Mihai plays online at Full Tilt Poker.

Mihai Manole grew up in Targoviste, a small Romanian city 80km from Bucharest. After high school, Mihai moved to the nation’s capital to study Computers at the University Politehnica of Bucharest from where he graduated in 2009.

During his time living as a student in Bucharest, Mihai spent countless hours playing Counter-Strike (a first person shoot ‘em up) before he was introduced to poker by his roommate. He instantly fell in love with the game.

 Watching players such as Team Full Tilt’s Gus Hansen, Phil Ivey and Howard Lederer on TV inspired Mihai to take the game seriously. He began by playing Freerolls online whenever he could, which gave him both the confidence and bankroll to increase his stakes. A series of online wins convinced Mihai that he was ready to take the live tournament circuit.

Mihai’s first big win came in November 2007 at the Caribbean Poker Classic in St. Kitts. He battled his way through a field of 153, to finish 2nd and claim his first six–figure payday, taking home over $120K. The Romanian topped this result the following summer when taking down 5th spot in the $2,000 WSOP* No Limit Hold ‘em event for over $150K in prize money.

September 2009 saw Manole’s biggest win to date as he took down 4th spot in the EPT Barcelona Main Event and over $350,000. In all, Mihai has now passed $1 million in career tournament earnings which makes him the most successful Romanian poker player ever.

Away from the table, Mihai still lives in Bucharest and loves to take his friends on at tennis or soccer. To see him in action, look for ‘MihayM’ online at Full Tilt Poker.