News: "A relationship with a poker player would be fun"

We spoke to Victoria aka "Venomous100": a Diamond member, a Supernova at PokerStars, and now Miss Russian Community 2013.

PokerStrategy.com: Hi, Vicky! Congratulations on Supernova and the Miss Russian Community title - which did you celebrate most?

venomous100: Hello, community! Happy New Year again to you all!

Actually, my biggest celebration was my victory over exams and tests at my university. Of course I wouldn't be so happy if I didn't win Miss Russian Community as well.

I had no doubt I'd achieve Supernova status by the end of the year, and it was fun to read semi-troll comments in my blog telling me "you won't make it".

PokerStrategy.com: Which victory was the hardest?

venomous100: Supernova demanded the most effort. At the beginning of October, I had a little over half of the necessary VPPs.

So I had to rearrange my schedule: I played at night with some small theory studies involved, and in the morning I went to university where I had fought with the wildest desire to drop it all and go home to sleep. In the last days of December, I had 4 days left to get 9,000 VPPs. As I didn't want to play on December 31, I had to grind a couple of 15-hour days.

"It's funny when arrogant guys play for your phone number"

venomous100

PokerStrategy.com: You came to poker from chess. Tell us about your chess career.

venomous100: In my school, chess was introduced as a mandatory class. To be honest, I never really liked the game, but it so happened that I had become the best player in my group and then had passed the ranking exam on my first try. T

Then I had some regional wins, trips to national games, a silver prize at the Belarus Championship, and participation in the World Championship in Greece. But it didn't work out.

Most of all, I couldn't stand any more psychological pressure from outside after some unsuccessful performances and lost something very important – faith in myself.

PokerStrategy.com: There are male and female leagues in chess, and in poker everybody's equal – which is more fair in your opinion?

venomous100: Despite such division in chess, some girls often compete in male tournaments and play on male boards in team championships. So for me there's nothing new about competing with the opposite sex. In fact, it's very funny when some arrogant guys offer to play "for the phone number", not taking you seriously, and then instantly vanish when defeated. Girls learn poker on their own initiative, so I believe that's fair enough.

PokerStrategy.com: After your transition from chess to poker, what skills proved to be the most useful in your poker career?

venomous100: Logical thinking, tilt control after a few lost matches, and also endurance as games can run for 4 hours and sometimes you have to play two of them in a row.

PokerStrategy.com: Why cash and not SNGs or MTTs? Why exactly mid-stack strategy?

venomous100: I wanted to play SNGs at first, but for that I needed SNG Wizard, and I didn't want to invest my own money in poker. That's why I chose cash games. They say the variance in MTTs is bigger, and also I'm not thrilled with the idea of grinding for 5 hours and then busting on the bubble while having an 80/20 hand, so - cash games again. In the future, when I'm comfortable at NL200, I'd like to try some tourney play.

Why exactly MSS? It's because of smaller bankroll requirements, and I built mine playing freerolls. I didn't want to lose it all too fast, so my choice was a strategy with smaller buy-ins at my favourite poker room.

"I hadn't thought about NL100 by 2014, let alone Supernova"

PokerStrategy.com: Have you any reason to believe that your pace or goals are too optimistic?

venomous100: When I just started playing, I hadn't even thought about NL100 by the end of 2013, not to mention Supernova.

My primary goal was to achieve profit of $1,000 per month. During the year, I was just doing what I could to progress: visiting hand evaluation boards, watching videos, reading books... The end result was a bit of a surprise even for myself.

PokerStrategy.com: When playing a new limit, do you play as many tables from the start or just add some more when you're comfortable?

venomous100: When leveling up I play as tight as possible on a comfortable number of tables (it's around 12 for me). After adapting to new stakes I start adding tables, and when I'm on tilt I add even more. Yes, that's how I tilt – 16+ tables in the game.

PokerStrategy.com: What is poker for you these days: a source of income, a hobby, a chance to realize your potential?

venomous100: I can't say that poker is just a hobby because my future plans are based on it. This year I'm going to graduate from my university, and to be working within my specialty now means losing many opportunities and much time.

However it's not all that simple really: in Belarus, after graduating from a government-budgeted institution, you have to work for two years at a national enterprise or pay for your education in full. So I'll have to work some more in order to do what I like; I hope I'll succeed here as well!

"I used to tilt a lot until I started reading Jared Tendler"

PokerStrategy.com: The stereotype is that women tend to be more emotional than men. Do you disagree - how's your tilt?

venomous100: No, I agree with that - I'm very emotional myself.

I used to lose a lot because of tilt until I realised it and started reading Jared Tendler's books. Now I'm fighting chocolates instead.

I can complain in my blog, then I read reassuring comments, but I can also cry in my pillow after all. Finally it all ends, I take a hold of myself and keep grinding a comfortable number of tables with maximum concentration. When I was liitle my parents used to say: "Your name means victory".

It stuck in my head, so I'm not one to give up easily. In the end, my failures only stimulate me to learn and develop my skills.

PokerStrategy.com: Did you choose your profession deliberately? Are you going to keep searching for your place after graduation?

venomous100: Actually there are few decisions I don't make on my own. Overall, I like my profession because it's not only about numbers and boring calculations; it takes some initiative and creativity. If there was no poker in my life and I had to make a decision again, I'd choose programming.

PokerStrategy.com: In our community, there are many discussions on whether it's worth investing your time in education or not. What's your opinion about university?

venomous100: Thanks to my university, I met some wonderful people, so I'll be remembering these years with a smile. A diploma won't hurt, but my opinion on the process itself and overall usefulness of received knowledge is this: a waste of time! If you need to know more, I can give you lots of critique on our system of education, but there's no reason to overload this interview.

"A relationship with a poker player would be fun"

PokerStrategy.com: In your blog, you mentioned that you're not going to make poker a long-term thing. What about a long-term relationship with a poker player?

venomous100: I don't remember writing anything like this 😉 I probably meant that poker won't be the biggest thing in my life, just because money isn't everything.

A relationship with a poker player – that would be fun. They are smart people in general, that's what appeals to me. Of course it's not important who he will actually be: he can be a pilot, a writer, a poker player, or a mechanic. He just has to be "my kind of guy".

PokerStrategy.com: Do you plan to visit our Diamond party?

venomous100: If it's in Minsk I'd most likely be there. I'll consider it when it's actually time.

PokerStrategy.com: Let's imagine you're not a poker player. What would you do with all this "free" time?

venomous100: I'd make sure to spend more time on my private life, family and friends. Also self-development, but poker isn't an obstacle here anyway: I plan to get my driver's license, study linguistics or photography, and learn many other interesting and useful things. Anyway I'm not going to "kill myself" in front a computer.

PokerStrategy.com: Where would you fly, if you'd could write down any city on your ticket?

venomous100: I'd go to New York or Vegas. 🙂 It's still a bit extreme for me today, unlike Europe which is closer and more available at the moment. But I'm almost sure it's still a possibility. 🙂

PokerStrategy.com: Thanks for the interview, Vicky!

Interview by yurak2004