Zachvac is a grinder from the United States who has taken on one of the first big proposition bets of 2010. His goal is to profit $15,000 in one month playing strictly 100nl ($0.50-$1) tables at Full Tilt Poker (max 16 tables, non Rush Poker with a stipulation of max Rush tables). If he pulls off the bet he stands to win over $40,000 which includes his profits from playing. We got in touch with Zachvac to get exclusive inside information on this prop bet and see how it started and how it’s going so far. The prop bet will conclude on the last day of this month with results being tracked at both the TwoPlusTwo forums and at FPPPro.com.

PTR: We saw some crazy prop bets succeed in 2009, specifically with JoeIngram1 (playing 50k hands and profit during a 24 hour period) and BallCup (who achieved SNE in less than 6 months). Was either or both of those inspirations to you for developing your own prop bet?

Zachvac: I didn’t follow the BallCup bet too much and I actually had money on JoeIngram1 for his and was there in person to rail it. As to them being inspirations, I guess I’ll have to say no. I mean that in terms that I never do what either of them did. The bigger motivation actually was seeing yuckymonkey do his 10k in a month prop bet and do it so easily I think he played less than 100k hands. We had both played 200nl a bit before his bet so I knew he was solid but I also thought I could do it.

PTR: How did you conceive the general details of your prop bet and how long ago did you start thinking about putting yourself through this?

Zachvac: I don’t want to go into too much detail but a few months ago everything just seemed (money-wise) to go wrong. I went from playing midstakes to being slightly under-rolled to play 200nl by my nitty bankroll standards. I had a friend going through similar thing and I still remember he asked me why we didn’t just stay at 100nl because it was an easy $10k/month. I thought about that for a bit and although I didn’t agree it was an easy $10k, the games are pretty soft. I remember thinking that if I played it at my normal volume I’d probably have a good amount of $10k months and probably be able to clear $100k/year, especially when adding in rakeback. Then one day I was just thinking about the 100nl prop bets that had happened, as $10k had succeeded and $20k had failed, so I figured next best target was $15k. I asked around and people told me I’d likely be able to get 3 to 3.5:1 against on such a bet. Also by this time I’d been running super-hot at 200nl and now had enough to play and put up my side of the bet. I figure rakeback will almost cover my side of the bet so even if I don’t win it’s not like I’ll be losing a ton of money whereas if I win it will be a very good month.

PTR: How much effort was needed on your part to help you get attention to your prop bet in order for you to get action. Did anyone ever protest your request to get 3:1 odds?

Zachvac: Well being a decent negotiator, I went in hoping to get 3:1 and requested 3.5:1. I started a thread in the full ring section of 2p2 and as expected people started offering bets at 3:1 and I accepted. Later when I first posted the thread in bbv there were people saying they’d bet at 2.5:1 and my answer was I have enough action at 3:1 so they can take it or leave it. Most took it and I think it’s actually a pretty fair line, although I do feel I’m getting the slightly better end of it.

PTR: I’m sure there’s a lot of people who are casual online poker players that wonder about who holds the money involved with this kind of prop bet. Where is the money and how is it guaranteed for people involved?

Zachvac: We have a neutral trusted party called an escrow to hold it. WCGRider is the one holding it and he’s got an extremely solid reputation and most people including me trust him. He’s held money for a lot of previous prop bets and there have been no issues in the past that I know of. So we sent the money to him before the bet, he verified it, and then at the end of the bet he will ship the money to the winner(s).

PTR: All of your hands are being tracked and whenever you are on you have your webcam and chatroom going at the same time, as stipulated in the prop bet contract. Has that proved to be distracting, focusing or have no effect on you at the tables?

Zachvac: Honestly the chat helps a lot. Just helps keep me motivated with people asking how I’m doing, wishing me good luck, and even some people betting against me cheering me on. I initially was going to ban myself from all forums and possibly even not use aim/just cut off all contact with anyone so I could put in maximum hours. But since then I’ve realized that a month is a long time and doing that would be close to impossible. Being able to talk to people has been pretty important especially considering how I started out. It just helps keep me sane.

PTR: At the outset of the challenge you claimed that you ran terrible. By all accounts you were running into coolers and came out on the sick end of some variance. How did you fight through that to continue and not immediately break down mentally? In other words, what’s the key for you to bounce back from such a slow start?

Zachvac: To be honest I didn’t handle it well at all. I did run absolutely horrendous but also was playing pretty badly near the end of the day. Instead of just keeping playing for 18k hands the first day I probably should have finished for the day long before I did and just picked it up the next day. It’s just hard to play well when you’re 14 buy-ins below EV on the day, running into coolers left and right, and have played something like 15 hours. It just wasn’t smart and my play suffered. Then the 2nd day I just told myself winning 16k in 30 days wasn’t that much harder and to think of that as the new challenge. Luckily I was able to start running good and combined with playing well I’m now back to having a decent shot at winning the bet.

PTR: Many pro athletes say they take each game one game at a time and never look ahead past what is in front of them. Have you been able to do the same with the money involved in this bet, or do you find yourself thinking about your potential bankroll if you succeed? ($15k profit + ~$3k rakeback + $25k prop bet money = ~$43,000??)

