"It was my first time in Las Vegas, it has been my lifelong dream"
In April 2024, Macedonian poker player Toni Zengovski, known online at KKPoker as 'ZENGA' won a Vegas Dream package and secured his place on the KK ELITE Team travelling to Las Vegas!
Well, fast forward 12 months, and ZENGA has done it again!
Toni will return to the KK ELITE Team for 2025, after winning another $12,000 Vegas Dream package via the Europe qualification path.
Last year, Toni not only got to experience Las Vegas for the first time, but made a deep run, cashing for $50,000 in the Main Event and playing against poker legend Phil Ivey.
Read on to hear Toni's thoughts on his return to Las Vegas for 2025!
"a great experience!"
Toni, congratulations on winning a KKPoker Vegas Dream package and place on the KK Elite team for a second year running. Describe how you feel about the opportunity?
"I am very excited about this opportunity, and I hope this time I will get even better results than last year!" said Toni.
"In 2024, it was my first time in Las Vegas, it had been my lifelong dream to play in those tournaments and it finally came true, so I was ecstatic!
"A lot of exciting things happened, one of them was playing on the Feature TV table during the Main Event and playing at the same table with the legendary Phil Ivey.
"Also, my trip was successful and I managed to come home with a solid profit. Overall, a great experience!"
Last year, you turned your Vegas Dream package into a $50,000 prize in the Main Event. How did the win feel at the time?
"While $50,000 is an awesome prize, in the moment I was pretty disappointed that I busted from the tournament. It’s a great sum and I was happy about it, but to be honest, I dream bigger.
"My plan for this year is to play the Main Event and hopefully to not have time to play side events...haha.
"But eventually, if I bust from the Main Event, I plan do to play a few side events."
You had several hand battles with Phil Ivey last year. Can you share your experience of playing with such a poker legend?
"The few hands I played and won against Phil Ivey were not very spectacular, they were small pot hands, but with it being my first time in Vegas at the Main Event and play against such a legend made me feel so amazing. Leading 3:0 in wins against Ivey is not a small thing. LoL"
"I WAS LEFT WITH 5BB..."
Walk us through one of the toughest hands or moments you faced during the tournament and how you navigated through it. How do you approach heads-up play?
"I came into the final table of the Satellite as a chip leader. However, in one moment, while we were 4-handed, I lost a 70bb pot whilst 85% favorite on the turn, and I was left with 5bb, with the other players sitting with 70-60-40bb stacks.
"At that moment, I felt like it was the end. But in poker, you can never give up and must continue to fight, and luckily, I succeeded in coming back and winning.
"During heads-up, I dominated my opponent because I was much more aggressive than them. They were pretty much passive, and all those hands where we both missed, I picked up the pots. So, slowly but surely, I was making up the difference between our stacks. This was crucial for the win."
How do you plan to prepare again for Vegas?
"Well, I am going to spend some time studying the game. Also, I will work out my physiological and physical shape because playing live poker for 20-30 days in a row will be tough."
STRELA POKER CLUB
Toni has long been a member of the Macedonia poker community and a prominent player within KKPoker. With Gevgelia accommodating three casinos and poker events that bring players from neighboring Greece and the Balkans, it is no wonder Macedonia poker players are claiming notable success, including 2024 Vegas Dream winner Ilija Savevski and 2024 March Millions champion Oliver Mihajlovski.
"Three years ago, Aleksandar Trajkovski and I created a club at KKPoker called ‘Strela’.
"This poker club helps the Macedonian community unite and improve. The progress of the community in the past three years has been amazing! Thanks to Strela and KKPoker.
"I am so glad and proud of that. Also, I must mention our friends and fellow Strela members Aleksandar Zuberovski and Ilija Savevski. They have greatly helped our community’s improvement with their Discord server M.P.R.O., where we study, discuss, and share things about poker.
"I will continue to recommend KKPoker to everyone for sure. It’s an excellent and fast platform with amazing looks, a lot of game variety, and colorful player types." added Toni.
"FIND OUT HOW TO EXPLOIT IT"
Poker has been Toni's profession for over 10 years, as a professional, tournament organizer and casino collaborator. With over $188,000 in live recorded poker tournament cashes and many online successes, what does Toni think are the key skills new poker players need?
"First of all, learn how to have a solid understanding of the game.
"Then, be focused, patient, and motivated to outplay your opponents. However, the most important part is to have the ability to recognize the unique image of each player and their playing style, then find out how to exploit it."
VEGAS DREAM CONTINUES
Become part of the KKPoker 2025 Elite Team traveling to Las Vegas and play in the world's biggest live poker Main Event in July.
1 lucky winner is guaranteed in our global Vegas Dream qualification path, and you can win a package for FREE!
DAILY Freerolls from 1 - 27 April to win a $10 satellite ticket. Play your way into the $200 buy-in DAY 1 and advance to DAY 2 on 27 April where at least 1 package will be awarded!
See the full event details here. Good luck!
