» Joao 'joaoMathias' Mathias Baumgarten Interview

Describe your rise through the poker ranks?

I was pretty disappointed with college and decided to start a business. I was having a certain level of success but I was aware it was just temporary. I knew the game of poker, from school, but I wouldn't imagine it as a profession. I was very surprised when I watched ESPN, in the beginning of 2008 and saw all the atmosphere surrounding it. I was fascinated right away and went to the Internet searching after more content. I prefer, by far, playing online. It has the comfort of my home and I can put in much more volume. When I play a single table it seems that I'm wasting time. In terms of money, clearly online is a better choice. But it's always nice to show up in a live tournament. I'm dreaming of a live final table and I'm sure it's close.
 
What skills do you have that you think helped you to be as successful as you have been?

Even before finding poker I had result-oriented free mind. I developed this characteristic from all the years I spent playing games. I'm also very patient and honest with myself. I never let myself think I'm doing better than I really am. Being honest with yourself is very important. You can't blame bad beats or variance on others. It's always better to try to blame something in your game and try to figure out what is wrong right away. I like individual games more than any other because you can only blame yourself for your losses.
 
In your blog, you share a lot of the work you put into improving your game away from the tables, (i.e. post hand analysis, statistical data, hand range analysis and game theory). How important do you think it is to apply this level of study away from the tables?
I do like blogging, but I should do it more often. It really helps my game to write about anything that concerns poker. The main reason why this helps is that it allows you to take some time when you're not playing and put some fresh thoughts into lines, hands, ranges, and possible strategies. I would definitely advise blogging as a form of getting better. I don't have that many posts, because writing is not natural for me. But there are some very interesting ones about mixed subjects (poker related). Very few Brazilian
players have a nice blog about strategies and they're mainly talking about results, trips, bad beats. In my opinion, that's a mistake that most top Brazilians are making.
Brazilians have good characteristics such as being aggressive and they like playing a lot of hands. It may lead to very strong aggressive players, but I don't think it is necessarily good for the beginning of these player's careers. I chose a tighter approach when I started and just tried to loosen up more when I had more experience. There are already a lot of strong players and also guys who haven't hit big yet but are playing very well. Brazil has a great future in poker, considering player levels and tournaments. The tournaments here are getting good and are also happening often.  I'm most proud of the victory in the Monday $1K on Full Tilt. Whoever plays poker (and won at least once) knows that there's a unique feeling in closing a tournament. Even though the Sunday Million is the biggest weekly tourney, the $1K came at a very nice
moment for me. I was already complaining to myself about why I had not had a big score yet. So the second time I play this tournament I won it. Its a difficult field and it feels so great to defeat that. The nice thing about the 4th place in the Stars Sunday Million was
that it came on my birthday... ok gift, lol.
I think the biggest difference happens in the beginning of the tournaments. I play more hands early in tougher and smaller fields. It pays off to be more unpredictable against that field. In bigger tournaments like the Sunday Million, and the huge fields and small buy-in tournaments it is not necessary to be unpredictable. I like playing for value in this case, because they are not going to consider your image or range. When you get deep things change and I use the same approach for both. I'm obviously considering table situation, stacks sizes, players characteristics but I'll be trying to take more control of the
table and be able to steal a lot and force people to make mistakes, hopefully, before I make one.
   
What was it like playing the Sunday Million final table? Were you able to approach it just like any other tournament or was there an added feeling of excitement?

I tried to play my usual game at this final table, but I couldn't find that many spots. I just tried to change a little when we became 4-handed. The Brazilian caio_pimenta was there and I know he was going for the win and was not afraid of making big moves. The other two guys were very weak and playing kinda reckless. Obviously I was going to play normally standard spots but I decided to avoid close gambles. I had a feeling that these guys would end up passing chips very lightly, so I would benefit by playing more solidly for a while. The payout difference was not life changing for me, but I think I end up wining more in long-term by giving some time to the donks making mistakes for all their chips. I ended up getting fourth, but got in spots that I could not have played differently.

What are your plans for 2010? What live title would you most like to hold - LAPT champion, WPT Champion, or WSOP bracelet?
Wining one of these big events is not going to be a main objective in 2010. For the last year, I had a goal to score a big online result (50k+ was big enough for me) and was able to do it twice. For this year, my main objective is to have a nice six digit score. If I get my visa in time, I'll be willing to play a lot of WSOP events. I'll also try my luck in Europe, at least once. And, of course, I'm going to be in quite a few Brazilian and Latin American live tournaments. I didn't play live that much in 2009, but still, these tournaments owe me some money. I hope to get a nice live score this year, which also would help me increase my confidence for live games. Winning any of these would be the greatest thing in my career, but final tabling one is what I'm expecting for now.

You can try a Chris Moneymaker approach or you can work really hard on your game. Studying some things are more important than others, but you just have to cover all aspects. The areas that you should focus more are dependent on your level. For example, players that are just beginning should focus on bankroll management, implied odds, etc. More advanced players should focus on more complex subjects, like 4-betting light, heads-up playing, etc.
I don't remember any huge mistake I made. There are days you just donk off some tourneys and it's a real bad feeling when you finish these sessions. I think that I used to play more than I should. Knowing when to quit is very useful. I'm very confident with my
game and I can't criticize much of it. It has constantly changed last year and I'm proud of it. There were things I would take as certain and in the next month change my mind completely. I could spot leaks quick enough and change them. That's why I don't regret anything that much. Usually I face my mistakes as a opportunity to learn. 

What interests, besides poker, do you have? What do you like to do with your spare time? How do you balance your career and personal life?

Poker is a big part of my life. I have a girlfriend and she's probably the other half of it. She's great company and we have a lot of fun. I also have really cool friends and we spend time drinking and taking care of our soccer team that we own and play. I think that the time that I spent with my family isn't enough. The person that I see most often is my mom, also because she's helping and working with me in everything I ask for her, so I can focus only on playing. That's been great and it's very nice to have such a trustful person working for you. In 2009, my social life was affected by the volume I put into poker. I don't want that to happen again this year. Definitely, it's worthwhile to balance poker and life properly, and you can expect an increase in your results if you succed in that.
I have bought a nice car and I'm buying my apartment. But, by far, the best thing it brought me was the freedom that it gave me. I was partly independent since I was 17, but still needed financial support from parents till last year. I'm proud of being totally on my own now. Aside from that I feel I should give away some of my money to support somebody else's causes and not only mine. That's always a very good feeling. It's something I have to take care of this year.
I don't really know if I'm a phenom but people who know me, my results and my approach to the game respect me a lot. I'm more recognized on the Internet than in the live world. My family is very proud of my career and success and they support me to carry
on. My mom is even working with me. My objective in poker is personal and I don't seek any recognition but when it happens, naturally it feels very nice.

My plan is to keep grinding hard for two or three years, then focus on bigger tournaments. By then, I hope to invest my time in larger and more expensive live tournaments and special online series and Sundays. I'm also very inclined to learn how to invest in the stock market. I think poker and the stock market really fit each other. Poker is a very good way to construct a bankroll and invest it somewhere else. 

I would advise Brazilians players to play less hands and stop talking about bad beats. The first one would substantially increase their return. The second one is absolutely unnecessary. It gets easier to evolve to a non result-oriented mind if you don't cry to others about how unlucky you are and just accept that this is how the game works. I dont even listen when someone starts telling me about such things.
 
If you were on death row, what would be your last meal?

I like nice, expensive dishes, but I think I would choose a simple food from my grandma. There's nothing that special, but everything tastes great and brings me a lot of memories. Our family has lunch in her house every Friday and I can remember it happening forever.