Maridu Mayrinck

After graduating from university with a degree in Sociology, Rio de Janeiro-born poker pro Maridu Mayrinck built a career in the television industry, working as a scriptwriter on several comedy shows for the major Brazilian network Globo TV. She'd always been a fan of poker though, and so a switch to writing about the world's most popular game seemed like a logical career progression. Maridu set up her own blog, which became hugely popular with poker fans in her homeland. This lead to a spot on the PokerStars blogging team, where she got to cover major live events. Soon however, it was her playing the events and being blogged about.

Spending a lot of time watching the biggest names play live poker is the perfect way to learn the game. It's certainly proved to be profitable for Maridu, who had begun playing live and making regular cash finishes by 2007. The turning point in her pro career came in June when she made the final table of a $1,000 event at the Bellagio Cup III. The cash of $7,735 was hardly life-changing, but it showed that Maridu had the skills to make it in a major live tournament. She then played at the 2008 World Series of Poker* and cashed three times, including top 40 finishes in the $2,000 No Limit Hold’em and $1,000 No Limit Hold’em Ladies World Championship events. In total, her 2008 WSOP* cashes were worth over $20,000 - a respectable run for someone so new to live poker. In October 2009, she made the biggest cash of her career so far with a 43rd place finish at the London leg of the PokerStars European Poker Tour, good for $20,377. Maridu is also a regular player in the biggest Sit & Go tournaments online at PokerStars, where she has an impressive record of consistent cash finishes.

In her spare time, Maridu loves to travel, watch reality TV shows and keep an eye on the latest fashion. She has stated that she's proud to be a part of the team that she previously reported on, and is ready to make her mark on the global circuit. Maridu is a member of Team PokerStars Pro and plays online using the screen name ‘Maridu’.