Sun, 03/20/2011 – 19:14 – PokerPages Staff

An 18 year-old Portuguese online poker player who spun an initial $30 deposit to $2 million grinding cash games has spoken about his rise to the top of the game.

Jose Macedo began playing poker several years ago after being inspired by the exploits of Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan.

“A friend of mine had been playing poker for play money and he told me a story about this guy named durrrr.”

“How he had started with nothing and using his wits and hard work, created a fortune mastering the game. I was captivated.”

The teenager then went to his local bookstore to buy every poker book he could find to learn and analyze the varying strategies involved.

Macedo began playing on the Betfair website where he dominated the $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold’em tables.

He had soon amassed a bankroll of $2,500 and decided to take a shot at the $100 NLE tables.

The talented mathematician admitted he had to make significant changes to his game to progress even further.

“I noticed that the best players were playing a looser style than me. Slowly I began to open up my game and that got me to think more deeply about hands.”

Macedo then sought the advice of Dan ‘jungleman12′ Cates as he prepared for an assault on the $50/$100 Heads-Up tables.

He has remained at the nosebleed stakes since that transition and has now won over $2 million during his fledgling poker career.