Greg Raymer - No Fluke

GO AHEAD AND BLUFF GREG RAYMER. Give it shot. Feel free to expose yourself to a world of hurt. But after the hand plays out, be prepared to look like a complete fool.

Maybe he cripples your stack. Maybe you flee from the casino. Maybe you land in the slammer.

Little good can come from it.

Because it doesn’t matter whether you’re holding 9-4 offsuit or a .44 Magnum, he’ll cram it down your throat so fast you’ll wish you hadn’t gotten out of bed that day.

Yet they keep trying to bully him. Inaccurate perceptions have a way of tricking people into silly endeavors. They take what they’ve seen on ESPN and size him up as a doughy, middle-aged egghead who lucked his way to the 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event championship behind novelty glasses that might as well have come with a pocket protector. They remember a milquetoast with sweat rings, thrusting bundles of that $5-million bounty above his head.

No freaking way I wouldn’t crush that geek if I played him. Or at least that’s what some think. And if they don’t play poker … I’ll just kick his flabby ass and take that money. Whatever.

Observers have been quick to label recent World Series of Poker champions such as Raymer, Chris Moneymaker, and Robert Varkonyi as one-hit wonders, erstwhile amateurs who merely won the lottery. But the days of armchair rounders considering Raymer a pushover are coming to end. In the past year, the former scientist and pharmaceutical patent attorney fought off two men in an armed robbery attempt, harbored thoughts of killing a man who threatened his family, and vindicated his 2004 title by making a long run in this year’s World Series of Poker Main Event, where he finished 25th out of a record field of 5,619 players.

“Part of the attraction of poker is that people can sit at home and feel like they could do as well or better than the players that are having success,” said Erik Seidel, owner of seven World Series bracelets. “I think going so deep this year will give many more people the sense that maybe that guy with the funny glasses isn’t just a lucky goofball, but is a highly experienced and skilled player.”

True enough, Raymer’s reputation has evolved. Whereas many opponents previously have been tempted to test the unassuming fossil collector, he’s now viewed as someone not to be screwed with under any circumstances. An alarming situation unfolded during a World Series of Poker preliminary event in which Raymer, amid a sea of players and tables, stood up and loudly warned an unidentified man he would murder him if the creep didn’t stop harassing Raymer’s wife and making ominous overtures about their young daughter.

And those who witnessed the scene are convinced Raymer meant it. Cheryl Raymer had been watching her husband play cards when a deranged man squatted next to her and started asking questions about the Raymers’ daughter, Sophie, now nine years old. He wanted to know what Sophie looked like, where she was staying during the tournament—questions no parent wants to discuss. A tournament official asked the man to leave, and although the stranger left Cheryl’s side, he remained in the room. By this time, Greg Raymer had been informed of the menace.

“I look over and see him with this totally angry look, like he’s ready to get into a fist fight,” Raymer recalled. “His face was just twisted with hate. He’s talking to people near him and pointing to Cheryl and pointing to me. That’s when I stood up and said something to him. He said something back, and I said ‘If you mess with my family I’m going to f—ing kill you.’”

Even after Raymer had the chance to cool down, and with the benefit of measuring each word on a computer keyboard, he followed up the day’s disconcerting events with a post on the 2+2 Internet Magazine forum to address what happened.

“I told him that if he messed with my daughter or family, I would kill him,” Raymer wrote. “I shouted all this across a 20-foot gap, and, yes, everyone could hear it, and it happened.

“And I wasn’t lying. If anybody messes with my family, I’m going to kill them as certainly as I possibly can.”

Last December, he was walking back to his hotel room at the Bellagio in Las Vegas with $150,000 in chips and found himself staring down the barrel of a hand cannon. “We’re talking Dirty Harry-style,” Raymer told the Baltimore Sun.

Hotel hallways and poker tables apparently are similar settings in Raymer’s world because those chips were just as difficult to pry away from him as they would be in a tourney. Although Raymer declined to discuss with ALL IN the specifics of what transpired that night because of pending litigation, the Baltimore Sun reported that Raymer fought off his two assailants until they fled. Surveillance cameras led to their arrest in California, and they were extradited back to Las Vegas for trial.

“He looks like a big teddy bear, but he’s dangerous,” said young gun Antonio Esfandiari, making a statement that applies to Raymer both at and away from the table. “He plays without fear. He goes with his gut and is willing to put in all his money when he thinks he has the best hand. He doesn’t let anybody push him around.”

RAYMER ADMITS HE doesn’t understand fame. Now, don’t get him wrong. He appreciates most aspects of it. He just doesn’t fully grasp it.

“I enjoy it more than I hate it,” the 41-year-old poker icon said, looking very little like a celebrity while leaning back on a sofa in the living room of his soon-to-be-former home in Stonington, Connecticut. Raymer, wearing a baby blue PokerStars golf shirt, khakis, and sandals with white socks, was the picture of unpretentiousness while taking a break from arranging his family’s move to a golf-course community in the Raleigh, North Carolina, area.

Before Raymer moved down the Eastern seaboard, he kept his home number unlisted. But he gets a charge out of being recognized in public, shakes every hand thrust at him, answers the countless poker questions thrown his way, and graciously listens to the bad-beat tales.

Of course, there are jokers who run into him at the grocery store and ask him why he isn’t wearing his trademark reptile-hologram glasses, or autograph hounds who clearly intend to sell his signature for a profit.

“I always personalize everything I sign,” Raymer said. “People think I’m being nice because I’m taking the time to personalize it, but in reality I just don’t want you to sell it on eBay. That just annoys me.”

He says this with a smile because he knows these are trivial complaints. He realizes he’s living a dream.

“They say every dark cloud has a silver lining,” Raymer said. “I have a silver cloud with a gray lining. Things are mostly highly positive with little to complain about.”

It’s easy to have that sort of attitude when you’re moving from chilly New England to a new house along a North Carolina golf course. And moving is nothing new for Raymer. His existence has been that of a vagabond for much of his life. The son of a mainframe computer technician and a homemaker, he was born in North Dakota and bounced from Michigan to Florida to Missouri, where he graduated from high school in suburban St. Louis.

It wasn’t until after Raymer received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from the University of Missouri-Rolla and started working on his master’s degree in biochemistry and a law degree at the University of Minnesota that he was introduced to the beauty of a 52-card deck. A relative had given him a blackjack strategy book as a gift. That helped him earn about seven dollars an hour counting cards at the native-American casinos in Minnesota.

Raymer was 28 by the time he finished school and began the frustrating pursuit of finding a pleasant career. He found he loathed the tedium of lab work, and took a job in Chicago as a patent attorney for a litigation firm. It was in the Windy City that Raymer discovered his affinity for poker. Unable to locate a good blackjack game, he stumbled across a $3-$6 poker game and studied David Sklansky’s masterwork The Theory Of Poker.

Raymer continued to move around the country, but he never stopped playing poker, always finding bigger and better action. He took a biotechnology patent preparation and prosecution job in San Diego. Thus he graduated to $10-$20 and occasionally $20-$40 games at the Oceanside Card Club. Cheryl, however, wasn’t particularly keen on her husband’s ever-growing hobby.

“I think she was afraid of the concept that people who get really involved in gambling, as a general rule, are degenerate, addictive gamblers who lose all their money,” Raymer said. “She doesn’t want to be married to that guy.” Her opinion slowly changed as Raymer’s proficiency climbed. One night at the Oceanside, he managed to pile up $2,500 in a $3-$5 Pot-Limit Hold ’Em game.

“It was by far the most money I had won in one day playing poker,” he said. “So I came home in the middle of the night and I wake her up by sprinkling $100 bills over her in bed.”

It was a thrilling moment, to be sure. Until …

“The next day, I wanted to go back and play in the game again and end up losing $500,” Raymer said.

His wife hit the roof.

“She said, ‘That money was in your pocket! You lost that money!’ I said, ‘Wait a minute. If I won $1,000 yesterday and $1,000 today, would you be mad at me?’ She said, ‘Well, of course not, but it’s not the same thing.’” The argument was a seminal moment in Raymer’s poker development. He and his wife made a deal. He would set aside from the family finances a $1,000 bankroll. If the fund ever got depleted, he would quit.

By the time he entered the 2004 World Series of Poker, he was maintaining a $50,000 bankroll. Shortly after he accepted a job at the Pfizer pharmaceutical research facility in Connecticut—Foxwoods became his home casino—he won a World Poker Finals tournament and used the $22,000 prize money as the down payment on their house.

“That was certainly the biggest turning point in terms of my wife’s view of poker,” Raymer said. “After that she was much more positive of me playing.”

RAYMER WAS AN accomplished tournament player before his monumental victory in 2004, but he wasn’t viewed as such.

Although he was lined up to pay the $10,000 entry fee to the Main Event and had already booked his flight and room at the Horseshoe, he caught a significant break six days before the tournament. He won his seat through a $160 double-shootout satellite on PokerStars.

His well-chronicled run to what was then the richest title in poker history was distorted slightly by the stigma placed on him as just another Internet longshot.

“From the point of view of almost everyone out there, I did almost come out of nowhere,” Raymer said. “But just because I qualified online doesn’t mean I only play online or that I’m new to this. People are totally amazed when they ask how many tournaments I played before winning the World Series. ‘Oh, about 500.’ They’re, like, ‘Wow!’”

And they were, like, “wow” when they saw Raymer come darned close to repeating this year. He was the chip leader at various times throughout the 2005 Main Event.

“Everybody would have been calling him a bum if he had been knocked out early,” said Tom Sartori, a true Internet thunderbolt who finished one spot behind Raymer after winning his seat in a $200 PokerRoom.com satellite. “A lot of people were calling his championship a fluke, but you don’t get that far on luck. With his performance this year he really solidified himself as a true pro as far as getting a lot of people’s respect and being taken more seriously.”

