There is a contest called "Poker Showdown" which is arranged by Bwin. Ten players get 100 dollars to play with, and the one who makes most of it (in limited period of time) wins. "Poker Showdown II" is now over. Already earlier we called one player who was chosen out of 1600 applicants. (Check: PSD-Six interview (part 1) ) As promised, here is his interview part 2. Finally.
PokerInABC: Hi PSD-Six! You have been rather difficult man to catch up, where have you been?
PSD-SIX: I slept a lot after the Poker Showdown was over. During it I played something like 20 hours a day, so I was exhausted. Then came Christmas and all that.
PokerInABC: You didn't win? What happened?
PSD-SIX: I just couldn't win any tournaments in the last days. One victory would have made all the difference, even on the final hour. The last days my bankroll was very low, somewhere in between 3-20 dollars all the time. It was extremely difficult to play with it, basically every tournament was super important to me. I didn't die, but I wasn't able to get it up either. Well, my connection was on and off all the time, three times per hour, so that didn't help me either. Probably many got pissed off, because it announced continuously that PSD-SIX LOGGED IN, when I got that connection back. I lost way too many hands because of that problem. On the last hour of the last day I put all my bankroll into one tournament. If I would have made into top three in it, I would have won the whole Poker Showdown. But it didn't happen. Couldn't get any cards, and at the same time other players got everything. So I just kept waiting my moment, but it never came.
PokerInABC: It was that close? I thought you were broke days before the end?
PSD-SIX: That was strange. Their statics kept saying I have zero dollars left. For some reason their system didn't see my bankroll and announced it to have zero dollars. Players there were puzzled how come I play there like 24/7 and have zero dollars on my account, haha!
PokerInABC: What were the biggest mistakes you made?
PSD-SIX: There was quite a few of those. But probably the biggest mistake was, when I had to play $1-$3 tournaments, that I was thinking and watching the players too much. That's was a huge mistake. You simply can't do that. You should look only at your cards and the cards on the table. Nothing else matters.
PokerInABC: What do you mean precisely?
PSD-SIX: For example I have AQ suited. I bet over 10 times the BB. Player who I have marked as a donk calls. So does two others, naturally, because it was only 10 times the BB you'll see. Flop was QJ and something. I made pot-size bet. Other two folds but this donk calls. I knew I had him, since if he would have had any kind of good hand, he would have gone all in right there. That's how he played. Then the turn is 4. I'll bet and he goes all in right away. And I am like WTF is going on here?! Since I also knew that if he would had have 44, or any pair, he would have gone all in already preflop. So there I am. Thinking too much, like "he must have A4 and thinks I have AK, so now he thinks he is winning with pair against my A high." Bad mistake! I should have asked myself "do I have the best hand here, or is there any better ones?", and it would have been easy fold. And that's what I mean, look at your cards and the board only. Keep it simple, stupid.
PokerInABC: So what happened there? What he had?
PSD-SIX: I called and he had J4. "What the fuck?!" Like... I bet 10 times the BB and he calls with J4. I usually didn't comment anyone's playing, but from him I had to ask what he was thinking of. The answer was "if I have two pair I go all in." Right. LOL! I kind of meant the call before the flop, but whatever. Then I checked his stats and his ROI was -40 and he had done quite many hundreds minus by playing $1 and $2 tourneys only. That explained more than he could had ever done himself. There were thousands of stories alike. One player called my massive bet on 233 flop with JK and got that J immediately on turn against my TT. Expect everything on those micro tournaments, because they will have it, believe it or not. And they don't fold! So don't bluff. Ever. One player called with 62 against my QQ. His ROI is -48%, but sure he got lucky against me.
PokerInABC: How was it in general to play those micro stakes tournaments for you?
PSD-SIX: I would say to everyone right here and right now, stay away from those! They don't have anything to do with poker. It is just bingo and gambling and... well something, but not so much poker. Already 5 dollar tournaments were different, they were like real poker, so if anyway possible skip the 1 and 2 dollar tournaments and go straight to 5 dollar and higher tournaments. I don't think you even learn to play on those micro ones. I mean, if you'll succeed there playing that bingo, you probably won't succeed on the real tournaments. At least you won't, if you won't change your style.
PokerInABC: Is there anything that you would have done other way?
PSD-SIX: Sure there is! I broke some of my golden rules. With those rules I have made my winnings, but for some strange reason I didn't follow all of them. Playing too many games and hours, for example. And some other rules considering the playing itself and some tactics, but I won't tell those.
PokerInABC: Did you learn anything from this experience?
PSD-SIX: Absolutely! I never knew how competitive person I am. Seriously. I really gave my all and tried to win. I didn't give up at any point. I kept playing those micro tourneys and trying hard to get back up. And I also learned to respect my own bankroll. It felt so good to get that bankroll up from 3 dollars to 20 dollars. I was like "woah, that's a lot of money! Now I can relax a little bit." I learned to respect to have more than just 10 dollars on bankroll.
PokerInABC: What next? Will you go back to PokerStars or Bwin?
PSD-SIX: Honestly I don't know. I am kind of tired with PokerStars at the moment. Too many players in every tournament, which means too many hours playing. But is it Bwin or some other place where I will go to play? I don't know.
RPM Poker might be one possibility too. What I have been scouting they seem to have some good tournaments. Just a right amount of players and ok guaranteed tournaments, considering the buy ins and amount of players. Looks promising, but haven't tested those yet. On the other hand, I had have some good conversations with Bwin representative, they are really nice, which I like, and it is great place to play... so let's see where I'll end up.
PokerInABC: About Bwin and Poker Showdown, would you do it again?
PSD-SIX: With these terms they had with Poker Showdown 2, I wouldn't. They were bad for players and for poker itself. There should be bigger starting bankroll, so that you wouldn't need to go in to those micro stakes, if you'll get unlucky. Real poker and skills instead of bingo, thank you. There should be also longer time to play, two weeks just isn't enough. Too much luck involved in such a short period. Also that "winner takes all" rule was idiotic. Not good for poker itself to show that one dude won something small and all the rest ended up with zero. Not very tempting scenario to people who are thinking about starting to play poker.
PokerInABC: The best and the worst things about this Poker Showdown?
PSD-SIX: For me the best thing was the support of many players I received there. Players who were following this contest were saying there that I should win and I am the one who really knows how to play and so on. And they were not saying it to me directly, but I saw it on their chat! Naturally chatting and socializing was fun too. I tried to be there as much as I could, telling the players what this PSD-thing was all about, who I was and all of that. It even got to the point that some of them asked me some personal advice regarding how to be better poker player, how to win more and that kind of stuff, and it was a pleasure to give some advices and help them out. The worst things? Well... the incredible bad luck, long hours and the feeling that Bwin could have got much more out of this than what they did. Few of us players gave 100%, but they really didn't. I mean, if you put any money to any promotion, why won't you take full advantage of it? It would have been much more interesting to do it many ways differently. But we all can improve. In every level and in every areas.
PokerInABC: Thank you for this interview again. Any last words?
PSD-SIX: Last words!? Damn no I am not dying here! Haha! So I won't say any last words to you this time. You know... "I'll be back!"
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