Poker Player Interviews

Mattias Andersson

Mattias Andersson finished 8th in the incredibly crowded 2004 WSOP Main Event and won $575,000.

PROFILE

    Name? Mattias Andersson

    Where are you from? From Sweden now residing in Borås close to Guthenburg.

    Age? I am 24.

    What do you do for work? I quit working in a toy store last year (June) and since then I have been doing poker for a living and I have done very well with that. Before I went to the WSOP, after winning my seat online. Now it is even easier for me because I have a bankroll and can afford to play the higher tournament buy inīs (I prefer tournaments).

    What do you like to do with your free time other than poker? I do have a lot of hobbies! One of them is miniature golf but it isn't like the American version. I also like to play other card games and I do like to play soccer with my friends. I always try to find soemthing to do because I hate to do nothing (lol). I like to go and play biliards or bowling as well! So when I don't play poker I might sit in front of the TV or PC and play some video games or watch a movie.

POKER PROFILE

    How long have you been playing poker? I have been playing poker for about 4 years since I noticed some guys in Guthenburg playing something that I thought looked a little bit odd, but I have always been so curious about new card games and I started to ask lot of questions. And since then they found out poker online I am stuck with it (not that I need to play poker, it is just something I enjoy to do but sometimes i dont play at all).

    How long have you been playing poker online? Almost since I started, a few months less than the 4 years.

    What is your favorite site? And why? My favorite sight has been Pokerpages/Pokerschool/Bugsysclub because it is the only site now that has a good structure on their tournaments. I might get involved in a new site called Finalpoker.com and I hope to make that site as good as Bugsysclub or even better. I will always play at Bugsysclub no matter what, but I am trying some other sites out right now to be able to find other games to play at the moment.

    Do you prefer playing online or brick & mortar? And why? I prefer to play live because it is much funnier but I do very well no matter if it is live or online. I have very good reading skills and I also use my intuition a lot when I play. You may call it a 6th sense, but sometimes it fails, like when Greg Raymer beat my Ak with his A10 by a runner runner straight on the final table at the WSOP.

    Anyway, he was absolutely worthy to win that tournament and I am very happy for Greg and wish him all the luck in his future career. Some players might see how lucky he got at the final table but what they don't see is his great play on the other tables when he was not on the featured table. There are a lot of things you don't see on TV!

    How many hours a week do you play? That differs a lot! When I played poker for a living the hard way, I played like 16 hours a day and that's the truth! Some people thought there was someone else playing on my account but it has always been me when I played for the leagues bugsysclub had. The money at their leagues was enough for me to be sure that I would have money for rent/food each month. I also won a lot from playing so it was worth it because it improved my game as well and I would not have been playing at the WSOP this year if I would not have choosen this way to make a living. Now I play like 10-20 hours a month or more...it differs a lot but I play when I feel like it and try to win enough for rent and food each month so I don't need to play so much.

    Where did you learn how to play? It was on the Pokerschool software but it wasn't because of their study rooms or anything, it was because I worked hard trying to understand other players: how they play and how they react under different situations to different betting, etc.! I played a lot of different styles to learn to play them all so I don't play the same way in every tournament I play. It depends on how the games develop and who I play against! I do have my own play but if I need to change gear I do it! But I have got to give pokerschool credit for my success because their software is the best and therefore I have got a chance to improve my game by play a lot of tournaments etc. I am a fast learner and I always put up very high goals for myself and I am very happy to have succeeded in reaching some of my goals already. I have new goals now and I hope to one day reach them too! No matter what happens I will stay happy for what I have achieved so far in my life! But no matter what happens you must stick your feet on the earth and if you ask me I don't like people with a huge ego.

    Have there been any books that helped you learn how to play? No because I have never read a single article on how to play, or book! I developed my game and skills by learning all by myself and I think it is the best way to do it if you believe you can do it and have a good plan how to do it. I build everything up in steps when it comes to improve on different things to finally achieve something.

    What is your favorite game? I consider myself very all-around, yesterday I won a mixed game tournament and I am now trying to improve my 7 card stud game because I have not been successful in that game before. But now I think I have learned how to play that game. So now I might try out Razz as well, so maybe you will see me play the razz event at WSOP next year (even if I think it is more luck than skill in that game). Oh my favorite game would be, if I have to pick one,...heads up no limit texas hold em but I love to play omaha hi as well (lol).