Sartori played alongside Raymer on ESPN’s feature table for nearly two straight days. The acoustic musician from Buffalo, New York, experienced first-hand what it was like to try to bluff “Fossilman.”

“As soon as he sensed weakness, he went after me hard,” Sartori said. “He was intimidating because of his reputation from watching him on TV. He’s got those glasses on, and he’s staring right at you from three feet away. It was surreal.”

So the image is changing. The more poker fans follow Raymer’s exploits on the tournament circuit or watch him on television, they’ll start to realize his championship was no freak occurrence.

Raymer gleefully recalls how in the days immediately after he won the bracelet, one Foxwoods regular who never moved above the $20-$40 game had belittled his skills. It’s safe to assume those perceptions are dying quickly.

“The World Series of Poker is a different tournament than any other tournament because of all the opponents you’re against, the structure, the exposure, the money,” said two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Scott Fischman. “Everything is different, and guys that play like Raymer are made for it. He’ll probably be good every year at the Main Event.

“He’s very aggressive, non-stop, relentless. At the beginning of the tournament, if he ever gets to double or triple his stack, it’ll be damn near impossible to get those chips away from him.”

Even if his opponent is holding a gun.

Rumor-Busting With Barry Greenstein

You’ve heard all the myths and misinformation about Barry Greenstein. Now, get the truth–straight from the player himself

Author: Lena Katz

Low-key and no-nonsense, with the sartorial style of a CPA and a mind like a military computer, Barry Greenstein reminds you of every tough-cookie professor you ever had in school. But Greenstein’s about a million times cooler than the average college professor. He’s a famous philanthropist, a legendary cash game player, an occasional TV star–and one of the most misquoted men in poker. We gave Barry a chance to correct some of those misquotes, myths and rumors–and did he ever take it. And did we ever take notes! Now, we’re just waiting for our grade….

Rumor: Barry Greenstein made millions as one of the founders of Symantec.
“I wish it were true. I got a lot of satisfaction working at Symantec, but it was a big pay cut from being a poker player. I had children, and it seemed like a better lifestyle for my family.

“I played poker for my whole life from the age of 12–even while I was at Symantec–but because I worked so hard at Symantec, I didn’t get to play very often. When I got breaks between projects, I would play poker. I actually had to play poker between projects to supplement my income.

“Then Hold ‘Em became legal in California, and No-Limit Hold ‘Em was my strongest game. Once that became legal, I was leaving too much money on the table not playing poker, so I finished my last project and went back to playing full time.”

Rumor: Barry Greenstein gives all his profits to charity.
“I’m a professional poker player. My work is playing in side games. The last few years I started playing in tournaments, ‘cause I got this idea that I could donate tournament winnings to charity and also if I did well, I could publicize the charities that I was giving to, and then other people would donate to them as well.

“I’ve spent almost a million dollars each of these past two years on expenses and tournament entries, and when I’ve won, I’ve given my money away. It’s definitely put a dent in me financially. So this year instead of giving all my tournaments winnings away, at the end of the year, I’ll see what I’ve made from tournaments and give away the net profits.

“I always give half my tournament money to Children, Incorporated. Usually the other money goes to other organizations that help children because I like helping children the most.”

Rumor: Barry Greenstein is the most profitable cash game player in the world.
“Um. I had a good run from about 1997 to 2004 where I think that was true. But when people ask me who the most successful cash game players of all time were, I always say Doyle Brunson and Chip Reese. They are the ones who have played in the biggest games since the ‘70s. They’ve taken on all comers and they’ve obviously done well, because they’ve never had to go down to a lower limit. I’ve done well enough to where I’ve been able to give away lots of money to charity and take care of my family.”

Rumor: Barry Greenstein is the best “unknown” player in the world.
Yes, well, that was written initially because I didn’t play tournaments. The public knows only about who’s on television. So, until I made a televised final table, I was, from the public’s perspective, an unknown player–but from the pro poker player’s perspective, I was a well-known player.

Rumor: Barry Greenstein doesn’t really like playing poker.
“Poker is my job, and it’s a good job. The word “job” doesn’t bring up nice feelings — it’s something you have to do. I like my job. I also enjoyed being a computer programmer…

“I’m certainly not a pleasure player. I don’t play poker for the enjoyment. I do play for the money. Basically, if I didn’t need the money, I would stop working…and for me, the working is the side games.

“Even if I was financially independent, I would still play some tournaments, particularly the WSOP and the WPT, because it’s a lot of fun. I enjoy playing in those, and there’s a lot of emotional energy. A lot of highs and lows.”

Rumor: Barry Greenstein won a million bucks off Larry Flynt.
Over the course of years, Larry and I have exchanged millions. First of all, we play in a cash game together, and I have won money in that cash game. Not necessarily off Larry Flynt—he’s been a pretty tough opponent. But Larry and I were the top two finishers in a $125K buy-in tournament. I won, we split, I cashed $770K, he cashed $230K.

Rumor: Barry Greenstein appears on reality television shows like Daisy Does America.
“Well, I didn’t know I was appearing on a reality TV show. They tricked me and told me they were doing a documentary about me.

“At least once a month, I get asked to go on a TV show or to do some TV interview, and I’ve been on some poker shows. Like many poker players, I’ve even appeared in a couple movies (Lucky You and No Limit, both coming out in 2006).

“The producer of [Daisy Does America] said, ‘We want to show people what a day in the life of a professional poker player is like.’ So I said, ‘Okay, I can take a couple hours and talk to you guys.’

“I didn’t know what was going on, except the person who was interviewing me was hitting on me a lot. I told my son Joe, ‘You know, this girl’s hitting on me big time’. He says, ‘No, she’s just acting like that to get the interview.’ He was kind of making fun of me. But [in retrospect] I realize it was all a setup for the show.

“Next we go to a romantic dinner. Then we’re in the Venetian, and she said she thought it would be really romantic to go in the gondola, and to kiss under the bridge. They told me they wanted to show the lighthearted side of the poker player. By now Daisy and I had become friends, so I said ‘Okay.’ I was taking it easy–my girlfriend’s not jealous. But THEN, when I went to kiss her under the bridge, she turned her head away.

“Before the show aired, my son told me it’s like an Ali G thing, where they try to embarrass the people they interview. I lost a couple nights’ sleep thinking how they were going to make me look bad. I could just see them showing me going to kiss her in this tunnel, and her turning away, and people saying ‘Wow, can you believe that Barry Greenstein!’

“But the truth is, they were pretty fair with me. They fooled me, but they didn’t embarrass me.”

Rumor: You never want to play heads up against Barry Greenstein.
“When I was younger, I played a lot of heads up poker. It seemed like in those days, the bigger games would get to heads-up poker–basically because I would never quit. The other winners would quit, and I would be left with whoever was losing for the night, and I would play, often, till he gave up. I was stronger when I was young–I could easily go for more than 24 hours.

“I see that in Phil Ivey now. I see a lot of how I was when I was younger in Phil Ivey, and that’s probably one of the reasons we’re friends.

“Now I don’t have the stamina I had when I was younger. Our big games are more scheduled. We have families and other commitments, and typically we do quit at 2 or 3 in the morning.”.

Rumor: Barry Greenstein’s new book, Ace on the River, is for advanced players only.
“I think non-players have enjoyed my book more than poker players, because it’s very readable, and it lets them into a world that they were unaware existed. It’s about how to enjoy life as a poker player.

“But the advanced players are the ones who read it and say, ‘This is my life.’ It’s relevant to them from a first-hand basis, whereas for non-players, it’s more from a third-person perspective.

“Most poker books have the basics—defining the game, defining terms–starting from the assumption that some people reading don’t know how to play poker. I assume that the people reading the technical chapters of my book are already experienced players. However, I put the poker-intensive stuff in the back of the book so non-players can read up to that point.

“My book is advanced from a psychological perspective of poker—not necessarily mathematically advanced as some people assume. It’s necessary psychology and philosophy for anyone who’s going to be a professional poker player.”

Ace on the River is available at Barnes & Noble, Borders, Amazon.com or a poker room near you.

Antonio Esfandiari - The Magician At Night

It’s midnight in Vegas, two nights into the brand new year. A cool mist falls on rain-slick streets as a limo pulls up to the Hard Rock Casino and spills out its passengers, me, my buddy Adam, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, David Williams, Kasey Thompson and some others who have the good sense to stay nameless. We’re heading to one of Sin City’s top nightspots, Body English, for a little drinking, dancing, and feasting of the eyes. Especially feasting.

Since opening last Memorial Day, Body has become the place to be seen for the primo stuff strutters of Las Vegas and talented amateurs who come from out of town long on attitude and short on clothes. If Body isn’t wall to wall with beautiful betties tonight, we’ll eat our hats.

We make our way to the club entrance just off the main casino floor, past display cases crammed with the usual Hard Rock memorabilia. A David Lee Roth jumpsuit. Signed Eric Clapton guitar. Tupac Shakur’s mug shot, whatever.

There’s a long line of rockstars-in-their-minds at the door, waiting behind the proverbial velvet rope, hoping to get in, hoping that their Scarface Tony Montana (boys) or Paris Hilton (girls) look will get them the green light from Cory and his men at the door. We don’t wait of course. We’ve booked a table with bottle service. So we pass under the jealous gaze of the rope riders and slide inside. Poor rubes, they’ll waste their night on the rope line, hoping just to pay the $20 “official” cover, and turtle into the club if they get the chance. Don’t they know that life’s too short to wait in line? Guess not.

