19 days to London – Meet Jostein Grødum

Cash Game Festival: Hello Jostein! Could you start by telling us what you do for a living?
Jostein Grødum: I’m the Poker Manager for NordicBet and have been for the past year. This means I’m in charge of the poker product for the site and handle everything that happens online and at different live events. Before this I was working with VIP management in Betsson Group and in total I’ve been working in the gaming industry for almost 4 years.
CGF: How long have you played poker and what made you start playing? Are you a cash game or tournament player mainly?
JG: I have been playing poker for about 15 years. Started out with playing tournaments and sit’n go’s back in the days and made a decent living out of it. Later on when I discovered more games than just holdem, I converted more into a cash game player. Unfortunately, due to working full time with poker and gaming, I don’t get to play so much myself anymore. But I try to put in a session whenever I can at the casinos here in Malta.
CGF: How would you classify yourself as a poker player? Strength/weaknesses? Different approach in cash game/tournaments?
JG: As a player I would classify myself as solid and with a mathematical approach. Strategy and game theory used to be my biggest strengths when I was playing as active, along with patience and concentration. If there is a weakness in my game, I guess it would the ability to shift gears and play very loose and aggressive when needed.
In my mind, you have to approach tournaments and cash games quite differently. For instance, in a tournament the blinds keeps on increasing, so you need to adjust your play to suit your stack compared to the increasing blinds, and you also only (at least in most situations) have one life in a tournament, so you need to choose the situations that you are willing to gamble very carefully. Cause if you lose your stack, you’re out of the game…
In a cash game however, since you can reload whenever you want, you can gamble a bit more and take higher risks in order to cash in your reward. In addition, for as long as you sit at the same table, the blinds remain the same. So just sitting and waiting for good hands isn’t an optimal strategy. You are also forced to play more post flop, as you very rarely get your stack in pre flop, which can lead to quite interesting dynamics and situations during a session.
CGF: Do you have any other game or sport interest as a hobby/profession? And if so, does that interest help your poker skills in any way?
JG: I’m a sports idiot, as we say in Norway. Meaning that almost all sports are interesting to me, and I can often be found on the couch with a football match or any other sports event on the TV. Whether or not it helps my poker game, that’s a totally different story. It’s more than likely that it rather is a disturbing element…
CGF: Do you have an interesting memory/story/poker hand to tell us about that you have experienced in a live environment?
JG: I once played a WSOP Stud Hi/Lo event in Vegas and had the legend himself, Doyle Brunson to my right. I think further explanation to that is not needed! 🙂
CGF: Can you tell us your favourite poker destination(s) and what makes it the best stop/place?
JG: Well, as a poker player, Vegas is of course up there. So many casinos and games in one city, and the slogan “The city that never sleeps” is just 100% true.
But I will also draw attention to the Norwegian Championship. For the past 5 years it has been held in Dublin. With over 2000 Norwegians getting together for a live event, plenty of tournaments and at times well over 50 cash game tables running at once, it is indeed like a poker heaven. And when it collides with St. Patricks Day, as it did this year, you know that even the night life will be great! 🙂
CGF: These people are all involved with Cash Game Festival in London: John Scanlon, Warren Lush, Enri Orav and Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk. Choose one of them that you have some sort of relationship to and tell us your view on his impact on the poker scene/industry?
JG: I met Franke last year in Barcelona, and since then gotten to know him very well. His passion for poker and to create something for poker that will be a success is an example to follow. He has new and good ideas all the time and I have no doubt that he will make the Cash Game Festival a big hit.
CGF: What do you think about the concept of a cash game only festival compared to the standard tournament festivals where cash games isn’t the focus?
JG: I very much like the Cash Game Festival concept. The ability for the players to come and go as they like and not be bound to a start time and forced breaks etc is very liberating. It creates a very good atmosphere around the tables and I think that players have a better social experience from these kind of events than from a tournament event, where everything can be a bit too serious at times.
CGF: What did you think about the past event(s) in Tallinn and what do you expect from the upcoming event in London?
JG: I loved the Tallinn event, and it was easy to see that the organizers had the advantage of being on home soil. They created a great environment at the tables, but also gave the players some great experiences off the felt.
I have high expectations for the London event, and hope that as many players as possible will turn up to make it a great success. Let’s all come together and show the poker community that Cash Game festivals has a great future within poker events.
CGF: Is NordicBet sending any players to London? And if so, how did they qualify?
JG: NordicBet finished our qualifications earlier this month. It was in the form of a loyalty point race and through that we are sending 3 players with guests to the event. There they will be staked into the cash games and hopefully have a really good time on and off the felt.
We noticed a clear upswing in the number of participants in the qualification, so it is clear that a lot of players want to take part in this event.
CGF: Thanks for answering our questions and we wish you and your players great success at the tables in London!

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