“Poker Coach Is A Certain Psychologist”. Interview With Dmitry Hammerhead

On the site gamblingread.Com continues a series of the school "academy of poker". Today, our interlocutor became dmitry hammerhead, who has many years of experience in learning people from scratch and "to result".

Visited 20 different offline series in different parts of the world as ambassador "poker academy". Has 3 higher education (legal and banking).

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– good afternoon, dmitry! Than poker initially intereted you? Other card games tried? If so, why they "came" worse than poker?

– in 2009, after 1 courses, uni wanted to find any opportunity to income to combine earnings with learning. Month or two wool internet and stumbled upon poker. Skeptically reacted, but registered, received free money and began to play. I remember, brought the first $ 100 and only then i was convinced that everything honestly. And so i can not say that i was fond of cards – in school years sometimes played with friends in a fool and a thousand, that’s all. Never thought that in the future i would spend so much time on the card game, but poker is, though the card, but the game skill and not gambling.

– you have a rather unusual hobby – vinyl collecting. You are a fan of the "warm lamp" sound, or there is another reason? Do you listen to the plates that collect?

– yes, once i was looking for one song on youtube and found a video where it was reproduced on the vinyl player. And even on this video was a huge difference of sound quality from the fact that with normal playback. After that i bought myself a player and started collecting plates. Of course, i listen to them too. Although one plate withstands approximately 100-120 wires, but this is not the end of the world. And so most pleasant person for the ear of a person, many tracks are revealed on vinyl in a special. After all, it it still analog playback, and not digital, so losses as less. I recommend to every)

– in addition to poker, you were engaged in rates, even for some time were the head of the "academy of rates". Why decided to change the scope of activity?

– i have always been close to me, because since childhood i loved watching sports events. Well, to watch it was interesting, i started to put. Studied different strategies created his. But in order to have a good stable income in the rates, you need to have a very large start bankroll. I’m not talking about luck now – waiting in the rates of 3-5% with turnover can be done if thely serious engage. Received a proposal to head the project, this topic was interesting to me, so the began to cooperate.But still poker is a more sport, so i decided to stay on poker, but to put pure for fun (for the sake of the sake, not serious. – approx.Red.).

– what do you think the rates are boring than poker? Engaged in sport forecasts, it is easier to achieve a certain "ceiling"?

– bets – more tedious occupation, if we consider income from this activity. Since it is not easy to put one match, take a beer and earn for 2 hours of rest. Waiting in the rates are small, so the prostation of a huge amount of bets to fill the distance, study and search for the most profitable coefficients in various offices to your event. And twinkling of statistics and information. At one moment i’m tired of. In poker, more interesting moments, you play against living people)

– how did you start to study poker? Read books, passed courses, engaged with coaches? What was the most effective?

Trainer dmitry hammerhead

– i am a self-taught, because in 2009, when started my career in poker, the information was extreme small and it was necessary to come to all. Years left for the elimination of some fundamental mistakes, so i even whave a little envy to students who for 4-5 months almost from scratch can learn to play good poker.

– you have three higher education. It helped the development of poker career? What academic disciplines, in addition to mathematics, can come in handy?

– it im impossible to say that jurisprudence and banking – related to poker discipline, but poker is a business with a long-term perspective, as i usually tell students, and in any business knowledge of finance is necessary, here were useful in poker. Plus heaviness, stress resistance and calm – those qualities that are necessarily inherent in any lawyer are very valuable and in poker. During the training, the managed to develop them, and they useful) well, if we talk about academic disciplines, then these are finance and mathematics.

– you started with hu sng (one-one tournament). What attracted this discipline? Many players say that one in this poker format does not survive. You opinion?

– hu sng discipline attracted the fact that this is the real sports match. You play against one member, and wins the one will take all the chips from the opponent. There are psychology, tactics, pressure on the opponent, adjustment under his player of the game, search and attack on weak points. Oh, as i remember – already the spirit captures. Gorgeous discipline was. True, then the sport has become cartels **, play only with the fishes ***, and therafore it was very difflicult for one one, and the cartels could not create. Then bots came to this discipline, and it became completely uninteresting, the discipline died, i switched to mtt.

