Diamond Interview Series: mbml
This week's features none other than the so-called "Comeback King". He managed to finish in top 5 in international Top 250 race, so we decided to find out more about him. Everyone, say hello to mbml!
There's not much to say about this guy. According to his blog, he is the "Comeback King", which is something great, I suppose. However, there is one thing we definitely need to mention: although the final results of the June Top 250 race is not final, he seems to have finished in top 5, or (if he is to be trusted) even top 4. This is definitely a nice achievement for our community, so he deserves props just for this.
He's from Singapore, which I think is that country where Jean Claude van Damme kept filming those hilarious action movies. Is Sagat (that Street Fighter II character) from Singapore? I forgot.
Another thing you could realize after reading the interview is that he apparently has some real issues with his lower intestine, so my advice is: don't eat while reading this. Also, he's a huge nerd and he wrote a shitload lot of stuff, kudos to you if you can make it all the way to the end (there's also something extra there).
By the way, if you want to talk about the Diamond Interview series, read the previous interviews or nominate a Diamond member as next interviewee, simply go to our forum:
Diamond Interview Series: archive, feedback and nomination
This interview was conducted by
mbml: Diamond, mass multi-tabler and nerd
Name: Galvin Bay
Age: 21
Location: Singapore
Game types: NL 200, NL 400, NL 600, SH & FR
PokerStrategy.com: Galvin, welcome to the Diamond Interview Series! Why don't you tell us a bit more about "The Comeback King"? I would appreciate all of the basic stuff, plus anything somewhat embarrassing that I could use to torture you throughout the interview.
mbml: Hello everyone! I am Galvin Bay from Singapore. I am 21 years old and I have been playing poker since Dec. 21 2009 (the day I decided to own up at poker and make some big bucks).
I finished my military service in Jan. 2010 and have been playing 'professionally' since then. I will be starting school at Nanyang Technological University in September so I am only going to play part-time after that. Does busting my bankroll twice count as embarrassing? Or maybe my famous toilet issues as stated in my blog?
In 2006, I had a stage WarCraft 3 match and I was suffering from diarrhoea. I had to pause the game halfway in game 3 to go to the toilet... The worst thing is that I ended up losing the match, my friends laughed at me when I had to pause the match for 15 minutes and there were commentators and a live audience who had to wait for me. FML.
PokerStrategy.com: Alright, the diarrhoea issues is bad and you should feel bad about it (you could say that – incoming horrible pun - I will 'throw shit at you'?). Besides this, apparently you're also a nerd (WarCraft 3 player, which is the inferior cousin of the StarCraft player). Tell us how you even got into poker.
mbml: Nah StarCraft sucks compared to WarCraft because there are no heroes. Back in 2008 I heard stories of former Singaporean WarCraft 3 players who made over $10,000 a month. Being the money-loving guy that I am, I asked one of my friends, klonoa, how he started off his poker career and he linked me to PokerStrategy.com.
PokerStrategy.com: Do strategy games like WarCraft (or its totally much better counterpart, StarCraft) have any similarities with poker in your opinion?
mbml: About the similarities between poker and gaming, my answer is probably the same as most other people's. It's about the crazy passion/obsession found in each of us that motivates us to grind like a machine and strive to beat everyone. Because I tend to use the computer more than 12 hours a day when I don't have school, I already have the mental endurance needed to play for hours on end.
PLO makes me cry
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| ...and when I get sad about PLO, I like to play with balls. And after that I go and play ping pong |
PokerStrategy.com: I will not go further with the StarCraft vs. WarCraft topic, since your argument is hilariously bad (heroes?!) and it will most likely going to get bloody. Since you are a Diamond member, you're probably playing quite high and quite a lot. Give us a little insight on how your regular poker day goes on, and don't be afraid to include the bad/embarrassing parts.
mbml: < brag>Muahahaha I'm probably ranked 4 in Top 250 for this month < /brag> [ed. note: At the time of the interview, he wasn't, so I assumed he was full of shit (get it???)]. I have about 385,000 VPPs so if I actually wanted SuperNova Elite I could still attempt to do so, even though it's very unlikely given that my school is starting soon.
My computer is in the living room so I don't play at night because my family members come home from work and they are really noisy so I make sure I play in the day. My regular poker day starts with me waking up in the morning, usually between 0700 to 0900. I will open up Pokerstrategy.com forums to read some blogs, then after that I start up many poker tables (aiming to play 24), starting with NL 400 SH, then NL 600 SH, then maybe my 3rd choice is NL 200 SH or NL 400/600 FR, depending on my mood.
The time I spend playing is largely dependent on my volume goal for the month and whether I get stuck during the session. I know my mindset is like complete crap [ed. note: pun indented?], I give it a 4/10 for chasing losses and ending winning sessions prematurely all the time.
After my sessions, I will review the biggest pots lost and see if I could have made any hero-calls or folds, especially on the river because the river is the most important street in poker. However, I haven't been reviewing my hands a lot these days because 6 - 8 hours of play make me really exhausted after each session.
Back in March/April I used to play for 4 hours a day, maybe from 0800 to 1200, playing 24 tables of NL 100/200 full ring.
