24 Jul 10

Diamond Interview Series: Kaitz20

The newest Diamond member to be interviewed comes from Estonia and is also one of our No Limit hand judges. We sat down and asked him about his poker career, what's it like to live in Estonia and more.

This week I got the chance to talk to a Diamond member from Estonia. Well, not really talk, since it's a known fact that nobody understands Estonian language, Estonians included.

What can I add about this country? According to my research, 80% of Estonia's GDP comes from Nokia. Another 10% comes from when they won the Eurovision contest a few years ago. Also, it's a known fact that internet there is found absolutely everywhere, including in trees, cheese and small mammals. That's why they call it E-stonia.

Kaitz20 was one of the PokerStrategy.com Christmas promotion winners, and his prize was a buy-in to the EPT Berlin. Yeah, that one with the robbery. He is also a No Limit hand judge and hates cats. Cat hater. I love cats.

If you would like to help me pick next week's Diamond, simply go to the nomination thread:

Diamond Interview Series: archive, feedback and nomination

This interview was conducted by vhallee

Kaitz20: NL hand judge AND Estonian

PokerStrategy.com: Hello there Kaitz and welcome to the Diamond Interview Series? How's it going? Let's just start with a little intro from yourself, because I know you want that.

Kaitz20: Hi, well it's quite warm in Estonia, (like 30 degrees) and I’m planning going to the beach after this interview is over, so let’s not make it too long (smiles).

I'm a 26 year old finance student, which I’m trying to finish this winter. I'm single, but luckily I don't live with my parents and have bought my own apartment (sadly not with my poker winnings). I have quite a lot different things that I like to do, like volleyball, football and partying (smiles). I love dogs, I don't like cats, and I also am allergic to them.

PokerStrategy.com: I think we could live without knowing about your crippling volleyball addiction or cat hatred, but thanks for sharing anyway. When did you start playing poker?

Kaitz20: I've been playing this game since about 4 years, I think I'm quite good at it, but sadly partying takes most of my free time, so I don't sit in front of my computer 24/7, but rather when I need money or I'm bored (laughs). I’m also one of the few PokerStrategists who participated in the EPT Berlin, thanks to the PokerStrategy.com Christmas promotion.

PokerStrategy.com: What luck: playing in the one EPT that got robbed. But how did you get into poker anyway and how did you come across PokerStrategy.com?

Kaitz20: Yeah, that was strange, some friends also asked to me if I was involved with that, since I didn't reach  the money (laughs). As for my poker journey, it all started when I saw a TV show where one Estonian poker player was in a big tourney in England. He was giving some poker lessons and then he said something about a poker site which anyone can join.

So I registered there, learned rules, deposited $50 at PokerStars and started playing Fixed Limit games, where I was a complete disaster - weak tight player who wanted to slowplay aces, couldn't valuebet, liked to limp and so on.

After a while I had lost half my money and started to read the forums on how I could improve my game and also where I could get free poker money (laughs). There I found PokerStrategy.com, I first learned the rules, passed the quiz on the second try and got my free 50$ at PartyPoker. I went back to the FL 0,05/0,10 tables, but this time with a chart and also more knowledge.

What made me a winning player was mainly the PokerStrategy.com Fixed Limit forum, where I posted a lot of hands (since I didn't know anything about hand converters, I had to enter suits my own, which was quite hard to do, haha), but thanks to the other players (I think one of them was Cirith), I started winning eventually.

I wanted to move on to NL, found the short stack strategy, I played it like half a year without any real success and decided finally to take stab at NL BSS with my last $300. After that it was quite easy, I started at NL 25 and with some hard work I became Supernova I think in 2008. Games where then a lot softer back then and I think most of my edge is at the tourneys or heads-up than battling preflop wars at NL 100/200.

Poker and psychology

Kaitz20's face when he heard EPT is being robbed by dudes with machetes

PokerStrategy.com: That’s quite a ride. Now you seem to have made it out of that hole, as you post hands in our forums up to NL 200 and PLO 100. Why do you think posting hands in our forum is important? Why should our beginners do that, in your opinion?

