MrBuilderman, one of the strongest NL1k regulars known for his ability to play huge volumes, was recently a guest on the Mechanics of Poker podcast. Adam Carmichael, Rene “TheWakko” Khulam, and Frank got together for a video call and got into many areas of discussion.
Last year, he played over 1 million hands and won an impressive $500k while taking 4 months off. The famous regular Ishter11 even named him among the strongest mid-stakes players in a recent interview.
Results for September 2023
MrBuilderman shared his journey in poker, which began 14 years ago.
“Okay, so I was at university studying maths and I'd spent maybe like one summer playing poker. I hadn't made any money but I felt that I was okay. Maybe I made like 500 bucks in a summer or something.
I was at university and I went to the university poker society. All these guys were a bit older, like three four years older, doing their masters. They're telling me stories of like, you know, this guy made 100K last year, this guy made 150K or something.
After a few weeks of playing with them, I could realize pretty quickly that I felt I was as good if not better than these guys. I had no results to show it, but when we would play together, I would just feel that I was beating them in spots or just playing better.”
He started with SNGs and MTTs, gradually growing his bankroll to $5k before transitioning to cash games.
“Yeah, so obviously this was way before solvers, so no one knew what was correct or what was not. I was playing maybe like 25 or 50 NL at the time. I think the way I was making money was just completely running over the table, just bulldozing every pot, playing like a total lunatic. Because back then, games were very nitty.”
He jumped straight into NL100 but quickly lost almost everything, forcing him to move down to NL25 where he really started learning the game. One of his most important adjustments was attacking more often in spots where his first instinct was to fold.
All-In Until Burnout and Ban for Softplay
In his early years, MrBuilderman was incredibly dedicated to poker, playing 200-300k hands a month while also studying theory. Poker was his only serious hobby, and he would often play for 12 hours straight, with little time for anything else.
“You know, I really lived the game.
You wake up, have breakfast, play for 12 hours, maybe have one more meal for the day, go to sleep. Sometimes play another session. When it's all you do, it's quite easy to get the volume in, to be honest. Back then it was 24 tables because it was full ring on PokerStars and stuff.”
This intense lifestyle continued for years before he experienced his first burnout, a full decade into his career.
MrBuilderman also discussed his time playing on PokerStars under the nickname "Mayo the Don." He started playing with a close friend named Steve, and together they worked on their game and climbed the stakes.
“Then I had one very good friend from poker, Steve, who kind of taught me a little bit of, "You don't need to have 54 suited here. You could have a 7 or you could have a pair." He kind of taught me to be a bit more in line. Then with him, after my sessions, I would really study all of the hands or talk through them and try and learn away from the tables.”
However, their journey hit a snag when they were banned from PokerStars for soft-playing each other at the tables. Although it was a difficult situation, MrBuilderman now understands the severity of soft-playing and believes they received a fair punishment.
Rene – How did you learn to deal with being friends with basically your competitors?
MrBuilderman – “I actually completely stopped playing against any of my friends or guys I lived with and never played with again.
After the ban, me and Steve went to PartyPoker. We were both pretty down, I guess, because we felt we were young and we had this huge opportunity to win infinite money doing Supernova Elite and it had been taken away.
But then we went to PartyPoker and we were very serious about it. We would never play the same tables. We would have shifts. He could play the good night games one week and I would play the day games, and then we would switch it every week. This lasted for a few years.”
Reflecting on how the game has changed at mid-stakes over the past decade, MrBuilderman noted that the introduction of solvers led to a more viscous game with fewer bluffs and more calling. He described the modern meta as one where players don't like to bluff but love to call.
When it comes to grinding at medium limits, MrBuilderman emphasized the importance of having a simple strategy and carefully studying the game of the field, especially the most successful players at your limit. He believes that at mid-stakes, everyone plays poorly, so it's possible to achieve a good win rate even when multi-tabling.
Remembering a $45k Loss
MrBuilderman also shared his thoughts on high-stakes poker days, recounting a memorable session early in his career where he lost $45k.
“…I'm so tired it's like 8 in the morning and I've lost like 40 45k or something and I close my session and everyone else is asleep and I remember just like sitting there feeling like really not good you know. Like, everything until this point had been going so well and then I'd lost like almost half of my money in one day, like, completely spiraled out of control.
“...I felt like a gambling addict”
This experience discouraged him from playing high stakes for several years. He explained that he always wants to feel like the strongest player at the table, which is not possible at NL5k and above. Moreover, he has developed a financial threshold that he's comfortable with, which is why he doesn't play above NL1k.
The importance of a strong poker environment was another key point MrBuilderman discussed. Living and discussing the game with high-stakes crushers like George Froggatt, Markus Leikkonen, Linus Loeliger, and Darrell Goh had a significant impact on his development as a player.
He emphasized the value of discussing poker with like-minded people as one of the most effective ways to learn and improve.
MrBuilderman’s Strengths and Weaknesses
When asked about his strengths and weaknesses, MrBuilderman highlighted his intuition and fundamental knowledge, honed over more than 10 million hands of play. He believes that at mid-stakes, nobody plays GTO, and he has a keen sense for exploiting his opponents' mistakes.
On the flip side, he admitted that he sometimes lacks attention, especially when playing a large number of tables. He also gave an honest review of his own flaws.
"I hope moving forward I could, to be honest, be like a bit less selfish, you know.
Throughout these 14 years, I was always very selfish on reflection and putting myself and poker first, you know. I had a couple of very supportive girlfriends who I really mistreated, you know, over the um, yeah, over the time.
And you know, I hope if I have newer connections or whatever going forward, I can maybe be a bit more thoughtful about these and see, because you know, these are the things that life is all about. You know, it's not about poker or hitting Diamond Elite, you know. And like, if I could go back, I would definitely change some of this stuff and try and focus more on my connections with people.
But it's very easy to say now that I'm in this position of like where I am."
At the end of the podcast, MrBuilderman shared his views on the future, in the twilight years of poker and beyond.
"if poker goes well, you know, you can finish your career at 30 or something, and you have all these years ahead of you.
Like, no one knows what to do, and life without a passion or without a job probably can be pretty empty, you know. So I guess in the last few years, I've been kind of thinking about this stuff.
And you know, I'm never going to go get a job and like, work for some guy. It's just never going to happen. And I think probably what I'm going to do is just try and enjoy life and like, live life how I want to live, you know. And like, take a three-month trip here, go and like, learn how to surf or whatever, go to South America.
I want to learn Spanish, maybe just go there for six months or a year or like, whatever, learn Spanish there, go to Japan, do some stuff there. Like, see who comes with me along the way and just like, live life like that. And I'm pretty excited and looking forward to it".