Antonio’s First Rule of Nightclubbing:

Always book a table in advance. The more you pay, the more it’s worth.Down we go into the throbbing heart of the club, two full floors of hot decadence buried deep beneath the casino.

DJ AM is spinning the steel wheels. He’s flown in from LA specially for this gig and right now he’s chilling the crowd with some smooth dub house but later he’ll have everyone bouncing to his beat like puppets on a string. Props to the man, when he gets workin’, he’s Pavlov and we’re his dogs.

The stunning Jennifer leads us to our private booth where we find a dark oak table surrounded by red leather couches and tricked out out with mixers, chilled glasses, snacks and an icebucketed bottle of Grey Goose. Yeah, I know that bottle would cost, like, twenty-five bucks at BevMo and here it’ll set us back three bills, but it’s totally worth it. While we’re in here winning the party, the wannabes are still be riding the rope line, waiting, going nowhere fast. If you’re a hottie, you could shake your way into Body, but for Joe Schmo and his buddies from the boondocks, they may as well go sit in the parking lot and watch the neon signs – either that or slip Mr. Franklin into the right hand.

Antonio’s Second Rule of Nightclubbing:

There’s no such thing as a free lunch.

The night ripens. Some petite betties from Canada drift over, shyly orbiting our booth, looking for a way to break the ice. Silly betties, just being them is all the icebreaking they need. But we know what they’re thinking – have they seen us on TV or what? To help them out, I give them my trademark “Antonio wave,” and they break out into squeals of laughter. “I knew it!” shrieks one. “I knew it was him!” Do we invite them to join us for a drink? Does a bear shit in the woods?

Antonio’s Third Rule of Nightclubbing:

Celebrity has its privileges.

The Grey Goose gives way to more Grey Goose, Patron Silver, a bottle of Belvedere, and then Jesus just has to have some Dom. The lovely Jennifer keeps everything running smoothly, and we all start to run smoothly too, mixing trips to the dance floor with lengthy lounges on the couches in the company of our new friends from the Great White North. One laughing betty fails Adam’s patented sobriety test, where he holds up his hand, fingers spread, and asks, “How many hands am I holding up?” If they say one, they’re still sober…

If they say five, they’re not. This one just falls out into hysterical giggling. Not fit to drive. Not fit to do much of anything but sit there and be beautiful, but baby that’s enough.

Antonio’s Fourth Rule of Nightclubbing:

You know you’ve had too much to drink when you go to brush something off your shoulder and it’s the floor.

Before we know it, it’s 4:30, officially closing time but in fact Body stays open as long as the seals on new bottles are still getting cracked. The world’s dull normals will be going off to work before we roll out. Maybe we’ll head over to Drai’s at the Barbary Coast for a little after-after-after-hours action or off to the Egg and I on Sahara for breakfast. Or maybe we’ll just cruise back to my place to see what the day will bring. It always amazes me the way time goes away in a great nightclub. Once you’re in that groove, the past and the future disappear, and all you have is the hot, perfect now. It’s like an intense poker game, or even meditation.

Meditation’s a damn sight cheaper, though, right? Yeah, I guess. If cheaper’s what you want. But meditation won’t get you a night like this, or a bevy of betties from Canada who jump in the limo with you when you go. As for the money (our tab tonight will top out north of two grand) I say what the hell, you can’t take it with you. As my friend the good Dr. Vorhaus puts it, “You’re born broke, you die broke, everything else is just fluctuation.”

Back when I was struggling and scuffling, waiting tables and performing magic at parties to make ends meet, I never dreamed I’d have the scratch to do it up right at a place like Body English. Now that I do, I never forget I’m blessed. Blessed tat I found my gift of poker. Blessed to turn that gift into big wins. Blessed with great friends who have my back. Blessed by the betties – what would life be without them? Someone once said, “Living well is the best revenge.” I don’t know about that, but I do know this: Anything that’s worth doing is worth overdoing. And that’s the best rule of clubbing of all.

G. Wiz?

Author: Eric Raskin

TONY G. ISN’T ONE OF THOSE POKER PLAYERS you see on TV and then forget about. Tony sticks in your brain. His Australian-accented voice embeds itself. Maybe you find him wildly entertaining. Maybe you find him utterly unbearable. But you definitely find him making an impression on you.

Tony G. (real name: Antanas Guoga) made a major splash by haranguing one opponent after another on his way to a second-place finish in the World Poker Tour’s Grand Prix de Paris event last year. He repeatedly told his foes, “I’m going to destroy you,” or “I’m going to take everything you have.” As he went head-to-head with respected veteran Surinder Sunar, he called himself the “table captain.” Nearly everyone in attendance was rooting for the demise of Tony G. And ultimately, they were pleased, as Sunar outlasted the brash Aussie. But it was an emotionally exhausting battle, and one that pushed Tony a step closer to stardom. He’s a player the fans (and some other players) love to hate, but away from the table, he’s actually a cordial guy who’s nearly impossible not to like.

“People don’t really know me, but I’m a different person altogether when I’m not competing,” Tony explained. “And when I’m competing, I’m just having fun. I love to talk at the table, and I enjoy myself. Poker to me, it’s a hobby, and I’ve been successful at it, maybe because I don’t take it too serious. I don’t study two hours every day on how to become a better poker player. I actually suggest to everybody they should treat it as a hobby because if you take it too seriously, it can get out of hand. I don’t recommend to play for a living when it’s a grind.”

The 31-year-old Tony began playing when he was 11. A childhood Rubik’s Cube champion, he got kicked out of school in ninth grade when he was busted for taking bets from his classmates on soccer games, and he quickly made gambling his profession.

Tony went a more traditional route for a brief while—moving to Hong Kong and working for Citibank—but it wasn’t long before he was traveling the world, going broke playing poker, and building his bankroll back up. Tony, who speaks five languages, now lives in Lithuania with his wife and three daughters.

He’s recently emerged as a force on the WPT, finishing in the money in five of his nine tournaments, and just as significant, he’s emerged as someone whose personality demands that the WPT find a way to get his tables on television.

“They put me on because they’re looking to get exposure for themselves, and they realize people want to watch someone that is actually enjoying the game,” said Tony, who used to run the day-to-day operations of the Web site pokernews.com, and still has a major stake in the company. “I know people don’t like me because I talk and I abuse people, but I hope everybody can understand it’s never personal. I want to be known as a simple person that enjoys poker, and an example of how anyone can come from their homes and become a star for one day.”

The way he’s going, Tony G. is probably going to be a star for a lot longer than that.

Amazing Gracz

Author: Jim Mercurio

HE’S POLITE. He finished his undergraduate degree before turning pro. He values time with his family. Though his winnings of the last year are close to $3-million, he bought only a modest townhouse for himself and his girlfriend and still chugs around Raleigh, North Carolina, in his 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer.

Well, that’s Mike Gracz: a poker anti-cliche. He might be the hottest tournament player in the world right now, but his side game maxes out at $200-$400 limit. No taking his shot at the “big game.”

“I want my poker life to have a certain balance to it. I’m not interested in losing a couple of hundred thousand in a night,” the 24-year-old said.

A twentysomething overnight millionaire who preaches balance and restraint? If you were reading a book and there was a character like Mike, you would put it down and say that’s unrealistic; no one is that perfect.

Okay, maybe he’s not perfect. He lightly peppered our chat with some whimsical expletives and, although a gentleman at the table, he gave us a few choice descriptions about his competitors. But the comment about the opponent playing like he was tripping on LSD was completely off the record. We won’t mention it.

A $1,500,000 first place prize in March’s Party Poker Million IV and a $292,000 take for winning last December’s Trump Classic jumpstarted his career as a traveling tournament player. He scored his first WSOP bracelet this year too. And although he’s off to Atlantic City, Aruba, Vegas, Connecticut, and back to Vegas in the next few months, his humility is evidenced by the near hour he spent chatting with us for a 500-word piece.

He knows No-Limit tournaments award his aggression, but prefers Limit side games. He’s still working on the leaks in the multi-day tournaments: “Sometimes I blow off my chips—lose half my stack and then have to fight back. I’m working on that.”

Watch the ESPN coverage of the 2005 $1,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em (With Re-buys) tournament Gracz won and you’ll see him make some audacious reads on players. He is the first to admit that luck is part of the game, such as when he sucked out on C.T. Law on the last hand. But no matter what happens, Mike keeps his cool at the table.

In one of the tournament’s most memorable hands, Shane Schleger went all in on the turn. Gracz deliberated for a minute or so and called him with ace-high. “He would have moved in on the flop with A-K or a piece of it,” Gracz explained. “Overpair, and he can’t give me a free card and a chance to hit an overcard (last to act, Schleger checked the flop). And it was getting to be the time where he needed to make a move. So either he’s got a monster like trip sevens or he’s got d—. I figured it was 20/80.”

After Mike won the WSOP event, in his interview with ESPN, he encouraged young players to get an education no matter how well they are doing in poker. Gracz is a class act, a role model, and a great spokesperson for the game. He doesn’t act as flashy or talk as good a game as many of the top players of the new generation. But talking a good game and playing one are two different things, and none of the young guns have been playing better in 2005 than Gracz.

Silly For Tilly

Author: John Vorhaus

LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING: I was in love with Jennifer Tilly long before you were. After all, when did she first come to your attention? When she turned up as putative eye candy on the arm of Phil “The Unabomber” Laak? Maybe your history goes a bit farther back. Possibly you dug her sultry performances in Bound, Liar, Liar, or Bullets Over Broadway, or her voiceover work in Monsters, Inc. But me? I’ve been mad keen for Ms. Tilly since she played a sexpot Mafia moll on the classic TV cop show Hill Street Blues, and that was 20 years ago!

