niceiq25
Stakes: $300
Nationality: Romanian

Charles Hawk: What was the hardest when you started playing poker professionally?

niceiq25: There was no particularly hard part... things were easy back then. Now it's hard. :) If I were to choose a hard part, I would pick the learning process. It was hard to learn because there wasn't much information available like there is now. That has its pros and cons of course. I was a bit skeptical at the begining, didn't really think you can make a living playing this, but after a while it all fell into place and things moved on in a positive way.

CH: At which level did your start playing HUSNGs regularly? Any reg war stories?

niceiq25: I started playing HUSNGs on a European site with 2 EUR. Was playing them a ton as I thought those were most fun to play and most competitive. I also played 9man SNGs on the side because there you could literally print money. But i moved up relatively quick up to the $100 point where things got a bit more complicated...

I don't have a reg war story, but I do have a pretty fun story from my beginning. I remember one night I was at my first shots at hiiiiighstakes $10 HUSNGs :), and at  first I lost 3 in a row (I have to mention it was normal speed games). I remember that night especially because I felt like my whole world collapsed, becasue of losing 3 games of what at that time was high stakes and also because I was soo passionate and competitive about the game. I still remember the guy's nickname, and after playing more vs him the second day I decided to study his game, make a strategy and play him all the time. I even had my alarm clock waking me up at 5am (he was Canadian) as that was the time he was always starting to play... I hunted his ass down and I remember being up more then 1k $ at some point vs him. It's the story that puts a smile on my face every time i remember or share it.

CH: What is your biggest downswing ever in medium/high stakes?

niceiq25: 60k i think

CH: Spin and Gos were introduced to ps.com a few days ago. Is action the same as it was before? What do you think about Spin and Gos generally?

niceiq25: I think it's a game that fish will go to for a bit of time but I can't see it last. It's literally a retarded way to dump your money unless you get REALLY REALLY lucky, and even fish can understand it's more likely for them to make some money playing hyper hu then the Spin & Go. It's literally a SPIN & GO without your buy-in. :) I can't say much about action, as I have been grinding only regs for months, so I am not really sitting to get fish. Couldnt really say, but I heard people complaining. Time will tell.

CH: Do you think it's possible to get better by just grinding a lot, when you already know the ABC's / backgrounds? If yes, why? if not, tell me what are the best ways to learn poker constantly?

niceiq25: I think it is possible but only for a 0.01% of players who are incredibly talented... for the rest of us hard work is the key. :) Fortunately for the hard workers, there are a lot of tools that are available for studying starting with Holdem Manager, PokerTracker and some others, and also books like Jared Tendler's The Mental Game of Poker where he explains learning process.

CH: Do you get bored when grinding? Do you have any advice on how to keep attention when playing bad players?

niceiq25: Boredom happens from time to time. I have leaks there but when I really really feel bored I try to take a break. Advice is hard to give as we are all different, but I guess one could try to eliminate all distractions like Facebook, Skype, phone and maybe instead of surfing the net, look at hands or rail other reg's game.

CH: What do you do when not grinding? What are your hobbies? Do you do any sports?

niceiq25: I love traveling. I have done quite a bit of traveling, but I guess I can't have enough of that even though I slowed down the pace. Loooove the mountains so I try to enjoy the nature as much as I can. I am also reading a lot on psychology and trying to understand us as humans and why we do what we do.

CH: What are your long term poker goals?

niceiq25: Get in the 500s group. :) I have gone back and forth on this goal because of a brutal variance this year, but I've gotten to a point where I feel super confident with my game, have been consistent with volume the last months, and I think it's a matter of a short term until I get in the group. This was definitely my biggest challenge in my poker career.

CH: What is the situation with online poker in Romania? Any worries about possible legislations?

niceiq25: I am not really worried. There is no legislation about it (I guess that should worry me a bit considering the last 30 countries that got shut down) but I am just the kind of positive person who doesn't really worry about something that's out of my control.

CH: How many tables do you usually play at once?

niceiq25: I play 3 vs regs all the time and it can go up to 5-6 vs fish.