4 days to London - Meet Björn Gustafsson

5 days to London – Meet Silje Nilsen

March 25, 2016

2 days to London – Cash Game Poker Tournament at Aspers Casino

March 28, 2016

Published by Alexander Nilsson on March 26, 2016

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Cash Game Festival: Hello Björn! Could you start by telling us what you do for a living?

BG: Since the last 6 years I have been working in the poker industry almost exclusively. My main focus during these years have been to run a Swedish webpage called PokerSkull with news, poker blogs, tournament information and some live reporting. At it’s prime I had several well known players blogging for me, where Anton Wigg was the most well known of them.
Since starting PokerSkull I have been averaging 10+ trips and over 100 traveling days per year, frequenting tours like EPT, Grand Live, EMOP, Unibet Open and many smaller/Nordic events. At these I have either been working for myself, on a contract with a partner/organizer or as a freelance for other media outlets doing everything from taking pictures, writing articles, conducting interviews, live reporting and also some livestream commentating.
Due to several unfortunate family circumstances and a big shift of media budgets I haven’t really been updating the page as frequent the last year. I also have been freelancing more and more on the side with translations and other event related gigs. PokerSkull is getting a revival soon but will have a different focus then before to move on forward in a direction I feel happier with. Since I also run it totally alone it’s hard competing with the two bigger pages in Sweden that have a lot of employees on their record. I can’t be working 200h+/month any longer when traveling that frequent. And my strength outside of the journalistic part is in my social media skills and big network I have grown over the course of all my years on the road.
CGF: Does this mean you are attending the Cash Game Festival in London for work or as a player?
BG: I would say 95% for work, but I hope to squeeze in a shorter cash game session or two after working hours. Maybe even take a shot at the livestreamed low buyin table if I can. So I can publicly humiliate myself! 🙂
While in Malta for the the EPT a few months before the last event in Tallinn, I had a chat with Franke, where he asked if I wanted to help out and work at the event. Mainly taking care of the editorial part of the festival and some social media, but also to join the live commentating of their Twitch channel. It worked out well, was really fun and the people involved are great.
Here I am looking forward to London next week where I will be doing the same as last time, but also helping one of the event partners poker.se with some articles. It will be the first time working for what usually is a competitor for PokerSkull, but I have a good relationship with the editor in chief and it’s for the festivals best. I really hope plans that the organizers have in mind work out well and that I can have an even bigger part in helping them out at future events.
CGF: How long have you played poker and what made you start playing? Are you a cash game or tournament player mainly?
BG: I started playing poker after watching WPT and WSOP broadcasts late nights on TV in the early 2000’s. I was a student and was making some nice extra money on sports betting the main football leagues of Europe, when my main site introduced poker. I used some of my bankroll and my “know-it-how” from TV and just started winning from day one. It really was as easy as most players that tried out online poker some 15 years ago agree on. Unfortunately due to probably being a coward I really never took the step in to playing higher limits or dedicating myself to poker full time. If this had happened today and it was as easy as then, knowing friends living that lifestyle, I probably would give it a proper shot. Back then it was so new and I didn’t have any references to compare myself to and wanted something more stable.
Around 2004 I got bored hobby playing online poker and took a break for pretty much 3-4 years arranging media related events instead and being involved in startup projects and taking an interest for entrepreneurship. This lead me after a failed business to plunge into a social media gambling project around 2008. The idea was great, lots of big brands liked it and I was having meetings all over Europe. In the end it all came down to not being fully committed and/or having the proper knowledge to build a tech company. Instead PokerSkull was born unintentionally from a poker players crazy bet that needed a platform to be followed on. And the first blogger was born. Since starting to work with poker full time and also trying live poker a few years earlier the love for the game has grown and come back. Even if I hate it from time to time…like most players probably do! 🙂
And I play more MTTs live then cash games, although I probably am a better cash game player to be fair. I guess the hunt to clinch the first spot finish in tournaments comes from being a competitive person by nature. I mainly play smaller events at the end of working trips or cash games when I can squeeze in a few hours. I hardly play online anymore since I don’t like sitting more hours in front of a laptop then I already do. And also because online games are much tougher nowadays. I like the human interaction of playing live.
CGF: How would you classify yourself as a poker player? Strength/weaknesses? Different approach in cash game/tournaments?
BG: I think in general when playing tournaments I start off being very loose-agressive but as the tournament progresses I become more of a tight nit. And this is mainly because of low volume and self confidence. Periods when I play much I don’t tend to fall in to the same trap as often. It’s definitely something that needs working on but I think I have the basics of the game there and just need more volume and playing more hours to sharpen my tools…
As a live player I would say I think I have pretty good reads and feeling for the game and decision making. Online I have no patience whilst I have it live. Which is strange since you have so much more action online when you can multi table. I think my ADHD (self diagnosed) has less distracting options live with nowhere to go. And I also love chatting and the banter around a live game. That keeps me in check from stupid tilting decisions I make online at times. 😀
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?
BG: I wish I could answer yes to this one. But I don’t anymore other then as a periodical gym-goer. I played football up until I was 21 and quit because of knee problems and I also played volleyball in the second division for a while.
