How to set up your SCOOP grind station (with advice from former champions)

October 8, 2025

Features

by Jack Stanton

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6 Minute Read

Updated in January 2026. A version of this article was originally published in 2020.

We can talk all day about your study and stamina, but there’s one aspect of online poker success that’s often overlooked–the physical space and ambience in which you play.

When you imagine the grind stations of top online players in the world, you might picture them in a peaceful, monochromatic room with massive monitors, Alexa playing calming ocean sounds, pleasant scents emanating from incense sticks, and a steady stream of natural light pouring in.

Sounds ideal, but it’s certainly not always the case.

We’re thinking back to when Charlie “Epiphany77” Carrel won the 2017 Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) Main Event for $1.2 million. He did so while playing on a laptop from a Starbucks during a power cut opposite a busy beach in Mexico. Definitely not ideal, but it got the job done.

The truth is, the optimal grind station is different for everyone. However, when we asked some former Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) winners what theirs looked like, there were many common denominators.

Here’s what they told us.

A QUIET PLACE

For online poker players, like anyone who works from home, it’s a good idea to carve out a workstation that’s separate from where you like to relax. That way, you can go to work and leave it behind when your session is done.

“I have an area reserved just for poker,” says Brazil’s Fabio “LFFF22” Freitas, who banked an incredible $348,642 when he won a $530 NLHE Second Chance Main Event SCOOP title. “I am a CGO (chief growth officer) of an advertising agency, and I have many responsibilities in my daily life,” he adds, highlighting why having his own poker space lets him get away from it all and focus his efforts on the tables.

Those regular life responsibilities can sometimes find a way to creep into the grind, though. Thankfully for Xiaoxiao “W.Leung” Niao, winner of a $22 NLHE/PLO 6-Max title for $14,724, he has a solution. “My grind station is in a quiet room in the corner of the house,” he says. “I chose it as it’s the only room that can be locked from inside!”

COOP legend Tobias Leknes likes to play near his cats

As one of the winningest players in COOP history, mixed game master Tobias “Senkel92” Leknes, he always chooses to grind in the same spot in his home, for a rather cute reason. “My optimal grind station is next to my piano, as it’s where my cats sleep,” he says.

Those cats have proved to be good luck charms for the Norwegian, as he’s not only won seven SCOOP titles in his career, but 13 WCOOP titles too.

GET THE TECH

Once you’ve picked your spot, the next step is to kit out your desk.

We might look fondly on the legendary tales of grinders like Shaun Deeb winning SCOOPS while taking dips in hot tubs or lying on sofas playing more than 20 tables on laptop screens, but it seems most players now (sensibly) opt for a desktop computer.

Deeb was a leading COOP force for years

For example, SCOOP winner “Xthewall” says: “My optimal grind station is a desktop computer with at least two monitors and an adjustable table.”

For “pingu2k4”, who was victorious in a $55 HORSE event for $10,323, he opts for one large 43” monitor. “It helps quite a lot as it gives me the space to have a few tables open, and have some work stuff going on too,” he tells us.

After winning $348,642 in a SCOOP event, Freitas was able to kit out his grind station with whatever he liked. However, he was pretty happy with the setup he already had.

“I have a very comfortable table and chair, two laptops, one monitor, two internet connections and 4G as back-up,” he says. Knowing he has backup internet means that when he starts the session, his focus is only on the tables.

CLEAR THE TABLES

Speaking of which, an optimal grind station can become uncomfortable if you choose to play too many tables at once.

“I think it’s very hard to play your best with so many tables open,” says Croatia’s Branimir “ThoNapalm” Barać, who took the top spot in a $530 NLHE SCOOP for a healthy $73,388 score.

Leknes says he usually plays three to five tables so he can stay in flow with table dynamics. “One time when I was thinking through a tough spot in a big pot, I had to say ‘He knows that I know that he knows that I know…’ and so on. I couldn’t have come to the right decision if I were playing too many tables at once.”

Multi-tabling is a skill that good players have developed slowly over time (Latvia’s “Vpisjak”, winner of an $11 PLO8 6-Max event for $5,645, told us his optimal daily grind consists of him fully focusing on 10-12 tables, for example). But to truly focus and play your A-game, it’s sometimes best to limit them.

Former Premier League and Bundesliga player Tore Pederson took down his first SCOOP title in 2020 with a win in a $55 NLHE for $48,285, and he puts his success down to his game selection. “I don’t like to play more than six tables at the same time,” he says. “That’s enough for me.”

Brazil’s “KKAArdoso”, who came out on top in an $11 NLHE for $11,167, agrees. “I’m blessed in this way because I’m a focused person. These days I only play around five or six tables, that’s my limit.”

Not one of our SCOOP champs recommends one-tabling, though, for one very good reason: boredom can creep in.

“I find it useful to play only a small number of tables, particularly when playing mixed games, so that I can concentrate on what is happening,” says “pingu2k4”. “However, if I only have one table open, it’s too easy to start playing bad hands out of boredom.”

DODGE DISTRACTIONS

One of the hardest parts of a long poker grind is avoiding distractions, particularly towards the end of sessions when you’re not playing as many tables. However, this point in the session is usually where you’ll make the most money, as you’ll often be deep in the one or two tables you still have open.

“Pingu2k4” chooses to do some work on the side throughout a session, but turns it all off the deeper he gets into an event. “If I weren’t so busy with work, then I imagine it would be replaced with something like YouTube, Netflix, or perhaps a low-intensity game,” he says. “But, of course, for the final table and the lead up to it, I cut out all distractions and focus more on it.”

That’s not always possible, though, particularly when you’re a parent. “Since we have a newborn, it´s almost impossible avoiding distractions, so instead it´s a lot more ‘googoo-gagaa’ while playing,” says Fredrik “Xthewall” Wallen.

At the end of the day, if you’re comfortable and enjoy playing at your grind station–even if it’s unorthodox (we’re looking at you, Bert “Girafganger7” Stevens)–then perhaps that’s optimal for you.

Best of luck to everyone playing SCOOP 2026—no matter where you’re playing from.

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