03 Oct 08

Grimzor: With A Hot Dog Hat to the Final Table

Cardbender420 has once again taken aside the winner from last week's Battle of the Donkeys for an interview. This week it was Grimzor's turn to answer the questions!

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The Media Maniacs is a team of reporters from our Battle of the Donkeys, which has taken aside Grimzor, after his 50th place finish in last weeks 15k GTD. Like many other community members, he will also be playing in this week's battle. You can sign up for it here: Battle of the Donkeys October 5th Sign-Up Thread

The interview was conducted by Cardbender420

Cardbender420: Hello Grimzor, congratulations on your 50th place tournament finish and 1st place BOTD finish this week.

Grimzor: Thanks.

Cardbender420: Can you tell our readers a little about yourself?

Grimzor: Sure. My name is Aldis and I am a 20 year-old computer science student from Riga, Latvia.

Cardbender420: Which hand was most memorable during this week's BOTD?

Grimzor: Probably the last one. I always like to think through key hands where I lost chips to see if I could have avoided it. This time it was Ah8h in MP. My M at this time was a bit over 3 and I had to make a move soon in order to stay in the tournament. As this was one of the rare hands where I was first in, I decided to push. Got called by AKo, flop came KQ6 with 2 hearts which gave me some hopes but neither the turn nor the river brought any hearts and that was it for me.

Cardbender420: Did you get lucky during your climb to 50th position or was it all skill?

Grimzor: I got lucky in a way that I didn’t get sucked out. Most of my best hands won and when they didn’t, I lost only a small part of my stack and was able to climb back soon enough. I won a couple of important flips as well. All in all, I think I played very well and even though I had some mistakes, I am happy with my play.

Cardbender420: When did you start playing poker?

Grimzor: I started playing poker in February after I met an old friend and heard about his poker success. His success inspired me and I decided to give it a try. To be honest, my first attempts were quite horrible and sooner or later I always ended by going bust. My real poker adventures started when, about one month later, I found out about Pokerstrategy and started studying the game in more detail.

Cardbender420: Which game types do you prefer and where do you normally play?

Grimzor: I play on Pokerstars. They have such great software, I love it! As for game types, I like no limit hold'em the most – I enjoy playing tournaments and short handed cash games, but from time to time I play SNGs as well. So far, I've had success in all of those and that makes it very hard to choose one on which to focus.

Cardbender420: Where do you see your poker career heading? Do you have any short/long-term goals?

Grimzor: For now, I see myself keeping poker as a hobby, because I do it for fun and some additional income. My short term goals are to reach NL 100 with solid BRM and in general to focus more on cash games. I also want to try out live poker in the near future.

Cardbender420: You played on the Media Maniacs last week. Did this experience help you achieve your BOTD goals this week?

Grimzor: Even though I busted out early last week, I think it was good training. I hadn’t played tournaments in a while, so it was certainly good to remember what it is like :)

Cardbender420: Do you have any pre-tourney rituals or superstitions?

Grimzor: Not really. I just sit down and play. I have a ritual for breaks though – in each break I try to do some physical exercise like push-ups, stretching exercises or a little weightlifting. There is not much time for that but I think that even a little exercise helps me to keep focused on the game for another hour.

Cardbender420: Some people have certain hands they like to play regardless of their strength. Do you have a hand like this?

Grimzor: Not anymore. When I began playing poker, I thought that Q3 was special. Q always came together with 3 on board :) As I learned more about the game and the math behind it, I understood how bad this hand really is and I haven’t played it since.

Cardbender420: Do you have a favorite pro player? Is there a pro player you don’t like?

Grimzor: I think my favorite pro player is Daniel Negreanu. He is always so positive about everything and his reads are just amazing. It is fun to watch him play.

Cardbender420: You won 41.85$ this week in BOTD. If you had to spend you winnings, which of the following items would you purchase?

A goat	Traditional Latvian Doll	This Guy's Hat

Grimzor: Hot-dog hat, fo` sho`! Just look at it! Besides, I wouldn’t buy a goat since I have no free time to look after it and I am just not that much into dolls :)

Cardbender420: Thanks very much for taking the time to participate in this interview and the best of luck in the future.

Grimzor: You`re welcome. It was a pleasure answering your questions, keep up the good work.

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