Okay, so I’m old. So sue me.

Lately, though, I’ve fallen in love with her all over again, the same way we all have: by watching her play cards. At first I thought, Sure, she has a talented boyfriend/teacher, but really, is she anything more than another Hollywood poker dilettante? I don’t see her winning any bracelets. But then, of course, she did. When she shredded the field of 600 in the Ladies No-Limit Hold ’Em event at the 2005 World Series of Poker, it became clear that the girl’s got game. And when she went on to beat Isabelle “No Mercy” Mercier and the rest of a tough field at Ladies Night III on the World Poker Tour, it became obvious that her WSOP win was no fluke. Maybe she does have a talented boyfriend/teacher to guide her, but she’s an acute learner, and has used Laak’s tutelage and her own native ability to turn herself into a devastating poker force.

Tilly found the WPT win to be most satisfying. “I felt like I was suffering from the ‘imposter syndrome,’” she said. “I had these niggling self-doubts. But now I know I can really play. These women were extremely tough pros with blood lust at the poker table. My goal has always been to win a World Poker Tour event and now I’ve done it!” Imagine winning a WSOP bracelet and still having “niggling self-doubts.” Well, they say actors are insecure …

So what lies ahead for Tilly? More poker, of course, plus a return to the small screen in the new Henry Winkler sitcom Out Of Practice, in which she’ll play the erstwhile Fonz’s girlfriend. Wonder if she’ll try to crash the crew’s poker game during taping breaks. If they’re smart, they’ll tell her, “No WSOP winners allowed.”

Jennifer Tilly is the total package: She’s gorgeous, sexy, a talented actress, an articulate thinker and writer, and a gifted poker player to boot. It’s too bad I’m already married, or I would definitely have to steal her away from Phil. I know, I know—I can hear you saying, “Yeah, right” from here. But a man can dream, can’t he?

After all, I’ve been at it a lot longer than you.

TILLY TALK

Tilly on poker: “I’m hooked on poker. I’m not going to stop playing until I’ve lost all my money.”
Tilly on training: “You can read all the books, but you have to listen to your intuition and not do everything exactly as they say. You have to do what feels right.”
Tilly on naughtiness: “I love playing poker because I get to be mean and crush people in a socially acceptable way. I can lie, steal, and be generally deceptive. Poker lets me indulge my inner bad girl.”
Tilly on image: “It’s fun to play dumb, but it’s a lot more fun to be smart!”
Tilly on Laak: “Felting Phil was the best part of my training. I loved beating him and then he’d go over to the couch and sulk, staring at the ceiling.”

FIVE THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT JENNIFER TILLY

• Real last name is Chan
• Studied theater at Stephens College in Missouri
• Was married to Sam Simon, a creator of The Simpsons
• Starred in her own sitcom, Shaping Up, but it only lasted five episodes
• Owns over 400 pairs of shoes

Daniel Negreanu, Under The Gun

Author: Eric Raskin

1. What do you consider the greatest bluff you ever pulled off?

That one’s easy. At the Championship Poker at the Plaza event on FSN in 2004, the hand against Freddy Deeb. In heads-up play, I put a bluff raise on Freddy that was sophisticated in that I didn’t go all in. I made it look like I really wanted him to call. I limped in with Ah-7d, the blinds were 800/1,600, he raised 7,000 more, and I called. The flop was Ks-6h-2h. He bet about 16,000, and I called with the intention of taking the pot from him on the turn. The turn came, the 4s. He checked, so I went ahead and bet 30,000, trying to pick up the pot. He called. Now the river came, the 4h. It paired the board and put a flush out there, and I had the ace of hearts, but not the flush. He bet 65,000, so most people would fold, just throw the hand away. But instead, I knew that he couldn’t have the nut flush, and I knew that he didn’t have a full house, so I decided to represent one of those hands and I raised him just 100,000 more. So he looked at it and he’s like, “You must have flopped a set,” and he threw the hand away. And, of course, I show the bluff, and after that, for the next 45 minutes, he just couldn’t stop talking about it.

2. Who’s the player you just can’t get a read on?

John Hennigan. He switches gears so quickly. Once you think you have a read on him, that’s when he flips it on you and he just switches gears. When he’s playing his best, he’s arguably the best player I’ve ever played. He plays at another level. He plays above the rim. Him, Ted Forrest, and Phil Ivey all have similar qualities in that they think about poker in a very unique way.

3. What’s your guilty pleasure television show?

Has to be the Real World/Road Rules Challenge. I’m addicted to reality TV in general, and that’s a really silly show, but I love it. I never miss an episode. MTV reality TV, I TiVo everything. The people on those reality shows, those are the people that, when I meet them, I go, “You wouldn’t believe who I met!”

4. Is Phil Hellmuth as good as he thinks he is?

Oh, not even close. Nobody could ever be as good as he thinks he is. Doyle Brunson once said, “I wish I was as good as he thought he was.” His evaluation of his own play is way off-base. He walks into the cash games and the side games, and literally, the top players, we all lick our lips. Yum, yum, here comes a sucker. I think when he plays his best, he plays pretty good, but the young kids today are studying and learning so much, and he’s not. He’s just not focused.

5. At what age do you become too old for the nickname “Kid Poker”?

(laughs) I don’t know, I think if you look at Kid Rock, he’s close to hitting 40 and he’s still Kid Rock, so … I think the name Kid Poker isn’t necessarily related to age, because I feel like a kid anyway, and I think I’ll always behave and feel like I’m young. I don’t think that I’ll ever outgrow the name. Maybe one day, we’ll switch to “The Man”—“Dan The Man.”

Inside Ivey

Author: Tim Graham

What we know most about Ivey are his poker accomplishments. In 2000, he won his first World Series of Poker bracelet, at Pot-Limit Omaha, at the tender age of 23. He tied a World Series of Poker record two years later when he conquered three events in a single year. He notched his first major No-Limit Hold ’Em title when he took down the 2004 American Poker Championship, the first poker tournament televised live.

At this year’s World Series of Poker, he won his fifth career bracelet, raking in $635,603 for taking another Pot-Limit Omaha title. Then he made a run deep into the Hold ’Em Main Event, finishing 20th and taking home $304,680.

Perhaps what Ivey is most proud of is his regular seat in The Big Game, a high-limit cash game that can take place any night of the week on Table Number One at Bellagio. The likes of Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Harman, and Chip Reese gather to play a mix game for stakes as high as $4,000-$8,000.

Despite all that, Ivey is one of the few elite players who hasn’t become his own franchise. Aside from his affiliation with Full Tilt Poker, his main line of business is just being Phil Ivey, one of the greatest cash players on the planet.

“I like privacy,” Ivey says. “I appreciate every fan. I don’t mind people asking for autographs, but I’m just a poker player. I’ve been playing cards all my life, and then they started putting me on TV. I don’t feel like a celebrity.”

ALL IN tracked down the 28-year-old Las Vegas resident shortly after the World Series of Poker. Ivey obviously is an uncomfortable interview subject. Nevertheless, he took the time to discuss an assortment of topics, daring to provide a glimpse inside the life of a poker legend in the making.

ALL IN: How would you describe your childhood, growing up in New Jersey?

Ivey: I had a good childhood. I was raised by my mother and grandparents while my parents were separated, but they got back together when I was eight years old. I liked to have fun, go out and play a lot of basketball and football. I got into trouble, like normal kid stuff. I don’t remember what I did, but I wasn’t a little saint, that’s for sure. My mother worked for an insurance company, and my father was a union laborer. He passed away a couple months ago from heart disease. He was 55.

What did your father think about you being a professional poker player?

He liked it as long as I wasn’t doing something I wasn’t supposed to be doing. He was proud of me. He wasn’t really much of a poker player, but he played other games, like spades. He started getting into poker the last year so.

Was the rest of your family supportive?

My whole family wanted me to go to college, but I wasn’t really too into school. That wasn’t going to happen. I was very lucky to find something I was good at and be able to make a living doing it. What parent wants their kid to be a pro poker player, especially back then? Maybe now that it’s popular and on TV and everything. But there’s a good reason nobody should want their little boy or girl to be a professional poker player. For most people, that’s a lifetime of trouble. But my parents know I’m going to do what I want to do, so they kind of figured out pretty fast they would have to support it because they didn’t have a choice. They can tell their son’s pretty stubborn, and once I get my mind set on something, that’s what I’m going to do.

There are a few articles out there that said before your focus shifted completely toward poker, you were known for your phenomenal video game skills. How good were you?

They’re making that up. I played video games, but it was nothing serious. I was above average. Interviewers ask me questions like “Do you like to play video games?” I say, “Yeah, I like video games,” and then they just make up stuff. You say something and they write a phantom story. That’s why I don’t really read about myself too much. People always are going to have something to say, so I don’t put too much into it. If you start worrying about every little thing people say about you, you won’t be able to sleep.

When did poker enter your life, and how did your card-playing passion develop?

My grandfather taught me how to play Five-Card Stud when I was eight years old. He used to cheat because he didn’t want me gambling. I would wonder why I never won. He would deal from the bottom of the deck when I wasn’t looking. It’s pretty easy to cheat an eight-year-old kid. We would play for pennies, and I would always lose. My grandmother would come into the room and yell at him, “You stop cheating that boy!” He would say, “I’m trying to teach him a lesson.”

I guess it didn’t work.

No. I loved playing cards. I loved playing all games, like Monopoly. I just wanted to play. I loved playing. For a long time, I didn’t play too much poker—maybe every once in a while—until I was 16. I played at one of my friends’ house with his father and a bunch of his friends. I asked if I could take a seat, and sat down for like a $30 buy-in. I believe I won that day, like $150.

