Russian Player Reinforcing Team PokerStrategy.com

Following six German players and one Dutchman, a Russian player has been admitted into Team PokerStrategy.com. Andrey Mitlyansky, the best tournament player of the Russian community, will strengthen our professional team.

Andrey Mitlyansky, also known as cucbku, is one of the most popular players of the Russian community. Thanks to his huge tournament successes and his forum and coaching activities he has many fans within the community.

Andrey has been voted user of the month twice before, in 2008 and 2009. Soon, he will be able to show off his offline skills, as he was recently made a member of Team PokerStrategy.com!

Interview with CuCbKu

PokerStrategy.com: Hello, Andrey! Congratulations on your admission into Team PokerStrategy.com! What were your initial feelings after finding out you were accepted?

cucbku: Hello and many thanks! Even though I did know that I was on the list of candidates, I did not think that my chances were very high. Therefore, I was incredibly happy when I received the good news.

PokerStrategy.com: Please tell us a little bit more about yourself.

cucbku: My name is Andrey and I am 22 years old. At the moment, I live in Munich. I moved to Germany six years ago; before that I lived in a small Ukrainian town about 80 km from Odessa. I am currently a student, but I’m probably going to have a little break from my studies. I learned the rules of poker in the summer of 2007 but started playing seriously and regularly around 1 ½ years later.
 
PokerStrategy.com: Your online career as MTT player is turning out to be very successful. Could you name some of your successes?

cucbku: I started a year ago. First, I played the smaller limits and correspondingly, the prize money was below $5k. However, about half a year later I managed to win the Sunday Warm-Up on PokerStars, which was around $130k. Before winning, I played this tournament every Sunday and I once finished in 13th place, thinking that I would be able to beat the competition. The next big prize money came up four months later, when reaching 3rd place during the $1,000,000 guaranteed on Mansion Poker secured me $74k. The other amounts I won were not this high, but altogether I probably accumulated another $100k, I reckon.

PokerStrategy.com: Do you have any previous experience in playing offline? And how are you going to work on your offline skills?  

cucbku: I have relatively little experience in playing offline, but I am a fast learner. For me, the most important thing will be to avoid conversations and other distractions and to work on my mimics. I have just started exercising intensively because I know how important a good physical shape is at live poker. I might be used to having 10-12 hour long sessions, but playing from home is easier because you can change over to your laptop and continue playing whilst lying on the couch.  

PokerStrategy.com: Are you planning on recording MTT videos for the community?

cucbku: I have already recorded one, a $535 MTT session review of the aforementioned $1,000,000 guaranteed tournament and I really enjoyed working on it. If you observe your own game like an outsider would, quietly and without emotions, it is much easier to analyse it and to draw the right conclusions from the moves of the regulars who you frequently play. Of course I can record videos in other formats – according to the preferences of the users – but I believe the session review to be the best format, both for your self-analysis and for learning.  

PokerStrategy.com: Can we expect to see you writing your own blog soon, like the other members of the team do?  

cucbku: Yes, I will manage my own blog on the Team PokerStrategy.com page. Even though I have not had my own serious blog before, I think I will like it. Lots of people will be interested in news about myself and in the outcome of different offline events.  

PokerStrategy.com: You are the first Team PokerStrategy.com representative of the Russian community and you can be sure to receive the support of this big community. Will it help you in your games?

cucbku: Of course the support will help me. When you know that thousands of people are following your games with interest, you quickly lose interest in making stupid moves. Furthermore, I am used to my game being observed and am comfortable with it. Once more, I would like to thank PokerStrategy.com for putting their trust in me.

Thank you for the interview, Andrey! We wish you every success in Team PokerStrategy.com!