I have pretty much totally stopped with sports betting even if I watch a lot of sports and especially football. As a kid I liked chess and read books about game theory and played lots, but haven’t been in contact with that game until I recently watched my friend Jeff Sarwer play in a chess tournament in Sweden where I live. Before that I hadn’t even thought about chess for 15-20 years.
All in all I think my sporting background and interest for sports in general definitely plays some type of role when it comes to poker and having the will to always win and beat your opponent. I believe most people are either born with that competitiveness or they don’t have/can find it.
CGF: Do you have any interesting memory/story/poker hand to tell us about that you have experienced in poker/in a live casino?
BG: I probably have lots of fun stories and interesting hands from playing situations if I put my mind in to it. I just have a really hard time remembering hands I’ve played and usually need to write them down to be able to recap them properly later on.
In general my life as self employed within the poker field has allowed me to end up in loads of very interesting situations both in work and privately with poker personalities that most people outside of the bubble probably find interesting. I have had face2face meetings and partied in Vegas with Doyle Brunson and also busted him in a tournament in his Doyle-branded poker club at launch night in Budapest. Watched UFC whilst drinking at a birthday party in Vegas with Phil Laak and Antonio Esfandiari amongst others and also realized I have been out drinking with Dan Bilzerian a few times before all the media hype around him started.
The list of party related stories is very long and I have some really good ones that I never could share even if I wanted to. Most of them obvisouly from Las Vegas, but pretty much every trip brings at least one memorable story that I will never forget. Maybe kinda sad that most stories are related to boozy nights out, but also great and fun memories for life in situations I never would end up in if it wasn’t for my work with poker.
CGF: Can you tell us your favorite poker destination(s) and why that is the best stop/place?
BG: I guess I’m going to be boring and probably not so unique in saying Las Vegas. After the last question my answer probably comes as no surprise. The city has it all if you like poker, fun and games in combination with night life. It’s a playground for adults that you either love or hate, and I happen to love Las Vegas. Hopefully I’m going back there this summer for a combination of work and playing poker.
In Europe I have a few favorites for different reasons. Barcelona is a must every August when the EPT season kicks off. Great city, great atmosphere and the perfect time of the year when it comes to the weather conditions. On top of poker you can combine it with good food, world class football, the beach and a really nice architecture and culture. The last few years I have rented an apartment for 1-2 weeks together with various poker players and the plan is to go there this year too.
Malta is also kind of a soft spot for me since I’ve spent so many months there in total. Weather is great almost all year long and I have more friends there then I have in Sweden, so it’s always a blast to go to Malta for vacation and/or work. And the last 2-3 years the island is hosting more and bigger poker events then ever before because it’s the European hub for most of the gaming industry.
Another favorite is Manchester for great memories combined with watching Manchester United. I’ve also played two different poker tournaments at Old Trafford. Split in Croatia because of the location the events are arranged at and finally I want to mention Prague that is a must for me every December. Prague has it all and the poker festival there is the biggest of the year with virtually every bigger tour hosting a full schedule the two weeks before Christmas. It’s a fantastic city and for us Swedes everything is cheap. I just wish more events where organized in Prague during the warmer periods of the year,
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 or more of them that you have some sort of relationship to and answer how you see their impact on the poker scene/industry? Any fun facts to share about them?
BG: I know them all on different levels. John Scanlon through various live events and Enri Orav I met for the first time in Tallinn at the latest Cash Game Festival. I’ve known Enri to short to go into any deeper reasoning, but what I can say is that both him and John seem like standup guys and John is very professional in what he does.
When it comes to Franke and Warren Lush I have loads of memories and stories to tell and share about both of them. And most of them are again related to various nights out with drinks in our hands. I’ve known Franke for probably 10 years and have lived with him at several EPTs, stayed in his apartment and even at his dance studio in Tallinn, where he lived before moving to Uruguay. I have also worked with and for Franke many times throughout the years starting with Pokerfinnkampen and now with Cash Game Festival. He is the main reason I want to be involved with this project and he is a great character and hard worker that always lifts the spirit of everyone participating in his poker events.
When it comes to Warren Lush I have met him at numerous WPT’s where he has been working for PartyPoker or being involved with the Tony G circus. We also shared a fun night out in Vienna (I think?) which ended in an informal bet between me and Jesse May for who was the fastest grower of hair. The loser was going to shave his head. Before any formal guidelines were set Jesse ended up shaving his head at the Irish Open a month later for charity…

CGF: What did you think about the past events in Tallinn and what do you expect from London?

BG: I have actually only attended one out of the three events that have been organized in Tallinn, and that was the one in December. From a player perspective I heard mostly good reviews and action was good and set a record so far in the short history of the festival.
With London I expect a total different ball game. More and bigger. Of everything, not only poker. And from a work aspect I think all our problems and mishaps from Tallinn will be smoothen out and dealt with in a better way and I know more of what to expect and how to plan some of my work ahead of time. I’m also gonna be more comfortable in speaking on the livestream event though the knowledge I will be joined by Marc Convey, known from PokerStars streams, is a bit daunting. I know Marc personally but that means I also know he loves giving stick and a good banter. So do I, but even if I’m comfortable speaking English it’s still not my mother tongue. Which means he has an advantage over me on top of being extremely good at his job and what he does. Hopefully he won’t crush me in the booth… 😀
CGF: Thank you Björn and we wish you good luck working with Marc Convey in London!