    Who is your favorite poker player? I only look up to one player and that is Desmond Portano more known as JCastle online. He finished around 40-60 something at the WSOP and we also played against each other at the WSOP one level or something before I had to move again to a new table. My favorite player that I have seen on TV would be the guy they call KAMIKAZE...he is enjoyable to watch.

    What was your biggest poker accomplishment before making the final table at the WSOP? Winning my WSOP seat, but before that it was in my first major tournament, the $500 buy in with a field of 950 players in Tunica of January this year. I finished around 60-90 after a terrible play in the end! (The reason I lost was because I was not focused on one single hand and totally got brain dead and went all in on a odd dumb bluff). That lesson got me far at the WSOP because when I ended up in a similar situation and needed a pot and decided to bluff the guy, I saved myself 5,000 in chips and that got me back into the tournament with some luck on two hands this day. (Day 2) He told me later that he would call another 5,000, he was holding A10 vs. my lower pocket pair and the flop was Q 10 X and no help on the turn and no help on river, I kept betting in to him...

    What goals do you have as a poker player? I have high goals now: hopefully to get on the tour and take home more bracelets than any other player. I know this sounds silly and it isn't because I was successful at this year's WSOP. It is because I believe in myself and always put up high goals. It motivates me and I encourage everyone to put up high goals because without goals you have less things that push you forward. Nevertheless, I don't think it would be wise to pay 10K for another WSOP seat because no matter how good you are, there is no guarantee, and I still value money like I did before the WSOP. I will buy in to tourneys with 3,000 or less in entry fees and try to keep building my way up before I can afford to pay those entry fees. Money I won from this year's WSOP is what I call "life money" and that is more important than glory. I am happy for what I have, but I don't know what I will get...

    What limits & games do you typically play? I used to play $5 and $10 dollar tournaments because I have always been a very poor guy and have always played by my first rule...not to play for more money than you can afford to lose without "killing" yourself. Now I play $50 dollar and up and I usually end up in the money so I dont need to play much to make a very easy living.

    What is your style of play? My style is unique: I play my opponents and mix my game up a bit. I try to not do silly, stupid things. Like when Mike Matusow got beat out from the WSOP, I am not saying that it was bad play, it was a great call by him, but did he really need to play that hand? When I, for example, decided to call for my inside royal straight flush draw against Frank and Gus at the featured table I valued the situation and knew that if I hit my flush and won this pot, I would with probably reach final table later on. I might not get that chance again without a coin flip, so I valued the situation and thought it was maybe my chance, and I took it. I got lucky to catch the 3 of spades on the river. It is the game and sometimes poker can be a very cruel game!

    What are your strengths as a player? I value the situation and read other players live and online! I have a great feeling for other players and after 10 minutes of play I usually have a very good feeling about everyone at the table and how they play and what they probably will do if I play like that.

    What are your weaknesses? My weakness is both a strength and a weakness: people like to reraise my often small raises, and I usually have something, and I read them well and with that knowledge I usually do the right thing (not always - like when I folded my QQ at the final 10 at the WSOP), but I had this 6th sense about me losing in the end of that hand... and I also put him on kings but he told me later he had 8īs, so we will see later on, on the ESPN show. Sometimes I missread people and there are many reasons for it: some people think better of some cards like pocket eights and therefore you put them on kings.

    Do you play poker mainly for the money, entertainment, or for the challenge? I play for all of those, but mostly for the money. That was the only reason I played for so many hours online before, but I love the game as well, so I have to say both. It would be sad to say something else (lol).

