Hello! I’m on the PR team at CLOViZ Inc.
This time, we’re joined by Drama, a player who has won a total of 10 million yen in live cash games and is often called the strongest student player thanks to his strategy work and educational content.
After deciding to take a leave of absence from university, he spent three years grinding across Korea, Cambodia, and the United States. In this interview, we’ll break down how he expanded both his skill set and perspective, plus the mindset and mental game habits behind his rapid improvement.
1. A university player who took a leave of absence to sharpen his game overseas
—First, could you introduce yourself?
Drama:
My name is Drama, and I’m a third-year student in the Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science at Hokkaido University. I’ve been playing poker for about three years. I first learned the game from a friend during my high school graduation trip, and that’s what got me into poker. I was drawn to the depth of an imperfect information game, the satisfaction of outthinking an opponent, and the fun of constant mind games. After entering university, I became more obsessed with poker than math.
In the winter of my second year, I decided to take a one-year leave of absence because I wanted to fully commit. I traveled and played in Las Vegas, Korea, and Cambodia. In Las Vegas, I joined a project called the “Amu Elite Squad,” and winning about 5 million yen in three months became a major source of confidence for me. Right now, I’m deeply focused on studying poker through the club I founded, Hokudai Poker Circle SECOND NUTS.
2. What drove his rapid growth to “strongest student” in just three years
—I’m sure you didn’t start out winning easily. What do you think allowed you to improve so quickly in about three years and earn a reputation as the strongest student player?
Drama:
The biggest factor was getting coaching from strong players. I’m not a “natural talent” type. When I started, I didn’t know how to build strategy, and I didn’t understand balance at all. About six months in, I began coaching with Peeeaje, and I became able to beat typical recreational players. Then about six months later, I started coaching with Amu. Amu not only has a deep understanding of equilibrium (GTO), but his thinking is extremely refined. I remember feeling he was the strongest player I’d ever met.
In poker, you need to understand both equilibrium (GTO) and exploitative play. You can build the former through effort, but I think the latter is hard to learn unless you have great materials or a great mentor.
—It seems difficult to identify strong players when you’re still inexperienced. How should someone judge who’s actually good?
Drama:
Realistically, the best way is to judge the logical consistency of what they say. Ideally, you’d measure a player’s skill by equity, but in practice you often don’t have enough sample size. So I start by filtering out people whose statements contain logical contradictions. Once you remove those, you’re mostly left with competent people. From there, I think the best approach is to choose someone you work well with and can trust.
3. Three stages of thinking: from equilibrium understanding to exploitation
—How has your in-game thinking evolved from when you first started to now?
Drama:
Right after I started, I had zero concept of balance and played based only on my own hand.
- On the river, my value bet sizing and bluff sizing were completely different
- My intentions were obvious to everyone
That was my “weakest” stage.
Next, I learned to balance across my entire range. More specifically:
- My value and bluff sizes became consistent
- I could include bluffs in every bet size and line, so my play became more equilibrium (GTO)-like
In the final stage, I used equilibrium thinking as a foundation, but I could intentionally break balance to exploit opponents. More specifically:
- I choose bluff sizes that maximize bluff EV
- I choose value sizes that maximize value EV
- I choose lines that maximize EV for each option
- And I still avoid letting opponents notice my imbalances
That’s how my thinking evolved through these three stages.
4. A workflow for training logical thinking
—In your YouTube project “Headphone Poker”, you explain your thought process for each action. How do you decide on your final action, and do you have tips for training that process?
Drama:
First, I start by clearly putting into words what I’m unsure about. For example, I’ll say, “I’m deciding between checking and betting 33%.” Then I organize the pros and cons of those two options and think about how check EV and bet EV change compared to equilibrium (GTO). For example, if I have a marginal hand, I might explain it like this: “If I bet 33%, I’m likely to face a lot of raises, and I can’t call a raise with this hand, so that’s a negative point and lowers bet EV. If I check, I expect fewer probe bets on the turn, which is a positive point. So in this spot, check EV likely exceeds bet EV, so I choose check.”
When I organize it into these three steps:
- List the options
- Explain how EV changes for each option
- Conclude which option you choose
the logic becomes instantly clearer.
When explaining where a number like “33%” comes from, I make it explicit by saying, “This is the equilibrium sizing.” Then I’ll add that in this spot I’m choosing a size that deviates from equilibrium as an exploit. I think it helps a lot to build the habit of always stating whether you’re talking about an equilibrium strategy or an exploitative strategy.
5. Mental game and live cash game habits
—You mentioned winning about 5 million yen overseas, but live cash games have huge variance. How do you manage your mental game?
Drama:
I think mental game management is just as important as studying poker strategy. If you play live cash, it’s even more essential.
The first thing I focus on is keeping a consistent daily routine.
Poker players often struggle to leave a good table, so sleep schedules can get messy. But a strict rule for me is never playing while sleep-deprived. After a session, I sleep without an alarm until I feel like I truly slept well. I usually don’t eat breakfast, but on days I play, I always eat in the morning. Then I lift weights, take a shower, get ready, and head to the venue. That’s my basic routine.
Strength training activates the brain and boosts self-confidence. A lazy lifestyle slows your thinking and hurts your mental state, so I strongly recommend aiming for an ideal, disciplined daily rhythm.
—Do you tilt at all? And if you do, how do you handle it?
Drama:
I’ve heard some people almost never tilt, but I do. That said, it’s not when I lose in an unfair way. It hits me mentally when I realize I made a clear mistake. If I feel bad, I stand up immediately, take a walk outside, look at the scenery, or listen to music to reset. If I think I still can’t focus after coming back, I end the session and go home. But if the table is great, I weigh whether it’s worth continuing.
I also take notes on every line. If I see a line that looks like an opponent leak, I record it immediately. I give each of the nine players at the table a nickname and write down the traits I observe. Under that, I write my own hand review, then revisit it the next morning. If my thinking doesn’t match what I wrote at the time, I store it as a mental-game-driven bias. That way, I can apply countermeasures during play that fit my personal tendencies.
6. How taking a leave of absence broadened his perspective and his future vision
—Looking back, was taking a one-year leave of absence to focus on poker a positive decision? How do you view poker now, and how do you want to continue with poker in the future?
Drama:
I’m really glad I took the leave. If there are student poker players who are unsure about taking time off, I want them to seriously consider it. When you’re young, have stamina, and your curiosity and desire to grow are high, being able to immerse yourself in poker for a full year is a huge advantage. Your skill improves dramatically, and in most cases it doesn’t become a fatal negative for job hunting.
My skill improved a lot during that time, but my assumption that “I’ll probably get bored after a year” was wrong. If anything, poker became even more interesting. Right now, my goal is to surpass the players I look up to, and I’m even more committed than before. Of course, I plan to graduate, but my personal philosophy is to pursue what I enjoy most right now. Rather than betting my life on future security or saving all my enjoyment for retirement, I want to maximize the present because you never know when you’ll die.
In the future, I’ll keep poker as a stage where I aim for the very top. I’ll also value time in Japan and time with friends, while playing overseas when needed.
7. For people starting poker: GTO isn’t the answer, it’s the baseline
—Finally, do you have advice for beginners, or for players who study but feel stuck?
Drama:
GTO is even more important than most people think, and you’ll never regret learning it, so I recommend studying it thoroughly.
Saying “My opponents don’t play GTO, so studying it is pointless” is a major misunderstanding. If you don’t know the baseline, you can’t even identify what’s deviating. Learn the baseline first, then find your opponent’s tendencies, and intentionally break balance to exploit them. I think that’s the most reliable path to improvement.
