"Why I chose to play Spin & Go" - Moskvyak
In the first part of our interview with Spin & Go crusher Moskvyak we discover why he thinks the game is profitable, and learn about moving to Australia.
: Hi, Artem! A lot of our users already know that last year you and your wife Olga made a long-held dream come true: you moved to Australia. Tell us please how you managed to do that, what are you doing there at the moment and what are your plans for the future.
: It's our 10th month in Australia. There was a long preparation for that: IELTS, preparation of the documents needed, saving money, a long wait for the reply from the university and for the decision on our visa.
Also, it's not that easy to leave the country where you've lived for 27 years: we had to leave behind our friends, relatives, favourite cafes and leisure places.
Am I regretting the move? Not at all.
Australia is a great country, everything here is done wisely. And the climate is super, of course! April, for example, is an autumn month here. At night the outside temperature is +18, at day +30. We do a lot of sports: riding our bikes every day, swimming in the pool and in the ocean, weight-lifting, jogging. After nine months of different sports I'm 9kg lighter, and my belly has become a lot smaller. I didn't think about healthy nutrition and regular exercise before, but here the conditions for that are perfect.
At the moment we study at Central Queensland University and major in Information Systems. We also work at two companies as volunteers. One company works on IT projects, and we take part in the developing and testing of systems. The other one is a charity organization. We help to sell things people donate. The money then goes to children.
It is difficult to find a paid job in Australia, the search takes a lot of time. However there are good positions even for people like us, with student visas. When I graduate from uni, I will be a system analyst/business analyst. Then I'll be able to make good money. These professions pay around $95,000/year on average. But all of this is in future, and right now I prefer to concentrate on my studies. For the first term all my grades were "high distinction" (7 out of 7).
We plan to stay here and get a residence permit. A difficult and thorny path awaits us. Time will show.
"Spin & Go is a very interesting game that comprises CAP SH and HyperTurbo HU"
: You've always been famous for your short stack game. How did you happen to move to Spin & Go's?
: Spin & Go is a very interesting game that comprises CAP SH and HyperTurbo HU. Surely there are differences from 3-max CAP game, but similarities also abound. I always loved to play HU at CAP-tables, and more often that not I played HU against regulars. The thing I didn't like about CAP is the opportunity for my opponents to leave the table whenever they want. In other words, they could play 10-11 hands with you, change their mind, and run away. In Spin & Go's they can do that too, but they leave their buy-in behind, and you get the prize.
"Random seating format is the best decision from PokerStars over the last few years"
I didn't want to play HyperTurbo HU because of different cartels that destroy fair competition. That's why random seating format in itself is the best decision from PokerStars over the last few years.
"Postflop skill helps in Spin & Go's a lot"
The other thing I didn't like in CAP was playing according to your cards. Especially at full ring. I understand that you have to do that there, but it can be a bit aggravating when your opponent plays very tight, opens 11-12% of hands with a thoroughly calculated postflop game, doesn't work on his skill and still makes money. In Spin & Go's you don't have much time to wait for the good cards. Plus, you can make a lot of money postflop. In other words, there is always room for improvement. And that makes the competition fair. Unfortunately the rule "the one who works on his game the most, makes the most money" gets broken due to prize structure, but this structure attracts hobby players who let the format live on.
"Spin & Go demands lots of calculations and discipline"
: You graduated from Moscow State University and always advocated a mathematical approach. The mathematical profitability of Spin & Go's is in serious doubt, can you explain why you chose them?
: The profitability of any game can be proved only by the maths. Spin & Go's are often called a "fraud", a "lottery", a "game of chance", etc. However it's a very smart game that demands lots of calculations and discipline. One has to understand that there are two types of variance in Spin & Go's. By variance I mean possible deviation of profit below our EV line.
The first one is chipEV variance, and the second one is multiplier variance. Surely if you are an unlucky person like me, your path in Spin & Go's will be a hard one. I managed to run into both types of downswings at the same time, and it really hurts! However there are guys who win top prizes, and they even do it with some sort of consistency. Of course you have to stop thinking that somebody owes you something. One has to understand that there are ups, and there are downs. If you are afraid of them, it's better not to play poker at all.
"Only naive people can think they can make a living by playing poker for the whole life"
: How long ago did you graduate from the maths faculty of MSU? Have you only been playing poker since then? Do thoughts that you've lost a lot of time in vain by playing poker come to your mind? Why didn't you try and apply for the Master's programme in Australia earlier?
: Almost four years have gone by. Yeah, I've been playing poker. I've also been giving poker coachings and worked as a maths tutor on the side. Do I regret it? Difficult question. Yes and no.
On the one hand, I now have a very weak CV without any serious work experience. I'm 28 years old, and nobody wants me at the job market. Of course, with my degree I can find a good job in Russia and in Australia alike, but if you consider the distance for the career development, then I've lost a lot of time that is gonna be hard to compensate for. Only naive people can think they can make a living by playing poker for the whole life. Online poker is less that ten years old. Nobody can tell you for sure that in five years it will still exist.
On the other hand, I've made enough money to move to Australia and get into the university. Besides, Olya and I have been travelling a lot. In four years we've been to Germany, Italy, Spain, Cyprus, France, Latvia, Ukraine, Belarus, Thailand, Hongkong, Singapore, Sri Lanka. Poker gave us freedom of time and travel.
I wouldn't be able to apply for the Master's programme earlier anyway. We spent a lot of money on this move, all of the money we've been earning for the last 4 years. In fact we had to make a choice: to buy an apartment or to improve and enrich our life. We chose the latter!
"You can call yourself successful if..."
: OK, a backward question then: you've been really successful in poker, both as a player and as a coach. Why get an additional education in a different sphere?
Now, with the benefit of hindsight, would you still choose poker? Or, maybe, there are better ways to make the same amount of money?
: As a player I didn't achieve much success. You can call yourself successful if...
To be continued. Stay tuned!
