of 2019, $25k tournaments started on the GGNetwork every hour for a while, and then every half hour.
All the well-known players played in these tournaments, but the identities of many participants remained a mystery.
The most successful players were ImLividBuddy (rumor has it that this nickname belongs to Michael Addamo, but Daniel Dvoress was also suspected by 2+2 players) and the unknown high roller Picasso16. All indications are that this is indeed Juan Pardo.
Another high roller's chart. Rumor has it that Sergi Reixach played under this nickname:
Top GGNetwork Players' Results for 2019:
Some of the well-known players:
- Stevie444 – Stephen Chidwick
- RockyMarciano – Jason Koon
- PyramidofSkulls – Jake Schindler
- UknowWhoIam – Fabrizio Gonzalez
- LaurisL91 – Laurynas Levinskas
- ChavoGuerrero – Ike Haxton
- WhiteSnow – Vyacheslav Buldygin
- beijingpro – Wai Kin Yong
Not everyone had a successful outcome in those tournaments. For example, Viktor Malinovsky lost half his bankroll in them:
"Poker isn't for everyone and can be a real nightmare. You have to be prepared to endure pain. I was in a lot of pain when I lost $3 million in $25k turbo tournaments on GG—that was about half my bankroll. The only time I've suffered more is after a knee injury, but this felt close. In poker, you have to be a bit of a masochist and even enjoy losing. Without that, it's going to be very tough at the high stakes."
Players were actively rebuying, with Ivan "Ilsy168" Liao being particularly zealous.
It is believed that he was the main driving force behind these tournaments.
On our Russian forum Artur Martirosyan openly shared his opinions on his opponents and even then considered Juan Pardo among the best:
"In my opinion, a lot of high rollers have gotten too greedy, especially those who've gotten too carried away, like Bonomo, and have started playing a little too crazy. Of those who are playing hard right now, I like the way Matthias Eibinger, Mikita Badziakouski, and Malaka play—no one else comes to mind right now."
— There's a lot of talk about you as one of the greatest online players in history.
Do you really aim to be the all-time leader in online tournament wins?
Today I believe I already am, although not by a very large margin compared to other players.
I want the day I quit using the mouse to be so big that I can leave that legacy forever.
— From the outside, we see awards, headlines, and rankings.
What part of a top player's life do you think people don't see?
I would highlight two things.
First and foremost, there's all the sacrifice the people around you make so you can compete at the highest level, giving up very important parts of their own lives. In my case, I have enormous support from my wife, Irene, who has always been there for me through thick and thin, leaving everything behind to follow me wherever we had to go.
And then there's the consistency and level of discipline required every single day to stay there. To not give up when things don't go our way, to prevent doubts—which arise for everyone, regardless of our previous achievements—from lingering, and ultimately, to take care of our mental and emotional health every day so we're always ready for the challenge.
Staying at the top for five years is great. For me, doing it for fifteen or twenty years is excellence, and that's what I want.
— Poker has changed a lot with solvers.
Do you think they've made the game harder, fairer, or less creative?
I would say it has made it fairer and more meritocratic.
Talent isn't as important as it used to be. Creativity, I'd say, has even increased. High-level GTO gameplay is truly very creative and multifaceted.
It's difficult for those who don't put in the effort, but it's actually easier for those who are willing to pay the price of constant effort.
— In the poker community, the idea of poker as a mind sport is strongly advocated.
As someone who competes at the highest level, do you feel that way?
It's absolutely a mind sport.
I can't imagine it any other way.
— What role do factors like physical condition, rest, emotional management, and personal life play in performing as an elite player?
They are key.
Everything has to fit together, and even more so as the years go by.
When life outside the tables clicks, that's when you're able to give your best, find the right answer in moments of tension, and be precise.
— What's a great Sunday of online series like for Juan Pardo?
What changes when you play WCOOP, SCOOP, WSOP Online, or GGMillion$?
It doesn't really change anything.
I have exactly the same routines: gym on an empty stomach, sauna, cold water, quality food and fifteen minutes of meditation before playing.
That's my perfect combo and the one I usually follow when I'm in a routine.
— Spain has a spectacular generation of players: Adrián Mateos, Vicente Delgado, Sergio Aido, Leo Margets, Lautaro Guerra… What do you think explains this high level?
Having emigrated was fundamental.
Moving into houses with other players and making it worthwhile to leave our families behind at a very early stage of our lives was, I think, the main factor.
Along with that, it was also very important that there was a quality school like EducaPoker. Later, very early success stories in the elite, like that of my friend Adrián, who greatly influenced the path and sent the message to other Spanish players that it was possible to reach the top.
— After everything you've achieved, what dream do you still have left to fulfill in poker?
I have many left.
As of today, I don't have any WSOP bracelets, any EPT Main Event titles, or any Triton titles.
Although 95% of my career volume has been online, I hope to add more live milestones over the next few years and also reflect everything I have inside in live poker.
That, along with staying in the online elite for many years, is what I want and hope to achieve over the next ten years.