Looking back, how significant was that day in setting you on your path?

It was very important in my life. I remember saying to my friend’s mom, “I want to be a professional gambler.” She said, “Well, you’re going to need a really good job.” “What do I need a job for if I’m a pro gambler?” I’d say things like this all the time to my friends and teachers in school. They would just laugh at me and say I was crazy. I always knew what I was going to do. I knew I was going to be a gambler.

Tell us how Jerome Graham influenced your poker career.

He’s a guy that worked a telemarketing job I had. I would use his ID to go to Atlantic City, and when I was playing, everybody knew me as Jerome. I got carded a lot. I look young now, but I looked really young when I was 16 or 17. When I turned 21, I told the pit boss my name was Phil, and I had been playing with a fake ID. But I was 21, and there was nothing they could do now. She just said “Okay, Phil.”

What did Jerome Graham get out of the deal?

I paid him to use it. I paid him $50. It was a pretty good deal for me.

So you knew Jerome Graham from a telemarketing job. Is that your only attempt at trying to make an honest living?

I worked the telemarketing job raising money for the Fraternal Order of Police. I worked at McDonald’s when I was 16, 17 years old. There were a lot of tough times. I was a losing gambler until I was 21. I would win, lose, but for the most part I would lose. A lot of that comes from being immature, not knowing how to manage your money, not knowing what games to play or not to play. It comes from overrating your abilities and thinking you’re a little better than you are.

Poker is a game where you’re always learning. I would go down to Atlantic City and I would play blackjack and craps and lose all but a little bit of money to play poker with, build my money back, and start all over again. One day I just wised up and said, “This is what I’m going to do and that’s it.” I started making a little money here, a little there, until I could quit my job.

Since you met your wife, Luciaetta, at the telemarketing office, she experienced your evolution into a professional poker player. What kind of input did she have at that pivotal stage in your life?

She always supported me from the very beginning. I know my wife was a little nervous as far as me gambling and going down to Atlantic City. But I always felt that she was behind me.

What was she most worried about?

She was just worried about my well being. People are right to worry about people who gamble every day. Most people who gamble every day end up broke. Ninety-nine percent end up in really bad shape. I wouldn’t want my kids to do what I do. I wouldn’t recommend it. It takes a certain kind of person to be successful in this business.

How essential was your wife’s support in helping you attain the success you’ve had thus far?

That was very important. I look back on that now, and I don’t think I realized how important it was at the time, but it makes you believe in yourself. I had support there, and there wasn’t really anybody else aside from her who believed in me like she did. That was really big. And when I do well, I not only feel I do well for myself, but I do well for her, too. I felt like I was playing for the both of us. It gives you more responsibility.

Did her presence make you a more conscientious player?

It helped me out because I don’t want her to have a tough life. I can deal with losing and having to stay in a hotel and struggle a little bit. But I don’t want to put her through that. We already had tough times early in my career, so I don’t want to put her through that again.

How bad were the early days?

We would be sitting in my apartment and the lights would get cut off. There were times when I was three months late on my rent and there was no hot water. The electricity was turned off, no cable. Everything was a complete wreck. I would think, I’m looking like a bum here. She could get up and leave me. But she didn’t make me feel like she had come close to leaving me.

How did you go about preparing yourself for a life in poker? Did you read books or was it more trial and error?

I skimmed through some books, but I never actually read a whole book. You learn with the people you play with. The best way is to just sit down, play, learn from mistakes, and lose money. You have to be willing to lose. That’s how you get better. Nobody ever improves unless they put in the time. In the early days, I would play 12 to 15 hours a day for five days straight. I was pretty sick with it for a while.

You’re so stoic at the table. Does that come naturally or did you have to work at that? Did you have to eliminate any specific tells?

That comes naturally. It’s just concentration and paying attention to what’s going on. When I lose a tough hand, it doesn’t bother me that much. Not that I’m not emotional or concerned with what’s going on. It’s just another poker hand. I play such high stakes that when I lose a poker hand, it’s not that big a deal. I’ll get lucky and win hands I shouldn’t and lose hands I shouldn’t lose. I try not to put too much into any one hand of poker.

You built your reputation as a great cash player. What gives you your biggest edge?

You can’t be afraid when you play in the cash games. You have to have a certain disrespect for money. If you have, say, $300,000 in front of you, you can’t think, Oh, man. I can buy a house. You have to think about making the right decisions and seeing what’s in front of you as chips instead of money.

Many people can’t be successful as cash players because they think, If I lose this in a half-hour it would be devastating. You have to be able to go on with your life. All my gambling experience has made me better equipped for being able to deal with losing money.

Pretty much everybody considers the World Series of Poker Main Event to be the pinnacle of the game, but can’t a case be made for the Big Game? Anybody with online luck or $10,000 to blow can play in the World Series, but it doesn’t get more exclusive than the Big Game.

I agree. Anybody can buy into a poker tournament, but to get to the top you have to play with the best players in the world. To play in the biggest cash games in the world is tougher than any tournament. You’re playing against better players and these guys are really, really, really good players. You have to outthink them and outguess them, outplay them and figure them out. That’s tougher than any tournament could ever be.

For us hacks, could you explain what it feels like to play in the Big Game?

I do it so often it doesn’t seem like a big deal. But it’s a privilege to play in that big of a poker game because it took a lot of hard work and time working on my poker game to get there. There are a lot of talented poker players out there who are not in that game for a number of reasons. Maybe they can’t handle losing that type of money. Maybe they can’t handle the mental swings of the game. A lot of players just aren’t right for that game. I love it because it’s the biggest game in the world. You could win or lose a million in a day.

How do you handle such monstrous swings?

Every day is a different day. Poker is about living in the moment. Just like in golf, it’s one shot at a time. You don’t want to get too ahead of yourself. On the golf course, you don’t think five shots ahead. You think only about your next shot. And if you have a bad shot, you don’t want to think about that. You forget it and move on. That’s why poker and golf are so similar when you’re playing at a competitive level.

What do you consider the biggest adjustments a player must make when going from a cash game to a tournament or vice versa?

You have to be a lot more patient and be willing to put in the time in a tournament. Every tournament you play in, you’re not a favorite to win it, no matter how good you are, because so many random things can happen. It’s poker. For me, in a tournament, I just have to be patient and get through the first day. My biggest problem in tournaments is rushing and trying to get chips too fast. In a cash game, you can always re-buy. In a tournament, every decision can end your tournament. It’s like life and death. Make a mistake and you’re out.

You have tried to make an effort to bypass cash games to concentrate more on tournaments. Why is that?

Before, I would play cash games all night—14, 15 hours—and go right to the poker tournament. I would end up not playing my best. I’m going to prepare better for the poker tournaments I play in. I’m going to try the best I can. In a lot of poker tournaments, if there’s a good cash game going on the side, I wouldn’t try too hard because I would want to go get into that game. It was hard for the top players in tournaments because there were cash games going on where you could go make more money. It’s tough to gear down for a poker tournament when the most you can win is $500,000 or $600,000. You play for that every day in the Big Game. I would feel like I had wasted all that time and could have been playing in a cash game. I love cash games and making real money, but I just decided I wasn’t going to waste my money or time by not giving my best at tournaments. That’s why I’ve been doing lot better in poker tournaments.

So why play tournaments at all?

I play tournaments because I like them. They’re very competitive, very intense down to the end. It’s much more intense than a cash game when you get down to the final table.

So do you sacrifice much in winnings by concentrating more on tournaments? Are any losses offset by exposure and potential endorsements?

I’m not really worried about the money aspect of it. I just want to do what I like to do.

What do you make of all those near misses in tournaments recently? The 2005 WSOP Main Event, six WPT final tables with no titles …

When you get down to the end of a poker tournament, the structure gets so high, the antes and the blinds make the hands you have to play a whole different game. You have to get lucky. You have to win those hands. When you get down to the end and lose two or three hands in a row, you’re done. You have to win a big percentage of the hands you enter. I have played okay, but I also made some mistakes in the tournaments. I also got a little unlucky, too.

Does the structure of these tournaments not jibe with your style for some reason?

I can adjust to any structure, so there’s really nothing about my game that affects me late in tournaments. Sometimes I get a little impatient and rush things a little bit. But I’ve also made nine final tables at the World Series of Poker and won five tournaments. So it breaks even. When you make a final table, you’re still a 9-to-1 underdog. So just because you make a final table doesn’t mean you’re going to win the tournament. My record at final tables is not as bad as it would seem, but people have a lot of high expectations. It’s disappointing to not win, but it is a poker game.

You have an association with Full Tilt Poker, but do you actually play much online?

I play at Full Tilt Poker on a daily basis. Playing online is really relaxing for me. I try to play online at least an hour a day. There are not really big enough games online, so I just have fun and play 50-cent/$1 or nickle-dime. I’ll play all those lower games because I just want to play with people who might not get a chance to play with me in a real game. Some people never get to a casino, but they see us on TV and wonder what it’s like to play with us. Now they have that chance. It’s nice to be able to help people. They’ll ask how to play certain hands, and I’ll answer that for them.

In previous interviews, you have admitted having difficulty managing money and possessing compulsive tendencies. Those sure seem like dangerous attributes for a poker player.

You just have to understand yourself and know what you’re capable of and not capable of and how things have an effect on you. I know I like to gamble and bet a lot of money. I’m a risk taker, and I know that about myself. I think it all comes down to knowing your weaknesses and the ways to combat them. Maybe take a little break or take a vacation when things are going bad or not the way you want them to go. That’s how you combat that.

Is your affinity for golf the result of your compulsiveness?

