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.

fishmonger: I qualified via the Big One Spring where I made the final table. The final table was invited back to compete for one of four seats to the Live Tour Grand Final.

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

fishmonger: I am a Chef by trade; I graduated from Baltimore International College in 1998 with an AAS in Professional Cooking. My hobbies include fishing and duck hunting. I'm currently engaged to a lovely Canadian girl, Catherine, that I met in college and we are planning our Wedding for this fall.

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?

fishmonger: I have been playing for about a year but only about 6 months seriously. I was outplayed on my first trip to a casino and vowed to never let it happen again. I prefer live play to online and ring games to tournaments. I play mostly in Atlantic City.

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

fishmonger: I have been here since October 2004 so I'm still kinda new.

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

fishmonger: My biggest strength was my position, I was seated to the right of two of the more active and aggressive players so I was able to act after them on most hands. My biggest weakness was that I had alot of chips early, I tend to get "chip drunk" and push alot more marginal hands with a big stack as opposed to an average stack. I had to stay patient against this group and use position in conjunction with my chips against these people.

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

fishmonger: I had a key double against Vorrin early when I had pocket Aces to his Kings. My hand held when we got all of our chip in on six high flop the final board gave me an Ace high flush to his King high flush.

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

fishmonger: Aggression. Play is far more aggressive online, especially in ring games where you have to physically have to put your hard earned money into a pot instead of just clicking a button. I think it works out well if the online player carries that over to a live game.

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?

fishmonger: OK I will admit it, I am a Phil Hellmuth fan. I have alot of respect for the guy, he gets ripped on time after time and still comes back and plays his game. He is kind of like a "bad guy" in professional wrestling, he plays his role to perfection and seems to love every minute of it. My first question would be "Has your role as 'Poker Brat' helped or hurt your play?" By the way I predict he will be the first to get 10 bracelets and it will happen this year.

NewJane: What poker books have helped your game?

fishmonger: The one that helped the most is "Harrington on Hold'em". I can't wait for part 2. It gave me a whole new outlook on the game, some things I knew about but couldn't apply them and other things I didn't think were possible or know existed. It is truly an eye opener.

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

fishmonger: I enjoy stud h/l but I am still pretty crude at it.

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

fishmonger: The people that were at that table were definitely the toughest group that I ever had to face. I think any of them could have won and none of them would be an embarrassment to PSO in any poker tournament. I'm looking to meeting everyone at the next convention.

NewJane: Thanks for taking time to answer my questions, and GOOD LUCK at the LIVE TOUR GRAND FINAL!!!!!!!!