We sit within the Imperial Ballroom of the Atlantis Resort where three people from two final tables will win greater than 1,000,000 dollars later tonight. That is the peak, the very pinnacle of what any poker player can possibly wish for, and anyone here can congratulate themselves on belonging within the top percentile in their profession or recreational pursuit.
But it can be crucial to not get too over excited. Poker is a game that involves money -- a large number of it -- and it involves emotion, human emotion. There's a lifestyle befitting a film star for its most successful exponents, but there are many pitfalls that need to be navigated along the way.
The Team PokerStars Pro Ville Wahlbeck is without doubt one of the elite players in world poker, both online and stale. He plays the very highest games on PokerStars (I'm talking the $1,000-2,000 draw games, when they're running) and just about everything below that. He has run very, very popular -- take a look at Wahlbeck's results on the 2009 World Series of Poker -- and he has endured massive downswings. He knows the highs and the lows but, unusually, doesn't mind talking about them.
We caught up with Wahlbeck for one of the crucial candid interviews you're going to get from a top-level professional player. It started as a talk about his work/life balance, about how he manages to organize his life to house both poker and non-poker pursuits. But right from the first actual moment, when he said, "I'LL BE terrible at this. I'VE no work/life balance," it was clear this was moving into another direction.
PokerStars Blog: What's a standard week for you in poker?Ville Wahlbeck: A TYPICAL week? There is no such concept for me. Some weeks I DO NOT play in any respect and a few weeks I play 60 or 70 hours. But that is the extreme. On average I MIGHT say between 10 and 20.
Do you have got a routine?I would actually like to. I HAVE BEEN seeking to do this for years however it appears to be impossible for me. I WANT to stand up really early, since the games are still going when it's really early, do a little exercise, eat an even breakfast after which play maybe three hours after which have the remainder of the day without work. But unfortunately it's never worked out.
What finally ends up happening is that I decide, "OK, I'll play slightly". After which I'm still there within the next morning after 15 hours or so. After which I crash down, I HAVE NEVER eaten properly, haven't slept properly, haven't drunk enough water or done any exercise or anything. After which it just takes me a couple of days to recover from that...and then it happens sooner or later a couple of days again.
What would have to change so that you can get things straight?I have no idea. To be more organised about it. To be more clear concerning the goals and the way to do it. I DO NOT know why it's usually been an issue for me. Although I start off saying I'll play two hours, I then just say I'll play yet another hour. Then that hour goes by after which I DO NOT even placed on a limit anymore. So in general, my life must be more organised.
Did you ever have a standard job?Yes and no. I did some freelance journalism for a golf magazine. And that i was teaching kids in elementary school, as an alternative teacher. I worked pretty long periods and so they asked me to be a regular, in order that was an enormous compliment once they asked me if I'D do it more often. But that every one changed once I started winning enough money that, money-wise, it wasn't worthwhile to do anything besides play poker. So that's just about the instant I DETERMINED to show pro.
What a few bad period? Would that adjust your attitude?Well, yes, they're the moments while you do think like that you simply. never think it when you are on an upswing and winning so much. That is the moment while you do not want to switch a specific thing. For the reason that rush or the high of winning is healthier than anything. When you hit the downswing and also you do not feel comfortable to your life in general, you begin thinking that perhaps you desire to start making some changes for your schedule. But yeah, periodically I do get the sensation I should do something positive about it.
Are you married, with kids?I'm not married, but I do have two kids. I never play when I'm with them. I'VE my office space and whenever I'LL play, I AM GOING there to play. Being with kids it's just impossible, I COULD NOT focus properly. I HAVE TO be in private and mostly alone to play.
Would you recommend poker on your kids?No. Never. No less than not with the methods I'm doing it. It's too exhausting. The best way I THINK is that it is a really nice hobby. It's super fun together with your friends or as a recreational thing. But once you're doing it full time, it's mentally very exhausting. When the losing periods are going on, it's stressful, demanding. And ultimately I also think that there are way, way, way, far more professions which are more fulfilling intellectually and mentally for people, besides playing poker full time.
I've been playing over a decade, almost 12 years, and there don't seem to be very many new things happening. You do not push forward. You do not create much. I still enjoy it. I still like playing but not up to I did once I started off. For my kids, I'm definitely going to show them easy methods to play and hopefully we are going to have some fun moments together. But as a profession, I'D rather see them do something else.
In an office job, you can expect an annual promotion and a salary increase. Nevertheless it doesn't work like that during poker.Yes. It's actually the contrary. Sometimes you're actually going to be demoted. It is advisable to be playing much higher after which within the next year you should be crushed so badly it is advisable to move to a lower level. There aren't too many professions within the world, besides maybe some investor or day trader, where you'll work your ass off for a year and still finally end up being a loser. That is not a pleasant aspect of the profession.
Do you ever end up thinking, "Right, I WOULD LIKE a holiday, two weeks off"?I don't put a time period, but I definitely do have these feelings where I CANNOT even open the computer, or no less than the poker software, as it makes me already so exhausted, I'm almost physically sick. Those are typically after very long sessions, when I HAVE BEEN playing for a couple of days. I HAVE NEVER slept much, and i have been losing a variety of money, and that i need some days off. Without that, you possibly can just crash down or something.
