From 50NL ZOOM to 5KNL in 2,5 years | Josef "Sunni_92" Schusteritsch 

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I like that you guys can get legitimate interviews with actual winning players. Very nice thank you.

My main takeaway is that a really good player needs to have so many qualities, good mindset, dedication and competitiveness to stay on top, not just picking easy games and slack off. Therefore, I’m inspired to do things better in each of these aspects to become a better poker player.

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:01 🎙️ Rene and Adam present the Mechanics of Poker podcast, deconstructing high-stakes poker players' success and obstacles they faced. 02:19 🚀 Josef "Sunni_92" Schusteritsch, a 30-year-old Austrian, rose rapidly from 50NL ZOOM to 5KNL in just 2.5 years, becoming one of the biggest winners on PokerStars in 2022. 03:15 🎮 Josef's experience as a professional League of Legends player helped him develop mental resilience and tilt-proof mindset, benefiting his poker journey. 07:23 🏆 Josef prefers competing in tough, challenging games to constantly improve and push his skills, rather than seeking the highest EV games for short-term profits. 20:52 🤔 The definition of a good poker player varies depending on individual goals and perspectives, considering factors like making money, technical skills, longevity, and adaptability. 22:43 🃏 It's important to align table selection with your poker goals. 23:54 ⚽️ Josef "Sunni_92" Schusteritsch enjoys sports as a hobby and for fun, not just for competitiveness. 26:45 🍻 Having fun and enjoying the game is more important than always winning in sports or poker. 30:07 🎮 Josef gave up his professional League of Legends career due to the difficulty of moving to Germany and concerns about team dynamics. 34:38 🎲 Rediscovered interest in poker, starting with low stakes and then investing in poker courses to improve skills. 37:54 💡 Discovering and using a solver (PioSolver) was a significant turning point in improving poker strategy. 41:56 🏞️ Josef's initial struggles with using a solver and not seeking help from the poker community led to frustration and wasted time. 44:13 💰 Trying to save money on poker tools and courses initially can end up costing more in the long run. Seeking guidance from experienced players can save time and improve skills. 44:42 📉 The speaker talks about initially not understanding the value of poker coaching and being skeptical about its cost, but later realizes its significance in improving skills. 45:26 🏠 The speaker starts playing poker seriously during the COVID-19 pandemic while working from home and facing downtime, which allows more time for study and play. 46:33 📚 In the beginning, the speaker struggles to process all the information from study materials but eventually transitions from just copying solutions to understanding spots and running simulations. 49:22 🎓 The speaker's family initially expresses concerns about going pro in poker, but he takes one year out to educate himself and prove the viability of a poker career. 55:51 🤞 The speaker experiences a severe downswing lasting several months after going pro, leading to self-doubt and considering joining a staking deal, but he perseveres and experiences a turning point with a sudden run of good luck. 01:06:26 🎢 Poker is unpredictable, and downswings can feel endless, but persistence and lessons learned are key to success. 01:06:55 🎭 Starting poker during a tough downswing can provide a valuable perspective on handling future challenges. 01:07:19 💡 Tough downswings early in a poker career can prepare players to handle future downswings with better mental resilience. 01:08:03 📊 Creating a strong GTO foundation helps in adapting strategies and exploiting weaker opponents. 01:09:56 🤝 Confidence in playing tougher opponents comes from learning mindset, being well-prepared, and focusing on long-term improvement. 01:13:22 💸 Having a reasonable bankroll to handle variance and being aware of the potential swings in high-stakes games is crucial. 01:13:55 🚀 Josef's quick rise to higher stakes was facilitated by connecting with knowledgeable individuals and making effective use of study time. 01:18:42 🎯 Josef's mindset focuses on becoming the best player possible rather than making the most money, enabling him to approach high-stakes games with confidence. 01:24:17 🌟 Josef moved up stakes quickly, and his progress was driven by regular play and shot-taking opportunities that arose naturally. 01:25:16 📚 During the peak of his progress, Josef dedicated around 60 to 70 hours per week to poker-related activities, including playing, studying, and reviewing hands. 01:26:23 🎓 Josef and his study partner followed a structured approach to learning, creating customized game trees for specific board categories and delving deep into individual spots for better understanding. 01:36:10 🗣️ Josef's open-mindedness and ability to learn from others have been crucial to his development in poker. 01:38:57 🤝 Finding like-minded study partners was instrumental in Josef's progress, as it allowed for open discussions and faster growth. 