Charles Hawk: How did you come up with this nickname? Is there a story behind it?

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): Cognitive dissonance has quite a few meanings, but the one applies to poker for me is that people will fool themselves into thinking they are better than they are, despite evidence to the contrary. Logic seems to go out the window where poker is concerned

Charles Hawk:  What are your main strengths and weaknesses?

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): Well I have many theoretical leaks, otherwise I wouldn't be a midstakes grinder. Apart from those my volume is too low. It's an issue I've battled with for many years. I'm not sure what my strengths are, but I do know that I'm still around after all these years, so I must do some things right, just not enough to make it to the top!

Charles Hawk:  You have been playing professionally for 7 years now. Is it getting harder to catch fish year by year?

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): Absolutely, there are more regs and the same number or less fish to go between them. This year I had to add 30s to my grind, something I never thought I'd have to do. The future of poker is something I constantly worry about. If the USA comes back then we are saved. If it doesn't I think I could be doomed to a future of making less and less money at poker, especially when you consider inflation.

Charles Hawk:  How many students have you had in those 7 years? Is it harder to teach them nowadays, when poker knowledge is much greater than in 2007?

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): A lot! Probably between 400-500. Teaching them now is actually easier because I've moved with the times. Now a typical coaching session includes analysis I had no idea how to do even a year ago. (I'm deliberately being vague there).

Charles Hawk:  Do you own Sharkystrator.com?

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): No, I act as an intermediary for Marko who owns the business. I have a very small role where I receive some payments and pass them on to Marko and do my best to help customers whenever I can.

Charles Hawk:  Do you have any longterm poker goals?

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): I'm in the 100s division. I honestly don't see myself moving above that in the medium term. I need to keep improving my skills to make sure I stay where I am and play more. Those are my only goals at the moment.

Charles Hawk:   How many VPPs have you collected in 2013? How much do you have this year?

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): last year I think 190k. This year maybe 70k. I think because I'm playing lower ($30-$100 as opposed to $60-$200)

Charles Hawk:  Do you know how many games you have played this year?

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): Last year I did 22k, this year i think its around 9.5k so the volume is similar

Charles Hawk:  Do you imagine yourself playing poker profesionally all your life?

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): At this rate, yes I can see that. Unfortunately, while I do own my villa in Bali, I have no other money or investments. So at least for quiet a while I'll be grinding.

Charles Hawk:  Are you familliar with Dan Colman's statement after winning One Drop? What's your personal opinion about his approach?

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): Yes I've read his statement and I've read the articles supporting and criticizing Dan. I don't agree with his decision, but it's obviously something he's thought through and is committed to, so I respect that. I do however think that it could have been done with more diplomacy, which would have left people feeling less butthurt and bought less criticism to Dan.

Charles Hawk:  Do you think there will be enough bad players after another 7 years?

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): The guys at the very top will always make money. The guys at the bottom will make some, but not enough to live off. The guys in the middle will get squeezed out by the guys at the top I think.

Charles Hawk:  Do you enjoy grinding mid stakes after all these years?

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): Poker is a job for me, a way of putting bread on the table. I can't say that I always enjoy it, but I don't dislike it and I certainly like it a LOT more than working in the real world. Anyone that complains about being a professional poker player should get a 9-5 job for a few years. I suspect most players would be rushing back to poker within 6 months and never complain again.

Charles Hawk:  How well do you handle the frustrations that come with unsuccessfull sessions? Do you have any specific methods on avoiding tilt?

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): I rarely get very upset. I live in Bali and have a beautiful family. Poker has allowed me to be at home with my 2 sons and wife for many years, so I'm always grateful for that and try and keep perspective.

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): I did work with Elliot Roe and found that very rewarding for dealing with tilt and other mental game issues.

Charles Hawk:  How many hrs per week on average do you grind and coach? What‘ your leisure activities?

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): I probably work 35 hours a week in total

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): Of course i should work harder, but it's so hard living here.

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): I like to body surf, and I did train BJJ/MMA a few years ago, but wrecked my back unfortunaly. I spend friday afternoons teaching BJJ at the local orphanage which is very rewarding. Apart from that I play League of Legends (I suck) with my two sons. It's modern day father son bonding.

Charles Hawk:  Where are you originally from? When did you move to Indonesia? What was the main reasons for it?

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): I'm from Tasmania, Australia. I moved to Indonesia when I was 25 because I couldn't find a teaching job in Australia. I fell in love with Asia and apart from 2 weeks in 1998 have never been back to Australia

Charles Hawk:  Was it hard to adjust to a different climate zone and culture?

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): I definitely experienced culture shock when I moved to Surabaya in 1996. There were very few foreigners in the city and I stood out. I had a beard and tattoos, and these, plus being a foreigner made me an oddity. I found it very uncomfortable when people would openly stare at me, but in time I got used to it. I do remember one guy who was so shocked at seeing me he stared at me as he walked straihgt into a pole. Other people would see my tattoos and start touching their arms in that spot, completely unaware that they were doing this. There was almost no English spoken by the general populace back then in Java, so it was a long way from western life.

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): I love the climate, now if it's 25 degrees outside (celsius) I find it cold. I could never live in a cold country again

Charles Hawk:  Why Indonesia? Have you thought about other countries?

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): I love Indonesia. I understand the culture here better than I used to, and I speak Indonesian and a little Javanese, so I feel at home. Also Balii is just a magical place, I'd be happy here forever.

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): I had a year in Singapore and a year in Taiwan, but I never felt at home there and couldn't wait to get back to Indonesia

Charles Hawk:  Tell me about your decision to buy a villa few years ago. You wrote a blog post about it on husng.com.

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): Originally I was going to build it and sell it, and keep doing that as a way of getting out of poker, but I loved the place when it was built and moved in with my family. I've had a few poker players stay in the spare room (campbell-gee, piggysnipz, kyle aiken, taikogod, mightmad) These guys stayed between one and three months and I consider them all my friends. Having them here was awesome, so that's one the biggest advantages of having the villa.

Charles Hawk:  Could you send me some interesting hands which you played recently?

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): Honestly I tend to think I play a pretty standard game, I don't make that many interesting plays vs recreational players. Against regs where you can build up reads I get more creative, but of course I don't want to show those because then people will see what I do. I like people to think I'm an old nit who isn't capable of making any plays. That way when I do they have a greater chance of working

Charles Hawk:  Do you have any grinding routine?

Paul Collins (Cog Dis): I wake up at 10 am, open the door which is the signal for the maid to bring breakfast, and once that's eaten I start work. I only ever grind morning or early afternoons as I play best then.

All-time (husngs only)