Note: To read our 2014 interview with Daniel, click HERE.

Charles Hawk: What was your first impressions of the format when you started grinding Spins and how has it changed/developed in the process? 

Daniel 'Pl@yerABC' Sklar:  When PokerStars started Spins, I was mainly a heads-up player. My thinking was: "Why not give it a try? I will play few of those tournaments - just for fun." After finishing first Spin session I was hooked. Recreational players in big quantities and instant action on multiple tables. What more can you ask for? After a lot of battling in $60 division against good opponents I could not believe my eyes. Are we back to the great Party Poker era? People shoving 72-offsuit type of hand 25 bb deep (only because this was only 2x multiplier and they wanted to quickly end the table and move on to a bigger multiplier game). So I immediately made a decision - to make a transition from $60 heads-up to Spins.

OK, Spins are not all sunshine and rainbows. More and more regs are finding their way into the game. Initially I was registering myself manually and was playing against recreational players almost exclusively. Today I am using SpinWiz software (which by the way works great). I don't like waiting in queue so a lot of my games are against one reg and one recreational player - still fine, but not what it was in the early days of Spins.

One other aspect why Spins are great for winning professional players - you never know the multiplier for your next tournament - so the big win could be just around the corner. You can use this fact to motivate yourselft to put more volume.

Charles Hawk: What are the main traps, leaks in theory for husngs players when transitioning to spins?

Daniel 'Pl@yerABC' Sklar: Spin tournament has two distinct phases. 3-handed and heads-up. Maybe it is not obvious at a first glance, but 3-handed game is a completely different world. I was really surprised how adding just one more player changes the game's dynamics completely. When I play heads up, almost any hand looks good - 73s is suited, 54o is connector, K2o is king high and that might be enough at a showdown. Modern heads up play is insanely loose. I am playing lots of hands heads up - there is only one villain after all. But playing 3-handed at a Spin table is a different story. In recent months I have slowly learned, that sometimes hitting FOLD button preflop is a necessary evil if I want to be a winning player.

In my opinion, experience in heads up play is a big advantage in Spin format. But also heads-up players need to be careful - they should not underestimate complexity of the 3-handed play!

Charles Hawk: Is your hourly bigger than playing Spins? What is more fun to play? How many tables do you play at once? Are you going for SNE?

Daniel 'Pl@yerABC' Sklar: 

Hourly:

When I was playing HU (6 months ago), I was mainly waiting in queue. With Spins I am not wasting time waiting for games, instant action against recreational players is available around the clock. So when we speak about hourly rates, I prefer Spins over HU.

Fun:

Spins are more fun for me. Lots of action around the clock. 3-handed game is new for me and provides many interesting situations to think about.

Multitabling:

I am not a fast button clicker. So I prefer to play only 4 tables at once. Sometimes people ask me questions in chat (like e.g. Why are you sitting me?). I would like to communicate but playing four tables and chatting at the same time is too much for me.

SNE?

No. I have lot of other activities. I am not playing that much.

Charles Hawk: Any differences between a heads up game in Spins, when you have 25 big blinds or less, and a husng match?

Daniel 'Pl@yerABC' Sklar: Yes, there are some differences.

• In Spins I have other tables going. Sometimes I play heads up matches against 4 different people - so it is harder to focus on specific weaknesses and make correct adjustments. Even If I play one heads up and 3 other tables are still 3-handed - I can not focus solely on one opponent - so I probably play worse than in a similar situation at Heads Up table.
• Battling at HU tables involves instant rematches. There is no such thing at Spins. I think that playing longer against same opponent magnifies the differences between their skills. This argument cuts both ways. When I play against a recreational player at a Spins table, I don't have that much time to figure out their play. On the other hand, when I am up against $500 reg I am happy that he has only few hands to try to figure out my play. 
• Interesting situation arises when there is let's say 10x multiplier and you are heads-up against recreational player. Here I am not trying to maximize my chipEV, but I am trying to maximize my chance of winning. Or to put it differently - here comes into play that idea "waiting for a better spot" more familiar to MTT players.