Kaitz20: Poker is a very psychologically-focused game. The more options or different answers you get for one situation, the better you can handle similar situations later on. By posting hands in the forum, you just get more feedback and that way you can choose more options which would likely make you more money in the long run.

To the beginners, it's likely one of the best places where you can improve your game, since if you haven't played a lot, you are likely making some mistake and you can fix these by posting hands where you're not sure how to play. In general, if you play a lot of poker it's always good to spend some time in the forums, thinking about poker and trying to improve yourself as poker player.

PokerStrategy.com: That's pretty well covered from someone who is also a No Limit hand judge. I saw you posting PLO hands as well so I wanna ask you some questions about that: what game types and limits are you playing at the moments? How many tables at a time? How many sessions/day and how long are these sessions?

Kaitz20: Well I tried to play PLO but I took a break, since that is one of the most tilting game ever and generally I don't tilt (laughs).

These days I’m mostly playing tournaments between $26 and $76, since I don't have a huge roll at PokerStars, but sometimes I play even lower. In general it's like playing the lottery at Stars: If there are over than 2k players, it's hard to reach top 3 or even the final table. However, since I have two displays and I can play 10 tourneys at the same time with no problems, I like playing them. One day should hit the jackpot (laughs).

Cash games: I think I mostly play NL 50 SH and HU, NL 100 SH and if I feel like gambling then I play some PLO 50/100. Most of my energy would go to the tourneys. Tourney sessions are generally 5-8 hours long depending how far I reach in them. I used to play 8-9 tables at cash games, but now I realize that playing at 6 is much better and I can make better decisions than always clicking without thinking too much.

As for heads-up, I think 1-2 tables is enough right now, you really have to concentrate to your opponent to really exploit him and fin his weaknesses and how he is playing.

Next year's goal: WSOP Main Event

Estonian drinking rituals

PokerStrategy.com: Gamblers do like PLO, it seems. What do you need to have besides or around you when you're playing? Any particular superstitious objects or something? Please tell me you got a voodoo doll.

Kaitz20: Since I live alone I don't need to worry about anyone else bothering me, so I just close my MSN and play poker. I think water or something to drink is sometimes useful. I've learned that playing drunk is never a good idea, so now I try to keep away tables when I reach back home at 3-4 am in the morning after some party.

I try not to play when I'm really tired or if I don't feel like playing. I used to think only positive things when I sat at the tables, but nowadays likely I just don't care after having so many beats, so I just sit and play. One of the biggest mistakes you can do playing poker is getting too emotional, which might cause frustration, tilt and harm your hardware.

PokerStrategy.com: I think we all took out our frustration on the keyboard/mouse/monitor at least once. What do you think are the key points to being a winnings player? What kind of skills should poker players have in order to be profitable at the tables?

Kaitz20: To be a winning player: you can be a standard TAG, although not sure if you would win any more at today’s tables - at least NL 100 SH+. I think you first need to understand hand ranges before you're going to make any kind of moves. After you've figured out how people are playing, you can start adjusting to your game. I guess what I want to say is: you have to think while playing poker, not make standard moves all the times.

I think a winning player should also know how to change gears according to the situation, tables full of nits he can be complete maniac and if players like to 3-bet and go crazy against you, then just wait proper hand and take their money. You should have the balls to bluff. If you're never bluffing, it's very easy to play against you and you should try out new things.

PokerStrategy.com: What about live poker? Since summer has come, online poker nerds all over the world are taking their skills to the real tables. For you it might be even easier, as season 7 of the PokerStars EPT will start in Tallinn, Estonia. Any plans to join the event? Do you have any other live events you would like to play in?

Kaitz20: Well I just discussed with my friend that we should start out grinding tourneys/satellites to reach that event. I have one ticket to a 10,000 FPP satellite, so there’s a chance actually to get there. As always, you need quite a lot of luck to reach top 2 which will get the ticket, but I hope for the best (smiles).

I also take part in some $10+$2 rebuy tournaments sometimes with my friends, but mostly it's a waste of time, since 1st place is around $500-$700 and I can make more online. But for entertainment value it's always nice from time to time actually play against persons, not just avatars. In the future I would like to visit Las Vegas and also play one of WSOP events. If I somehow get a Main Event ticket, then this would be likely one of my goals next year – to play there.

