The Beginning of Poker with Ricardo Caridade (part 1)

In this first part of the interview, Ricardo Caridade shares how his journey into the world of poker began. From the first games with friends to the moment his passion for the game became more serious. Caridade reveals the first steps that led him to a semi-professional career and, eventually, full professionalization in poker.

How did you get started in poker? 

Basically, I got to know Poker around 2011 or 2012, I got to know them through friends in those games where they taught me the rules. 

I thought it was interesting at the time, but it wasn't “passion at first sight”. Then the passion arose, at the time there was the Bwin, a house that was doing a birthday offer, in a top-up, offered an X, and I did that top-up... I saw that they had Online Poker there, I tried it! I liked it more and more... At first, it was a bit like a hobby it was like playing the Euromillions, I'd put 20 euros in every other week and I'd win. Then I became more interested in the game, at the time there wasn't much information, but there was something! I remember that I enrolled in an American poker school, Tournament Poker Edge, if I'm not mistaken, and I started to get the first notions!

Ricardo Caridade in 2016, at the Summer Poker Festival I

I kept improving and starting to get some results, the passion grew more and more, and then it was gradual! I also started training, I had coaching with some professionals at the time, like Henrique Pinho, Caio Pessanho! And I enrolled in other schools, such as Sensei Poker, etc. I evolved more and more and got more results until the first step, at least semi-professional, was when I joined Samba. Then, at a much more advanced stage, I ended up taking a few days off work, in my professional field at the time, which was Physiotherapy, and took a few days off to be able to grind. So it was like a part-time job! 

Let's say my beginnings were like that, then I ended up joining the Polarize, later on, in 2017, that's when I ended up becoming a professional!

What's your routine like on a grind day?

As far as my grind routine is concerned, there are a few points that vary, but as a general rule it's much the same. I start the day and one of the first things I do is wake up and take the dogs out, I have two dogs, I give them something to eat, then I try to return to rest a little longer. In the morning, usually, training, or running or with PT. I don't train every day, because I either have classes that I teach in the morning, so I intersperse training with some studies in the morning. 

After lunch and I always put it in study or lessons, in which I study different things, either about my game or about my opponents. Usually, before playing I do my Warm-Up and before that Warm-Up I always end up going for a walk on the beach, also to relax a bit, stretch my legs and listen to some music. 

Then yes, I start the grind and that's all there is to it! As a general rule, I start around 5pm or 5.30pm when I'm in Portugal and finish around midnight or 1am. I always try to follow these times to the letter and not to stay past these hours.

What strategies or approaches do you believe are essential for success?

In terms of strategies or approaches to success, I don't think there's much of a concept of talent in poker these days. I think that the ones who make it are the ones who put in the most work and who are the most resilient as a result of a number of factors. Then there comes a point when the best players or the regs all play very similarly and it's the details that make the difference. 

So I think it's really important, as well as working on the technical side, work on the mental side too! Therefore, having some kind of support, be it from a mental coach, having a good exercise routine, diet, sleep is fundamental... and these small (BIG) details make all the difference. BUT, above all, I think the most important thing for success is hard work, dedication and resilience. I think these are the three main factors! 

What are the main differences you notice between playing online and live?

Playing poker online is much more challenging than playing live poker, it has its charm, but I think it's much more monotonous! Still, there are some great things about it too, like getting along with people, you can't do that in your day-to-day life in front of your computer. Live, we can understand people's stories, I remember that one of the things I liked most was in certain places, like Vegas, being able to play and talk to people at the same time... In other words, getting to know people, why they're there and that ends up giving us an advantage, we end up knowing the player's profile better, I don't think it distracts us in the game, but it does bring an advantage to our game. 

One of the things that can happen is that a player who plays online, who plays very little live, when he goes to play live because he plays very few hands, is a bit monotonous...

And eventually they do, wanting to force spots or play more marginal hands who shouldn't be playing. So I think it takes a lot of patience and adaptation. In fact, I think adaptation is really important when you play live, because the profile of the player who plays online and the profile of the player who plays live is really very different! And we have the player ”Maníaco” who plays all the hands, as we also have o player who doesn't play any hands and that in a normal spot online we always have to make a call with certain part of the range... And live, against that type of player we have to make adaptations, because he you'll be playing a very different range than you're supposed to. 

In other words, I think that having these adaptations is extremely important! But otherwise I think the most important thing in poker, whether it's online or live, is to play well and play the player and adapt. 

What was your last live event? Are you planning to go to any more live events this year?

My last live event was EPT Paris. I wasn't able to go to Las Vegas this year, but I'm now planning to go to the Bahamas in December! As I went last year and really enjoyed it, I think it's an event that has a lot of value, I'd like to go, but I'm still going to decide 100% in the near future. 

Remember that: The event WSOP Paradise will take place this year from December 6 to 19, 2024 at the Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas. This event will feature a “Super Main Event” with a guaranteed prize pool of 50 million dollars, is one of the biggest live poker events in history!

Part 2 of the interview with Caridade comes out tomorrow. Stay tuned!