I got acquainted with poker a long time ago, as I have been working in a casino for 15 years, but I started playing club poker quite recently. I started, of course, with the Internet, because you can always find partners there.
How did you get to know poker? Tell us about your development as a player.
I got acquainted with poker a long time ago, as I have been working in a casino for 15 years, but I started playing club poker quite recently. I started, of course, with the Internet, because you can always find partners there. In Ukraine, poker as a sport is just developing, thanks to the efforts of the team led by Gary Bowman, which hosts excellent tournaments, makes tremendous efforts to popularize poker so that poker really becomes a sport.
What major tournaments have you participated in?
I have very little experience of participating in tournaments. Until recently, I did not know that tournaments were held in Ukraine, I thought that everyone played only on the Internet, and when I found out that Gary Bowman tournaments were held, which were attended by a lot of players not only from Ukraine, but also from Russia, Belarus, Moldova , Georgia, of course, immediately registered and participated in his first tournament in Slavsk, and took third place there, getting to the main tournament via satellite.
Did you expect to win the Ukrainian Open Sports Poker Championship in Sevastopol?
Of course, I knew that I was the one to win. This is approximately what each tournament participant thinks about himself.
Were you stronger / more skillful than your opponents, or did luck contribute to your victory?
It cannot be said so unequivocally that I play better or stronger than other participants, because the best of the best come to tournaments Even the fact that a person gets to the final table is a high level indicator. There were several situations when it seemed that the tournament was over for me. but mostly I was confident of victory.
There is an element of luck in poker, but it is it that makes the competition of athletes intense and interesting. What is the percentage of a player's skill to luck in poker?
As in any sport, the element of luck is present in the game, but it seems to me that the psycho-emotional component of the athlete is no less important. And as for luck in tournaments, I think - 80/20.
Do you agree with the statement of Professor Charles Nasson: "Poker teaches people to think with their own head, but makes them smarter"?
More cunning, I think not, but more flexible, diplomatic for sure.
In textbooks on probability theory, poker is often used as a model for many real-life situations. Have you studied the theory of probability for successful poker?
Already at school I was interested in the theory of probability, since everyone was playing heads and tails, guessing even and odd on the numbers of bills, cards - all this was present in my school, so even then I tried to get a scientific advantage.
What advice do you have for new players?
Do not be afraid to lose, draw conclusions from mistakes and, of course, play. In the life of a real player, there can be not only ups, but also downs, but whoever did not fall did not rise.
Author: Elena Kainskaya
Also read: Report on the first stage of the Open Championship of Ukraine in Sports Poker
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