01:42:20 🤔 Many players become close-minded due to ego, insecurity, or a desire for certainty, hindering their long-term success in poker. 01:43:50 🧠 Certainty vs. Uncertainty: Having knowledge and predictability provides confidence in decision-making, while uncertainty can lead to discomfort and boundaries. 01:44:33 🧠 Being Brave in Poker: Acknowledging uncertainty and not knowing the perfect strategy takes courage, especially when playing for significant amounts of money. 01:45:26 🧠 Acceptance and Pressure: Accepting the possibility of returning to a regular job can relieve pressure and improve decision-making in poker. 01:47:13 🧠 Aligning Expectations and Confidence: Understanding opponent tendencies and knowing where the EV comes from can increase confidence in decision-making during battles. 01:49:17 🧠 Volume and Success: Putting in a high volume of hands consistently is essential for improving and succeeding in poker. 01:51:35 🧠 Gratitude for Financial Freedom: Being grateful for the opportunity to play poker professionally with complete financial freedom enhances the overall poker experience. 01:54:47 🧠 Overestimating Opponents: Many players stay stuck at certain stakes due to ego and entitlement, giving opponents too much credit, and not focusing on improving their own strategy. 02:04:15 🃏 Confirmation bias can cloud judgment in poker decisions. 02:05:49 📚 Focusing on the wrong things can hinder poker improvement. 02:07:15 🕒 Efficiency in poker improvement comes from studying frequent or high EV spots. 02:21:03 🎓 Understanding GTO and exploitative poker requires being proficient in the game. 02:25:19 🧠 Joseph talks about the skill levels of players on different poker platforms and the difficulty in determining who is truly the best. 02:26:01 🃏 Top players are challenging to play against because their strategy doesn't leave room for one decision to be clearly better than another, making it hard to exploit them. 02:29:13 🚀 Players may get caught up in personal vendettas during the game, wanting to prove themselves against specific opponents rather than making rational decisions. 02:32:30 🧘 Emotional regulation and self-awareness are crucial skills in poker to overcome tilt and make rational decisions, avoiding emotional triggers. 02:38:11 🚀 Joseph's emotional regulation is a result of continuous self-improvement, reflection, and rationality, not merely innate talent. 02:43:49 🧠 Reflecting on emotions and stories in poker helps players become better versions of themselves and make logical decisions to improve their game. 02:44:32 🧠 Reflect on your own game and identify patterns you can improve on. 02:48:31 🧠 Cultivate a positive and neutral perspective by accepting bad outcomes as part of life. 02:51:07 🧠 Connect with like-minded people, seek coaching from higher-level players, and be open to learning from others. 02:54:30 🧠 Release ego and ask questions, especially during coaching sessions, to learn and improve. 02:58:16 🧠 Analyze hands and reflect on your decisions to learn from mistakes and make better choices in the future. 03:03:24 🧠 During a downswing, focus on studying and improving your game, taking advantage of the opportunity to grow. 03:03:10 🤔 Be open-minded and stop thinking that you know everything about poker. The game is complex, and there's always room for improvement. 03:03:38 💼 Downswings can be beneficial for one's poker career. They provide an opportunity to study, learn, and become more precise in decision-making. 03:05:18 📚 When studying during downswings, have a structured plan. Focus on specific areas of improvement rather than mindlessly looking at higher-level solutions. 03:06:25 🔄 When facing a downswing, consider reducing stakes to get more volume and maintain confidence. Avoid the extreme of studying too much and not playing at all. 03:08:33 💡 Focus on studying the areas of the game that trigger uncertainty and work on improving those aspects of your poker skills. 03:11:16 🔥 Stay motivated and focused on improving your game, rather than getting caught up in the financial rewards of higher stakes. 03:12:01 🎲 Recognize that even the best players don't have the game fully figured out and avoid the trap of thinking you know everything about poker. 03:15:29 🏆 As you reach the top stakes, you may need to come up with unique strategies and be more self-reliant since there are no objectively better players to compare to. 03:16:11 💭 Be open-minded and receptive to new ideas. Focus on your own game and approach situations logically, rather than complaining about others' play. 03:19:27 📝 Constantly reflect on your performance, learn from emotions, and stay optimistic. Embrace the game of getting better and leveling up as a poker player. Made with HARPA AI

Good podcast! This dude is smart.

Amazing episode ! Learned a lot. Pure gold

Guys, GTO+ is great solver, better in some features than Pio. The problem he has was the input that he put on the solver, no the solver per se. please! Nice interview BTW, thanks!