Zachvac: I’ve definitely thought about what I’d do if I won but as more of an abstract thing than concrete details since I’m still focused on winning the bet. I’ll probably end up doing a bit of traveling including at least one EPT. I played in the LAPT Mar Del Plata last year and that was a lot of fun and I’ve never been to Europe, and I think winnings from this prop bet should leave me with plenty for that.

PTR: Forgetting your answer to the previous question, I’ll go ahead and put you on the spot. Let’s say you do win the prop bet and have that kind of bankroll all of a sudden. What’s the poker gameplan from there? Will you head to mid stakes games (up to 1knl) or just cash a good portion of it out?

Zachvac: There’s no reason I can’t do both. With the recent heater at 200nl before the bet, even if I lose the bet I plan on attempting to mix some 400nl with 200nl and if I win it’ll obviously be plenty to be playing some midstakes games. I am not sure how much 1knl I’ll be playing but definitely mixing in soft 400 and 600nl games. But I also plan on cashing out the heavy majority of my winnings if I win the bet.

PTR: There are probably a lot of grinders out there looking at what you are doing and concocting their own potential mega-prop bet plan. What advice can you give them about picking the right prop bet and getting the right action against it?

Zachvac: It’s nothing super complicated. People love to bet. The biggest thing is no one likes betting at 8:1 because the money they win vs. have to risk just doesn’t make it that exciting. Other than that though if it’s something interesting that hasn’t been done yet just ask around and I’m sure you’ll get action.

PTR: We’ve heard some horror stories about prop bets gone wrong because of the language of the stipulations of the deal. Your contract was very detailed, how did it come about and what recommendations can you make for people drafting one up?

Zachvac: Yeah I actually heard a story about Hodge’s bet where he had phrased in his rules that he had to have a certain winrate to win. Someone made a big deal that he had to make it exactly that number, not more or less instead of at least that number. Now the judges are never going to rule that way but it just brings up one more thing to worry about. I mean the biggest thing is if you have a reputable panel of judges who are trusted to be fair by both sides it makes things go a lot smoother. The one small issue that did come up with the language in my rules was that my rules said “I may play rush” and many people seemed to take it as if I would be mainly playing non-rush. Now personally I don’t see how anyone who understands English can argue that but I’ve spent time posting on the forums, talking to the judges about it, and other stuff when I should be using that time to put in hands. I think that’s part of some peoples’ intentions but part of it is I just need to work on not letting it get to me. I trust the judges will do what is fair and what the intent of the rules was and there’s just no reason for me to spend time arguing in the forums especially when a lot of the people I’m arguing with don’t even have any money at stake and I guess just want some attention.

PTR: In your history of playing have you ever grinded like this? Has the magnitude of the situation played out that you’re not even half way through this and does that feel inspiring or intimidating?

Zachvac: I have never even played close to this many hands before. The amount of hands I’ve played so far in the last 10 days is more than I play most months and honestly I hate it. I’ve always enjoyed playing the game of poker and I’m hoping that this bet doesn’t change that for me. Recently though it’s just become more of a chore to put in hands but I do think I’m playing well and the money is a decent motivator. One thing’s for sure, win or lose on this bet I’ll be taking a good amount of time off after the bet is over.

PTR: You’ve’ developed quite a following thanks to this prop bet here at PTR and on other sites. What would you say to those that are rooting for you to succeed and at the same time, what would you say to those that have arisen to throw nothing but negativity your way?

Zachvac: Honestly there hasn’t been a lot of negativity. There are a few random dumb negative posts from people not even involved in the bet. I personally know many of the people betting against me and I’ve even had a few people say that even though they’re giving me action it would still be amazing if I could do it and that they actually do hope that I win. But both kinds actually provide motivation. I don’t want to let down all the people cheering me on and I want to prove the people with negative comments wrong.

PTR: Finally, what made you think that you can successfully pull this off?

Zachvac: Well I got 3:1 so I need to be better than 25% to do this and I definitely think I am. If I can play 8-10k hands/day and win at my lifetime 100nl FR winrate I will win the bet. So far I’m not playing quite as many hands as I’d like to but I do think I’ve been playing really well and I’d rather play 200k hands on my A game than 500k on my D game. I actually had someone suggest I try to play 150k hands and just table select a ton and try to achieve a 5ptbb/100 winrate. While I think that’s a bit extreme I do think the idea is that even though I have to play a lot of hands the hands I do play have to be quality hands. If I’m just auto-piloting at any point it’s going to hurt my winrate and dramatically lower my chances of winning this bet. It’s been extremely tough and it’s not even halfway over, but I’m feeling very good about how well I’m playing considering how many hands I’ve been putting in. I feel that ever since the first day I’ve been managing tilt extremely well, been doing a decent amount of off-the-tables hand review, and structuring my sessions around eating and exercising so I don’t have to play super-long sessions and have stuff to cool me down and recharge my mind between sessions. I think whether I can keep playing well rather than allowing myself to get burnt out and autopilot too much will decide whether I do end up winning or losing this bet. I definitely like my chances though.

Tags: BallCup, JoeIngram1, Prop bet, WCGRider, yuckymonkey, Zachvac

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 12:56 pm and is filed under Articles, Featured Articles, Poker Player Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.