Interview with Mateusz “uczniak” Zbikowski
Charles Hawk: When have you started grinding spins? What have you grinded before?
Mateusz “uczniak” Zbikowski: I moved to spins as my main game in April 2015; before that I used to grind MTT (2011-2015) and started my career with cash games (2007-2011).
Charles Hawk: How much time to you spend to work off-tables? How do you learn (a theory)? Which tools do you use?
Mateusz “uczniak” Zbikowski: I work off the tables a lot, especially in the last few months, hence lower volume. I like to have solid GTO foundations as my default strategy and go from there when it comes to adjusting to exploitable tendencies. As a result the main tool I use is PioSolver, which I believe is ahead of the pack among existing GTO calculation software.
Charles Hawk: What have you learned not from theory but from practice?
Mateusz “uczniak” Zbikowski: Some strategies work in practice although they really "shouldn't", but to me the most important thing you can only understand from practice is the amount of variance in these games. Simulations won't make you prepared for the cold deck and the swings.
Charles Hawk: Is it tougher competition-wise month by month?
Mateusz “uczniak” Zbikowski: It generally is, but January was a nice surprise after many SNE grinders quit or took long holidays.
Charles Hawk: Do you use SPIN hud by husng.com? Which stats are the most useful to get-the-idea about your opponents fast/in one glance (while multitabling)?
Mateusz “uczniak” Zbikowski: Yes, I use this one; mostly because I am used to HM2. I like to look at preflop stats 3-handed - minr/shove/limp % by stack size and I know a lot about a player. More detailed stats don't converge fast enough either way.
Charles Hawk: Describe your ordinary day? What are your grinding routines?
Mateusz “uczniak” Zbikowski: I start playing when my daughter is asleep so I mainly grind nights. I start at around 21-22 and play till 2-3 most days. I use the time when she is in nursery to work off the tables, coach others, etc.
Charles Hawk: How many tables do you play at once?
Mateusz “uczniak” Zbikowski: I used to play 3-4, but I cut it down to 2 to concentrate on quality.
Charles Hawk: Do you tilt? What the best advices you can give to control emotions while grinding? What do you do to try to stay as sharp as possible and avoid autopiloting?
Mateusz “uczniak” Zbikowski: I don't monkey tilt; I can be put off my A-game but I try to realize it is happening and counteract or step away when I see I am autopiloting too much. I dont have a magic recipe though.
Charles Hawk: Do you play any differently 2x multipliers in comparison with 4x, 6x and 10x? If yes, how?
Mateusz “uczniak” Zbikowski: An average opponent plays tighter and bluffs very little in high multipliers so I will call much tighter and avoid flips, as continuing a high multiplier has more value than spinning a new one (on average lower). In 2x I will happily take a flip to maximize hourly.
Charles Hawk: Tell me about hu matches in SPINS. As I understand bigger skill is needed in relation with HUSNG hypers since they last longer. Is it true? How fast do you usually play hus in SPINS? Do you get "bored" or "unconscious" because of longer hu matches in Spins?
Mateusz “uczniak” Zbikowski: I would disagree, in practice you very rarely play with more than 25bb effective and often start the match much more shallow. I use the limping strategy as I believe it is the best way to go, and also a typical opponent will play badly against it. My flop strategies have changed and I am quite passive lately. I dont get bored during HU, no:)