Yeah. I like competing, and in golf, you can always set up a game. The great thing about golf is I can match up against Tiger Woods. He might have to give me 21/2 shots a hole, but we can have somewhat of a fair game. That’s the thing about golf, and you can gamble on every hole.

How’s your golf game coming along?

I’m terrible. I need a lot of work. I’m so terrible I can only get better. There’s only one way for my golf game to go. I plan on working pretty hard at it the next couple years.

Are you losing much money on the course?

I’m definitely not losing money on the golf course. I just set up a game I think is fair and try to win.

ESPN’s 2004 World Series of Poker featured a segment on you, Howard Lederer, and Robert Williamson III playing golf, and I must say you were the three worst golfers I’ve ever seen. Were those scenes staged to make your games funnier than they really were?

That was my first time I ever played, my first time ever on a course. Those were all real shots.

Mike Ruiz, an erstwhile caddie at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas, credits you with his resurgence in the sport, helping him relocate his passion for the game and qualify for this year’s U.S. Open. Tell us about your relationship and how you’ve helped each other.

He says I helped him do that? I didn’t know that. That’s kind of crazy. I go to Shadow Creek to play, and that’s where I met him. I would say, “Man, you’re good. What are you doing working as a caddie?” We would play for money and try to rattle him and needle him during his swing, but he’s just so good. Mike is a great guy. He’s really funny, and he’s the best dice shooter I’ve ever seen. We call him Golden Arm. We take him when we shoot dice at the Bellagio.

What else do you like to do for relaxation away from the tables?

Hang out with my wife, go to the movies, travel a little bit. We just went down to Laguna Beach for about five days. It’s nice to be able to do that.

How does the uncertainty of your profession play on your psyche? Do fears ever creep into your head that eventually you could lose it all?

No. I’m unconcerned. If I do what I’m supposed to do and play the way I’m capable of playing, I’ll be fine. For some poker players, there might be some uncertainty, but for me there’s not. My biggest enemy is myself. I’m my own toughest competitor. I just have to do what I can do and play like I can play, and I’m going to win at poker.

How long do you want to play poker as a career? Are there other vocations you’d like to pursue?

I’m always going to play poker. I’d like to get into other things, but there’s no reason to stop playing. There’s nothing else I want to do.

Five Questions With Paul Phillips

A revealing interview with poker’s most unrecognizable superstar

Author: Eric Raskin

1. What do you consider the greatest bluff you ever pulled off?
I try not to remember my greatest bluffs for fear of being tempted to try anything similar; almost by definition, a great bluff is one that has a low probability of success. But it’s hard to forget my J-2 bluff against Phil Laak thanks to it being shown on the Travel Channel about a billion times since it happened.

2. Who’s the player you just can’t get a read on?
Phil Ivey. I’ve given up. Having apparently exhausted every avenue of analysis, I’m down to praying he’s not at my table.

3. If the Internet and blogging had been around since the dawn of time, what famous person’s blog would you most like to read?
I wouldn’t want to distract any of my heroes with “blogging responsibilities.” Better that they work on whatever made them interesting to me in the first place. Blogs: where time goes to die.

4. What relatively unknown poker player do you think is going to develop into a star?
I’ll go with Steven Hudak. During the 2005 WSOP, he showed up looking like he belonged in junior high school, sat in a short-handed $300/$600 mixed game, and played every game well and with total confidence. When I was 21, I couldn’t spell poker.

5. What hairstyle should we absolutely never expect to see from Paul Phillips?
I’m not much of a mohawk man, but never say never.

Poker Player Kenna James - Ketta-Tic Energy

The outgoing “Cowboy” Kenna James has had plenty of incoming cash on the tournament circuit lately

Author: Jennifer Newell

KENNA JAMES HAD A PRETTY DARNED GOOD year playing poker tournaments in 2005. He won $889,829, the product of 13 money finishes, including second place in a WPT event, a final table at a World Series Circuit tournament, and 44th place out of 5,619 in the WSOP Main Event. All things considered, he had great success in ’05.

But not if you compare it to what he’s been doing in ’06. By the middle of March, James had already passed the million-dollar mark, finishing second on the PartyPoker Million cruise, winning a $2,500 buy-in Hold ’Em event at the L.A. Poker Classic, and reaching the final table at the Aussie Millions. It’s never a bad thing to surpass the previous year’s productivity in less than three months.

“Cowboy” Kenna James is sometimes described as one of the nicest guys in the poker world. He is grounded, family-oriented, and generous. At the same time, he is extremely hard-working and persistent in his efforts to be the best.

If you’re not familiar yet with his name, you might recognize Kenna’s signature cowboy hat and spirited personality. You also might remember him hiding beneath his hat and hood to escape the glare of Howard Lederer at the World Series a few years back. He has a distinct presence at and away from the table that fans don’t soon forget.

It’s often been said that it takes a good actor to make a great poker player. When James acquired a scholarship to the Michigan School of the Arts in his younger years, he focused on acting. Though he enjoyed doing theater productions and various acting gigs, he found that it simply didn’t pay the bills.
In 1995, Kenna’s life took a turn that he couldn’t have predicted. “Waiting tables got old,” he recalled. “So I decided to make a change and went to work as a dealer at Hollywood Park Casino.” In a short period of time, he transitioned from dealer to player, cashing in his first big tournament in 1997.

In that same year, James’ life took another turn. He met another professional poker player, Marsha Waggoner, who was an executive host at Hollywood Park. “The first time we met, she accused me of colluding with another player in a game. Of course, I wasn’t … I think she was just jealous that I made the final table, and she didn’t,” he joked. That series of events turned into a friendship and ultimately a romantic relationship and marriage.

James soon began to show his strengths in low-limit poker games and took a job as a proposition player at a Los Angeles casino. After some rough years of bottoming out and continuing to struggle back, he finally made it to a number of final tables. He began to travel the tournament circuit throughout the world and broke through in 2005 when he finished in second place in the WPT Legends of Poker tournament, leading to healthy helpings off success in the months that followed.

So what’s next for this rising star who recent signed an endorsement deal with SunPoker.com?

“Professionally, I have two major goals,” he said. “To win a bracelet at this year’s WSOP and to win Player of the Year.”

It’s impossible to guess how realistic that first goal is. But based on what’s happened so far in ’06, the second goal is definitely within reach.

Big Fisch - Poker Player Scott Fischman

Scott Fischman is coming soon to a TV screen, video game console, bookstore, and oh yeah, poker room near you.

Author: Lena Katz

Not too long ago, Scott Fischman was a kid on the way up. Founder of theFishTank.com and winner of two WSOP bracelets, Fischman was undeniably a talented player–definitely one to watch–but still not recognizable to anyone other than hardcore poker fans, Internet players and people in the business.

But all that’s going to change–and fast. During the next few months, the 20-something pro is set to publish a book, star in an Activision WSOP video game, provide commentary for a couple different televised series, and re-launch his own online card room, the FishTank. Oh, and he’s just been signed onto the InterPoker Extreme Team. If you wanted to be cheesy, you could say that this Fisch is about to splash down in a very big pond. And he’s more than ready.

“It’s been a slow buildup,” says Fischman, when asked about his seeming overnight succcess. Apparently, he and sister Beth Fischman have been patiently working on most of these deals for more than a year. “I knew it would get huge, but it’s dragged a bit,” he says. “The first deal [with FishTank and Doyle’s Room] didn’t pan out exactly as I would have hoped…but I’m really a perfectionist.” And in hindsight, he sees that experience as a stepping stone to bigger and better things.

“I just signed with InterPoker, and my brand is now on their site–Fishtank powered by InterPoker… We’re collaborating, but I’ll have my own Team FishTank. They’re giving me a chance to get down and dirty, and make this an awesome site,” he says, and you can practically feel the enthusiasm crackling down the phone line.

“I’m able to do all these amazing tournaments, give away great prizes, and bring on amazing pros that everyone’s going to love.”

As far as what he’d ideally like to do for other players, Fischman says,”When you turn your computer on, you go to the Fishtank ’cause that’s where you like to play every night.”

I ask, only half seriously, whether it’s the only place that he’ll play, and he thinks for a moment before answering, “You can’t really stick to one site–it’s not smart.” He elaborates, “In my book, I advise people to go to more than one site. Find something you love on every site. Give yourself options so you don’t feel trapped all the time. That’s what’s so great about the Internet in the first place; you have all these options, You should take advantage of them.”

Here it seems appropriate to ask a few questions about the book, which is entitled Online Ace and set to hit stores in late 2006. It seems like every poker player has a book these days, and I’m curious to know how this one’s different.

“It will…I don’t want to say ‘revolutionize’…but it will really deal with how to start your career by playing online. I think that’s the best way to learn poker these days,” Fischman explains. “This book will really give people what they need to know to make it happen.” Coming from a 20-something pro who makes most of his considerable fortune playing online, this is quite a juicy promise.

As far as his other projects–the World Series of Poker video game (”This version is ten times better than the first…they brought all the pros into the studio to do voiceovers, modelings, gather artificial intelligence…”), the rumored MansionPoker television appearances (”I really like what they’re doing”), the hosting gig for the National Poker League (”In the Tank Q&A–a tips and tricks segment,”–Fischman is enthusiastic, but not always 100% informed. He refers me back to his sister and business manager Beth time and again.

“She’s done the world for me with these outside ventures…She’s the one that’s been making it all happen. She’s been working behind the scenes, setting up deals,” he says.

And that, of course, leaves at least some of his time free for that one other little minor piece of his career: playing poker.

“I stay home every Sunday and try to play all the big Sunday tournaments,” Fischman says. “When tournaments come to town, I make sure Beth handles everything business-related, so I can play.,, In fact, I don’t really skip tournaments to do other things. If someone needs me, I say ‘Sorry.’”

