02 Jul 08

Rocking at the Table in the $35k GTD- An Interview with samiow

"After I won, I just sat kinda smiling at my computer!" Last Sunday, PokerStrategist samiow scored his biggest tourney win: $7,381.50! In this interview, he tells you about his poker career, his ambitions and what he has experienced as the dos and don'ts when approaching the game.

» INTERVIEW

samiow has just won $7,381.50. Despite his success, he has stayed down to earth. In his opinion "most people have the ability to become profitable players" - and PokerStrategy provides the guide.

His answers are intriguing, the more you read, the more you want to read! Comments like "table selection is probably the most underrated thing in all of online poker when playing cash tables," makes you wish you could meet the amicable GoldMember over a beer. For now, we have to be satisfied with this interview.

Interview: TribunCaesar

PokerStrategy: Hello samiow! Congratulations on your tourney win of 7,381.50! Please tell us something about yourself!

samiow: Well, I'm 22 years old and registered with PokerStrategy two months ago. I have been playing poker for around four years now and focus on Hold'em MTT's and Omaha cash.

PokerStrategy: How did you come across PokerStrategy?

samiow: Someone on a different forum told me about it, so I looked into it and the $50. To be honest, I was even more impressed by the Gold/ Platinum rankings and the concomitant free access to special videos. On other sites, you have to pay some $30 a month for those types of videos.

PokerStrategy: Please, tell us something about the last four years of your poker career!

GoldMember

You get Gold status if you have collected between 800 and 2.999 StrategyPoints within four weeks. This status guarantees you exclusive access to advanced teaching material, discussing boards, software and coachings.

samiow: I started off playing $20 SnG on PacificPoker and quickly moved on to 6max hold'em cash. The tables were very fishy back then, but I had no understanding of bankroll management. So I would often go months without being able to cash out anything.

I decided to allocate myself a £650 bankroll for live poker playing £5 rebuys. I quickly started moving up to the higher buy-in rebuy tournaments around Southampton/South England where I continued my success.

I found it difficult to move back to online play recently. But then again, in my opinion, watching and listening in on the coaching sessions lets you stay in-tune with how the pros approach the game. I have been learning a lot. I've taken in a lot of what helemaalnicks does with his OOP BB play from SnG's and I've used it in MTT's. It seems to be working well.

PokerStrategy: Last Sunday you won first place in a $35k GTD on Titan. Please tell us something about the tourney and how it feels to win such a nice sum!

samiow: It felt great! It is my biggest ever online tournament win so far. By the time I got to the final table though I looked at the payout scheme and was happy to win any amount :D. I was really just looking for the win.

I started the final table with around 700k. This was about 1.3 mil behind the chip leader and 150k more than third place. So I was feeling confident about my chances. At the end I had chopped my opponent down to some 800k which was eight BB at the time. I got KJ as BB. After he raised it to 300k I put him all in, he snap-called with K7. The board came 569K2, no flush and my kicker played.

After I won, I just kinda sat smiling at my computer promising myself I wasn't gonna go spewing it on 10/20 Omaha. Luckily willpower prevailed!

PokerStrategy: You said you play Omaha as well. What sort and limit do you play? Have you had any comparable success playing Omaha?

samiow: I shortstack 1/2 and 2/4 online and play 2/5 with ten straddle at my local casino. I've had a couple of real big nights at both live and online Omaha, yet it is a game where large swings are to be expected. Some nights I've won over $5k but at the same time you can loose it just as fast. It is a scary game - hehe!

PokerStrategy: What are your plans for the future? What are your goals concerning poker?

samiow: I consider myself a student of poker, so I just enjoy learning and progressing. In a couple of years, I would like to have a bankroll sufficient to play in the WSOP. If I could live off playing poker I would jump at the chance. I do not plan on rushing into it, though. I like to gamble but not with my livelihood!

PokerStrategy: How do you plan on reaching your goals?

samiow: At the moment I'm working on building up my multitabling skills so I can play six to eight tables of Omaha. I don't have a stop-loss limit but I've found that instead of tilting I just turn it off. When you get into a habit of turning it off completely after some bad beats you get that same feeling of stress release as you do when you've won it back.

In my opinion, table selection is probably the most underrated thing of all of online poker when playing cash tables. If you can learn to spot the fish and learn how to approach playing different styles it makes you money a lot faster than "outplaying" other players.

PokerStrategy: It looks like you are well on your way to reaching your goals. What can you recommend for others in order to become better poker players?

samiow: Stay focused 100%! If you are playing, try learning to multitable as it keeps you playing optimally! Never play drunk after a night out! TRUST me on that last one, lol!
Try to be as careful with your bankroll as you can! The more disciplined you are, the easier it is to win! And you are able to make the most of lucrative situations when you aren't playing with scared money!

PokerStrategy: Is there anything you have always wanted to say?

samiow: I think most people have the ability to become profitable players. Learning how to win is the easy part. When you can control your losses and cut a losing session off with no hard feelings, you don't have to play with such a conservative bankroll and are able to profit quicker.

I think this site has all the information people need to become winning players. They need to do more than just read and take the information as black and white. If you understand the concept of an article or a video, you really have to customise it to your own style of play, because everyone is best at their own style of play. I'm not saying you shouldn't fix your leaks, but lots of things in poker cross over to the different games and styles of playing.

PokerStrategy: Thank you very much for the nice interview! We wish you all the best in your poker career and hope that you'll keep up us updated about how you are getting along!