Hey Fredrik! Thank you for taking the time for an interview. Most people will probably know you by your nickname: Slayer. So just for the record name, age, location, occupation?

My name is Fredrik Ostervold, I am 22 and live in Bergen. I am a Student/Poker player!

What do you study?

Technically I study Economics, but I quit recently, I am going to go to university again after summer, I am taking a break and playing Poker meanwhile.

I see, but let us get to some more detailed questions regarding Poker a bit later on, since most people will rather know you as a the Starcraft player 'Slayer'. Alongside with the Canadian Grr... you are the only Nonkorean player to ever win a major Korean tournament, namely the KBK 2000. You were offered to stay in Korea after you won the title. Why did you decide against it?

I was only 16 years old at the time and had nott even finished High School, it was simply too early for me.

Have you ever had any regrets concerning your decision later on?

No, I have not. I believe it was the best thing to do for me. If I had been 18 at the time I probably would have given it a shot, but I had to choose between school and Starcraft, I believe I made the right choice :)

Yeah, I guess so. Starcraft is not a thing you live from forever, so you have to think ahead, plan your life. Do you still play SC occasionally though?

Not anymore, I only played one game the last year against Rekrul and I lost badly, I just do not have time for it now that I'm playing poker instead.

Hehe. I recall a game between Elky and Rekrul from some months ago. They played for like a couple of hundred bucks, both having enough money from Poker anyway. Was it the same for you? Did you play for anything?

Yeah, I think Rekrul won himself a Lipton Icetea, I did not feel like playing for money, considering how I spent ten seconds getting my probes to mine :)

And I always thought you would never fully unlearn Starcraft. You just said that you do not play Starcraft anymore. Do you follow the Starcraft scene at all nowadays? I mean would it be news for you, if I told you who won last WCG for example?

I used to go to teamliquid and read about the Starleague finals et cetera, but not so much anymore.

Well, I could probably tell you loads of stuff concerning Starleagues and the Korean Scene, but that would be a bit Off Topic. Let me just say that our beloved Boxer played in an OSL final a couple of months ago and lost to a Protoss. Again.

Pretty amazing that he's still up there, being one of the oldest Progamers.

Since we are already talking about Progaming right now: do you think the professional way of playing games like Starcraft in Korea will get a chance to establish itself in western countries/europe on a short to midterm?

I have no precise idea of what is going on in the business so it is hard for me to reayll answer that in depth, but I think it will happen eventually. It will take a while though.

My thoughts exactly. Anyway, after having basically disappeared from the scene you made a short comeback for the Norwegian WCG 2004 and ended up third. Sadly there was no Norwegian WCG qualification in 2005. Would you have competed had there been one and more importantly this year's upcoming WCG will be in Monza, Italy. Will you try to play? Or do you really have quit for good?

WCG 2004 was definitely my last tournament, Starcraft is simply way too time consuming when it is played at a high level.

Yeah, I guess with the general level being so much higher than a few years ago it costs more and more time to stay at the very top. Even though you were considered to be one of players with the most sheer "natural talent". I recall the alias:slayer documentation with people in awe about your handspeed :) So besides Starcraft and Poker, I heard rumors about you playing WoW with sVEn. I don't know much about the game myself, nor do I follow it so I will not go into details. Any serious business or just a few hours every now and then (if the rumors are true)?

Just a few hours here and there, I actually bought it after a really bad Poker run when I needed something relaxing to play. Poker can be really stressful. The game gets boring after a little while though.

I see. Well since Poker is obviously your main occupation as of now let us switch to it a bit more. There are quite a few formerly very good Starcraft players around, who have switched to poker, especially old school players from your "generation", such as Nazgul or Elky. How would you explain this phenomenon by yourself?

Well, some of the traits needed to become a top Starcraft player are similar to the ones needed in Poker and when you are a top Poker player, you can make more money than what would be possible in just about any line of work. Also most Starcraft players are lazy, so the thought of playing a game a few hours a day for a living can be really tempting :)

"Easy to learn, hard to master" is an often mentioned attribute of Starcraft. Would you say that it is as true for Poker as it is for Starcraft? I don't play Poker myself, so I am a little bit guessing here.

Definitely! What amazed me about Starcraft when I started playing was that you could play for a long time, and consider yourself a good player, then play someone who was just miles ahead. The same thing applies to Poker. You can play 2/4 or 5/10 No Limit and think of yourself as a good player, but for every level you go up u realize there is still alot to learn. Those kind of games are the only ones I can keep playing after a few months.

Yeah, games that do not feed one's ambition tend to become boring pretty fast. How long have you been playing Poker now? How and when did you start with Poker in the first place?

I have been playing the game for two years now, I was visiting a friend when I was home on leave from the army, and he was playing poker, I barely knew the rules back then. He told me there was money to be made, and being the lazy gamer I am, I thought this was something I could do next to my studies when I got home. So I ordered some books from amazon and started reading, I probably read four or five of them even before I started playing, because we did not have internet access where I was stationed.

Hehe, that is actually kind of funny, being so dedicated before even starting to play. Would you still consider it to be a game for you (for however you might define this) right now? Or is it more of a job/gaining money?

I guess it is more like work now, but I still do enjoy playing it.

And you get aound quite a bit doing it as far as I have seen. You went to Copenhagen the other week, I am guessing it was to compete at the Poker Tournament Nazgul and RasZi competed at as well? Did it work out well? :)

Yeah, I was there for the European Poker Tour (EPT). I was doing really well, but lost a huge pot at the end of day one. AA vs. KK all in pre he hit a King.

Also a friend of mine saw some Poker broadcast on TV the other day on Eurosport, it was about the EPT Barcelona and he saw a Fedrik Ostervolt playing :=)

Yeah, I was there too. It was fun, although I was completely carddead throughout the tournament, not much you can do then. Well, at least I sucked out on Gus Hansen once, a big name Poker player. He has won a lot of tournaments.

Wow!. Are you friends at all with former Starcraft players who play Poker nowadays? Or are they just like any other Poker player/potential adversaries?

I talk to the Korean crew occasionally and Tillerman. It is really helpful when you have someone to discuss hands with. As for the adversaries part, there are so many games too choose from nowadays that we are rarely on the same tables.

And when it comes to live events?

Then I am definitely going to try my hardest, it is sill unlikely that I am going to meet someone I know though, considering the number of people who enter these events.

Could probably be fun though, going 1on1 like in old times. Anyway, recalling the alias: slayer documentation once more your parents seemed pretty comfortable letting you fly over to Seoul as a 16 year old to play a game. How comfortable are they when it comes to you making your living through Poker?

They did not like it at first, but then I had alot of success and now they dont mind anymore. It is possible to make a lot of money, but poker can be extremely stressful and a lot of people who try it simply lack the discipline to do well over time.

Yeah, it is not a constant flow of money like in a regular job where you know "ok on 1st of next month I get this and that from my employer".

Exactly. There are so many good players, who play really well when they are running good, but then their game just falls apart during a bad run. Discipline is probably the most important factor if you want to really succeed in Poker.

Well, I guess that's all for now, unless you feel the urge to tell me how much money you have made playing Poker^^

Sorry, I will not comment on that :)

Which is understandable I think. Money is a discreet subject :) Anyway, thanks a lot for your time, Fredrik and good luck with your further Poker career as well as your studies in summer!

Thanks!