Spoken like a true poker player, this statement gives reason for celebration and trepidation in equal measure:

Be glad. Because Scott Fischman is one guy who’s determined not to let his media fame overshadow his game. Be afraid. Because as long as he’s out there doing his thing, your chip stack will never, ever be safe.

Poker Player Shawn Sheikhan - Winning Sheik

Prior to the airing of the 2005 World Series of Poker, you’d probably never heard of Shawn “The Sheik” Sheikhan. And if, after seeing him on those ESPN broadcasts and then again on GSN’s High Stakes Poker, you thought you might never hear from Sheikhan again, you weren’t alone. He didn’t necessarily look like a serious poker player with an overabundance of staying power.

But first impressions can be very, very wrong. As the ’06 World Series looms, Shawn Sheikhan is one of the biggest rising stars in the game. Some may love him, some may hate him, but nobody is taking him lightly anymore.

One of the highlights of the 2005 WSOP was the verbal confrontation seen by millions involving Mike “The Mouth” Matusow and the then-unknown Sheikhan. The Sheik finished 11th in the Main Event, but gained more notice for his willingness to exchange trash talk with Matusow than for his prowess as a poker player.

Fans then got another look at “Sheiky” on High Stakes Poker, the first-ever televised No-Limit Hold ’Em cash game. Sheikhan did not exactly come off as a superstar in the making. He was criticized for everything from the way he played certain hands to talking at the table when he wasn’t involved in a hand, and just about everything in between. Todd Brunson, annoyed by Sheikhan’s antics, went so far as to label Sheikhan an “idiot” in an off-screen interview. Sammy Farha asked Sheikhan in one episode whether he was going to be back the next day, implying that if Sheiky was, then Farha preferred not to play that day.

But all of that was before this past March, when Sheikhan created the Cinderella story of the year with his performance in the National Heads-Up Championship. While oddsmakers listed him as 70-1 or worse to win the event, Sheikhan shocked the poker world by reaching the semifinals of the highly prestigious tournament, coming within one bad beat of advancing to the finals.

Sheikhan’s road to the semifinals was fraught with some of the greatest players in the game. His opening match was against the unpredictable four-time WPT champion Gus Hansen. He then was paired against Doyle Brunson, possibly the greatest poker player of all-time. Next was high-stakes cash-game specialist and two-time WSOP bracelet winner David Grey. Sheikhan then had to defeat 2004 Player of the Year Daniel Negreanu to have the privilege of playing five-time WSOP bracelet winner Ted Forrest in the semifinals. None of the other three players who reached the Final Four had tougher obstacles placed in front of them than did Sheikhan, yet he defied the odds. But that’s nothing new to him.

Shahram “Shawn” Sheikhan was born in Iran in 1969. His father was a judge and a high-ranking military officer, and because of that, his family had money, power, and a lot of perks, like bodyguards, drivers, and live-in domestic help. Then the Islamic Revolution occurred in 1979, forcing Shawn’s family to leave the country. They had a relative living in Santa Cruz, California, so that’s where they went.

Sheikhan recalls that it was very stressful making the transition to a foreign country where he couldn’t even speak the language. Back in school in the old country, they offered students English classes, but he always used to cut them. Instead, he’d have his driver pick him up and take him home or to the arcade.

When Sheikhan first started school in Santa Cruz, it was at the time of the hostage crisis in Iran. He was only in the fourth grade, and the kids in school were coming up to him and telling him to free the hostages. He says he’s been called every name in the book—his 10th grade woodshop teacher even used to call him “C.J.,” for “camel jockey.” So when it comes to people calling Shawn names today, he’s sufficiently hardened.

Sheikhan’s family arrived in the States with only $30,000. His father bought a little gas station in San Jose, and commuted from Santa Cruz for several years to operate it. The family eventually moved to San Jose, where Shawn went to high school. Then they moved to Las Vegas, but Shawn didn’t like it there, because by this time, he had friends in San Jose. So he moved back. His father bought another gas station, and Shawn managed it for him there. But he finally returned to Las Vegas in 1995 to follow business pursuits and be closer to his family.

Sheikhan now owns a chain of six retail stores in Las Vegas called Diversity. They are smoke shops that sell other items also, like shoes, clothing, and novelties, and are well known for tattoos and piercings. He’s currently negotiating a commercial real estate deal for a piece of property where he plans on building a strip mall with another Diversity store anchoring it, while leasing out the rest of the property. He’s also invested in other residential and commercial real estate, doing quite well over the past 10 years.

When ALL IN asked Sheikhan if he was inked, he laughed as he replied, “Me? No. I know myself too well. If I got started, I’d never stop, so I never started.”

Sheikhan first got interested in gambling because his parents loved to gamble. They would often play cards with family and friends, and he would watch. He first played poker at Caesars Palace back in 1986. After he lost all his money in a $5/$10 Stud game, he got carded, and they threw him out because he was only 17. His game improved when he moved back to California and found himself playing a lot of poker there.

Sheiky considers himself primarily a cash-game player. He’s only recently started to dabble in Las Vegas tournaments, and doesn’t go on the circuit at all, except for one World Poker Tour event a year in Los Angeles. He plays four to six days a week, usually at Caesars Palace, in $400/$800 or $1000/$2000 mixed games, although he has played higher. He especially likes drawing games, like Triple Draw, Deuce-To-Seven, Ace-To-Five, Omaha Eight-Or-Better, Stud Eight-Or-Better, and regular Seven-Card Stud. Hold ’Em is actually his least favorite game.

But he is making a name for himself in “the Cadillac of poker,” even if he’s an extremely inexperienced Hold ’Em player. In fact, Shawn revealed to ALL IN that during last year’s World Series Main Event, he played more No-Limit Hold ’Em in those six days than he had in his entire life.

But if the World Series put Sheikhan on the map, then it was the Heads-Up Championship that has made him a burgeoning star. Each match started out the same way, with Sheiky blowing off a good portion of his stack to his opponents. But then he bore down, got aggressive and lucky at the right times, and beat them. That is, all except for Forrest, who caught a two-outer on him on the turn and made trip fours to beat Sheikhan’s top pair. If it weren’t for that hand, Shawn would have been in the finals, but instead that hand crippled him, and eventual champion Forrest busted him shortly thereafter.

Doyle Brunson had issued a $100,000 challenge at the drawing party the night before the tournament began, betting that someone from his bracket would win the event. Howard Lederer, who was also in a deep and talented bracket, accepted the bet. Sheikhan asked Doyle if he would give him a percentage of the money if Shawn won it on behalf of their bracket, and Doyle said, “Whatever you want.” So Shawn asked him if he’d give him his hat instead, and Brunson said yes.

Sheiky faced Brunson in the second round, and admitted that his hands were shaking. None of his other opponents had that kind of effect on him; it was just that he had so much respect for the legendary “Texas Dolly.” Sheikhan wound up being the final representative in Doyle’s bracket, and when he lost to Forrest (who came out of Lederer’s bracket), he was hugely disappointed and depressed for days. Even though people marveled at how well he played, he felt like he let Brunson down.

“I wanted to win so badly,” Sheikhan said. “Having Doyle give me his hat would have meant more to me than the title and the money. I came so close. But Ted spooked me out with his pair of fours and crushed my dream.”

Ever the gambler, Sheikhan related an interesting story to ALL IN about a prop-bet experience.

“I was seated next to Sammy Farha in the Main Event at last year’s WSOP,” he recalled, “and play was hand-for-hand because we were approaching the money bubble of 560 players. Play really slowed down with that many players, and Sammy and I were getting bored. So we decided to cut cards in between hands. I had $1,600 in my pocket, and Sam had pancakes ($25,000 chips). We bet $1,000, and I lost. Sam wanted to do it again, but I told him I only had $600 left on me. So he said keep $100, and we cut again for $500, and I won. Then I won again. At this point, one of the tournament staff came over and told us that it was against the rules for us to touch the cards. So we started flipping coins. To make a long story short, I took that $500 I was down to and wound up winning a little over $25,000.”

With lifetime tournament winnings of $866,435, it isn’t the money that motivates Sheikhan at this point. His primary goal is to win a bracelet or two at this year’s World Series, and he hopes to do so in one of the drawing games. He plans on playing in about half of the events, including the Main Event. He says that if he’s playing well, and the field is a good one, he’ll probably play in the new $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event also.

A bracelet will, of course, earn Sheikhan even more respect. But no matter what, he figures to have his detractors because of the somewhat arrogant image he projects when he plays.

“I’m aware that people see this image of me on television as kind of a bad boy, because maybe they’ve seen me talking smack when I’m steaming, but that’s just an image,” he told ALL IN. “I’m aware that I have my critics among fans and players. Some love me, some hate me, and some love to hate me. I’ve probably got all the bases covered.

“But I love people, and getting to know them. I especially love my family. I have a beautiful wife, Tawnya, and she deserves everything she gets, because she’s the best. My eight-year-old daughter Tatijana is my pride and joy. I just don’t believe that bad people can be blessed in their personal lives as I have been.”

Asked about his personal strengths and weaknesses, Shawn replied, “I have faults, just like anyone else. I tend not to follow through on ideas, thoughts, and dreams. I feel I could have made millions in the real estate market here when I got my license years ago, but simply didn’t follow through. And I’m dogging a couple of other ideas right now.

“One of my strengths is that I love to share and to give. When I’m playing, I try to take care of everyone, from the dealers to the chip runners to the cashiers. I’ve been known to toke a $100, $500, or $1000 chip after winning a big pot.”