You don't travel up to you used to.Especially since I'VE kids now. I used to travel, I'D say one third of the year. Nowadays maybe one fifth. It's quite exhausting if you end up changing time zones and spending time in airports and within the aeroplane and eating restaurant food and such things as that. So overall, the steadiness and regularity of life is in a fuzz all of the time.
What do you assert to those that are envious of you, who do not know concerning the exhaustion?It's tough. You have to be pretty as regards to a poker professional to peer how rough it might actually be. I AM NOT doing it the best way. There are tons and hundreds smarter guys than me, who're more organised of their life and professional and may be able to keep it separate. They simply play some hours and do not think poker otherwise. But for me it started off as something that I loved and has always been my passion, so whenever I play it's in my head. It's oftentimes in my head even if I DO NOT play. So the organisation, to divide things between the poker life and life typically can be brilliant.
Do you are worried about burn-out or actually having a breakdown?I'm hoping that i am smart enough to head for breaks before I AM GETTING to that time. But I WILL definitely feel the indications. There were again and again where I've felt that if I had still kept playing I MAY easily have had a breakdown. Fortunately I'VE BEEN capable of take breaks before that happened. I HAVE BEEN very exhausted, but it's important to have a break before you crash down.
How do you retain your money safe?You need to have some money management. There is a saying, a minimum of in Finland, that your bankroll is like your toolbox if you are a carpenter. Without the bankroll, you're as useless as a lumberjack without an axe. It's important to care for that. But it's a lot more easily said than done. For me, like most poker players, one of the difficult things is, in case you have lost enough, to head down in limits. If you are used to playing something higher, or much higher, it isn't really easy to begin fiddling with smaller amounts, mentally. You feel, 'Why am I playing for these peanuts, when a month ago I USED TO BE playing five times or ten times higher.' It's tough, mentally.
I play pretty big and the variance is high on those short-handed games. There is a lot of action, a large number of movement. It may be stressful sometimes. The issue with the high games is that the gaps are so big oftentimes. There's really big games and the following biggest game is ten times smaller. At lower limits there are more options, you'll play 50c-$1 no limit or $1-$2. But whenever you get higher, there are fewer and less players, so there isn't that much option.
Do you continue to get the excitement out of playing poker?Not up to I used to. I'D be lying if I said I USED TO BE as passionate as I USED TO BE after I was younger. I still adore it. I still like an excellent session and that i still like putting the hassle there. After I start playing, I'm 100 per cent focused always. It is not about that. But overall it has been a protracted decade poker wise. Mostly I'm just glad that it isn't as intensive because it was once.
When I BEGAN playing it was the absolute smartest thing that I'LL possibly imagine. My first thoughts about poker normally was that I MIGHT hope that I MAY even break even, so I'LL just keep playing and playing. It wasn't even concerning the money, it was about playing poker. Whenever I could, I just desired to play more poker. The unhappy feeling was that if I lost it, I COULD NOT play any further. So I'D has been happy simply to break even, simply to keep playing whenever. Also certainly one of my first goals in poker was the idea that if I MAY earn $50 per hour, that will be worthwhile. Then I WOULD NOT wish to do anything else.
Do you pay yourself a salary?No. I ATTEMPT TO invest the winnings after I have them so I HAVEN'T GOT all of them online or cashable. I EXPLOIT them within the sense that perhaps the investments earn me somewhat money in themselves. Once they're out, put somewhere else, it is not really easy to only cash them out and begin putting them back into the games. It gives the money security, in a way that I CANNOT lose an excessive amount of too fast.
What do you do clear of poker?I attempt to read up to possible and to perform a little sports, play golf and stuff like that. However the sad thing is that I've actually always been a gaming addict. When I AM NOT playing poker, I play something else like iPad games or PC games or whatever. It must be something. I LOCATE it very relaxing playing. I've just bought Knights of the Old Republic, it's an old Star Wars game on iPad. It's an old game but they simply converted it to iPad. After I start certainly one of them, I just must get it finished and that i just can't put it down before it's finished. But I also find it, sort of, relaxing. It fulfils the gaming or gambling addiction.
Does this mentality assist in poker?Yes it does. With that mentality it is so easy to focus, when the action is there you're so into it, like several computer game. I play computer games with the similar more or less attitude: focused and in there, just playing it. I played PC games and golf before poker. But it's in order that time consuming playing these RPG games that take 100 hours to complete.
How old were you while you first discovered poker?I played slightly once I was seven, eight or nine with my brother. My father played a little bit five card stud along with his friends, so we picked up the sport there. Mostly I USED TO BE playing once I was 16 or 17 in Highschool. We had these game nights once a month or so. But if internet poker started, then you definitely could play every day, 24 hours a day, there has been constantly a game available. That's once I feel that I really, really started. The fundamentals were there already, but whenever you start playing online, the games are so fast and there is such a lot material and such a lot of opponents, so that you can learn much faster than live. Ever since then, I've played such a lot that it's ridiculous.
Will you ever give it up?Professionally, yes. Someday when I'm older. Recreationally, I'M HOPING I keep playing until I die. I'm 37 so hopefully it's still many years away.
Here's the way you follow the entire PCA action at PokerStars Blog. The primary Event is at the Main Event page, where there's hand-by-hand coverage and latest chip counts within the panel on the top, and have pieces below. We'll be reporting with a one-hour delay because the action could also be being screened on PCA Live.
The High Roller is at the High Roller page and that's happening in real time. There is no live stream, but there'll be some good words and a few better pictures.
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