* poker player, regularly leaving his "worker" to a stable plus
** the team that consists of the best regular regulars of the limit
*** weak poker player

– why decided to go to mtt (multi-team tournaments)? Whether expections were justified? What was the most difficult when changing the discipline?

– i always play poker, included broadcasts on various sports channels and watched various offline tournaments. And the dream was played in one of them, get a trophy. To do this, it was necessary to learn to play mtt, so after the death of hu sng i was not particularly upset, because mtt is the most promising poker discipline. There are always weak players on any limits, you can visit a variety of offline-series, having wondered for cheap through the satellites online.

Plus mtt is still sport, there are specific places, you can become a champion, win a trophy. All this attracts, of course. Of the minuses, it was difficult to get to the fact that the mtt needs a large distance and pros -omous days will be only 20-25%, but these days you need to win as much as possible, well, and in minuses – to lose as little as possible)))

– what contributions you started roll? What arely now? The biggest skid offline and online?

– i started rolling from free tournaments and tournaments to $ 1. After the first winnings of $ 500 began to raise the limits and treat the poker seriously. Online for me there was always important stability, the maximum possible in mtt, so i played tournaments with a small number of people, most often up to 1000 people. The largest win – $ 12,000. Offline for me is a vacation from a stency at a computer, the ability to travel and open new countries, the opportunity to meet with students live. Earnings – no, because on offline it is very difficult to play a representative distance to think about earning. The biggest winnings in theline – $ 7500 at one of the ept stages in sochi.

Disaster of the victorious turnament

– how did you come to understand that poker can be a way of constant income? Why decided to work as a poker trainer?

– after the first drift of $ 500, i realized that in this area you can have income. And went, went) after my first good winnings, friends became intereted in what i do, where did the money from the student come from) to learn about what i earn poker, began to ask, to teach them. I liked it, especially when several people really started playing plus. I realized that i could train.

– how to get to the "academy of poker"? Coaching activities for you – the main type of earnings at the moment?

– at one of the offline tournaments in minsk heard the player who was sitting at the table, what a coach in the "academy of poker" needed. I just wanted to diversify finances and have official work, so i left the summary – and now as 8 years … Coaching is one of the types of earnings.

– did not change your attitude to the poker since the start of the coach? What is for you game first – earnings or entertainment?

– of course, considering that i have been playing poker for more than 10 years and train more than 8 years, i have no such youth smelled towards poker. What i have not seen here) but than good mtt is that there are always challenges here. I want to become a world champion, win the ept stage – and t.D., and t.P. Well, of course, earnings, the financial party is now in the first place.

– your coaching experience – 8 years. How have the game and approach to learning changed?

– poker trends are changing regularly. At the beginning of my poker career there were very little poker software, so many optimal concepts had to come to to. Now the choice of tools is huge, the game has become different. In 2014, for example, i gave a much more accurate charts of starting hands (tables that demonstrate playing spectra of hands and also indicate how to act with these hands. – approx.Red.) students than now. I would say every year you need to revise the approach to the trends of the polyana, and add various tools to the game.

– how demanding modern poker to individual qualities of man? Whether the training was useless? What was the reason?

– it happens thaat a person has too high expections and he thinks that poker is a magic tablet for his carefree life. Play will be 1 hour a week and earn 5-digit amounts in dollars, because i came to dmitry with a great desire to study. Then the person understands that in poker you need to learn a lot of everything, to play the distance, to withstand competition and swells.

Such examples were. Theraefore, at the first lesson, i am now saying all this so that there are no questions and misunderstandings. And so, of course, protection, stress resistance and attentiveness are important in poker. But these qualities can be developed, there would be a desire. I had very scattered disciples, but if you put a goal and follow it – everything will turn out.

– which software is used in the process of preparing students? What programs do you use for training?

