Posted on August 29, 2013
by realpokermd
Here at PokerMD we’ve been monitoring SharkScope’s Leader-boards and one name has stood out atop the SNG profit list with winnings of over 1 million dollars at the time of this interview.
Dan Coleman alias mrGR33N13 was kind enough to take the time to go Heads-Up and allow me to interview him. He was very gracious and held nothing back. Below are the contents of that interview.
PokerMD: So here we go, let’s start with your screen name does it have any significance?
dan: No, no significance.
PokerMD: and how long have you had it?
dan: A while, since 2008.
PokerMD: same on other sites or just stars?
dan: riyyc225 on full tilt poker
PokerMD: Is FT getting back to what it was?
dan: No, the action is really slow there. I’ve had times where I forgot I was registered for heads up lobbies on there and left my apartment, came back, and still hadn’t got sat.
PokerMD: Wow that was risky…can hurt your ROI if you’re a no show
dan: Ya definitely, thankfully I’ve only done that a few times.
PokerMD: So your screen name goes back to 2008 was that when you started with Online Poker
dan: I started playing online when I was 13 right after moneymaker won the main event, so this was 2003, I played on a site called JetSet Poker, I remember being one of the railbirds begging at a 1/2NL table for 25cent transfers so I could play a .01/.02$ game.
PokerMD: Wow I’d say you’ve come a long way….were you old enough in 2003 to be playing?
dan: No, was only 13 years old. I think for my 14th birthday I was able to convince my mom to deposit 100$ for me. I lost it within 2 days.
PokerMD: Sounds like a “not the usual teenage years story”
dan: Haha, for sure not. I definitely had a propensity to gamble.
PokerMD: Ok so even in 2008 you were barely 18….had you been to B & M casinos to play?
dan: Ya right when I turned 18, I went to WSOP Europe in London to play a £10,000 tournament,
It was my first time playing live poker and I didnt do very well.
PokerMD: Well I’m sure you know now that the transition is 180 degrees from online
dan: Ya
PokerMD: So you started in MTTs what was the progression that led you to HU?
dan: I guess I started in heads up sngs actually. Me and my friend shared an account on a sports-betting site and when we didn’t have action on a sports game, I would take the money to the poker tables and I more often than not found myself winding up at the heads up sngs tables. This was when I was around 16.
PokerMD: So you gambled on Sports back then as well
dan: Ya, gambled on everything to be honest.
PokerMD: It can get you that’s for sure, so you were strictly a SNG player, No Sundays MTTs
dan: I would run up money playing sngs then usually bust my account playing 5ks underolled. So I eventually switched to just MTTs around 2008. But that didn’t go well as I didn’t have the patience for them.
PokerMD: 5ks underolled?
dan: Ya around the age of 17, I would constantly run up bankrolls and then play 5000$ heads up sngs and go on a bad streak and lose all my money.
PokerMD: so it wasn’t all roses to start out?
dan: Nope, lots of fiery train wrecks
PokerMD: sounds like my career LOL so it became a conscious decision to play strictly SNGs?
dan: ya that’s what I naturally gravitated towards, the personal dynamic of heads up battles really intrigued me and my competitive nature
PokerMD: and never HU cash games?
dan: ya ive played lots of heads up cash games, i usually got beat up pretty badly in them in the beginning but I eventually got pretty good to where I could hold my own. I was never world class in them though.
PokerMD: and you consider yourself World Class now in HU SNGs
dan: Taking everything into account, I believe I’m the best in the world at them.
PokerMD: And you have the ranking to back that up….so before 2013 what was your best and worst years and amounts if you don’t mind my asking?
dan: I always struggled to capitalize on my skill set in poker up until this year. I had the talent but terrible intangibles that led me to always fail to make money. In 2010 I had a good year where I won a lot of money, but apart from that, never much success.
PokerMD: so what was the catalyst…what turned it around this year?
dan: I think I’m just a bit more mature and I have a smarter approach to the game, before I felt like I deserved more then I had and I would try and just battle the best and show them how good I was, and that was more important to me then making money, nowadays, i just try and do what’s in my best interest for making money.
PokerMD: a good strategy. So do you sit and wait for a player to join you or do you take on others that are waiting?
dan: I’m always sitting waiting for action. There are some regs that I share lobbies with because its mutually beneficial for us to do so.
PokerMD: now I’ve seen you have 25000 swings some days…considering your .01/.02 start do those swings effect you in anyway…upswing or downswing?
dan: When I play heads up sngs the swings do effect me. I grind a lot, some days it’s all I do. My results are tied to myself worth as a result. When I am winning I feel good about myself, the losing days I feel terrible. Fortunately, about 9 out of 10 days are winning days. Funny thing is, when I venture into cash games when they’re is a juicy spot around, I don’t let swings affect me at all. There were days earlier this year when I was playing 500 1k cap and lost a couple hundred thousand in a 2 day period and I wasn’t bothered by it. I can go into big games with the mindset that whatever happens, I know it’s a good game and I’ll be accepting of the outcome.
PokerMD: interesting, well in one you consider yourself the best so I guess that feeling when you lose is only natural
PokerMD: So when did you join SharkScope?
dan: I’ve used SharkScope since 2007. It is a pretty important tool for grinding sngs.
PokerMD: Tell me in which way?
dan: For me, it was something that helped me track and analyze my results. As well as give me motivation to succeed as my results were made public.
PokerMD: and if a screen name sits down that you’ve never played before do you search the player?
dan: No, but I used to back when I first started grinding when I was playing 50$ sngs. Nowadays I just do use it to break down my own results. My game is pretty evolved at this point so if someone chooses to sit down vs me, they are going to be an underdog and I am just going to try and breakdown there leaks as quickly as I can and do my best to exploit them.
PokerMD: that’s great….so would you say as far as your success SharkScope is one of the more important components that helped get you to where you are today
dan: Most important things I can credit my success too is just having an insatiable appetite to be the best at heads up sngs. A lot of regs get stuck at certain stake levels, there is a lot of guys who will never progress past 200s 300s or 500s. You really need to believe you belong at higher stakes to make it there. If you truly believe you belong there, you will do what’s necessary to get there.
PokerMD: A great answer…I have 1 more question. Did you ever give your mom back the $100?
dan: Hahah no. It was a birthday present. 😀
PokerMD: LOL….Ok well thanks for your time, continued success and stay atop our leader-boards.
Disclaimer: PokerMD.com does not condone any views or activities described by interviewees.
