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Mario He: Whether pool, poker or life - the will to improve is key
Try to introduce yourself a little bit, what should we know about you?
"My name is Mario He and I'm from Austria. I'm a professional pool/pool player, whatever people call it. That's what I do for a living at the moment. I used to play poker a lot, now I don't have that much time for it. But I still like to play some events, especially since Grand Casino Liechtenstein became my sponsor this year."
Let's get to poker first. How did you get into playing, when did you start taking it more seriously?
"I started playing poker when I was a teenager, when I was 15-16 years old. My friends and I used to play home games and watch poker on TV just for fun. When I was 18 I started playing tournaments and cash games. At the beginning I didn't know how to play, of course, and for 2-3 years I was just learning. Gradually some friends and I realized that we understood the game and we were good at it. We had a great will to improve and I think that's important. To learn from other people. Poker, like other sports, evolves over time, you have to keep learning new techniques, methods, strategies. And that's what I enjoy. I played more and more tournaments and I managed to win some of them. On the one hand, the money is great, but for me it's even more important when I see that I'm improving. And then I enjoy it more. Even if you make mistakes, you can learn from them. Even losing and mistakes are motivation. It's one of the reasons why I play poker. I don't consider myself a professional because I'm not at that level. At least I don't feel like it and I haven't tried it. But I've been playing pool professionally since I got out of school. If I didn't play pool maybe I would be a poker pro."
Do you see any similarities between poker and billiards? Do any skills from pool help you with poker and vice versa?
"I know a lot of pool players who play poker and a few poker players who play pool. There are some similarities. For example, you not only have to be good at it, but you also have to be lucky. There's always some variance, even in pool, although not as pronounced there as in poker. If an amateur played championship pool, he wouldn't have a chance. In poker, anyone can win. Sure, it depends on how deep you play and so on, but in pool, an amateur simply can't beat a world champion.
It's also similar in that you have to be able to control your head when you're not doing well. He has to stay focused and keep playing to the best of his ability. Concentration has to be at a high level all the time, so mentally it's very similar. Even in pool you can have cash games and tournaments. I can make a deal with my opponent to play for 10k. That's like a cash game, you set the rules, the levels and you win the cash. I know some pool players who have made the transition to professional poker. There is more money in poker. When you look at the big tournaments like the EPT or WSOP where you find 80 percent of the regulars, an amateur can still believe he's going to win it. I think that's part of the reason why poker is so popular. Everybody feels like they can win. In other sports, you have to be good at it to win."
What would you say are similar skills you need in both polo and poker?
"You have to think ahead to what your next move is. Work with your opponent's weaknesses and strengths. In both sports you're playing against an opponent. In billiards you can win without letting your opponent hit a single ball. But sometimes you also have to play defensively, and there you have to analyze weaknesses and strengths. In poker, this is also true. In the end, I guess in all sports you have to analyse your opponent."
What are your greatest achievements in billiards?
"I have won the World Cup of Pool twice, I have been European Champion 8-9 times and I have won the bronze medal three times at the World Championship."
What is your most prized title?
"Probably the World Cup. It's a double event, the top two from each country play. And my partner and I have been in the final three times in a row and won twice. So Austria is one of the most successful countries in the world because of us. So I guess that's that."
That's great!
"Thank you."
And in poker, do you have any favourite achievements?
"I think the biggest tournament I've won was at King's Casino, I think it was the German Grand Prix. That was some 6-7 years ago. Honestly, I don't play that many events anymore. I've stopped playing Texas Hold'em in general, I only play tournaments in that. But mostly I play PLO cash game, because I don't have time for tournaments. Most of my space is taken up by pool, I play maybe five tournaments a year in poker."
In January 2019, Mario took home €53,637 from a €220 tournament after a 5-way deal
In the recent Wolf Millionaire, you also made it pretty far.
"Yes, I ended up on the final table bubble."
Also pretty nice. Going back to pool for a moment, what do you enjoy most about it?
"I honestly don't even know. I like pool because I'm good at it. When I first started, I really enjoyed it. I liked seeing that I was playing decently and improving quickly. But I think everybody enjoys it when they're good at what they do and it's easier for them to move up. Plus, I like the challenge of it because it's always a different, different setup. You've got so many different strokes to learn. It's never ending, you can't get perfect at it, you're always making mistakes. I love competing, it's something I really enjoy. Also the pressure, always new situations, different opponents. You have to react differently to each and every situation and you have to adapt quickly."
How do you cope with losing ? I suppose when you're competitive, you don't like to lose.
"I think nobody likes losing. You have to take it as it is, even if it's easier said than done. But you either learn from your mistakes, or if you played it perfectly and the result was still bad, you have nothing to deal with. I always say that when you have a situation in poker, you have to ask yourself "would I play this way next time?". If the answer is yes, you have nothing to worry and question yourself about. If you made a mistake you have to learn from it. Lucky or not, once you have it, once you don't. But most of the time you only remember the moments when you don't have that luck. People mainly remember when they lose, but they shouldn't think about it like that."
Tell me some more about your work with Grand Casino.
"I've known Cino for a while, maybe 5-6 years we've talked about it. This year we finally agreed on something. Pool and poker are close sports and I believe it's a good investment and advertising for Grand Casino."
Do you have other hobbies besides poker and pool? What's your favourite way to relax in between a busy schedule?
"Since I don't live at home often, I like to get together with friends and family that I haven't seen in a while. Poker is now my hobby. When I'm bored I usually go play poker. But mostly meeting friends because I don't have that many opportunities to do that."
Where can we see you next, do you have any poker plans? And where can we see you competing in pool?
"I don't plan poker, I play when I have time and when I see an interesting tournament. As for pool, I have a full diary there. Now I'm back from Germany from the Pool Masters, I've got a couple of days off and then I'm going to the Scottish Open, and the UK Open. And a lot of other stuff."
Mario thank you for the interview, and we wish you much more success!