Interview with Darinvg – From Small Stakes to Supernova Elite
October 4, 2008
He routinely makes all of us puke when he posts his progress in the monthly results/goals thread. He just reached Supernova Elite status on PokerStars. He’s recently been hired as an instructor at SNGicons, the premier SNG instructional site on the Internet. And he’s our resident pro. He’s Darinvg, SnG expert.
It’s been a journey four years in the making, but earlier this year Darinvg quit his job, moved to be with his GF, and plays online poker for a living. He routinely plays 12 or more tournaments at a time. And if you need some inspiration, he started way down at the $11 SnG level and was down $800 at one point. But he started bonus whoring, learning, moving up, and now we all hate him.
Darinvg, 31, grew up on a farm near Inwood, Iowa, and has pretty much been going to school since the day he was born. He has a BS, MAEd and PhD in Exercise Science/Physiology, getting his PhD at one of the nation’s five largest universities, the University of Florida. He did his post-doc training at Boston University for three years and was a scientist studying muscle atrophy. So why did he give that all up and become an online poker pro?
“I hated my boss so when my contract was done, I decided to play poker since my job sucked, it was more profitable and I could move to live w/my gf,” Darinvg said. Darinvg now lives just outside Philadelphia, a short 20 minute train ride to the city.
One of his major milestones was reaching Supernova Elite (SNE) status on PokerStars at the end of September. SNE means you’ve earned over one million VPPs in one calendar year…this is big time stuff. For reaching SNE status, Darinvg gets free entries into weekly $50k tournaments and an entry into a monthly $100k freeroll. That in itself would be nice. But there’s more. PS will pay his way into his choice of two of the following: PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, WSOP Main Event, EPT Monte Carlo, or APPT Sydney. Or he can choose one of those entries plus $10,000 cash. Not a bad bonus at all!
If you’re wondering how much you have to play to reach SNE status, Darinvg’s daily grind might give you an idea. “I’m currently 12+ tabling the 60, 114 and 225s (all 9/10 mans). I load every 114 that goes off, table select at the 225s (for the most part just play them in the morning, all the hardcore grinders come out in the afternoon) and I fill in the rest w/ 60s,” Darinvg said. “I was playing some 78 and 119 6 max but I was more of a breakeven player there since I haven’t studied that game as much. I decided to go back to all 9 man and the results have been very good. The reason I was playing some 6 max was to get more VPPs for my supernova elite chase. I decided I’ll get there w/out a problem so it wasn’t worth compromising my win rate.” He also has up to 19 tournaments going at one time on those occasions when he can find multiple 114s or a soft 225.
Since playing poker is now his job, how does Darinvg handle his ‘work day’? Well, much like anybody else. “I usually hit the tables at 9 am, play for about 4 hours, take an hour for lunch and play another about four hours Monday through Friday,” he said. And much like the rest of us, he sometimes works on the weekend if his girlfriend is working or there’s a tournament he wants to play. “My attitude has certainly changed about poker. I would never sit down and play a game(s) for fun anymore. I really enjoy my job but it’s still a job. If I didn’t make money playing, I wouldn’t. It is a bit of a grind,” said Darinvg. He has noticed a difference in skill level depending on the time of day. “The mornings do seem to be a bit softer. The hardcore American grinders come out late afternoon. The downside is there aren’t as many high stakes games running in the morning which means less VPPs.” Everything works out though because his schedule allows him to hang out with his girlfriend when she gets home from work.
But what about the swings? Does that change his schedule? “If I’m running bad or getting really tired I’ll quit earlier. If I’m running hot I usually stick it out a little longer. My motivation is two-fold. The VIP program at Stars really pushes me to play more. There is always another bonus to try and achieve (great marketing Stars!). Also, I make a pretty good amount of money so that’s obviously very motivating. I guess my Iowa farm-boy work ethic has stuck with me as well.”
To be an online professional, you need the right equipment to go with your skill. Darinvg has a 30″ monitor that allows him to 12-table with overlap. He also has a 20″ monitor that fits an additional 6 games, so he’s ready if that soft game pops up. Both monitors are set horizontal to fit the most tables. Because he always has at least $1,000 on the table, and sometimes $2K or more, a backup system is very important. Not only does Darinvg have backup power, but he also has a backup internet connection and a backup laptop. You can never be too safe!
He also uses a variety of software. “I run Holdem Manager in game to get HUD stats,” he said. “I use Tourney Manager to track my SNG results. I also have SNG Power Tools and SNG Wizard to review ICM. I don’t use them much anymore since I’ve studied with them a bunch but I’ll still check hands from time to time.”
