Coach Matt 'MBolt1' Bolt Joins PokerStrategy.com

PokerStrategy.com is proud to announce the arrival of our newest coach, Matt 'MBolt1' Bolt. Find out more about him and the types of videos he will be producing.

Matt 'mbolt1' Bolt has been a No-Limit Hold'em cash games expert for several years, and we're very excited to have him as our newest PokerStrategy.com coach.

MBolt1 is an American poker pro from South Carolina. In 2007 he quit his job at a Pest Control company to pursue poker full-time, and with guidance from PokerStrategy.com coach Dusty 'leatherass9' Schmidt (more on that in the interview below) he has never had to look back.

Today, Matt is a shorthanded No-Limit Hold'em specialist who typically plays NL600 through NL2K, though he'll play bigger stakes when he feels the games are good. He generally advocates a tight-aggressive (TAG) style of play, but he also teaches how to best adjust to opponents and how to recognize the situations where opening up your game is necessary.

The first video series that PokerStrategists can expect from MBolt1 will focus on finding interesting ways to improve your money won without showdown, and we'll be sure to announce as soon as it is available.

Part one of the series will be released on October 13th, so make sure to look for it!

Check out the following interview to learn much more about the story of Matt's success as well as what to expect from him in the future.

PokerStrategy.com: Welcome to the PokerStrategy.com team! Let's start at the beginning- your path towards poker success was guided by a PokerStrategy.com coach- Dusty 'leatherass9' Schmidt. Can you tell us about how you started playing poker seriously, and about your relationship with Dusty?

Dusty Schmidt

mbolt1: When I first became interested in poker, I read lots of blogs and forums. Dusty's blog was my favorite, so after experiencing my first bad run at NL25 I decided to ask him for coaching. At this point Dusty was already making a lot of money and there was no way I could afford to pay him enough to take the time to work with me (we were complete strangers at this point).

Dusty replied with a fairly long and thoughtful message, and it actually made me feel a lot better. He explained that he didn't have time to work with me, but he offered to put me in touch with a friend of his that was offering coaching for $50/hr. His friend was Matt Amen, better known as 'forcewithme9' online.

Matt and I began talking nearly every day, and we became good friends. Through lots of Skype conversations and a few trips to Oregon, Dusty and I became friends as well. Shortly after quitting my job to pursue poker, my laziness combined with a downswing threatened to end my dream of playing poker for a living. I talked about it with Dusty and he offered to work out a staking/coaching deal with me, and I was thrilled to accept it.

Once Dusty had a financial interest in me we started talking a lot and I became a much better player very quickly (I started the year playing NL50, and I was sitting in good NL5K games 7-8 months later). After my first $100K month I was in good enough financial shape to take my own action so we ended the staking deal, but Dusty and I continued to talk regularly. Over the past 3 years we have gone on lots of golf/Vegas trips together and I can honestly say that Dusty has become one of my best friends despite the fact that we live on opposite ends of the US.

PokerStrategy.com: What types of videos should PokerStrategists expect from you in the near future?

mbolt1: I plan on making mostly replayer videos. Hopefully my videos will encourage people to look at poker in ways that are new to them. I want to help people to think creatively and to discover value in spots where the strength of their hand doesn't actually matter very much.

MBolt1's Graph

PokerStrategy.com: Are there any types of players that might especially benefit from your content?

mbolt1: I believe that the standard TAG's will have the most to gain from my content.

PokerStrategy.com: What are your poker goals for the future?

mbolt1: In the immediate future I plan to focus primarily on coaching. I don't have any good options for playing online, but I think that videos, private coaching, and occasional trips to Las Vegas should keep my game sharp.

PokerStrategy.com: As an American online pro, Black Friday must have had a significant impact on you. How have you dealt with it? Are you still playing online? Have you considered moving abroad?

mbolt1: Black Friday was definitely no fun, but I try to look for the positives. My success in poker has left me with no financial concerns for quite a while, so I've looked at this as an opportunity to just enjoy life.

I always feel guilty when I'm not being productive with my time, so I've played a ton of poker over the past few years because I would have felt guilty if I didn't. Now that I can't play poker, I'm able to do whatever I want with no guilt about being lazy. Moving abroad isn't really an option for me at this point- my life is in the US and it just doesn't make sense for me to consider moving yet.

PokerStrategy.com: We look forward to seeing your videos, and thank you for your time!

by Matt Kaufman