Note: To read our interviews last month with Denis's housemates, see here for Jakezesnake and here for Sverigelottn.
About recent and previous places:
Denis: Right now I am living in a house with Sverigelottn and Jakezesnake since the beginning of this year.
Before that I was living in Thailand for 2 years, we had a nice German community (around 8 people) of HU grinders there, so my start in Thailand was a lot easier. This was also when I met Sverigelottn and Jakezesnake for the first time. So after 2 years in Thailand I needed a change, and someone came up with the idea to rent a house in Sweden. And there we are right now :)
Charles Hawk: How well did you handle the climate change when moving from Thailand to Sweden?
Denis: That was pretty easy, I'm used to cold countries since I'm from Germany.
Charles Hawk: Could you compare the experiences of living in those two great countries?
Denis: Compared to Thailand we are having less parties here in Sweden. Obviously it's 2 total different cultures. Trying to point out the differences between those ountries would explode this interview I guess.
Charles Hawk: How well did you handle the climate change when moving from Thailand to Sweden?
Denis: That was pretty easy, I'm used to cold countries since I'm from Germany.
Charles Hawk: Could you compare the experiences of living in those two great countries?
Denis: Compared to Thailand we are having less parties here in Sweden. Obviously it's 2 total different cultures. Trying to point out the differences between those countries would explode this interview I guess.
Charles Hawk: Which limits do you play? How long have you been playing professionally?
Denis: I play turbo/regspeed HUSNGs from 60-200 and a few MTTs. I have been playing professionally for about 3 years.
Charles Hawk: Tell me about how you got introduced to poker.
Denis: I got in contact with poker the first time when it was running on German TV. I decided to cash in 50€ on iPoker and tried basically almost every game. I stuck to 9-max turbo SNG since I beat them quite hard at that time. But it got boring after a while. So I switched to 6-max cash games. I was winning there but somehow I got bored very fast. That's when I started with HUSNGs.
Charles Hawk: What are your main strengths?
Denis: I think my main strength is that I am working continuously on my game.
Charles Hawk: What is your daily grinding routine?
Denis: After I wake up, I usually make breakfast and then start to grind for about 2 hours. Then maybe play some games on hearthstone or review hands, play with the dog. Then I usually grind for 2 hours more before its lunch or dinnertime. After that I decide if I want to grind more or not. I always try to avoid burnouts. A standard week would be to grind 6 days with 1 day off.
Charles Hawk: Do you set any weekly/monthly poker goals?
Denis: I don't set myself goals in terms of making an amount of games or money since it's just unnecessary pressure in my opinion.
Charles Hawk:Tell me about your working-on-your game process.
Denis: Working on your game includes a lot of work. For myself, I am doing a lot of math for all kinds of spots. Also, I talk a lot about hands and spots with good players. I'm in contact with a lot of HU players (SNG/cash), so there are plenty of opportunities to talk about strategy. Also I am soaking up any content I can get, which includes MTTs, 6-max cash, HU cash and PLO. Last but not least, I am living with 2 great players, so strategy talking is all over the place in our house :)
Charles Hawk: What are your long-term goals?
Denis: My goal is to have the opportunity to run my own business of choice someday.
Charles Hawk: How is your social life? Do you think that because of poker you are losing some valuable life experiences or social skills? :)
Denis: I am happy with my social life. Poker allows me to travel all over the globe. That is in my opinion the most valuable experience. I really enjoy it.