Author name: SM

First of all, introduce yourself to our community and tell us a little about yourself: what is your name, how old are you, where are you from, what do you like to do in your free time? I am Mindaugas. I am 26 years old. I live in Telšiai. Most of my free time is taken up with studies, active activities – working out at the gym, cycling, being with my family and friends. How did you discover poker and start playing professionally? I learned about poker from a friend about 4 years ago. Before that, I hadn’t played it online at all. Although I didn’t get off to a good start, I didn’t want to give up because of my lack of knowledge about poker. I started to take a lot of interest, read books and learn how to play. I liked the “free time” nature of the job, which was always a priority for me, so it became my main activity. How did you discover the Spin & Go format, and how long have you been playing spins? What stakes are you currently playing at? I discovered Spin & Gos on the Pokerstars platform as soon as they came out, and I’ve been learning to play the format ever since. I’m currently settled at the 100s stakes. Tell us about your introduction to the SMStaking.com coaches and becoming a member. What are your impressions, how has your game improved, what have you learnt? I was one of Erikas’ first students before SMStaking.com was even founded. There were only 5 people in our group and now there are 10 times more. My impressions are very good, I got all the information, advice and motivation I needed. All this helped me to improve my game and to go up in stakes. How have the population trends changed compared to the first year and now: would you be interested in telling us separately about the changes in the population of casual and regular players? Has the competition only increased recently, i.e. the number of regs in relation to the leisure players? Certainly, the number of regular players has definitely increased over the years. There is now a lot of information available on the internet for everyone, a lot of stake/coach teams and this is really making itself felt. The number of regular and casual players is changing the higher stakes you play. But it also depends on what time you play… whether it’s night/day or weekend or holidays. If you analyse everything and choose the best time you can really have a good hourly rate. How long have you been in the 100s? What is the situation now at these stakes, what percentage of casual players do you see in the playerpool there? I’ve been playing 100s for about 2 months now, as I said it depends on when you start your session. But in general, it is safe to say that the reg population there is around 60% or even more. What does a typical “working day” look like for you? Do you have any routine/habits to keep your poker day productive and efficient? I set my schedule at least 2 weeks in advance. For example, at the moment my grind schedule looks like this: 2:30 AM Alarm sounds. Breakfast and shower. 3:00-13:00 Grind. I have a short break every 1h during the grind and a longer one for a meal. 14:00 Gym 15:30-19:00 Free time 20:00 I’m mostly asleep Tell us about your strengths – how are you better than the field? I work with psychology, I have a tight schedule so I can stay focused for long periods of time when making decisions. One of my strongest spots is playing with recreational players, trying to squeeze every penny I can. I also don’t forget working with the regs, studying their game. Tell us about your main weaknesses and leaks and where you can improve? Is there much room for improvement at high stakes? There is always room for improvement in poker, trends change very quickly, so you have to keep yourself busy and analyse your own game as well as others. What do you think about the future of Spin & Go games and online poker in general? How much longer can Spin & Go games make a good livelihood? I think Spin & Gos will have a long and happy life. Mindaugas’ graph: