Mairo ‘Braveheart’ Toom in the spotlights of The Festival Series
We would like to introduce you one of our finest staff members of The Festival Series, Mairo Toom from Pärnu, Estonia. This all-round photographer, and twitch poker streamer, seems to be like an octopus when it comes to delivering excellence, time to put some pressure on him and ask him some questions.
The Interview, part I
TF: Hi Mairo! Finally, we are doing it! Interviewing one of our own employees to give everyone an insight of what you are doing for us. You have a great affinity with poker. How did it all start for you?
- Hi Melvin, it’s a pleasure. Although I am just 28 years old, I’ve played poker for 15 years already. Like all around the world, poker has been booming lately and it is no different in Estonia. It’s nice that new young players finding their way to the industry.
- I started off that young as I just love poker. It all started with playing Home Games with friends. I also played online here and there. My actual first live experience was during the Estonian Championships, being held once per year. I didn’t do too well back then and unfortunately didn’t cash, but I just loved the whole experience and above all, the poker community. It is the main reason why I am so hooked on this game, as the poker community is just amazing.
TF: Now, you are also hosting your own Twitch Channel, going by your alias ‘EstonianWeirdo’. How did that all come together?
- Mairo: I discovered Twitch in early 2020 while living in Australia. I enjoyed watching poker streams and I just fell in love with it. So, once I came back to Estonia in April 2020, there was another Estonian Championships coming up, this time held online, and I saw my chance to try out streaming.
- I like to stream because I can just be myself, not needed to pretend that I am anyone else. I consider myself both extravert and introvert. I like to keep it real and this you will also see back in my streams. I have a direct approach and you will for sure recognize this.
TF: Would you consider yourself a live- or an online poker player?
- Mairo: In terms of likability, I prefer obviously live poker because of the ambiance etc. I love the people who play poker and like to communicate during the games. I made so many friends at the poker tables. However, online poker that’s where the volume is at. I easily have up to 16 tables open. So yeah, in my mind I am a live player.
TF: What got you hooked to photography?
- Mairo: I sincerely had no connection with it at all at first sight, until the moment my parents sold their apartment and they divided some of that money by their children. With that money I did a bunch of irresponsible stuff of course, but at one point I was like: Hey, I want to buy a camera. Mainly because we just had one of these old cameras at home and I wanted to have a digital camera to just make random pictures. At one point I got told by someone who liked my pictures to open a Facebook page and I started to upload my pictures there. So now for about 10 years I am hooked with photography. My first gigs were mostly events and family stuff. I think that maybe my favorite genre is music festivals photography. Not exactly working as an official photographer during the festival, but capturing the emotions and angles of the music festival in a recreational manner.
- I also attended several weddings and still a couple of music festivals. But if you would compare 10 years with an average photographer, I didn’t do too many gigs in general.
- One day Martin ‘Franke’ von Zweigbergk called me and said he was liking my work that much that he would like to offer me a place in his Festival Team. Never had done any kind of poker pictures beforehand, but I loved the idea and decided to give it a shot. Ever since then I never looked back, actually really looking forward to our next stops in Nottingham and Malta!
Would you like to know more about Mairo Toom? Stay tuned, because in the upcoming week we will release part II...
If you want to follow all the work of Mairo Toom or you want to come say hello on his stream, make sure to have a look on his socials:
www.instagram.com/estonianweirdo
www.twitter.com/estonianweirdo
www.facebook.com/mairoToomPhotography
Would you like to be part of the Festival Series as well? Make sure you start to qualify yourself into the Main Event or even win one of the great full-package deals!