– without software, it is almost unrealistic to prepare a successful pokerist. I apply in work and teach people to use holdem manager3 / hand2note, flopzilla, icmizer3 / hrc. This is a basic set, learn to apply which should each. If a person plays medium / high limits, then, of course, work with solvers (simple preflop, simple postflop).

– how much time in training is theory and how much practice? Howl long do you need to train to become a professional from scratch? How much it will cost?

– all learning is a mixture of theory and practice. The course of study from scratch is designed for 4-5 monhs of dense work, 20 individual classes. Initially, more theory, then more practice. As a result, a person puts poker thinking and plays his limits with confidence. And if you play the distance – it plus)

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– online a lot of information for newbies, you can also watch educational channels on youtube. Why do you need a teacher?

– there is a lot of information on the internet – yes, but it is unstructured and quickly becomes. After all, i already said that the tendencies in poker change very quickly. The main problem of most students – they look a lot of different videos on poker themes, but a real porridge is going on in the head. After all, there is no ideal strategy, a person begins to listen to one, then the other, then the third, and some concepts contradict each other.

Also, watching the video on the internet, it im impossible to appreciate the game from. It happens, theory is clear, and when of the student, then a huge number of errors, which a huge number of errors, which a person does not even notich, although theoretcally, he is not bad. Theraefore, the coach is a personal mentor who will not only give theory, but also will completely discern the game and will indicate for errors – you can say, for the handle will lead to success. There is no such online.

– how to choose a teacher? That in the service provider of the coach is the most important?

– there must be preliminary communication so that the coach and the student meet, the student told about expected and received answers to his questions. Such in the "academy" ispracticed, t.To. There must be synergy, then everything will turn out. It happens, the coach does not fit the student, it happens – on the contrary. Why spend the time of everyone, it is better to immediately talk and find out everything. Plus, a trainer – for example, i usually have a lot of different videos in youtube, on the basis of which you can pre-evaluate the submission, maner of communication and other qualities of the coach to choose the most suitable for yourself.

In the service list, the experience of the coach, the cases of his successful disciples are important, well, so that coach itself has achieved something in poker. Indition, the poker coach is a necessarily a good psychologist.

– is there a threshold of entry into the academy? What limits consider acceptable to start individual training?

– no threshold, you can start with the most minimal. The main thing is that a person has a bankroll on tournaments at least for $ 1 and can start. After all, if you put the game and start switching a good distance, then literally for 4-5 monhs, he will be able to play tournaments $ 10-15, if there is a bankroll, again. But, if a person can only play free tournaments – all the same, individual training is not suitable.

– do classes help their own skill? Did you know something new from the student?

– help to keep in a tone, t.To. In order to explain some new concept of the student, you need to understand it thoroughly, coaching is obliged to. But if i just played, then i would have postponed the study of this concept to a later date) the students help to look at poker on the other side, come with another vision of the game, often not quite right, but if the student’s thoughts are configured, then you can build and some new concept. This sometimes happened.

– name the most common poker beginnings mistakes.

– tilt: a person breaks off after several unsuccessful games and begins to play not in bankroll or make stupid mistakes. So that this is not, we carry out individual classes on poker psychology. Also very often hurts a hurry: a person went on a couple of classes and went to play the most expensive tournaments, considering himself a god of poker. The rest of the errors are already technical: non-optimal sizes of preflop / post-thief rates, icm misunderstanding, too accurate game in the late stage of the tournament and t.P.

– poker is alive or gradually dies? How much he still left? 🙂

– i think poker will still live for a long time, t.To. More and more people learn about this game, and the attitude to it changes. If it seemed to many before, they only play ludormans, and the attitude was purely negative, now many have familiar who earn poker and the "pokerist" profession is already quite different. Especially since the new generation of people who are interested in this game. Interesting both live and online. Therefore, you should not worry, the poker will live for decades)

– what would wish novice pokerists?

– do not loud, treat the poker as a business with a long-term perspective. First put the game, but only then think about earnings. Well, be sure to stay, do not stop in development!

Thank you for your attention and interesting answers!

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