PokerSchoolOnline Live Tour

NewJane Interviews Wildfire21, who won a Seat in the PSO Grand Live Tour Final 2006

NewJane: Congratulations on your excellent finish at the Live Tour event! Tell us about the event that qualified you for the Live Tour Final tourney next year.

Wildfire21: I played in The Orleans Open PSO Tour Stop event in Las Vegas (July 2006). It was a $125 buy-in, with one optional rebuy in the first hour for $100, No Limit Hold Em tournament. The structure was odd. You started with only 700 chips for the initial buy-in, and the rebuy was worth 1500 chips. Also, the first 3 rounds were 20 minutes each, starting at 25/25 blinds, then after the first hour, it switched to 30 minute rounds. So in a sense it let you see more flops early if you choose not to take the rebuy off the top. Both myself and PSO's Gadler started at the same table, and made the final table.

NewJane: Tell us some interesting facts about your life, such as place of employment, family matters, hobbies, or educational background.

Wildfire21: I work as a TV Newscast Producer. I'm one of the people behind the scenes you rarely hear about or see, but who does a lot of work for what goes on TV.

Hobbies include sports (mainly basketball, football, tennis), and poker of course. I graduated from Virginia Tech in 2001 with a Bachelors degree in Broadcast Communications, with a Minor in Psychology.

My little brother and father also play poker. My little brother is a dangerous man at cash games, and he won a $40,000 guaranteed tournament on Party Poker this summer as well.

NewJane: Give us a little glimpse into your poker background. How long have you played? Do you prefer online play or live? Where is your favorite place to play live? Do you like tournaments or ring games? What is your game of choice?

Wildfire21: I've played poker since I was 5 years old. My Dad taught me how to play the basics back then. 5 & 7 card stud, 5 & 7 card draw, Rummy, Gin Rummy, Acey Duecey. My most memorable moment from my early card playing days is defeating my Dad, My Grandfather, and an Uncle one night when I was just 7 years old. A foreshadowing of things to come I don't know ;-).

Ironic thing, I had never heard of Texas Hold em until I saw the World Poker Tour on TV, and the 2003 WSOP where Chris Moneymaker won the title. For that matter, I didn't know poker was played on the Internet until my little brother found Party Poker that summer. I guess I am one of the "poker boomers" that Moneymaker's win helped flock to the Internet. So I am both old and new in a poker sense.

Online vs. Live, like any answer about a poker hand, it depends. Where I live, there are no casinos within 8 hours drive (supposedly Atlantic City is that far away), and home games are sparse. When home games or the occasional tournament get started, they are Nickel ante, or $10 buy-in tournaments, with barely more than a Sit-And-Go's number of players. Live in a casino, like Tunica or Vegas, I liked for the most part. I only ran into 3 bad live games in my 2 poker trips. One horrible 2/4 limit hold em game at Sam's Town in Tunica in the summer of 2004 for the Mid-America Poker Classic. The other two include another 2/4 limit hold em game at The Orleans in Vegas, and some crazy private mixed game of pot limit 1/2 Omaha, Omaha Hi/lo, and Hold em. Now who set that one up… ;-) Only reason that was a BAD live game, was because I lost both of my $100 buy-ins that I limited myself to that night. Good company in it though. And that's essentially a key component of a good live cash game. If it ever feels like it's not friendly and no one is having any fun, then you're most likely not going to have a good chance to make money.

Online is better for Sit & Go's as well as low buy in/low chip stack tournaments in my opinion. Their pacing feels better. Also, you can find plenty of them if you bust out early. Live play tournaments work better when the tournament is structured so that the players get a decent amount of play for their buy-in. This does not always happen. Usually the larger the buy-in, the more starting chips you receive, and the more play you get. This allows players to actually "play poker," as opposed to just waiting for a hand and pushing hard with it. I have not played in a "big live tournament" yet, so I cannot speak from experience on that, just the sense I get from watching them on TV, and talking with other players who've played in them.

My favorite place to play: Wherever gives me the best chance to make a profit. Tournaments or Ring Games: I pride myself as a top notch Sit & Go player. I developed that skill because I don't have as much time to play as I would like. But if there's a juicy cash game going, I have no problem sitting in one of those for hours at a time. Tournaments are good too. It really depends on how much time I have, and what's available to me at that time. Games of Choice: #1 NLHE (primarily because this is what everyone plays), #2 PLOH hi (my true favorite game), #3 PL 7 Card Stud Hi (very little of this anymore which is a shame)

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

Wildfire21: Since October of 2003.