Jonathan Little is my role model

During the Estonian mating season, the males put on various displays to attract the females

PokerStrategy.com: Sounds great, looking forward to seeing your Estonian face at the Main Event. Speaking of this, which is your biggest success so far? Also, what was your biggest downswing?

Kaitz20: Cash games: I think that I made $11k or so in one year starting at NL 25 SH. Tourneys: I've reached 2nd at one $11 tourney at stars and won over $4k. I also have reached quite a lot final of table places worth around $2.2k-$4k each.

Downswing: A -$2k day at NL 100/NL 200 SH tables, but at the same time I also had a +$1,600 session at NL 200 SH, so it was likely just variance (laughs). I think 2009 was my biggest downswing where I didn't win anything; I didn't play a lot of poker but I also didn't play that well.

PokerStrategy.com: Sick swings sir, glad to see you made it out alive. Do you have any poker pro that you see as role model? If so, who and why?

Kaitz20: I've learned a lot from JonathanLittle’s videos, so I think he is likely one of my role models for sometimes insane plays preflop. I've also watched a lot high stakes poker and durrrr in action is always nice to see. it's remarkable how he can make people fold or call exactly what is necessary to him.

PokerStrategy.com: Let's say you're at the final table of a very prestigious event and you get to play against five other pros for fame. Which ones would you like to play against?

Kaitz20: If I had choose some big names, then Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Tom Dawn, Jonathan Little and Phil Laak. I would most likely be last at that game, unless I have a really big chip stack or get really lucky (laughs).

What you should actually know about Estonia

Who could have guessed?

PokerStrategy.com: Ok, we talked enough about poker. You're from Estonia, which according to statistics I just made up, speaks one of the world's hardest languages. Do you people really understand each other?

Kaitz20: Most of the times, yes (laughs). It’s quite hard for foreigners to learn it though, since we also use a lot of different letters like ÖÄÜÕ.

PokerStrategy.com: Is it true that there's internet everywhere in Estonia (more like E-Stonia, right?), including trees, refrigerators, small animals, etc?

Kaitz20: Mostly yes, close to 99% of the area here has internet coverage, you just need some kind of device to access it.

PokerStrategy.com: How do you feel about Estonia's extreme luck in winning the Eurovision song contest a few years ago? Do you people still celebrate that?

Kaitz20: Well it happened like 3-4 years ago and we haven't really got past the semi finals in the last years. Maybe last year, but I think I was too drunk to really notice that, since we had to drink every time when they said word LOVE and a Lithuanian song had it like 17 times or so – that kinda broke most of my friend, including me (smiles). It’s cool that we won and maybe we’ll reach the finals again someday.

PokerStrategy.com: Do you Estonians hate Lithuanian people? Because I heard some rumors about that and I also have that photo as evidence.

Kaitz20: Actually make jokes about Latvian people that they have 6 toes, but we don’t really have any funny jokes about Lithuanian people, sorry.

PokerStrategy.com: How many Nokia cell phones do you own? I heard the Estonian Government made it illegal to have less than two.

Kaitz20: I personally own 1 and I'm not a fugitive yet (smiles). But yeah, a lot of my friends have two Nokia cell phones - one for their personal calls and another given from work. I guess I don't have 2 since I'm not working at the moment (laughs).

PokerStrategy.com: Is it true that Santa is real and he's living in north of Estonia, next to the Pepsi Island?

Kaitz20: Nope, according to my data, he should still live in Lapland, somewhere in Finland.

PokerStrategy.com: I think that's enough with the random questions. Do you have anything else to add? Any particular members to mention? Anything that I may have missed so far?

Kaitz20: I wanna say thanks to maya1984, srohack and all the others I forgot for the interesting poker discussions we had. I also want to wish all the members good luck at the tables!

I think you did really good job asking all sort of interesting questions, so I don't really know what to add. Maybe this: poker is not your life, but an option to make money. Don't waste most of your time sitting in front of a computer, go out and enjoy life. Money would be always there if you come back (smiles).

PokerStrategy.com: Thanks for your time and have fun in that weird country of yours.

Diamond Interview Series: archive, feedback and nomination