Tobi’s Blog: Off to Gibraltar!
PokerStrategy.com reporter Tobias Block made a trip to Gibraltar to visit the PS.com Headquarters. In his blog he talks about his first meetings with PokerStrategy.com staff and his experiences.
Hey guys,
Today, I am not writing from the halls of The Rio from the World Series of Poker. I’ve been relaxing in the past few weeks and have had some time to recover from the tiring work of reporting from the WSOP. But at some point, however, all good things come to an end. It was time to get back to work – and it always seems to come when you’re having the most fun!
I got a phone call from . “Hey Tobi, do you want to come and visit us in Gibraltar? Sometime in September?”
Yeah, sure, I thought. Perfect timing! I had already been planning a trip to Germany for September, so - off to Monkey Island! My flight was set for September 6, my wife was allowed to accompany me, and I couldn’t wait to finally meet the people who, up until now, I had only been in contact with through Skype and e-mail in person.
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I landed in Malaga and headed straight to the arrivals lounge where all the drivers for the various tourist hotels and apartments wait to pick up their guests. A Pokerstrategy.com driver was supposed to pick me up, so of course I waited there for him.
Twenty minutes later, however, I was still waiting with no sign of him. So I start making calls, finally discovering that my driver has been waiting outside for me the whole time, completely on his own on the street.
Pokerstrategy.com owns some apartments in Gibraltar, and many of their employees are accommodated there. There are Pokerstrategy.com towels and bed linené all in all it is a very pleasant residential complex, one of the most comfortable in Gibraltar. This is where I was due to to stay for the next three days, so I unpacked and made myself at home.
The next morning, I made my way to the Pokerstrategy.com office. It is only a 5-minute walk from the complex. I quickly ate a sandwich from the welcome pack I found in the kitchen, mentally thanking in the process.
Content Headquarters with KTU and Ghostmaster
I arrived at the office and took the glass elevator to the third floor; three of the six floors in the building belong to the company. I had originally thought that Korn would have his own floor, befitting of the owner of an empire, but his office was in fact in a similar mould to the other modestly sized offices it was lined up with on the floor. Once I opened the office door, I was greeted by a familiar face.
In the content HQ, the machine room of Pokerstrategy.com, where future teaching content is developed, I met ktu and ghostmaster. Both are really nice people, and they proceed to tell me about the future of Pokerstrategy. While Poker School 2.0, learning modules, KTU’s chalkboards and teaching worlds like Super Mario Bros all interest me greatly, at the same time I am happy to be have left that all behind me.
KTU, I can honestly say, is really devoted to his task of getting rid of old and overused teaching content and replacing it with new and modern content. I can understand why master KTU is a “persona non grata” for some midstakes regulars. I can also say – and not just because he made me tea at lunch and later attentively brought me a Red Bull from the kiosk - that he is a person you would like to have in your company.
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| Content HQ with ktu |
With another two hours to go until my meeting with Lutz 'xantos' Enke and OnkelHotte, I really wanted to quickly learn more about tradimo.com. It is PokerStrategy's new trading school that will soon show us in simple terms how to earn money with currency and stock trading. I hope you are looking forward to this as much as I am.
After my conversation with Sebastian Kuhnert, the project leader of tradimo.com, I have this special feeling again, a spirit of optimism, of something new and special happening. I feel like I have found the fast lane again, one that will enable me to earn money with smart decisions, a feeling I last experienced in 2008 when first starting out with poker.
Pokerstrategy.com at the October Nine
Shortly afterwards, I found myself seated in an office across from OnkelHotte and Xantos. To summarise, we spoke about what I have produced for Pokerstrategy.com in the past, and what we can improve for the future. Pokerstrategy.com will of course be at the WSOP Main Event Final Table in October, providing you with interviews, blogs and background stories. I’m already looking forward to it!
OnkelHotte and Xantos really impressed me. I had the feeling that their drive, their ambition and intelligence are directly connected to the success of Pokerstrategy as a whole. Although the principle of being in the right place at the right time definitely played a strong role in the rise of Pokerstrategy.com, you still need people making intelligent decisions to keep you on the right track.
In the evening I attended the leaving party of Daniel 'danielk' Keller, a member of the poker school team. He had decided to leave Gibraltar to grind in Germany from now on, made possible by the return of Full Tilt. On the balcony I meet sim87, who many of you will know from the German forums.
While sipping on one of the last St. Pauli beers at Daniel’s party (I think I arrived too late!), he revealed to me that he is a big fan of our High Stakes player Niklas 'ragen' Heinecker. We talked a bit about poker, and why “Sauce123” isn’t prepared to coach the eager-to-learn "Sim87" (it was not because of the money), before moving on to various clubs at Gibraltar’s promenade by the harbour. The next morning it was already time to go – naturally, I woke up to a grinding hangover and felt awful!
Still, I had to make my way to the airport somehow. Summoning all my strength, I dragged myself onto the airplane, where I finally had time to think about the two great days I spent at Pokerstrategy.com head office in Gibraltar! In my seat, my thoughts returned to Korn’s Mercedes SLS before I finally fall asleep!
Take care,
Tobi
