Weekly Interview Series: Stevie "allinstevie" Devlin

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Fellow Lock Elite Pro Stevie "Allinstevie" Devlin is my 2nd guest in my new weekly interview series.  You can read the interview below.

How did you get started in poker?  How old were you?  What did you play?  How did you progress through the stakes and different games?

Got started playing home games with a few friends when i was 16 or so, mostly playing dealers choice games which were probably more gambling than skill. Went to college at age 18 and can't remember playing any poker at all until i returned home at 21. By then the texas holdem boom was in full force with a tournament to be found in a local pub almost nightly. Started playing these regularly and after going on a bit of a heater winning 3 tournies in 3 consecutive nights, a few of my friends convinced me to give online a try. Next day I went and bought myself a computer and got the internet installed in my parents house. Made a few $50 deposits and quickly blew through them with little regard for bankroll management just playing whatever i fancied at the time. However managed to luckbox a $20 180 man sng for around $1100 along with a satty into the sunday million the following day. Ran pretty hot in the million on the sunday eventually busting 13th for $5000 which was a huge amount of money for me at the time. Cashed out what i had already deposited, probably a few hundred, and left the rest on to play with.

How have you gone about improving over the years?  Have you watched a lot of training videos?  Have you read a lot of books?  Have you done a lot of calculations?  Have you talked strategy with a lot of other players?

A few months after i started playing online i stumbled across pocketfives.com. Spent basically all my free time just trolling through old threads and learning what the top players were doing differently. Started posting myself and actually befriended a few of the top players. Started discussing hands and strategy with these guys and my results just kept improving. Have only recently just started watching a few videos on the various training sites, mostly just to keep my game sharp and make sure i don't have any huge leaks.

You are good friends with fellow Lock Elite Pro Chris Moorman.  How has having a good friend that is also a phenomenal poker player helped in your development throughout the years?  Do any of your other good friends play poker?

Yeh, me and Chris prolly started online around the same time as each other. It started off as a bit of a rivalry with both of us battling for the top spot in the UK online at the time. Overtime we became pretty good friends though and started travelling to a few live events together as well as sharing houses in Vegas / Melbourne / Sydney etc. He's definatly been a huge inspiration to me just from the way he approaches the game and his unwillingness to accept anything but the best. Have became really good friends with multiple top players, and actually only arrived home today from a golfing / drinking holiday in Tenerife with Paul "paolo69" Foltyn , Dave "geeforce1" Gent, Bob "redbob14" Elkin and Matty "cutefish" Lewis.

How old are you now?

29 and not looking forward to turning 30 in June.

What games are you currently playing?

Playing 2/4 - 5/10 nlhe 6 max cash.

How many tables do you usually play?

Usually 9-12

How would you describe your style of play?

Loose Agressive

What kind of a computer setup do you have for playing?  Do you use any poker software?

Recently purchased an I-Mac. Definatly the best piece of machinary i've ever had for grinding. Can easily get 12 tables with zero overlap which is perfect for me. Also use holdem manager which is almost an essential these days for anybody playing cash for a living.

Do you play much live or mostly focus on online poker?

Play mostly online but do mix in a few live tournaments throughout the year basically just for a break from online. Also spend most summers in vegas for the wsop.

You have had some nice success in MTTs.  What was your biggest cash & how did it feel to win that much money in one tournament?

Won the sunday warmup for $70,000 a few years back. Was pretty huge for me at the time as i was still had a fulltime job. Decided to be sensible with the money and put most of it into savings, however 3 or 4 weeks later managed to win the sunday 2nd chance for another $50,000. Now had a sizeable amount to put down as a deposit on a house and give me a big enough bankroll to turn pro. Worked out well as my boss was starting to get pretty annoyed at me coming in at 9am on a monday with no sleep after being up all night playing poker.

How has the popularity of poker in the U.K. grown over the years since you started playing?  Where do you see it headed in the future?

Poker in the UK has increased beyond almost recognition over the past few years. 5 years ago there was probably only 2 or 3 tournaments a year with a £1k+ buyin. Now with all the different pokertours, theres probably 1 a week. Couple this with the fact the UK players have been winning everything under the sun and the future is bright for poker in the UK.

You have been a pro for Lock since the fall of 2009.  How has your experience at Lock been as you have seen them progress from the Cake network, to the Merge network, to what they have grown into since Black Friday?

Its been absolutly amazing to be honest. We started out as a tiny skin that nobody had even heard off and have since grown into the biggest skin on the merge network. With the strong pro team we have in place and our inspiring and imaginative owner, who knows where we could be in another few years.

When you aren't participating in archery tournaments in the moat or sleeping on horse and carriage rides at Lock retreats, what do you like to do in your spare time besides poker?

Enjoy socialising with friends (getting drunk). Drinking actually is the most popular past-time in Ireland. Also have been playing a lot of golf the past 6 months but it is definatly the most frustrating game ever invented.

What are your favorite movies and TV shows?  Who are your favorite bands/musical artists?

Favourite movie is probably a toss up between The Usual Suspects and True Romace. Been enjoying quite a few tv series at the moment but favourites are The Wire, Breaking Bad and Curb Your Enthusiam. Went to see the Red Hot Chilli Peppers a month ago in Dublin which i really enjoyed. Have a pretty diverse taste in music though having also seen Kanye West, Snoop Dog, Coldplay and 50 cent over the past few years.

Since you are Irish, is there an amusing drinking story you would like to share?

LOL, theres def been a few just not sure they'd be suitable for your blog. However , 2 summers ago in vegas the world cup was on. Most of my housemates were english and wanted to go watch them. With the game being on at 7am though, we decided the best plan of action was to go to a club the night b4 and just drink through to the match. This was fine until, at 11am when the game was finished i decided to go play the $1500 nl wsop event with zero sleep and hammered drunk. Arrived at the table and gave the dealer my seat card and decided to go to the bathroom. Arrive back into the amazon room, scan the few hundred tables and realise i don't have a clue which 1 is mine. Stumble around the room for a while trying to come up with a gameplan when fortunatly bump into fellow lock pro Matt Stout. Luckily for me he knows the floor guy and he shows me to my seat. Needless to say i didn't win the tournament.

Thanks for taking the time to do this & good luck at the tables.

You can follow Stevie on twitter : @steviedevs


In case you missed it, here was the 1st interview in the series with Lock Pro Marc "AznAllin007" Alioto: http://jhubpoker.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-interview-series-marc-alioto.html

If you're interested in signing up for Lock Poker you can get the max 200% 1st time deposit bonus by signing up here: http://download.lockpoker.com/jaredhubbard You can find details of Lock's VIP program toward the bottom of this post: http://jhubpoker.blogspot.com/2011/11/results-1-in-merge-sharkscope-total.html

If you have any suggestions for the next Lock pro to be interviewed or what questions you would like to see asked please comment below.  You can find the Lock Pro team here: http://lockpoker.eu/pro

Thanks & GL,

Jared

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