Glad I found this pod.

I relate and respet the idea of either I'll win or I'll learn. Think thats a good mind set to play your best game

good job thank you guys❤👍

next player: Seta-Beni. i will blow up my heart for listen to him!

my fav episode, the mindset of that guy is amazing, so positive and humble, i love it

Really good man, such an inspirational. I hope battle with you soon.

What is Sunni’s sn on ACR?

Main takeaway is to see how ego influences the way we play and are blind to our own blindspots

quality content.

Nice pod

Does the guest have any socials ?

My main takeaway was that it is always the Pro gamers. and it makes me insecure, that I was not able to become a pro gamer. :P But i am certainly more close to becoming a pro-gamer since i've been watching this show :D

Excellent interview. Hopefully we will be battling one day Sunni. Looking forward to it.

The Wakko should get coached by the people he interviews since he wins no money playing online poker like 98% of "coaches."

Can someone explain to a live player like me what does playing your hand mean? Why is it bad

You guys are beasts and thanks for an awesome podcast. I will still attempt some constructive criticism: when he establishes the fact that he thinks there is very little correlation between league and poker - why keep going down that line? And I would love if you dig deeper to get concrete things on the table. I think most people who have been following any type of pokercontent last years know that: you should study, you should sleep, you should have a balanced life, you should workout. HOW did he find studypartners? Does he have any techniques to "turn off" the pokermind in order to get good sleep? And so on. Last thing I would love is that you stop trying to "re-frame" every single thing said - like we heard the man say it, you don't need to dumb it down to that level :) All just my opinions, with love

Is pio that much better than GTO+ or are they comparable?

Very informative!! Thank you guys. Would like to meet this guy for a coffee. I live in Vienna also ;-). Btw…who is Stefan, probably an online crusher?!?!

It's not a punt, it's a low frequency, high variance exploit 😂

Main takeways are to be the best version of yourself you can be, have a simple but efficient strategy (be less of a button clicker than the other guy xD) and don't bury your emotions, figure out what they're trying to tell you

high level of self awareness. i feel like breathing practices and psychedelics could be able to teach "normal" humans to access his perspective better.

There are other games than 6-max Holdem cash games. Classic tournaments. Bounty builders. Heads Up. Spins. And that is just holdem. There is PLO. There is also PLO8. Courchevel. Big O. And those are just the flop games. Stud and draw games are also very fun. All of those games have tournament formats where you don't pay more than half your profit in rake. Low stakes tournaments especially are very profitable. There are not only players that play bad. Some of them don't even know the rules of the game they play. Some of them even play poorly the game they think are playing. And some of them, after losing with a big pair to a 8 high, don't even stop to think why is that, what game are they playing, what are the rules or general guidelines for the game. They continue chasing trips with their big pairs in 7-2 single draw. This is the definition of drawing dead in poker. There is no variance. You just win every single hand you play against them if you happen to be heads up in a pot. To say poker is dead or unbeatable is ridiculous. But to each their own I guess...

Everyone, this channel is making fake giveaways, they told me I won the 1month gtowiz giveaway and keep removing my comments!!

If a player has been playing, at least semi seriously, for 1-3 years (and I'm being generous), and is still tilting for real...they need to stop and assess themselves as it's illogical to be angry at things that are bound to happen at some point. Once you get to just smirking the bad beat off, or chuckling and moving on, you will then realize how funny we were before that, and laugh at our own stupidity. Like Mr. Josef said, I would be angry at myself if I allowed myself to be stupid. And that's applixable, for me, in any aspect of life, not just poker.

Why does Adam sound like he's talking into a tin can?

People always talk about how much there is to learn in poker. I am not good, but I don't think there is that much to learn. Playing two cards on a given board surely isn't that complex. The complexity arises when you take into account history, stack sizes, position, pool tendencies, etc, but even so when you study at a high level, isn't it looking at specific situations and trying to remember them? Imagine if you studied and learned how to play 1000 different situations well. I think you would probably be a master as almost all sitations will be very similar to one of the ones you have studied. If you study Japanese, for example, you should learn 1800 Kanji, a couple of alphabets, 10000 words at least, etc.. Does poker really have that much depth that there is a mountain of material to study?

podcasts are fire,always,but adam is just talking too much,repeating everything what quest says and its ruining the whole podcast....so it sounds like poooooookaaaa

40, 50 buy in swings are normal…. I hate poker