Nazgul: PLO Pro and Tournament Expert

We sat down with our resident PLO video producer and MTT expert Nazgul for an interview, and talked about his recent $11,566 cash in a PokerStars 50k GTD.

» INTERVIEW

 

Last Wednesday, our resident Omaha expert, Nazgul, was just finishing his evening session on the PLO tables when TribunCaesar, who had been running quite badly in tournaments, managed to convince him to play some tournaments in which they could rail and help each other. Several hours later in the early morning hours, Nazgul took home the $11,566 first place in a $109 buy-in 50k GTD on PokerStars.

PokerStrategy: Congratulations to your tourney win Nazgul. How do you feel 2 days after finishing first?

Nazgul: I still feel a little bit tired, but of course I am happy because I had a downswing last month so I was able to chase some of my losses with this win.

PokerStrategy: That was definitely a great success. Could you tell the community something about yourself please?

Nazgul: Sure, my real name is Tim, I am 27 years old and just finished my studies ( business and law), in my free time I like playing tennis and meeting with friends.

PokerStrategy: And I guess you also like playing Poker. You are actually known as a PLO coach and video producer. Tell us something about how you got there.

Nazgul: Oh well, its kind of a long story, I started about one and a half years ago by being referred by a friend to PokerStrategy. He told me I could get 50 bucks for free and so I started with reading the articles etc. I played FL in the beginning and I ran pretty good playing in December last year 5$/10$ FL. In a live tournament, I played Omaha high for the first time and I had really a lot of fun so I started playing online after reading the articles and some books about the game. I played PLO $50 on Titan Poker and I really crushed the limit with an upswing playing about 35ptbb on 5000 hands. Afterwards I climbed the limits up to PLO $1K.

Nazgul

PokerStrategy: Most of our members play NL, FL or SnG's. What's different in Omaha and what makes it more interesting than the other types of poker for you?

Nazgul: I think the aspect that you usually have a strong hand based on the fact you get four hole-cards and the action which is the result of all this are the reasons why I like to play Omaha. Because Omaha is an action game where the money often gets in the middle, it seems to attract loads of bad players. This means you can earn a lot of money just playing the fishes. The downside is that Omaha is also game of high variance. Sometimes there are really sick swings even if you play well.

PokerStrategy: Let’s get back to your tourney win. It looks like you are also experienced in MTT play. Please tell us something about your MTT experiences.

Nazgul: Well as I've already said, I was used to playing cash games in the beginning but in October and December I played 2 live tournaments with about 150 players getting third in the first one and first in the second one.

I started playing online MTTs too, winning a $22 rebuy tournament and it felt like I had to try my luck on the Sunday majors. I really got a run in these recently by getting 6th place in the Full Tilt 750K guaranteed, one week later, I got third in the Titan 250K guaranteed and again one week later 5th place in the Sunday Million on Pokerstars
Another big cash was my 3 place in the high roller event. But then I ran bad for about 2 months by losing nearly every key hand in the tournaments. So obviously, this win was really great for me.

PokerStrategy: It looks like playing MTTs means having huge swings due to the high variance. What is the most important thing when playing tournaments in your opinion?

Nazgul: I think one key is to be aggressive in the late phase of a tournament no matter how you get there. By aggressive I don't mean stealing a lot but re-stealing. If I am not a bigstack, I only try to steal with really good hands but my re-stealing range is very wide, which gives me a lot more chips then I would get by stealing.

PokerStrategy: It looks like this strategy worked out well for you. What would you recommend beginners do in order to improve as a poker player?

Nazgul: Concerning MTTs, I recommend playing tight in the beginning of a tournament and just really playing the good cards. For the late phase, maybe watch videos of good players who'll show you how to play in difficult spots. In general, I think the most important part is to work on your game and to think about it. Try to analyze your mistakes by posting hands and talk with other mates about them, but be sure they play better then you do.

PokerStrategy: Thank you for this advice. Is there any chance to get to know something about your private real life?

Nazgul: Well I just finished my studies and I'm now trying to use poker as my job for at least one year (I suggest being careful making with such a step, because girlfriends might not like it...:( ). I am thinking about leaving Germany but I am not sure yet.

PokerStrategy: That sounds exciting. We wish you all the best and hope you will keep us updated. In the end, you have the chance to say whatever you want to say, so go ahead. 🙂

Nazgul: Yeah greetings to my mum and dad, Moni my step mum, my sister Sina and to all of my friends.
And I want to thank you TribunCaesar for convincing me to play the tournament and for staying awake with me all night 🙂
Visit our blog underrolled.de 🙂

PokerStrategy: Thank you for the interesting interview and the time you took for us! We wish you all the best and good luck for your future!