You know those days when you look outside and wonder why you’re still indoors? Sure, your poker session may be going well, but it’s so freaking beautiful that a little fresh air might do you some good. Such was Sunday, July 22 for PocketFiver squire1888(pictured), who took third place in the PokerStars Sunday Millionfor $107,000. A lively thread in the poker forums ensued, so we thought it would be appropriate to catch up with the Scottish player to recap his +EV decision to stay inside.

PocketFives: Thanks for joining us. Walk us through the Sunday Million.

squire1888: I had a load of tables up at the start of the Million and was on my girlfriend’s laptop instead of my home PC, where I have two screens, so play wasn’t optimal to begin with. As I busted from tournaments, I was only left in the Full Tilt Major and was short-stacked in the Million.

I doubled in the Million, busted on Full Tilt, and had one table the left. I put all of my focus on it, got freshened up at the break, came back with a cup of tea, and picked my spots to chip up. I remember saying in the Scottish Skype group I’m in, “I have chips in the Million near the bubble on the last table of the night. One time please.”

On Facebook before the grind, I wrote, “Playing poker on a day this nice is punishment. I better win the Million or it’s not worth it.” Third was okay, though.

PocketFives: You had a substantial amount of support from the PocketFives community.

squire1888: We have a great group in the Scotland pokercommunity. We have a Skype group we set up for study and railing each other if deep. It was started by geraldo22 (pictured) when he got third in the FTOPS Main Event. From there, we’ve added more people.

We do, from time to time, a hand history review, but it’s great for morale to have all of the grinders in the same place if you’re running bad since seeing other people do well motivates you. If you go into the Scotland Local page on PocketFives, every cash has like 10 raises and people leave messages. Nowhere else is that close-knit.

More support came from Grayson the_dean22Nichols and Andres andressoprano Pereyra. They were all going wild on the rail, so it was good to have so much support.

PocketFives: What is your relationship with the_dean22 and andressoprano?

squire1888: I’m like Grayson’s protégé. Grayson(pictured, image courtesy CardPlayer) coached me after I found him on PocketFives when I was a total donk. Within a few sessions, he had me crushing MTTs. Then, he got me into Andres’ stable while he still coached me. I saw the_dean22 in the Coaching Directory on PocketFives and thought he was cheap for such a boss, so I e-mailed him and went from there. He is more of a mate than a coach now, though. He’s a great guy and I wish him all the best in life. He’s a genuine top lad.

PocketFives: What about your game still needs work?

squire1888: Everyone’s game still needs work, especially in MTTs, as they are changing so much. You need to study a lot these days to have an edge. Even the fish know some stuff now, so I work really hard on my game. I’m in no way a boss. I just run good and study hard, so it seems to work out okay from time to time.

PocketFives: How did you get started in poker?

squire1888: We started playing at work when I was in the shop-fitting trade. We’d work away a lot, so at nights in hotels we played poker. Then, I started playing home games, won a few, and had the bug. I started playing in local casinos and then found out my friend’s brother was playing it for a living online. I was like, “Wow. That’s what I want to do.”

Poker is not as glamorous as I first thought, but I love the study and strategy that come with it, so I gave it a shot. I went busto on my own once or twice and then got some coaching from the_dean22 and started playing properly. Once I was in the stable and in the Scottish Skype group, my game improved vastly. I have not had to set an alarm or live a 9-5 life since October 2012.

PocketFives: Is there anything else you’d like to add?

squire1888: I’d like to give a shout out to Grayson Nichols and Andres Pereyra for getting me on my way in poker and helping me out a lot. Also, thanks to all of the Scottish grinders who are crushing it at the moment in our group: xxCelticFCxx; geraldo22; bobafett(pictured); ludovi333, who shipped UKIPT Marbella; makkapakk, who shipped GPS Sheffield; and the big-timer firaldo, who came in second in a great performance and fell just shy of a bracelet at the WSOP.

I also started doing some hand histories with dean23pricebefore the Million win. I think that helped me take on the big field of the tournament. He has helped me take my game to a higher level of thinking. Also, thanks to sifosis.

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