Interview with Hampus “Sverigelottn” Persson
Pro for 2-3 years
Current limits: $200-$300 (turbos, regular speeds)
Poker goals: get better, play more live
Non-poker goals: start a business few years from now
Hobbies: driving motocross, computer games
Breakfast of choice: Egg and bacon (“As long as I have snus and coffee it doesn't matter”)
Charles Hawk: Tell me about your journey of improvement/climbing up the limits till now.
Hampus “Sverigelottn” Persson: I started playing around in 2010 as a minor on different poker sites. I started on Stars the day i turned 18. I was playing a lot of 18 man sngs, always had my entire roll regged in sngs. The more money I had the more tables I would open. But after a disconnect and losing my roll I swapped over to try out husngs and was hooked on them ever since.
I got my way up to 30s pretty quickly and I got myself a stake and a coach. I eventually met Jakezesnake, which later turned out to be the biggest impact on my poker carrier. The journey from there on just came natural. The moment I had more money than I needed for the current stake I just moved up.
Charles Hawk: How has the game changed from the days you remember?
Hampus “Sverigelottn” Persson: There is less action now. The games are harder, people are getting better.
Charles Hawk: What can we expect from the future in the short run (1-2 years) and long run (5 years)?
Hampus “Sverigelottn” Persson: I guess that comes down entirely to what happens with poker: will Spin & Go stay as popular? Will the fish get sick of the quick format and go for the slower? You can't really know for sure. I think that as Amaya promotes poker in new ways the action will stay the same, slightly worse or maybe even better.
Charles Hawk: Have you tried to transition to hypers when they were introduced? If yes, why are you still a turbo reg? If not, why?
Hampus “Sverigelottn” Persson: I just remember having this big love for the turbo format. I really enjoyed playing turbos, I liked having the room to do plays. The hyper format was something I wasn't really sure how to play so instead of trying to swap format I just decided I wanted to become really good in turbos.
I would rather be very good in one format than ok in two formats.
Charles Hawk: Have you tried spin and gos? Seems that PS will introduce 100s soon.
Hampus “Sverigelottn” Persson: Yea I gave them a go. I liked the fact that you can get instant action. I just don't see myself playing them for a living due to variance.
Charles Hawk: What are the main advantages to being a turbo and regular speed reg compared with hypers and spins regs?
Hampus “Sverigelottn” Persson: The variance is less crazy compared to all forms of hypers. Grinding turbos isn't as stressful as Spin & Gos and hypers. You can take more time, and each game lasts longer.
Charles Hawk: Who makes more money (when limits are same): good hyper turbo or good turbo/regspeed reg? How big is the difference?
Hampus “Sverigelottn” Persson: Well as far as same limits go it's without doubt the hyper reg. But it can't be compared because a 300 hyper reg would have an easier time in 300 turbos than a 300 turbo player would have in 300 hypers.
I think that the average 300 hyper reg makes more than the best 300 turbo reg, but the better 300 turbo regs are making more than the worst 300 hyper regs - but I have no facts to back it up.
Charles Hawk: When and how did you meet with Jakezesnake? What was your first impression of him?
Hampus “Sverigelottn” Persson: I met him sometime around 2012 I think. We played some 30s and became friends. I don't remember my first impression. I just remember him being good.
Charles Hawk: How has he influenced you? What have you learned most from him?
Hampus “Sverigelottn” Persson: Jake is a very good and smart player. He helped me put in the missing pieces of my game. He taught me a lot about ranges, how to be balanced and how to think about villains ranges, among a lot of other things.
Think about it like this: There are 5 doors in front of you, but you have absolutely no idea which one to walk through. Now imagine having someone who's been there already, who can say which door is the correct one. So instead of trying out all of them you already know which door to pick. It speeds up the whole process of learning.
Charles Hawk: How did you decide to live together in a grinding house? What are the advantages of living together with a bunch of good poker friends? What are the disadvantages?
Hampus “Sverigelottn” Persson: Well last year I went to Thailand to live with dr.hibbert55 and a few months after that Jake also came to live with us. Both me and Jake wanted to go home for X-mas so we decided, why not rent a house in Sweden? And that's where we are now.
The advantages is that you motivate each other to grind. Just having the luxury to speak theory 24/7 is just the best that you can do for improving. The disadvantages are that grinders are in general very lazy when it comes to stuff other than grinding, so our house isn't exactly clean.
Charles Hawk: Do you ever tilt? What are your best ways to deal with tilt or frustration? What is the biggest downswing you have ever had in your current limits?
Hampus “Sverigelottn” Persson: I do tilt but not the whole spew-my-stack-away thing. I keep telling myself that tilting is a choice, that's it's all in my head. Once I can't control my emotions anymore, that's when I quit. 12k is my biggest downswing on these limits (200-300).
Charles Hawk: How many losing months have you had, let's say, in last 3 years (husngs only)?
Hampus “Sverigelottn” Persson: Two.
Charles Hawk: What is your grinding routine? Do you have any policy about taking days off, or some other work-ethic rules which you could share with our readers?
Hampus “Sverigelottn” Persson: Well I wake up, I make coffee, I grind a session, then I make breakfast.
After breakfast I play Heartstone (Heroes of Warcraft), I spend time with my dog Freja, do shopping, watch TV series, then maybe do one more session. My sleep schedule always differs. Sometimes I go to bed at 2 pm, sometimes 8 am.
I try to play 6 days a week, but if I want to take a day off, I do so. The only important thing is that you shouldn't grind because you have to. Grind because you want to.
(Freja)
Charles Hawk: If you could work whatever you would like, what would you choose to do (besides poker)?
Hampus “Sverigelottn” Persson: If I could work with whatever I want it would either be a fighter pilot or just running my own business of choice.