The Legend Timofey “Trueteller” Kuznetsov
Timofey Kuznetsov, known to the online poker world by his screen name, ‘Trueteller,’ is considered to be one of the best online poker players in the world.
The young Russian prodigy has found great success playing at high stakes 2‐7 Triple Draw, as well as Pot Limit Omaha but is specialised in No Limit Hold’em (NLH) cash games.
Despite garnering several million dollars in online poker winnings, Timofey Kuznetsov didn’t exactly bask in the glory of his victories at first, choosing to remain anonymous for years.
After achieving a massive success online at the NLH cash tables, Kuznetsov began to play live tournaments and has recorded two significant cashes in the $500k Super High Roller Bowl (4th for $2.15 million) and in a $50k Aria High Roller event (1st for $750k).
Although he has seen success in the tournaments he has played, ‘Trueteller’ mainly sticks to cash games, and recently rumours have been spreading about his great success in the famous high stakes cash games in Macau.
Trueteller revealed his identity
Although many poker players try to maintain their anonymity, they invariably fail, especially if they are excellent players that have outstanding results, this was also the case with Kuznetsov.
He had kept his identity as Trueteller under wraps for much of his career until early 2015 that he let slip who he was.
His spectacular online performance began in mid-2013 at the cap-tables of Pokerstars under the nickname “Trueteller”.
He went on a fantastic run that netted him about $2 million that year, and he led the online poker community in winnings for the year until he went up against Dan ‘jungleman12′ Cates who was then one of the very best heads-up No Limit Texas Hold’em players in the world.
After his online poker battles against Cates, and despite him losing, Kuznetsov had made his mark on the world of poker and is ever since considered to be a poker genius. His identity was still unknown.
Trueteller was playing the $50k buy-in “Poker Players’ Championship” at the 2015 WSOP in Las Vegas when he revealed himself as Timofey Kuznetsov to other players seated at the table through regular conversation.
About trueteller
Born in Russia in 1991, Kuznetsov discovered poker while living in Moscow. He started off by playing with his friends and was a losing player initially.
However, once Timofey realised the amount of study necessary to start winning, Timofey began to put in the work. Quickly rising from that initial slump, he began to enjoy the game immensely.
Trueteller began to think about the game at a deeper level than most players ever reach, analysing every action both he and his opponents took at the table.
Kuznetsov says that “the best way to improve is to play focused, and think about every small action you take and what it leads too.
Trueteller’s precise and analytical approach to the game skyrocketed him to the highest stakes available to play online, where he competed against the likes of Linus “LLinusLLove” Loeliger, OTBredbaron, and other online poker superstarswinning over $7 million on the online poker sites Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker alone.
He came to learn the intricacies involved in winning and it was then that his game took off. His profit graphs at Full Tilt and Pokerstars show how consistent Trueteller has been at winning at the cash game tables.
He credits some of his success to his ability to remain calm under pressure and his ability to handle risk. In fact, he so loves risk that he suggested that if it were not for poker, he would probably pursue a career that involved some risk such as stock trading.
timofey Interview by paul Phua
High Stakes Database currently ranks Timofey ‘Trueteller’ Kuznetsov at #17 on the list of the most significant online poker winners in history.
Although most of his time is taken up by lucrative cash games in Asia playing against consorts like Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey and Patrick Antonius, Kuznetsov still finds time to give an occasional interview with billionaire and poker player Paul Phua.
How Timofey Got His Nickname
When Timofey Kuznetsov created his online poker account and started to play, he chose the name ‘Trueteller’ on a whim. He says that he “just thought the name would be funny for poker.”
Little did he know that ‘Trueteller’ would quickly become one of the most respected and feared names in any online cash game, from no limit Hold’em to 2‐7 Triple Draw.
No matter the game type, if ‘Trueteller’ was sitting at the table, the game was that much tougher. Kuznetsov began to compete in a series of heads‐up games with some of the biggest names in Poker and became a nosebleed cash game reg with outstanding results.
Metagame and the Psychology of Poker
Kuznetsov credits much of his success to his understanding of the psychology involved in high stakes games. “I find it really enjoyable to fight my own fears,” says Kuznetsov; “when you are sitting there and making a big bluff, your heart is beating really fast and you are trying to hide your emotions.”
It’s a challenge within yourself to control your emotions.
In live games, the metagame and psychology aspect is much more relavent than in online games, presenting a unique challenge for an online grinder like Timofey Kuznetsov.
The metagame of poker is something that Kuznetsov makes reference to in an interview conducted on Paul Phua’s YouTube channel.
He uses an example of a player who is being staked in a very large buy‐in poker game, and how that player will react to different situations. If a player is under‐rolled for a game and is being backed, he will naturally wonder with each decision what his backers will think about his play.
“With these sorts of thoughts,” says ‘Trueteller,’ “you can have a way bigger edge on somebody than if you just play your hand correctly.”
What's the fuss about truetellers strategy?
A lot of Poker players ask “What is the secret behind Trueteller’s Poker Strategy?” Well, we aren’t in his head and he doesn’t coach publicly so we can just assume and derive his secret sauce from all the information that is on the internet about him.
Surely, everyone would like to be as skilled as Trueteller.
Trueteller said he doesn’t care much about GTO and rather focuses on exploiting his opponents not being concerned much about GTO in one of his interviews with Paul Phua.
In the video below, Trueteller reveals some secrets about how he is sizing c-bets! ” Bet big when you bluff and small when you value-bet”. GOLD.
In this video, you can see how Trueteller plays online poker with his cards face-up. As he is one of the Top3 poker players in the world, I suggest you watch it and learn a thing or two.
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