There’s a general perception that the UIGEA has made the online games tougher, and Darinvg would agree…to a point. “The games certainly got tougher after UIGEA but they are coming back around somewhat. I’ve also gotten much better in the last year so that helps,” he said. “I’ve had really good success at the 60s and 114s but the 225s have been a bear. There are tons of times there are 5 or more of the best players loading them and that’s why I try to table select. It doesn’t seem worth sitting down w/a bunch of the best players. After we all pay the rake there isn’t enough money for all of us if there are only 2 fish at the table. The games are still very beatable, you just have to work harder at it now.”
For some, approaching the family about becoming an online poker pro could be a sticky situation. Darinvg’s brother is cool with it…and, according to Darinvg…probably a little jealous. Darinvg thinks his dad is OK with it. “He’s self employed (farmer) and always told me I’d hate having a boss (which was very true). So I think he’s really happy that I’ve found something I love to do (also similar to his job),” said Darinvg. Mom’s a different story. “My Mom obviously doesn’t understand but seems alright with it since I’m doing well. She thinks it’s a little weird I went to college for 10 years and I’m not using any of it. No one else in my family actually knows. It’s WAY to hard to explain to an older generation that I sit on my computer and gamble for a living. I just tell them I’m doing some work online. They don’t ask too many questions from there since being online is over their heads”, Darinvg said.
The girlfriend is ok with it…now. When they first met, Darinvg was playing $20 games to make extra money and the GF said that if she didn’t see him start climbing through the ranks, she wouldn’t believe he could do it for a living. But now that he’s big time and it’s allowed him to move in with her, she likes it. Of course, taking her on a 7-day Caribbean cruise that he paid for with FPP’s helped a little. And she’ll be joining him on his poker trips (probably Monte Carlo next year) that PokerStars will end up paying for. Ah, the life of a professional gambler.
Speaking of being a professional gambler, you can’t forget about the IRS. It would be easy to think you could get away with not paying taxes, but that’s not a very good idea. “With the amount of extra money I’ve had coming in I felt like I had to pay tax”, Darinvg said. “I’d hate to get caught!”. As far as officially becoming a professional gambler in the eyes of the IRS, he’s still looking into it. “I need to find a good CPA yet and let him figure out what is best. Next year though all of my income will be from poker so I’ll definitely have to be a professional gambler. Pretty annoying having to pay taxes on something the government is trying to ban.”
Darinvg is sticking to online poker, with no plans of joining the live tournament circuit. But what about burn out? Is this something Darinvg sees himself doing for years to come? “My plan is to do this for the long haul,” said Darinvg. “A few of my friends made comments about me getting sick of it in less than five years. I don’t see that happening and I pretty much abandoned my career. It will be really hard to get back into it if I have a huge resume gap. I also really lost interest in science. I’m hoping some of my work for the training sites takes off for some nice side income as well. I don’t foresee poker becoming illegal but if it does I’d probably move to a different country.”
A lot of people who start playing online poker probably dream of doing it for a living. Darinvg offers a tip if you are giving it some serious thought. “I would advise you don’t even think about it for a long time. Treat it as a fun hobby with some nice side income. If you make more money playing poker than you can at a regular job over a full 12 months, then you could start to consider it.”
As with any job, there are pluses and minuses. “The most enjoyable thing is actually getting away from my old job,” said Darinvg. “It was a horrible environment and it was really taking a mental toll on me. Obviously being able to move where ever my gf is at is great. Finally, the flexibility to do whatever I want, whenever I want.”
And the minuses? “Not too many problems. I’m very financially responsible so having enough money for bills is never a problem. My health insurance is pretty cheap since I’m fairly young and healthy. Tax obviously sucks but you have that no matter what. I do miss having lunch with my friends that I use to work with at the U of Florida. Especially Fridays we’d take a nice long lunch at a Mexican joint on many occasions. I’m not much of a people person so it’s a pretty good setup but it’s really hard to meet people. This is a brand-new city to me and I only know my gf. Also, it does get pretty boring grinding all day long but having goals makes it alright.”
Congratulations to Darinvg on making Supernova Elite, becoming an instructor at SNGicons, and becoming an online poker pro. If you want to keep up with his career, he’ll be blogging at the SNGicons web site. And he promises not to forget us little people who knew him before he became a pro.
Written By: Snickers
Comments