If he keeps on the streak he’s been on, there will be plenty more of those chips to go around. And as he continues to earn the respect of the poker world, and people begin to see him as a man with an adept mind for poker, those won’t be the only tips people are turning to him for.

Five Questions With Poker Player Mike Matusow

1
What’s the best bluff you ever pulled off?
Without a doubt, it was a hand I played at the World Series last year, but it wasn’t televised. I was up against Freddy Bonyadi, we were both among the top four chip leaders in the tournament at the time, he raised on the button, I re-raised him with 2-6 off, and he called. The flop came something like 10-J-5 with two spades, I bet pretty big, and he called. The turn card came a deuce of spades, gave me deuces and put three spades on the board, and I bet real big, and he called. And then the board paired on the river and I moved in for like $2.5-million, and he folded and rumor had it he went to the bathroom and puked. He told me he didn’t have anything, but I believe he had a flush. He went in the tank for like 10 minutes. We were the two chip leaders, and I didn’t think he wanted to be wrong against me and go broke in this pot. But I know he made a big laydown, because after the hand he insisted he wanted to see what I had. I said, “You don’t want to see what I have.” He said, “No, I want to see it,” and I showed the 6-2, and he immediately left the table and went to the bathroom to vomit. It’s a shame the hand wasn’t at a TV table, we talk about it all the time.

2
Who’s the one player you hate to see sitting at your table?
Phil Ivey. Him and Daniel Negreanu, they’re both dangerous. I’ll tell you who I like to play with: Alan Goehring. People don’t like to play with him, but they don’t know how to play against him. He plays every hand, and you just sit there and let him pick up all the small pots and you just punish him when you have a hand, that’s all.

3
What nicknames have you had in your life besides “The Mouth”?
I was “Prime Time” for about five years. And then I was “Loudmouth,” and I didn’t like that. So I pretty much told people to call me “Mike The Mouth” because with TV and all, I thought it was a good nickname, good image, I was trying to market myself.

4
Who’s more fun to go to war with: Phil Hellmuth or Shawn Sheikhan?
Phil’s fun to go to war with because he’s a whining little baby. Me and Shawn are friends. And actually, me and Phil are friends. We hung out for three hours the other night at the pool. But I told Phil, “You know, you’ve got to stop showing everybody when you lose a hand or you make a big laydown. And you’ve got to stop whining when you lose. You need to just be quiet and focus.”

5
Would you trade in your Tournament of Champions victory to finish in second place in last year’s World Series Main Event?
Yes … No, I don’t know about “yes.” I don’t know. That’s such a tough question. As unlucky as I got at the final table at the World Series, to come right back and beat 113 of the best players in the world at the TOC, that was a big accomplishment. To me, it was just as big as winning the World Series. But I don’t know. That’s probably the toughest question I’ve ever been asked. I know I don’t give a shit about money. My answer has nothing to do with money, I just wanted to win the World Series. And believe me, if we played with the same nine people 1,000 times, I’d win it 950 times. And I would finish ninth just one time of 1,000. Believe me when I tell you this.

Poker Player Annie Duke - Women of Poker

Walking into the main tournament area at the World Series of Poker is an unnerving thing. The fierce concentration, the adrenaline, the sweat and hope and desperation are so thick in the air, you can practically see the fug they create. Competition is brutal, and nerves are on edge. It’s not a place for sissies.

On first glance, you ‘d probably conclude that it’s not a place for women either. For every 20 male faces on the tournament floor, there might be one woman. Maybe less. But those numbers are changing, thanks to television, movies, and women like Annie Duke.

For the past dozen years, Duke has been one of the few females who can hold her own in this male-dominated sport. A familiar face to WSOP fans and poker students, Duke has transcended ‘top female player’ status to become one hell of a player, period. And she credits her maternal responsibilities and poker un-obsessed lifestyle for helping her keep ahead of the field.

“I’m a huge believer that a good poker player needs to have a balanced life,” she says from her Los Angeles home, a few days before the start of the 2006 WSOP. She is relaxing poolside, phone in hand, cherubic child balanced on her lap.

“When I first started playing, I had this huge excitement for the game—but I’ve developed an understanding that the game is still going to be there tomorrow.”

An involved, engaged mother to four children, Duke has become quite the expert in balancing family matters with poker. But it hasn’t been easy.

“It’s different for a male poker player with kids,” she says. “Men traditionally are doing a lot more outside the house.”

Certainly no man has ever had to play the WSOP while eight months pregnant, as Duke did famously in 2000. A lot of people would consider these conditions impossible—yet she finished in 10th place. And she’s continued to view her family as her greatest blessing, from a professional standpoint as well as a personal one.

“There have been a lot of people who’ve come and gone—who have had amazing years, where they come in and win everything. And then so many of them disappear and go broke. I really believe it’s because everything in their life is just poker,” she muses.

“It’s so important to have other things, and to realize that in the scheme of things, poker isn’t that important. It’s a great job, it’s a lot of fun, but in the end if you took poker away from me, I would live.”

Duke also credits her family responsibilities for helping her manage her bankroll wisely throughout the years:

“One of the weird things about poker is that you’re handling all this cash, and you’re getting paid in cash, and it’s flowing in and out of your life, and it’s easy to lose the value of money. When you have a lot of success young, and you get a hold of a lot of cash, and you’ve never had to be an adult struggling, you lose perspective.

“But you do have months that go by, where things aren’t going well. If you haven’t handled your cash well, and you start to have money pressures, and you’re tilting, and you’re feeling these money pressures intensify, some people just never recover…because they don’t have balance in their lives. I’m raising four kids. I’ve got to write the check to their schools every year.”

It’s not exactly the glamorous, high-rolling lifestyle that most players aim for these days—but at the same time, it provides something much more stable than the never-ending adrenaline roller coaster.

“Without having something to feel like you’re working for, there’s no motivation,” says Duke, whose theory of balance also extends over into her World Series schedule strategy.

“For the last two years, I’ve concentrated on tournaments, and played no side games,” she says. “The World Series is so intense, if you’re playing tournaments and side games, you have no life. Plus, each one takes away from the other one. So I focus on tourneys, and if I get knocked out, I’ll go hang with my kids.”

As far as the unique pressures of being a woman in the WSOP, Duke is blasé:

“I’ve never cared,” she says. “I think that’s one of my strengths. I’m not worried about gender—I’m worried about whether I can play well against you. Poker is an amazing game because you’re pitting your mind against other guys. It doesn’t matter whether you’re man, woman, 25, 55, black, white—if you’re intellectually superior, you’re going to win.”

Outside of the World Series, Duke is busy with a number of other ventures, some poker-related, some not.

“I’ve been doing a lot of commentary with my brother [Howard Lederer] for Fox Sports Network. People enjoy that. And I really do, too,” she says.

“I also enjoy the educational aspect that I’ve developed. We have four DVDs out, and we’re going to be filming four more. The material’s written, and we’ll be filming in September, and starting to release them right before Christmas. I’m also working on a strategy-based book.”

And in case you’re wondering whether the Los Angeles address has some significance…yes, Duke has begun to batter down Hollywood’s golden gates.

“I was an executive producer with Annie Duke Takes on the World,” she says, referring to the eponymous TV special that appeared on Game Show Network in May. “I have a production company called Ten Dimes Productions. We’re developing a horror script, and we have a deal to produce two features with Red Wagon (Memoirs of a Geisha, Gladiator).

There’s no doubt that Duke breaks the mold where poker players are concerned. In fact, she’s an absolute paradox: the PTA mom/card shark/career woman/professor/producer. But that suits her just fine.

“Sometimes it’s poker, sometimes regular life—but if I can aspire to be great at something, or inspire someone else to be great, then I feel good about it,” she says.

Whether she’s at the table, in front of the camera, writing a book or teaching a camp, Duke always remembers who and what she’s working for—and she always goes home to it at the end of the day.

“You know, those people who spend all their time working, and then wake up when they’re 60 and wonder where the time went…that can happen for poker players too,” she says.

And I wait for her to emphatically tell me…that will not happen to her.

But just then, the cherubic child comes back, crawling up on her mother’s lap with determination.

“Mommy. Swim?” she says firmly. “You promised.”

And just like that, WSOP bracelet winner, poker millionaire and television personality Annie Duke says a polite goodbye and heads off to take a late-afternoon dip with her family. And just like that, I have my answer.

Poker Player Scotty Nguyen Under the Gun

1
What’s the mistake you made at the poker table that you spent the most time thinking about afterward?
Well, it’s not a single hand, it’s a whole day—at the 2004 Mirage Poker Showdown, when I come in fifth out of six at the WPT final table. I got like 2.2-million in chips to start the day, and the second place got like 900,000, and I come out fifth! I got half of the chips with six players left, and I come out fifth. That never, ever happens. I just made mistakes. I was running over the game, and I tried to bluff people out, things like that. First place was over $1-million, and I blew it. I just played so bad. The whole time, baby, I don’t know what I’m thinking. It’s just one of those days that I made mistakes over and over. The hand I’m supposed to raise, I didn’t. The hand I’m not supposed to raise, I raised. Whatever I do is wrong. If I didn’t play any hands at all, I would have finished a lot higher.

2
Is there anyone in the world you wouldn’t call “baby”? The Pope or the President, perhaps?
I have one person I don’t call “baby”: my mom. My mom call me “baby.” I think that’s the only person I don’t call “baby.” My sister I call “baby.” My brother I call “baby.” My friends, everybody. It’s just my mom.

3
In the National Heads-Up Championship, was Ernie Durack better than you expected, did you play badly, or were the cards just stacked against you?
Oh, I played so bad, trust me. You know why? Because when you play with somebody you don’t know, you under