    What advice would you give to new players? There are a lot of things I could say to them! Never give up no matter how far it seems to be - if you believe in yourself that you can improve. Try to watch how other players play, and always think and try to figure out what the reason was that you did not succeed this time. Why did I lose? Try to learn from all your play and try to figure out why other players played like they did and try to find out what style suits you. One important lesson is to not be overconfident with a huge stack! I have seen so many chip leaders go dead just because of it! They think they can call other players all inīs just because they can afford to lose, but you better call when you think you have him. Sometimes I do that too, and call the other players, but most of the time when I do that, I value the situation and if you know that there will be a coin flip it might be worth the odds but don't waste a good stack away in vain. That is a very important lesson for everyone. I see lots of pros do that and it might be because they only go for the win, but you can never say that you are not going for the win, even if you don't take risks. You can always decide to play another hand and when you have a great stack you likely have a better chance to put yourself in a better position another time. You can see more hands and not have to worry about the blinds like the other players who will bet all in sooner or later in a desperate chance to double up and this is the time where you have to value your situation and decide to call or to fold. It helps to be a good reader!

    I won't say much more, but I promise that someday when I write my own poker book, I will put everything down there. I was going to do this even before the WSOP but I knew people probably would'nt buy it besides some of the players who knew me from Pokerschool and Bugsys. My game is not affected by other player because I have developed my game by myself and I believe that this is something that will help me on my way.

TOURNAMENT

    Did you buy in directly or through a satellite (if so how many times did you try to get in)? I had 3 chances on Bugsysclub and thats all! You need to win the tournament to reach the WSOP so I tried my best but in the first of these 3 tournaments I started to play late in the tournament because I got home late. The day after, I said to myself that I will go for it and do my best to reach my dream and later I was the only one at the table left with chips and one of my little dreams had become true. The second goal was to reach the final table at the WSOP and what can I say... I was not allowed to play in the third tournament because I already had a seat. By the way, these tournaments were final round tournaments so you had to qualify to enter them.

    How did you feel before the tourney started? Did you feel like you had a good chance to do well? I knew I had a very good chance to succeed because I know myself and my knowledge about the game and there were a lot of people who where rooting for me so I felt that I was not alone believing this. I was very, very focused. The reason I leave my chair and walk around when I am not in a hand is to prepare myself for another hand and I think if you sit down at the table too much you relax too much and forget to concentrate and one misjudge and you might be out, like when I got "brain dead" in Tunica this year.

    Tell me about how the tourney went? Most of the times I was about average, but I didn't put too much effort into it. I knew that no matter what I could always win with what I have and I didn't fear the blinds like most of the players. This does not mean that I don't play any hands; but I don't do stupid things because I fear the blinds are coming. But at one point in the tournament on day 2 I decided when I got down to 5k to gamble my way into the tournament. I was not feeling very well after that last hand and I went all in on a straight draw on the flop to be called by a pair of kings and with the 8 outer I hit the necessary 9 on the turn to win the pot. Later on at another table I was going to put another blind and I figured that I needed to double up NOW to get the necessary 30k plus to be able to mix my game up and do well. I did not want to double up at 7k to get only 14k again and then be dead anyway so I decided to gamble and with AJ: I moved all in and a guy on his BB calls my bet with AQ and I hit on the river a miraculous 2 outer (3 clubs on turn giving him a flush with Jc) So who says poker is only skill? Poker is absolutely not about luck but sometimes you put yourself in trouble and sometimes you might need this kind of luck. I try not to put myself in thoose positions and with 2,576 players in a tournament, sooner or later you might end up in this kind of situation there you need a miraculous card. Dan Harrington for example hit a runner runner flush against Glen Hughes' PP Aces.

    Tell me in detail about some of the key hands that you remember or big decisions you had to make: When I beat Gus Hansen out from the tournament and when I called Dewey Tomkos AQ with my 2īs...it was nice to see him look at his cards twice because I felt he did not have the higher pocket pair looking for the suits.

    Now having the experience, how would you have played differently? Nothing really! I will go more for the win instead of reaching the final table next time...

    Do you plan on playing in the WSOP in future years? Do you think you'll ever have a better money finish than the 2004 WSOP? I have new goals and I think that I might end up better than 8th sometime. I have all my life ahead of me and I keep improving when it comes to reading people so we will see what the future has for me when it comes to poker.

    What do you plan on doing with your winnings? It is life money so I won't gamble it away! I have what I need and with the money I can do the things I want to do...it helps to have some money.

    Ten years from now would you like to be playing poker professionally or do you think you'll be doing something else? I will for sure play professionally and will start my career very soon. I hope to make lot of friends from poker and I always love the excitement it gives.