NewJane: What do you think was your greatest strength in the tourney? Your biggest weakness?

Wildfire21: My greatest strength was surprisingly my patience. I had not had a good tournament run in Vegas up until this tourney. I played the same event four nights previous to get a feel for it, and was out before the first break. I also played the PSO Convention Event, and did not get past the second hand following the second break (lost a coin flip to the eventual winner xxpiratexx when his Q9 hit on the river against my 77). Then just a few hours before this tournament, I busted out of The Orleans Open $540 NLHE event. I made a VERY BAD move about 20 minutes before my actual bust hand that cost me 2/3rds of my stack at the time. I almost missed the start of the PSO Live Tour event because I went back up to my room to take a nap, and woke up 10 minutes before the event started (it's a long walk to the tournament room from the elevators to hotel rooms). So after my run of bad luck, I decided to tighten WAY the heck up, and only play group 1 hands when not on the Cutoff, Button, Small Blind, or Big Blind. In late position I decided to see cheap flops with suited connectors down to 56, or any pair, if it was not raised significantly before. So for the first 40 minutes I think I saw 3 hands outside of the blinds. I was CARD DEAD. Lots of action going on in front of me from an aggressive player wearing a full tilt hat, and Gadler mixed it up with him a bit. There was also PSO's Eddie The Ritz at our table, and he was quite active early on as well. I took my rebuy when I was down to 300 chips left, and we had just started the 50/100 blind level at 40 minutes in.

Weakness: card dead for most of the tourney, so I couldn't do much but fold, fold, fold.

NewJane: Do you remember any key hands you want to tell us about? Positive or Negative outcomes…

Wildfire21: Plenty of them:

Key Hand #1 - We're about 45 minutes into tourney. Blinds at 50/100, I'm down to 1625 chips and on the button. I had played VERY TIGHT so far. Folded to me on button, I look down and see Ac10c. So I grab 200 chips and say "Raise it up," making a minimum raise. Small Blind looks over and says, "Well that's not a real raise. I call." Big Blind, a tight woman local folds. Flop comes 267, two clubs. The Small Blind Checks, I fire out 300, he raises to 600, I go all-in over the top. He stops and thinks for a minute then calls, leaving him with few chips. He flips over Qc7s. I figured I made the correct play before I saw what he had, and I was right. Statistically I was a 52% favorite to win the hand after the flop (8 flush outs, 6 over cards). The turn was a club and a good thing too, because the river brought a Queen, making him 2 pair. So I doubled up there.

Key Hand #2 - I'm dealt AQ in the Big Blind. PSO's Bhat joined the table a few hands ago. Blinds are at 150/300, and I'm down to about 200 in chips. Bhat raises to 400 in early position. Folded to Eddie the Ritz who makes it 1350 to go. I stop to think. Eddie had been playing small pairs aggressively so far, and that had paid off for him. I look over and say "I have to play this hand, I'm all-in." Bhat says "aww hell." He looks at me, then Eddie, and thinks for about 2 minutes before folding. Eddie calls. He has 55, flop is KQJ rainbow. Bhat smacks the table, "damnit my KJ would've hit!" he exclaims. So I double again there, and cripple Eddie. Eddie soon busts out.

Key Hand #3 - After being dealt AA & QQ, raising with both pre-flop and not getting called, but showing them anyways, I'm dealt AhKh on the button. Blinds are at 200/400 with a 25 ante. The table has now been joined by a drunk Arab man who built a huge stack by making donk calls and getting lucky. He's in early position and limps. Full Tilt hat guy limps, a solid woman player 2 to my right limps, small blind raises, I go all-in over the top of her. Mr. Drunk Arab sips some more wine, makes a speech about laying down bad cards, and folds. Full Tilt hat guy thinks for a bit, then folds. Ms. Solid player folds quickly. Then the Small Blind does the worst job of trying to stare me down I have ever seen. She ends up stalling for more than three minutes. Blinds are about to go up in another two minutes so I call the clock on her. She uses the whole clock then folds. I rake in a pretty good pot, and do not show.

