Interview with Stevan "random_chu" Chew

Charles Hawk: Congrats on getting into the $100s division. Was it hard? How long did it take warring regs? How many games did you play in total? What are your combined results from that warring?

random_chu: yeah it was difficult, but i don't think there was ever a moment where i thought it wasn't achievable. i was beating the regs at a decent winrate early, so from there i just considered it to be a matter of volume. it did take me a while though, as i was only able to play for a few hours each day after my MTT sessions, which were in off peak times. i was grinding long MTT sessions during SCOOP, and then again while the WSOP was on. i ended up playing 4k games, and this took me probably 6 months. i mean, i could have pumped out the games a lot quicker if i wanted to, but the tournament action was so juicy, i just couldn't turn down all that EV yo!

random_chu: i'm such a pt4 fish. i had thought i had hit the 4k game mark, and my EV roi was something like 3%. then, once i tried to submit a report, i realised that i had a heap of fish games in the sample, and i had another 700 games to go! once WSOP finished, i just ended up cramming the volume in, often 4 tabling vs two different regs at once. i remember dropping like 1200 in EV in my very last session.

random_chu: i was kinda tilted that my EV dropped that much over such a short period of games, but then again i wasn't really phased. My goal was to get let in to the 100s group, and i achieved that goal. i think my actual ROI would be higher than what i put out in the report, but whatever. variance.

Charles Hawk: Do you plan to transition completely to hypers anytime time soon? If not, do you think it will ever happen? How did you come up with the idea to become a husng hyper reg? As I know you are a very successful mtt player...

random_chu: I do plan to climb the husng ranks, but i don't know if i'll ever really fully transition. i just have that sickness. i love inflicting that pain on myself that only mtt regs will know. the main reason i started playing husngs in the first place, is that a few friends of mine who i know through mtts started in poker with husngs, and it gave them very good fundamentals. so in an effort to increase my poker skillset, i decided to learn the game. the biggest payjump in an mtt is when you get heads up, so why not learn how to play? mtt regs are notoriously bad at heads up, so i thought it'd be a good area to improve upon.

random_chu: if it gets to the stage where i'm making similar amounts of EV in putting in tournament sessions vs husng sessions, i can see myself transitioning. there's a lot less stress involved in playing hu hypers compared to tournaments. the mtt swings are insane, and it can really eat away at your confidence. i've gone through 200k swings a couple of times, and it really knocks you about. husng regs think hypers are high variance, but try going through 18 month losing streaks!

Charles Hawk: Ya, I guess that's something that hu hyper regs cannot imagine, or if they can, it would only be theoretical imagination. Best hyper players rarely have 1 losing month per year. As an example, when I talked to IkSecret (300 reg), he told me that in 5 years he had only 1 losing month, and Helio Neves told me that he had 4 since he started playing husngs.

Charles Hawk: So when you hear something like that it seems that hypers are one of the safest games around.

random_chu: safe, sure, but it's hard to tell how long these edges will last. I feel MTTs will always be beatable, whereas i think that the gap between the best and worst regs in husngs is always diminishing

Charles Hawk: Did you play husng hypers before trying to take it seriously? Did you beat some levels before trying to even study it?

random_chu: I think i might have dabbled in the games to test the waters, but it would have been a really low amount of games. Once i decided i wanted to learn the games, i took it seriously from day 1. I'm lucky enough to know a number of guys from higher divisions who were able to give me some early guidance, and have me beating the 60s from the start.

Charles Hawk: Besides poker you are also studying law?

random_chu: you sure do your homework. Yeah, i'm doing a double degree of law and commerce with an accounting major. i had already finished my commerce degree before finding poker, and since then, well... my studies have somewhat dwindled.

random_chu: i've deferred a couple of times, and now i'm just picking off a subject here and there until they tell me to stop coming in.

random_chu: i'm final year of law at the moment, so if i were to go back full time i'd have it done within the year... but that's just too boring. i don't want to be a lawyer, or join the workforce, so completing my degree in a timely fashion is of no real importance to me.

Charles Hawk: So you have only one subject this year? How many hrs per week does it take you, together with studying?

random_chu: like none. i've been really half assed about it. i rarely go to class, and i'll just watch the lectures online. then, come exam time, i cram for about a week and hope for the best.

random_chu: my grades aren't great, but P's get degrees yo.

Charles Hawk: How long have you been playing poker?

random_chu: i think i started playing around 2009. i started with the 180 man sngs, and ran up a roll. from there i got in to mtts and have been losing flips ever since.

Charles Hawk: :D What are your biggest scores in mtts?

random_chu: oh god, it's pathetic. i've had a couple of 40k scores online, the most recent being in the sunday warmup in january. as for live, i've had two for around 35k, final tabling an ANZPT event in 2011, and also 36th in the aussie millions main in 2013.

random_chu: it's frustrating though, because i was backing a few mid and hs mtters, who managed to hit higher scores than me while i was backing them. one of my horses, who i taught how to play mtts, managed to ft the warmup 3 times, including a win! i'm eternally jealous.

