Friday, 29th March 2024 07:37
Home / Interviews / Platinum Pass winner Richy Rob reveals where his PSPC prize money will go

Richy got his Platinum Pass by winning Dare2Stream in 2019, and has since fostered a healthy community of viewers for his Twitch streams. Heā€™s now playing the PSPC in the Bahamas and if he does win, Richy wonā€™t be taking any of the money for himself…

In this in-depth interview, Richy takes us through his Platinum Pass journey, offers advice for aspiring streamers, and explains how he managed to rename a tournament ā€œThe Goldmineā€. He also gives us a rare glimpse of his charitable acts.


STARTING POKER AND STREAMING

Richy Rob started playing poker in Prague when he was living there as an expat. Stumbling across live games in the local casino, and not really knowing how to play, he got off to a good start by striking it lucky for his first few sessions.

It wasnā€™t until his fourth time at the tables that Richy lost money. Not understanding why he lost, he began to study the game.

Richy is now a popular Twitch streamer. Heā€™s been building his audience since 2019, with an emphasis on playing microstakes tourneys so that his viewers can play along.

ā€œI started off with $100 and played $2.50 tournaments. Back then I only had like 10 people watching me. We went up to $400 then back down to $200. I started to understand more about the variance, and began playing $0.25 tournaments to make sure we were bankrolled properly.ā€

Since then, Richy has climbed up through the ranks and moved up in stakes. Heā€™s experienced at both cash and tournament poker and has played live all over the world. Yet Richy still stays true to his roots streaming microstakes poker to keep his audience involved.

ā€œI enjoy playing games where other people are in the tourneys with me, and I wanted to do that rather than viewers watching me try to go higher and higher. Thereā€™s enough people streaming high stakes anyway.ā€

ā€œI want to show that you don’t need to have the same bankroll as me. You can still have fun, and still take those shots and make those opportunities.ā€

RICHY ROBā€™S GOLDMINE

For Richy, thereā€™s no better microstakes tournament than ā€˜The Goldmineā€™, the nickname for which Richy is famed for coining himself.

The Goldmine is a $3.30 Turbo, Zoom, Deepstack, PKO tournament. Itā€™s a lot of fun and, as the nickname would suggest, notoriously soft.

ā€œWithin about three or four times of playing I knew this was going to be my favorite tournament. At one point there would be 30 people on my stream and all 30 would be playing it. It was mental.ā€

ā€œAfter about a week, I came up with saying ā€˜this thing is a Goldmineā€™ and changed the title of the stream to ā€˜Goldmineā€™ and itā€™s stuck ever since. It got to the point where the sponsored streamers and people in Pokerstars were even calling it the Goldmine, or Richy Rob’s Goldmine.ā€

ā€œSo it was hilarious when I actually won it.ā€

ā€œI’m a massive advocate for bankroll management. But if you’ve only got $3.30 ā€“ and most of you have because it’s the price of a big mac ā€“ the Goldmine is the most fun you can have for $3.30.ā€

And hereā€™s some great news for fans of Richy ā€“ heā€™s back on a personal mission to win the Goldmine for a second time. So far, heā€™s already come second place twice!

WINNING DARE2STREAM

Richyā€™s growing popularity as a Twitch streamer and involvement with the online poker community ultimately led to him taking a shot at Dare2Stream in December 2019, which had two Platinum Passes up for grabs for the winners.

Richyā€™s prior involvement with the online poker community gave him a bit of a headstart, but he was careful to offset this by helping other streamers along the way.

ā€œI tried to help out as many people as I could who had just started streaming. I made some overlays for people to use; if anyone came into my stream asking for advice I gave them advice; if I saw them streaming and they only had one viewer I’d make sure to send them my viewers that night.ā€

ā€œThere were two Passes up for grabs and I only had to win one. So I was quite happy to help as many people as possible to win the other one.ā€

During Dare2Stream, Richy was spending most of the day jumping between work and watching other streamers, and at night time he was streaming himself in what he describes as ā€œa chaotic time!ā€

But it all paid off in the end. As well as successfully growing his stream and enhancing the Twitch community in the process, Richy Rob became the Dare2Steam 2019 winner and, in the process, earned himself the $30k Platinum Pass to the Bahamas.

