PokerSchoolOnline Live Tour

NewJane Interviews KAELAINE, the Top PSO Finishers in the Mid-America Poker Classic.

NewJane: First, let me congratulate you on your fine finish in the Mid-America Poker Classic in Tunica, Mississippi, a PSO LIVE TOUR event. Tell us a little about the qualifying tourney.

KAELAINE: It was the opening event for the Mid-America Poker Classic in Tunica, MS: the $225 buy-in NLHE tournament. There were 652 entries, paying 27, and I finished 20th! All the gory details are in my trip report on the forum.

NewJane: Tell us a little about yourself. Where you live, etc. Any interesting facts about your life would be appreciated!

KAELAINE: I'm a perpetual bachelorette living about 20 miles north of the chaos that is Atlanta, Georgia, with two Jack Russell Terriers, who allow me to share their home. I'm a project manager for a large computer company, but I get to work from home, so most days you can find me sitting in my home office in front of my computer.

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

KAELAINE: I played poker with the guys in college, (all those silly dealer's choice wildcard games!) but got serious about learning Hold'em in December 2002 after a trip to Vegas. Any time I was near a casino, I would head for the poker room, but until this trip I never knew that people were playing poker online. How dense is that? Especially for someone in the computer business! I heard some other players talking about their preferred sites for playing online and figured I would check it out when I got back home.

Hold'em is my #1 game, but I've started to dabble in Omaha a little bit. I seem to do best at no limit tournaments; when I play cash games I have to stick to low limits (up to $5-10).

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

KAELAINE: I joined PSO in April 2003, when I discovered it after starting my quest to improve my game.

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

KAELAINE: After my trip to Tunica in January 2004, I learned that there are live games going on all around me here in the Atlanta area, every night of the week, cash and tournament! As far as casinos are concerned, the Horseshoe in Tunica is now my favorite for tournaments!! J I prefer the Goldstrike's poker room for cash games, as it is a little separated from the rest of the casino ruckus.

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

KAELAINE: The most memorable hand from the tourney was that AK off-suit I misplayed where I caught a miracle on the river to stay alive (you can read all the horrid details in my Tunica trip report). Lesson learned!!

NewJane: What did you feel was your strengths and weaknesses in the tournament?

KAELAINE: I'm a fairly tight tournament player - which is both a strength and weakness. As the blinds progress, I need to pay closer attention to my position and look for opportunities to "make a move" in order to build my stack. I always find myself short-stacked when I get near the end.

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

KAELAINE: I would like to say it would be that AK off-suit...but if I played it "correctly", I wouldn't have doubled up at a key point in the tournament!

NewJane: What are some of the differences you see live and online play?

KAELAINE: In online play, it doesn't seem "real" and I think people play differently than they would in a live game. It is too easy to click the buttons to make that call or that raise...you don't have to count out the chips and see what it does to your stack. I find that I prefer live play...even though it means getting dressed and driving somewhere…because it is more "real". I can look the other players in the eye (or in the sunglasses) and that interaction helps my game. It also eliminates the distractions (the phone, surfing the web while playing, watching tv, etc.).

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

KAELAINE: Yes and No. It is a positive thing in that it is bringing poker out of the "sleazy, criminal" category in people's minds. The general public can watch it on TV and see that the people playing are regular folks, not the stereotypes they associated with poker in the past. On the negative side, all these crowds showing up for tournaments are making it hard to get in! I need to go book my room for January….

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

KAELAINE: I've still got a lot to learn about Hold'em, but I'm starting to dabble in Omaha/8. I like the Hi/Lo split aspect of the game.

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

KAELAINE: My first was Lee Jones' Winning Low Limit Hold'em, but I also have Sklansky & Malmuth's Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players and Sklansky's Tournament Hold'em for Advanced Players, Daugherty & McEvoy's No Limit Texas Hold'em, and Larry Phillips' Zen and the Art of Poker and The Tao of Poker.

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

KAELAINE: All I can add is that PSO Rocks!!!

NewJane: Good luck to you at the PSO LIVE Tour FINAL EVENT in January, we will be keeping our eyes on you!!

Thanks...

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