- Hello, tell us a little about yourself and your poker success before joining FreeTeam
- My name is Timofey, I'm 32 years old. In addition to poker, I also like to play basketball. By the way, in my youth I played basketball professionally, and spent my summer days fishing.
I started to play poker in 2011: a friend offered to register at PartyPoker and get a bonus $50, which I easily lost in a few days only. Over time, I began to make deposits and lose even more until I lost an impressive amount of money. After this incident, I realized that poker was not for me and gave it up.
But the love for poker has stuck in me deeply and over time I began to play a few cheap tournaments and have a more conscious approach to my game. In 2018, I learned from a friend of mine that he is studying at one of the online poker schools and is progressing by leaps and bounds, beats opponents and wins a lot of money, and that is possible if you really get serious about poker, then you can earn it! And then I suddenly realized: if he could do this - then I will definitely succeed too!!! I began to slowly obtain a depper understanding of things poker consists of, signed up for group training, watched educational videos on the Internet, analyzes of tournaments and final tables, and printed out charts for myself. After winning several tournaments I was unstoppable! I realized that this is what I have been looking for all of my life!
Less than a year ago, I left his main job and decided to devote himself entirely to poker. At first I tried to study on my own, I took paid training with a coach and it paid off, but I lacked discipline and constant work on the game, and most importantly, there were no like-minded people in my environment with whom I could discuss poker-related issues!
- How did you find out about the FreeTeam project?
- I learned about the project from advertising on the social network VKontakte. I clicked on the banner, registered on the site, read the information about the fund and the prospects for cooperation - and applied. To my surprise, the answer came very quickly! I was offered to pass a survey and tests. But I dare say that the feeling was as if I was going through an interview for the position of an astronaut (very serious and difficult testing) and was very worried if I gave the right answers everywhere. I also saw some streamers recommend this project, which also added credibility to FreeTeam from the first time.
- Why did you choose the “FreeTeam” team?
- To be honest, I did not choose FreeTeam, it was FreeTeam that chose me, it just so happened. I had no experience of working with funds, and I decided that all the doors were closed for me in the online poker industry. At first I was desperate, but nevertheless I decided to try to apply elsewhere, and what if it works out? It was at this moment that I came across information about "FreeTeam". I am sincerely grateful to FreeTeam for the opportunity to learn and develop in the poker industry.
- How long have you been in the project?
- Several months, since 6 July 2020.
- What goals did you set for yourself when you started working with FreeTeam?
- I didn't have any specific goals. This is my debut in collaboration with the staking fund. I had no idea what this whole "kitchen" looks like from the inside. Therefore, the general goal was to get into the fund, find out how everything works here, join the process and surround myself with a team of like-minded people with whom I will start my path to success.
- What successes have you already achieved in poker while working with FreeTeam?
- During the time of participation in the project, my limits have grown from ABI-1 to ABI-3.5, naturally the indicator of a poker player's success is his chart on Sharkscope. Here are two of my stat graphs, first one before joining the team and the other one is a period after:
Player's stats before joining FreeTeam:
Player's stats after joining FreeTeam:
- How does it feel to be in the project?
- I don’t know how things are in other funds and sub-teams and collectives, but I think that I was very lucky to get into the “dream team” with wonderful guys with whom we are walking shoulder to shoulder along this exciting path and conquering more and more new peaks under the guidance of an excellent coach and mentor Alexei "Sociolog" Drozdov, who approaches the issue of training very seriously and give a very useful feedback. At any moment he is ready to give a detailed answer to a question and help to solve problems.
- What are your plans for further cooperation with FreeTeam? Do you plan to eventually become a coach and open your own fund?
There are plans to continue cooperating with the fund, to switch from full backing to partial backing. And yes, next year I have plans to become a coach and open my own fund in FreeTeam.
- What advice would you give to all newbies who want to grow in poker? And especially to the newcomers of the FreeTeam project?
For beginners, I would advise to surround themselves with like-minded people with similar aspirations who will believe in and support them; set a goal for yourself, be patient and work very, very hard on the game and on yourself, while believing in yourself, in the process and enjoy it and the changes in your game. Also, I would advise beginners not to be afraid to join funds, for example, in "FreeTeam" - these are excellent platforms for development in poker.
As for the newcomers of the FreeTeam project, I would advise them to attend all trainings, perform all the coach's tasks with high quality, record their progress, take an active part in the discussion of hands and in the life of the community, work with their mistakes, never give up and, of course, work - work and work again !!!
- Thank you for your time, Timofey!
And thank you, and more poker success to all of us! And remember, anyone can become anyone!