I went to seek out the great twicet for his guidance either in Feb/Mar and sometime between Mar/Apr I grew bigger balls and decided to take some shots at NL 400 FR after some NL 400 sweating during our coachings.
Shot-taking at midstakes is always brutal because the average aggression is upped by 3 notches, I would say. I always end up getting caught up in the crazy 3-betting and I'm a proud guy so I always try to stand up against the table bullies. I usually end up getting completely crushed when I get barrelled off my floats or when they 5-bet jam over my constant 4-bet bluffs.
About the bad parts of my poker career, I would say that I am too aggressive with my bankroll management and I always try to take shots with only 30-40 buy-ins, unlike most other conservative players. This has caused me to experience 3 or more major downswings (I define this as losing 35-50% of your bankroll). This is the main reason why I stay away from PLO for now, I know I will cry.
$20 for a toilet project
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| mbml, either trying out for porn or in fetal position after a suckout (In which case, you're doing it wrong) |
PokerStrategy.com: Judging by the way you write hours (0700, really?), it's quite clear that the army service left a mark on you. Except for the... you know... poker discipline... (You call that bankroll management, private? You'll have time to think about that while you scrub the toilet with your toothbrush - I always like to believe these scenarios are possible there). Do you have any interesting/humiliating memories from when you were in the army?
mbml: Hohoho I'm a holy boy and not a party animal so I sleep early. About the army, I just want to say, 'ARMY SUCKS! ALL YOU NON- SINGAPOREANS/KOREANS/TAIWANESE/ISREALITES, PLEASE THANK GOD YOU HAVE MANDATORY ARMY' [ed. note: He was getting a bit aggressive, so I had to tranquilise him.]
I was one of the luckier ones who got posted to an office but seriously the army regulars there are LILFs (Low Intelligence Life Forms). When smarter people get ruled by stupider people, you know that there will be much unhappiness.
About army stories: We had this WITS programme where you can receive money for suggesting ideas on how to improve work efficiency: $5 for a normal idea, $20 for a decent one and maybe $100 if it was really important. I was the king of spamming lousy $5 ideas. Since office life was so boring (I had a lot of time to chat on MSN and surf 2+2/PS.com), I was always scheming on how to make money at work.
When we were forced to come up with 3 ideas each, I suggested over 20 ideas; most of them quite silly. One of them was about having a duty roster for toilet duties to instil discipline in all of us. The Major read it and she said she was going to implement it. I was like OMFGWTFBBQ. All the NSFs (serving their 2 years like me) flamed me in the internal e-mail and I felt quite guilty [ed. note: you should]. Thankfully my unit lacked efficiency and everyone is a lazy bum so the idea got canned in the end.
PokerStrategy.com: It's surprising how most of your answers eventually revolve around poop (I think you should get that checked with a vet or something). Disturbing mental images aside, let's talk a bit more about your poker career so far. How is 2010 going for you? Do you have any goals set for the rest of the year?
mbml: Yes. My aim is to make $100k (including bonuses) and feel comfortable enough to play NL 1,000 SH regularly by the end of 2010. I think I have a 50% chance of making it. Since I'm going to be busy in July due to WCG [ed. note: aka. World Cyber Games – huge nerd, am I right?] and school camps, I think I will try to play fewer tables (4 - 8) and work on getting greater reads on my opponents. When I feel I can soulread all of them, I will start playing 12 tables again.
I had a chat with one of my friends earlier in the day and he talked about how half volume -> more A-game -> triple the win rate, so I am probably going to heed his advice. So many times I have grinded max. number of tables and realised that the bonus amount is less than the amount of money I am losing.
Some other aims which I may/may not pursue:
- Play PLO SH or HU regularly (before PLO becomes as tough as today's NLHE).
- Improve HU skills so I can start tables and get to play fishes early. I hate to join waiting lists.
- Gain a good poker reputation so I can coach for some 0 variance income. When all the CR/DC coaches realised they were breaking even, they turned to poker coaching.
- Meet some other greedy guys like myself at business school and come up with some ownage business plan to make money.
Videos and sample hands forum helped me a lot
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| The Comback King testing to see if he can make his comeback from a close-up shot to the groin/ass |
PokerStrategy.com: I think that TwiceT might be interested to talk to you about soulreading and business ideas (if you haven't already talked to him about this); as for the other challenges: best of luck. You mentioned that you are looking to further improve your skills, so I want to ask you: what are the key elements to improving to a pimp status like yours? What educational tools (articles, videos, coaching, etc.) did you use to reach this level of awesomeness and what do you advise new players to do?
mbml: Hmm I tried talking to TwiceT about it but all he said was, 'I'm going to be like Pinky and the Brain and rule the world muahahahah.'
About improving your skills, I remember watching xarry's videos for SSS in the beginning. Then I realised what a bad boy I've been so I returned to the light side and played BSS. I think I watched videos from hasenbraten and also some NLHE/PLO videos from twicet and , which helped me quite a lot.
