Starts and dies for first three times

so its -10 out today. it was i think -12 out yesterday.
i tried a little experiment. Yesterday I sat out there cranking and pumping the pedal, the choke in different spots and holding the gas pedal at all kinds of different spots and it took forever for the car to start. it only finally got going by not messing with the choke and feathering the gas the entire time until it stayed running.

just now i went out and tried to start it like i did yesterday and said **** it. i pulled the choke all the way out and pumped the pedal two times and gave it a little gas and it wanted to fire right up. so i didnt give it any gas with that choke all the way pulled out and it started right up. fastest its ever started since its been cold. i played a bit with the choke and giving it gas and basically i guess the idle is set high enough right now that with full choke it wants to keep running but if i give it gas or put it in gear too soon it dies. if i push in the choke too soon it dies.

next time i go out im going to try pumping the gas a few times and just full choke and see what happens. i suspect it will start right up.

this car is new to me and the previous owner said always one pump of gas and half choke on any cold start at all. Im still learning the start sequence it just dropped from 15 degrees to -10 before i could really get enough practice in there. i don't drive often, but when i do drive it my main car. maybe this manual choke is set up right and it's just trying to teach me what it likes.