Charles Hawk: How many hrs do you think you'll be putting into your husng hyper grind since you are in the 100s division now? As I understand it's hard to get into the division if you are not a full-time husng hyper grinder.

random_chu: well, i've been in for like a week, so i'm still finding my rythym. but considering i've been getting up at 1-3am local time to start MTT sessions, i've usually got a big window in the afternoon to play. it just means that i don't sleep.

random_chu: sleep is for those people who are broke - 50 cent.

Charles Hawk: :)

Charles Hawk: What do you want to achieve in poker? Do you want to be one of the best pros in the world and play poker for as long as possible, or is it just a liferoll builder for some next step like business or investments?

random_chu: yeah, i'd like to get in to business at some stage. i really despise the idea of having to get a job after poker, so ideally i'd like to build an empire from entrepreneurial ventures. with that said, i'm also very competitive and naturally strive to be the best poker player i can be. i'm not sure what the future holds for me in regards to poker... i think a lot of it depends on the US market, and a possible increase in traffic from asian nations. Without these, there are probably better spots in business than in poker.

random_chu: but i try to improve every day. maybe one day i'll make it. a wise man once told me that we're all going to make it. i hope he's right.

Charles Hawk: Tell me about your enviroment growing up. Have you been a competetive person since you can remember?

random_chu: i think i've always been pretty competitive. i used to be interested in a lot of strategy games when i was a kid. my friends and i would play games vs each other, and there'd always be that little bit of tension in the air, haha. but it was all good fun.

random_chu: my home life was pretty normal. i grew up in a nice australian family. we put shrimps on the barbie. we rode kangaroos to school. pretty standard.

Charles Hawk: :DDDDD

Charles Hawk: Have you read Dan Colman's statement in 2p2?

random_chu: yeah i did. I know Dan, and i've got a lot of love for the guy. i personally would have probably hammed it up for the media, but i don't think the way he acted was that big of a deal, really. people just need to respect how he wants to live his life. the dude is infinitely wiser than any of the journalists who have taken swipes at him, so in that respect i found all the backlash a little annoying.

Charles Hawk: Joe Hachem told a pokernews reporter that he didnt buy Dan Colman's approach. As I understood he thinks that Dan Colman may be just "acting" nad not sincere about it. Do you think that could be the case?

random_chu: that's news to me. i respect joe, and what he's done for poker in australia, but i doubt joe has any insight to dan's thoughts or motives.

Charles Hawk: I hope i'm not messing the facts up. I heard it here when it was posted: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-45FGwZzTo

random_chu: i haven't seen the interview so not sure.

Charles Hawk: Is it harder to get frustrated in mtts than in hu hypers? Is that frustration different?

random_chu: It's a bit different i think. i think it's a bit more emotionally taxing with mtts. in hu hypers, you know you're going to make money. you're playing fish, and you have an edge. sure, you might have a losing day, a losing week or a losing month. but you know that it's just variance, and you're running bad. with mtt's, there's always that doubt that you're making mistakes, the game has past you by, that you're not a winner in the games anymore. losing months are common, and many high stakes grinders have had losing years. i don't know how i would have coped with the downswings without the the support group i have around me. i'm lucky enough to be friends with a heap of world class poker players, so i've got plenty of people i can talk hands with, review hh's and talk theory. they keep me confident and allow me to play my A game. without them though, i don't know if i would be able to be as mentally resilient.

random_chu: some times all it takes is one flip to determine whether or not you're going to be a big winner in mtts. people really don't understand how much variance there is in mtts. there's a really interesting post that i recommend to everyone thinking about becoming an mtt professional - http://www.nsdpoker.com/2011/01/mtt-pros/

Charles Hawk: Could you tell us something about your strengths and weaknesses?

random_chu: I think my main strength in husngs is my strong understanding of poker theory. i've done a lot of work in MTTs and cash games on range construction, balancing ranges, post flop play etc. in the 4k sample i played vs the 100s group, i noticed that there were a number of players who were just making some theoretical mistakes. although they played fine, and would be winners in the game, there were a few leaks which stood out really obviously to me. needless to say i'm sure, being new to husngs, that i also have plenty of leaks, but i'm improving more with every session.

random_chu: i'm not sure about weaknesses, you'd probably have to ask my opponents! i guess at the moment it's probably just grind ethic. i really enjoyed the reg wars, and battling other regs. i feel that now, being accepted in to the division, i'm auto piloting a lot more vs fish, and i'm not really playing that well. it's a big adjustment to go from playing regs to fish, because they do so much stupid stuff and it's hard to understand what they're doing when they really don't know themselves.

Charles Hawk: Do you ever tilt?

random_chu: Sure. but i think i'd probably manage it better than the average reg. that was my mindset in mtt's, and it helped me greatly. the way i'd think about things, when i copped a really nasty beat, was that i identified the situation, and told myself that i was going to cope with this situation better than my opponents would. if i did that, it would give me an edge, and would make me money. once i adopted this mindset, i really began to conquer it. now, i'd like to think i play my A game most of the time I play, and my B game is really solid. I don't think i've sunk to my C game for quite some time, and i hope to keep it that way.

--

If you are interested in MTT coaching, please contact Stevan.(Twitter: @random_chu)