Balancing Spin & Go with motherhood
We chat to Zyabra4ka from our English and Russian communities who climbed to the $30 Spins quickly with help from meditation.
What brought you to SpinLegends?
I spent eight years working at the same company. I didn’t see any career prospects, my contract was coming to an end, I understood that it was time to change something. Poker was one of several variants, but without basic knowledge and opportunities to study, I would not have chosen it - I needed some poker coaching.
From the PokerStrategy.com news I learnt about SpinLegends. I thought there’s potential in Spin & Go’s, however I thought the school itself was too advanced for me.
So at first I tried to apply to another project, but was rejected. Having nothing to lose, I applied for SpinLegends. After couple of days I got a miracle answer - I was accepted!
I’m not the one for following the line of the least resistance. I thought that I need to practice my English, so I applied for the English group, though I could also choose the Russian one.
You have had a pretty solid rise from $0.25 to $30 spins, what has that been like?
It was fast, unexpected, and scary. When I applied for SpinLegends, I thought that it would be nice to get to the $30 limit by the end of 2019. So at the moment I have already surpassed my plan.
At what stake level did Spins get tough? What did you have to do to adapt?
For now the most difficult thing for me was the $3 limit. I played three times more games than the required sample, until I reached the required ChipEV to move on. In my opinion, at the previous limits, the starting hand charts are quite enough to be winning, and at $3 the game becomes more difficult and you need to master post flop.
I started playing less and studying more. Live coaching sessions turned out to be the most helpful for me. And I also shifted the time of the grind closer to the evening as I had a feeling that the field was getting softer.
By the way, instead of $7 Spins, I played the $5 promo limit. It was strange: a vast majority of recreational players and the most variance I’ve ever seen. As a result, despite a decent СhipEV, my financial balance was negative.
"Meditation really helps"
I hear you have been working a lot on your mindset, what specifically have you been doing?
Yes, I read “Mental Game of Poker” with pleasure. I find it to be very helpful. There’s a lot of information regarding emotions, tilt types, fears, motivation and strategies on how to deal with all this.
I’m also using the Headspace app for daily meditations. You either like it and get used to it, or decide that it's not your cup of tea.
What does meditation do for you specifically?
There is definitely less mess in my mind. I used to be scared of some thoughts and tried to get rid of them. Now it’s just a stream of consciousness which I’m observing, and sometimes it is amusing and funny.
As for the poker, now I can now detect much quicker the moment when it’s time to stop playing in order not to lose more. Or even not to play at all on a given day. And also to take some deep breaths when your Aces get busted by 84o.
What mental game issues do you think Spins bring?
The worst thing about the Spins, in my opinion, is variance. You can make positive decisions, see the logic in opponent’s actions and adapt to them, have a super positive ChipEV and at the same time lose a lot of money. Either people take it as it is, or they get mad and start swearing in the chat each time the top flopped set loses to the rivered straight.
"The flexibility of Spins is undeniable"
I hear you are balancing Spins with being a mother. That must be stressful.
The greatest difficulty in balancing Spins with being a mother (as well as any other work) is the lack of planning. To be more precise, some schedule exists, but does not always work. On Monday your kid’s nose suddenly starts running and she needs to stay at home for a few days. On Wednesday you need to pick her up earlier from the kindergarten. And on Friday, my daughter can make for a hysterical morning knowing that the weekend is only tomorrow, and she is already “tired and can no longer go to the kindergarten”.
With this in mind, the Spins provide an undeniable advantage in terms of flexibility. You open your poker client and can start immediately, moreover, the longest game lasts about 15 minutes, and on average less than 10-12.
It must be interesting to be balancing these responsibilities when a lot of other SpinLegends members are young guys with no responsibilities?
There are people that have been playing poker for years: some got it from parents, some played with friends, some took part in offline events and even won big prizes there, some organised poker clubs while studying in university. I picked it up after having watched some TV shows, I was 28 years old back then.
Of course, I’d like to have less financial and moral obligations in my life. But in fact I’m happy for the young guys who can already understand what brings them joy while being students. Anyway, you still can go to any "normal" office job any time and have poker as a hobby.
One thing I know for sure: it’s never too late to learn, regardless of being a cook, financier or a poker player.
Is something like SpinLegends you would recommend to other mothers, or do you think you have a particular temperament for this kind of thing?
I am not sure it is only temperament that matters. You definitely won’t master much without patience and perseverance. But I think that if mothers are reading this interview, they have already gone half way to apply. My recommendation is to go for it and believe in yourself!
Thinking about getting staked?
The most reliable way to climb the Spin & Go ranks is by joining SpinLegends. We provide the bankroll, world class coaching, support and you also get to rail your fellow SpinLegends members.
As soon as you show promise we move you up in stakes, one stake at a time, all the way to the top.
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