VeniVidi1993: “Sometimes, Being in the Right Environment Is All It Takes”

Flip Side of Independence

After VeniVidi1993 started living on his own in Malta — the country he chose for poker reasons to move from the Netherlands — he didn’t have much: just a decent bankroll and a lot of enthusiasm. So, his first months were full of grind with occasional round of field hockey and trips back to seen his family:

“Malta became my base for poker, and for leisure, I’d fly back to the Netherlands whenever I could. I had little to no social life; my routine was simple—a bit of field hockey, and a lot of poker. That was my recipe for success.”

And while keeping with his poker routine was easy, taking care of himself wasn’t a walk in the park:

“Mornings often started with a quick coffee and cake at McDonald’s because I didn’t have Wi-Fi in my apartment. Lunch usually meant a box of Ferrero Rocher from a deli nearby, and dinner was often some takeaway from the restaurant next to my place or more McDonald’s if I was grinding late into the night. The leftover cups from this place also happened to be amazing portable toilets during the grind. Broken shower? No problem, I’d put some shampoo in my hair and jump into the sea to “clean” myself.”

Living without healthy habits way inevitably affected Dirk’s well-being. But he hadn’t noticed it until his family highlighted the problem:

“When Christmas rolled around, my family came to visit me in Malta. As I casually changed my shirt in the living room, I noticed them holding back their reactions, but they couldn’t contain it for long. Laughter filled the room, and suddenly, it hit me — they were laughing at me. My lifestyle had taken its toll; I had put on a some weight.

That moment was a wake-up call. I realized I needed to do more than just grind; I needed to take care of myself. I started working out and putting effort into building a life outside of poker.”

Fortunately, Dirk met a professional poker player who had his life figured out. Following lifestyle changes, VeniVidi1993 turned his life in a positive direction. He also grinded bankroll to $150,000 while originally planning to reach only $100,000 during the year.

Everything looked good until it wasn’t because Dirk finally met the end boss of success — downswing. 

First Major Downswing

A good bankroll and feeling of constant success played a trick with Dirk:

“I started taking bigger risks, but suddenly, the wins stopped coming my way. Even though my tracking software showed I was a winning player, the reality of my results was far less forgiving.”

The unlucky streak was brutal enough to force Dirk to take a break and travel with friends, hoping to reset and return to glory. But in the end he only came to revelation that downswing can’t be beaten just like that:

“When I returned, I was eager to tackle my downswing, but my unlucky streak continued. Within a few months, I was down to my last $10,000. Desperate and determined, I decided to write about my experiences on 2+2 for the first time, sharing my journey and the raw frustration that came with it.”

One of posts from 2+2, which Dirk shared alongside this part of story, shows his desperation to break the cycle and move forward:

Of course, sometimes he had a good session and went to bed happy with himself.

But poker success, especially during downswing, demands more than a few good sessions. And Dirk was sure that he can overcome variance at the moment, so when he chose an aggressive bankroll management — it cost him:

“With that last $10,000, I chose an aggressive approach. I knew I had the skills to beat mid-stakes poker, so rebuilding my bankroll slowly felt like a waste of time. I’d rather go broke chasing the higher stakes than stay stuck at 200PLO for months. And, well, broke I went—forced to look for a backer to get back in the game.”

That’s how Dirk bumped into a new problem for the first time: How to find a backer ready to give you money with all your stories of near-misses and close calls? But also — How to explain to your family that you’ve gone broke and plan to have staking relationships with other people?

Backer & Coach Who Changed Everything

Luckily, the poker world is not deprived of kind people who want to help someone in need. Especially, when it comes to players with great potential and a thirst to grind.

Dirk managed to find one of them and made a staking deal. The next step was emotionally harder — to inform his family about the situation:

“I jump on a Skype call with my parents to tell them someone’s investing in me—a 70/30 split of the winnings. They’ve always supported my decisions, as long as I didn’t come back with a loan, but I could see they had doubts. As I explain that, if I lose, the investor bears the risk, not me, they still look hesitant, struggling to believe.”

Youth can be a little careless, so when Dirk found an opportunity to return to the game that he cherished so deeply — he took it without too much concern. This deal led him to one of the most important turning points in his career:

“The staking deal starts off well, but then risks and an unlucky streak start to chip away at my bankroll. My backer soon realizes I might need more than just money to succeed.

To protect his investment, he arranges my first coaching session.”

In all the years until that moment Dirk had been studying poker alone, reading thematic articles and analyzing his own experiences. So when he finally started to work with the coach — it was an absolute game-changer:

“He teaches me about all the betting lines in poker and how to properly balance them. If we have a hand that we can bet twice we can bet the flop and the turn, but also on the turn and the river. Or on the flop and the river.

A very straightforward lesson you would say, but it clicked and I started implementing the knowledge that he would transfer to me. With each bi-monthly lesson, I absorbed more, and my expected value soared. Though my actual earnings took longer to catch up, I knew I was on the right track and could see it in my growing hand database.”

The new approach helped Dirk shift his focus from session results to right decision-making. And this perception he uses up to this day, caring more about the right play than winning an all-in.

Unexpectedly Living a Dream

So far, everything had become better with poker but not so much in the life around it. After two years of poker grind, Dirk’s long-distance girlfriend decided to end their relationship and move on with her life. This loss opened a door to unexpected future for Dirk:

“Another blow, yes, but when I told my backer, he invited me to stay with him and some poker friends in Cape Town. It was the ideal environment to level up my game.”

Since Dirk had a good relationship with his supportive parents, he decided to discuss this opportunity with them:

“I let my parents know about the move. They were understandably cautious—just two years earlier, I’d told them I’d gone broke, and now here I was, about to live with friends on Clifton Beach. Their nerves eased when I showed them the place, explaining that this was the turning point I needed.”

The place was so nice that Dirk even shared its photos alongside the story:

So, with his parents’ blessing Dirk went there. And it became like a living dream:

“This three-month trial turned into a dream: I found success at the tables, experienced an incredible lifestyle, and, maybe most importantly, had unforgettable adventures that had nothing to do with poker. Living with like minded people, a monthly party in our place, hiking up and down Lion’s Head, amazing dinners on the wine estates and freezing cold water at the tip of my toes.”

His results were improving and he was very, very satisfied with his life during that period.

That was a time when Dirk realized one of the secrets of a happy and fruitful life:

“Sometimes, being in the right environment is all it takes—and my mentor knew that all along.”