Besides that, I also read a lot of strategy threads and posted a ton of hands in the sample hand forums. I think this is almost as crucial as watching videos. I believe that it is much better to build a solid theoretical foundation first, and then grind a lot to get more experience and understand those concepts better. I remember stacking off KK (Ks) against a set on a monochrome flop and I wasn't sure whether I was right. Every noob tends to be results-oriented and having that re-affirmation helps to set things right.
One more thing: Guys, please hire more mid/high-stakes hand judges. thelastnail was really a great help and now I am left to struggle on my own after he stopped judging.
PokerStrategy.com: I also hope the newcomers understand the importance of sample hand forums. Let's talk a bit about live poker: since it's summertime now (and according to purplefizz, Singapore has 2 seasons: hot and hotter), do you enjoy playing some live cash games or tournaments from time to time?
mbml: Oh I thought she was talking about The Philippines? I play maybe once a week or fortnight when my friend hosts a 20c/40c game at his house. I would say that the game is as tough as a NL25 online game. His friends aren't atrocious but they do have some major leaks such as the classic “let's raise to see where we stand” and the 'wow I have trips + shit kicker let's go nuts with it'. I usually run hot in these games though so it's not uncommon to see me walk away with 2-3 buy-ins in 4 hours, though I always end up spewing some money when I have a substantial lead.
As for other games, in the earlier part of the year my friend was more enthusiastic about live poker so sometimes he would find a live-game through a Singaporean forum and we would go together to rape some horrendous fishes (NL2 standard or worse). I also did play in some AsianPokerShowdown tournament last month with some of my WarCraft friends and all of us went busto because the blind structure was so fast and we just didn't have any luck.
PokerStrategy.com: Yeah, I think she was actually talking about the Phillipines; my bad, I suck. What about the big events out there? Do you plan on playing in tournaments like WSOP, EPT, APPT?
mbml: Definitely when I have at least $200,000 in my bankroll and feel comfortable. I would also have enough time to ask myself about the meaning of life or even donate some money to micro stakes players for good karma. If not, the plan is still to beat NL 400 – NL 1,000 first.
LAN games, Asian soap operas and South Park
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| mbml, unsuccessfully trying to convince others that WarCraft 3 actually requires two hands |
PokerStrategy.com: I guess it would be nice to see your face (don't get the wrong impression) on some pictures from the Team PokerStrategy.com event coverage. Anyway, let's go a bit off-topic. What is there to do in Singapore? What do you enjoy doing when you're not busy 24-tabling?
mbml: Sometimes during the weekends, I play some sports with my friends at school. We usually play Frisbee, either that or a random sport like basketball/soccer/tennis. Then after that maybe we will play LAN, catch a movie, or play Mahjong (like Chinese Gin Rummy).
As for weekdays, I bum around at home because there is usually no one to hang out with. Everyone is working part-time or studying so I just watch anime or South Park or some random American/Asian TV drama. I also play Team Fortress 2/StarCraft 2 Beta (not anymore)/WarCraft random team 2v2 for fun. Once in a while I feel like getting my lazy ass to the gym/swimming pool downstairs but I lose motivation pretty fast. And since I was in lockdown mode for the entire month, I think I haven't been doing that at all recently.
PokerStrategy.com: Ah yes, Asian soap operas - I can imagine an Asian Jerry Springer. Wellm if you think you can handle the heat, I'll take you on in a StarCraft II showmatch. As for the "I don't have people to hang out with cause they're busy", I wouldn't be so sure that's the reason (gnihihi). Anyway, since you spam our forum with your toilet adventures gone wrong, you're probably checking other people's blogs as well. Do you like any of those in particular?
mbml: I'm such a social outcast! I mainly read the blogs of the better players such as the caltabianos (funny stuff they have there), TwiceT's and TheLastNail's dual blog (they're both great and TwiceT is the god of English Community, who wouldn't read that?), silent21's blog (watching Ivan's insane progress is always a good way to gauge my own progress), or supeyrio's blog (my fellow countryman!). I also read Gerv's blog, though I disrespect his SSS ways (laughs). I do read other blogs as well but they don't update so often.
PokerStrategy.com: Awesome blogs indeed. To Gerv: don't listen to him - you're still in my heart. That being said, do you have anything else to add before we end this interview? If I missed anything interesting to ask you about, now's your chance to pretend that didn't happen and just say it yourself.
mbml: Nah, I talked too much crap [ed. note: again with the crap?] for this interview. No wonder it lasted for so long. Bye bye everybody!
Diamond Interview Series: archive, feedback and nomination
If you made it this far, here’s something extra (warning: language may be inappropriate for children under 12 and grammar policemen):
: ok, that’s a wrap. as for WC3... LOL @ U!
mbml: NO
mbml: SC SUCKS
: YOUR FACE SUCKS!
mbml: WC3? unless ur talking about the shitting
mbml: I SUCK
: no im talking about that shitty game
: with magic and dancers or some shit
mbml: NOOO
: stop living in denial please
: its embarrassing
mbml: nah
mbml: after i played warcraft 3
mbml: every other RTS besides company of heroes seemed damn boring
mbml: including SC2
: if i ever lost an arm, i would cry and then switch to warcraft
