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Take quizOver the upcoming weeks we will introduce the Grindhouse 3 participants to the public. Hailing from Bavaria, Southern Germany, Fabian ‘Taurus’ Niederreiter is now living in Vienna, Austria. Pokercode sat down with Niederreiter about the upcoming Grindhouse 3 and his expectations.
Born and raised in Bavaria, Southern Germany, the early years of Fabian Niederreiter weren’t about poker at all. While he was very into math and numbers, it was sports that kept him busy outside of school. Being competitive at everything he touched, it’s no surprise that when he turned 18 and started playing poker, it’s no surprise that success followed after.
Niederreiter grew up in a small Bavarian town, and during high school he found poker through television, like many other poker players from the current generation. And to stay at cliches, it was love at first sight for the 15-year old.
“I think it was the WSOP that was broadcasted in Germany, or maybe the EPT, but whatever it was, I immediately liked the game. A couple of my friends in school had the same thoughts so we started playing together in my parents’ house, in the basement. We were playing 1 cent/2 cent blinds cash games and just having a good time.”
This went on for multiple years, playing for a handful of euros throughout the night. But as soon as Niederreiter turned 18 years old, he started following poker through PokerNews, Twitch, and tried to compete at low stakes SNGs, trying to improve.
“After I finished school I got into university and got a degree in business administration. I always kept playing poker on the side and followed all the news and the big names. I remember it was super exciting to follow everything and it made me enthusiastic about life as a poker player.”
After 4 years in Munich at university the young German had the breakthrough he needed to give him the final push. When online poker was booming because of the covid pandemic, ‘Taurus’ won about $18,000 combined in 2 tournaments which helped him move to Vienna to pursue a career as a poker player.
“I had the life roll to be safe for a year and I wanted to give it a shot. Each year I allow myself to decide if I want to continue with my master degree, or continue playing poker. You have to put so much time in to be a professional poker player, so I wasn’t sure how that would go. I have already decided for next year that I want to continue playing poker because the game still excites me and makes me curious to learn something new every day!”
After seeing the successes of Mario Mosboeck, Roland Rokita, and the other Grindhouse 1 and 2 participants, Grindhouse 3 came on the radar of Niederreiter and drove him to apply.
“I was watching Grindhouse 1 and was waiting for every episode to come out. I loved it. It was so cool to follow all the guys. The group drive was amazing to see and it’s almost like the vibe you have when you’re on a school trip! I want to have that too. It looks so cool to me and it seems like having so much fun while actually studying hard and improving your game.”
Niederreiter shared that the project seems mostly enjoyable, but the progress in his poker career shouldn’t be forgotten.
“It’s safe to say that Grindhouse 1 and 2 had a great impact on how they live their lives now!”
Poker-wise it’s about getting a new and fresh perspective on the game. Having the experience of Fedor Holz and Matthias Eibinger available throughout the project is incredibly valuable, he told Pokercode.
“They went through the entire process of improving and beating the highest stakes. It could help me a lot to get their feedback. I would love to plug some leaks and I hope it changes my approach to the game so I can improve myself after the Grindhouse.”
It’s not just about learning from the coaches for Niederreiter. Already working together with Grzegorz ‘MammothTheGr8’ Kozieja for 1.5 years he thinks there is a lot to learn from the other people in the house and how they approach the game and how they study as well.
He does believe that having a math and economics background helps him to always look for the decision with the most EV. Niederreiter believes that finding profitable investments and finding risks and analyzing them is one of his strong suits.
“I once made a presentation for poker pros when I was still in university. It was about how to manage your money away from the table. If you don’t need the $20k in your GGPoker account for playing, there are better ways to store your money than just having it in your account, you can make it work for you!”
After Grindhouse the focus for Niederreiter will be on improving his daily life as a poker pro. Currently he says he’s missing the structure and knowing how much time to dedicate to studying and grinding. He’s hoping Grindhouse will give him the input to create a healthy life as a poker pro with a balance between playing the game, and his private and social life.
“I could do both so much more efficiently, so I hope to get a better framework on how to prioritize better. Getting perspective from the other players will be incredibly helpful. It might be the biggest benefit for me that I can get from the house.”
Niederreiter’s friends from high school who he started playing with back in the day never continued pursuing poker success, but every now and then they catch up together. Grindhouse 3 will be an amazing project to show the German’s friends what life as a poker player looks like in the Austrian Alps.
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