PokerSchoolOnline Live Tour

NewJane Interviews IAGO, One of the Top PSO Finishers in the Spring Big One IV

NewJane: First, let me congratulate you on your fine finish in the Spring Big One IV. Tell us a little about yourself. Where you live, etc. Any interesting facts about your life would be appreciated!

IAGO: My name is Darryl Holman. The name Iago is from Shakespeare's Othello. Iago is considered to be Shakespeare most "villainous" villain. Iago is a master of deception. I felt it appropriate for poker. They have a saying in the Deep South, where I'm originally from, that when life sends you lemons learn to make lemonade. I moved to Alaska 12 years ago to pursue my American dream. I wound up moving to Barrow, Alaska, settling down and getting married. Barrow, Alaska is a small town of about 5,000; people mostly huddled together next to the lovely and mostly frozen Chucki Sea. We live in a remote Eskimo village for the most part, where the caribou herd wanders through and sometimes out number the people. No connected roads to the highway system, so you have to take a plane, boat, or snow machine to leave town.

NewJane: Share with us some of your poker background, such as how long you have played, games of choice, limits you like when you play live, other tourney successes. And anything else about your poker background that you want to share.

IAGO: About 7 years ago, Midnight Sun, Arctic Fox, Mic, babe4u… got a group of friends together to play social poker to break up the monotony of 7 months of winter and snow, before 5 months of 24-hr daylight creeps in; they taught me how to play all kinds of games. I slowly caught on to the gamesmanship of it all.

Midnight Sun told me of a tournament Alaska Fat was hosting and the play there was very aggressive and challenging. Since my heart was in social poker, the tourney was not initially appealing. I finally gave it a try and really enjoyed the play there. It was kind of like an old western shootout tourney with little hands and big bets affair.

Alaska Fat is a bit of a poker historian/statistician who had all of these charts on the walls, and 1st hand information about the real poker world. He and Brooks 13 have been very successful in the tourney there over the years. Alaska fat has the old pictures on the wall of historical poker figures he shares bits and pieces of history and his experiences with us. He also writes a weekly poker newsletter.

Here, I developed this appreciation for the challenge of the game and an affinity for tournament poker in particular. The "Barrow Gang", our group of local tourney players, decided we would one day play our way into an entry into the WSOP. This is when I became a student of the game, the details surrounding the game, and concerned with growth of poker knowledge base. There are about 25-30 active players in the tourney now and they each are dangerous players. Most of the tourneys last 5 or 6 hours. It is a truly competitive game if you are ever in Barrow, Alaska.

NewJane: How long have you been a member of PSO?

IAGO: I have been a member of the PSO for 1.5 years. I always enjoyed the social side of poker and never thought about serious poker much. I have to thank Midnight Sun for seeing something in my game when I was not aware myself, then he actually purchased my first membership here. This also caused me to work harder towards being a better poker player because one day I would like to properly repay him with interest.

NewJane: Where is your favorite place to play poker, both live and tourney action?

IAGO: I am looking forward to playing tourneys mostly in Tunica, because it's close to where I'm originally from, and in Reno/Vegas. I will probably take a trip or two to just watch. I have to be careful with my trips out because I only take one vacation a year for about 6 weeks. I hope to be able to start breaking that up into 3 segments if possible.

NewJane: What were some hands you remember from the tourney, both won and lost?

IAGO: 2/3s of the way through the Big One IV, I held 66 with 262 flop, which I checked the bet and was ecstatic when I had 2 raisers. I either called or put them both all in one and took the pot. I already was among the chip leaders but it was more of a wake up call for my poker ego to say to me that the remaining players will have to beat me because I won't beat myself.

NewJane: What did you feel was your strength / weakness in the tournament?

IAGO: Well, as in most tourneys I play, I was down early. This is not necessarily a bad thing for me. Not that I was happy to be down, but if I comeback after being down early, I then have a very strong mindset.

I had been re-tooling my heads-up game strategy right before the Big One IV. I felt as good if not better about my new heads-up game strategy as I did about my huge amount of chips on the final table. Also I knew that regardless as to how many chips I had, there was a good chance I would loose the chip lead during the heads-up if it went on for enough hands. I was very happy to win and it was a very competitive final in the heads-up play.

NewJane: If you could play one hand over, which one would it be and why?

IAGO: I would have to say that I would not change a thing. The fact that I lost 60% of my chips early fed my poker ego later and really gave me a confidence boost through the midway tourney minefield.

NewJane: If you play in brick and mortar casinos, what are some of the differences you see between that and online play?

IAGO: I plan to play at the casinos 2 or 3 times a year in the future but presently I have not played there.

NewJane: What are your feelings about what is going on with poker now, the incredible growth? Do you see it as a positive thing?

IAGO: I feel that last year at the WSOP marked a great opportunity for poker to further expose itself to the type player who is willing to go through the process of parlaying skills learned in internet play with skills learned in casino play to make a run for the WSOP. The fearless way Moneymaker played and the catches he made in those crucial hands will long be talked about in poker circles, is he really that good or just that lucky? Either way I will never forget it. It was a legendary run. Also I'm planning to pour my game into that type of cast through the poker school and make it there.

NewJane: What new poker game are you anxious to learn?

IAGO: I play a little Stud hi/lo and Omaha hi/lo.

NewJane: What poker books might I find in your home library?

IAGO: I have Doyle Brunson's Super System, Ken Warren's Winner's guide to Texas Hold'em Poker. I read a lot of articles too. I like Nolan Dalla's perspectives on poker.

NewJane: Anything I didn't ask you that you want to say, now is the time!

IAGO: Well I first want to thank Mark and Tina for putting together such a place as the poker school. I have grown as a player here and have more importantly played with some good people who although competitive during the games have been so supportive following the games. I am looking forward to meeting everyone in Tunica.

**(MsTerry) I want to thank you for being the only person to consistently cheer me on and speak up for me at the final table when everyone was picking other people to win. I want to get a chance to return the favor soon. Finally to the "Barrow Gang" you guys are the best, but our struggle continues and we will make it to the WSOP soon.

NewJane: Thank you for taking time to talk with me, and GOOD LUCK to you at the Live Tour Final Event in Tunica. We will be keeping our eyes on you!!

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