Key Hand #4 - Just before we make a deal to pay 19 instead of 18, I'm nursing a relatively short stack on the button. Blinds are at 500/1000 with a 75 ante I think. Mr. Drunk Arab is in the Big Blind. PSO's Pirates is also on a short stack in the Small Blind. Pirates has just won the previous pot with a pre-flop raise. Folded to me, and I look at Q9 offsuit. Somehow I get a sense that I'm good if I go all-in. So I do. Pirates thinks for a minute and slowly folds. Mr. Drunk Arab guy looks at his cards with one hand, and drinks more wine with the other. He says something I didn't pay attention to, but that sixth sense of mine says I want him to call. So after a few minutes and asking the cocktail waitress for more wine, he folds face up a Q2 offsuit! Now I'm back up over 11,000 with that pot.

Key Hand #5 - We're in the money, split between two tables. Mr. Drunk Arab takes two people out in back to back hands with donk all-in calls on the flop and pre-flop, and we're down to 7 handed at my table. Blinds go up to 1000/2000 with a 100 ante, and I'm the shortest stack at the table. I fold UTG+2, another shortstack goes all in, and Drunk Arab guy takes her out. Now we're down to 6 handed. Mr. Drunk Arab is Under The Gun, and says All-in (the only move he's been doing pre-flop since we condensed). I'm looking for any excuse to play and double up here. I look and see A8off, the best cards I've seen in a while. I go all-in for my last 9000 or so. Drunk Arab guy flips 55, and it's coin flip time again. I hit my ace on the flop, and an 8 on the river for good measure, doubling up. Next hand I find 22 and go all in again, folded around, and I take down the blinds and antes, which are a lot right now.

I hang on from there, and we make the final nine. I end up having 500 more chips than Gadler, so we play best 2 out of 3 heads up on PSO for the Live Tour Final seat and Sponsorship Points. We make a deal that if one of us cashes in the Live Tour Final, we give the other 15% of the Sponsorship Points that we win.

NewJane: What are some of the differences you notice in online play as opposed to live play?

Wildfire21: Live tourney play is A LOT tighter

NewJane: If you could have dinner with any current poker tourney pro, who would it be and what would be the question you would ask first?

Wildfire21: That's a tough one. I would ask different ones different things. But the one that leaps to my mind right now is Allen Cunningham. He is the lesser known of the 4 young guns (Negraneu, Ivey, Juanda), but is the most respected by his peers, and most consistent. Recently I've been struggling to obtain consistent results, and that's what I would ask Allen about. How does he seem to always maintain his consistent good play.

NewJane: What poker books have helped your game?

Wildfire21: Tourney play- No Limit Hold em Practice Hands by T.J. Cloutier & Tom McEvoy Cash Game - Sklansky's Hold em for Advanced Players, Low Limit Hold Em for Advanced Players, The Theory of Poker, Doyle Brunson's Super System 1&2, Lee Jones Winning Low Limit Hold em

NewJane: What new poker games are you interested in learning?

Wildfire21: I already know how to play most of them. Currently I'm working on improving my Omaha Hi/Lo game, because that's all that you can find live anymore in the U.S. for Omaha.

NewJane: Here is your chance to address anything I neglected to ask that you are dying to share.

Wildfire21: The one thing I wish I could go back and tell myself when I started playing poker on the Internet is to sign up at PSO first, before I began real money play on Party Poker. I thought watching the WPT & WSOP, and playing on the free side would prepare me for the rigor of real money cash games. It did early, but after the first month, things went downhill quickly form there. I cannot express how valuable of a tool PSO has been to me since I first found it on a Google search three years ago. Mark and Tina have setup a unique place among the multitude of poker sites. I hope that in time, their efforts will be recognized properly in the poker community. Perhaps one day PSO will be the "true" poker school online that other pay sites will send players who wish to learn, instead of these false sites that they use to get around the U.S. Justice Dept.

Also I hope Congress gets their head on straight about the potential that Internet poker offers. Yes it's gambling, but it's gambling in which the player has a large amount of control offer. And that's what separates it from lotteries, horse & sports betting, and casino games. That's why poker should be legalized and regulated by the U.S. Government.

NewJane: Thanks, Matt, for taking time to talk with me. Good luck in the Live Tour Finale in 2007.

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