ā€œI didn’t think I was going to win. I don’t think I realised how much of a standout I was. When I did win the Platinum Pass, they announced it on a special stream. GG and Pie got dressed up for it, and we were all watching. It was fantastic!ā€

TO THE PSPC

A trip to the PSPC is going to suit Richy Rob. Heā€™s well travelled, having visited casinos all over the world, from Las Vegas to Macau, and all around Europe. Prior to the PSPC, heā€™ll be in Vegas playing some smaller events at the WPT, before heading to Miami, then to the Bahamas, where heā€™ll play in the mighty $25k Main Event.

Is he nervous about playing a $25k? It doesnā€™t seem so…

“I’m just going to play it like a normal tournament. There’s going to be a lot of people I know there, a lot of Platinum Pass winners who I haven’t met but who I’ve been chatting to over the past few years. So just making sure everyone has a fun time, for me that’s more important.ā€

Fun and socializing aside, Richy will still be looking to bank serious money. But not for his own gainā€¦

PRIZE MONEY TO CHARITY

As the interview continues, heā€™s somewhat reluctant to make a fuss about it, but Richy lets slip that he wonā€™t be taking any prize money from the PSPC for himself.

ā€œIt’s an open secret. I’m not getting the money for the tournament. It’s going to charity.ā€

ā€œI keep all my cash game winnings but any money I make from tournaments I give to charity.ā€

ā€œThis one is a huge opportunity. I’ve got my reasons for doing it aswell, I want to do it. It’s something that I believe in. And I got the ticket for free! It’ll be a dream come true if we won all that money and got to help so many people.ā€

As we talk more, Richy explains that he researches charities and thinks carefully about how donations can impact their cause.

ā€œHopefully I can make enough money at the PSPC that I could donate to Papyrus, an anti-suicide prevention for young people based in Liverpool, for them to have two phonelines 24 hours a day for two years.ā€

ā€œIf I could donate enough money for that, that means they could concentrate their fundraising on expanding that charity. That would lift a massive burden off them. I don’t know how much that is, but it’s a lot. You’re talking like a quarter million or something.ā€

ā€œThink how many people that will potentially save, it’s just touching so many people’s lives.ā€

ā€œ(On my streaming channel) I’ve got a demographic of young males who are most at risk from suicide. I always tell people, If you ever need to talk to someone, there’s no shame in that. It’s perfectly acceptable. And I think that’s where Twitch can be used for good.


Richy Robā€™s tips for aspiring streamers

After an excellent interview with a successful streamer, experienced player, and essentially a charitable man, Richy Rob does what he does best. Leaves us with solid advice for anyone who wants to get more involved with the poker and Twitch community.

Letā€™s check out Richy Robā€™s top tips for aspiring streamers:

FOCUS ON LEARNING POKER

ā€œAlways surround yourself with like-minded individuals, people who think the same way about how to play who can help you analyse hands.ā€

ā€œThere’s lots of free resources out there like watching Twitch, but its’ another community thing. If you get involved with a community of people who are trying to get better, you’ll all get better together.ā€

Get involved in the community

ā€œThere’s some people that jump straight to streaming. I think that’s a bit bizarre. They don’t have anyone watching them and they don’t understand how streaming works. They don’t understand the bits in the chat, what all the words mean.ā€

ā€œGet involved in communities first, watch other streamers, get involved in their chat, get a feel for what it’s about.ā€

Start with no delay

ā€œSecond, Iā€™d say start off with no delay. That way, you’ve got instant feedback, instant interaction with viewers. Itā€™s only once you get more viewers, or if youā€™re streaming really high stakes, that you have to worry about stream sniping.ā€

Have reasons and goals

ā€œAlso, have some sort of goals of why you’re doing it. A lot of people get into streaming for the wrong reasons. They’ll stream for a year, not get sponsored, and then leave. And they’ll be some self entitlement tilt. I’ve seen that happen to a lot of people, sadly.ā€

ā€œThe ones that succeed are the ones who are doing it for different reasons. They have a reason for streaming, whether that’s to help people get better, or to raise money for charity, or to get better themselves.ā€

ā€œI’ve got multiple reasons that have kept me in the game. If you don’t set out goals and have reasons for streaming you’re just not going to succeed. You’re going to give up.ā€

Dealing with small numbers

ā€œWhen I first streamed, there would be times when I would have zero viewers. And those times are hard. But if you’re a member of a community it’s very rare that you’re going to have zero members. You might only have two or three, but that’s infinitely better than zero.ā€

ā€œI wouldn’t worry about things like growth. All this stuff will come. And don’t try to copy other people. Just try to do your own thing, be yourself.ā€

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