What I Don't Like About Poker Society

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I'm a professional poker player.  While I've met a ton of poker players who I like, I'm not a big fan of poker society in general, or how the poker lifestyle is depicted.

First off, what is with all of these micro stakes losers hating on some of the most successful poker players in the world.  Look on the forums, blogs, and articles.  It's everywhere.  It's almost never highly successful players hating on other highly successful players either.  It's almost never somebody with a reputation to protect.  You don't see this in any other game.  You don't see Tarvaris Jackson hating on Peyton Manning.  You don't see Jerome Jordan hating on Lebron James or Kobe Bryant.  Part of the problem with online poker is it's so anonymous.  These cowards usually don't even have the balls to post their hater comments under any name other than guest or anonymous.  If they spent half the time they spend hating on others on actually studying the game, they might actually get somewhere in the poker world.  However, that would take too much hard work.  It's easier to just make excuses and tear the successful guy down.  If you're going to hate, at least have the balls to post your screen name.

Super turbo HU players seem to get an abnormal number of haters too.  It's not the "cool" thing to do.  Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, & Phil Galfond don't play HU with 30bb starting stacks, so we must rip the guys that do!  If you don't think it takes a lot of talent to beat $1K HU super turbos, then I'll have to invite you to come and sit me.  Play me for 4,000 games.  If super turbos are all about gambling, then both of our adjusted EV ROIs should be about -1.5% (the rake) after the 4K games.  I can assure you that won't be the case.  The same clowns who think super turbos are all about gambling & luck are the same guys that donate money to my retirement fund on a regular basis.  Would you rather make $350K/year playing a form of poker that isn't considered "cool" or would you rather be a micro stakes grinder at NL cash games trying to imitate the "cool" players?

People also tend to hate a lot on players who know how to market themselves.  Is this because Phil Ivey isn't heavily into social media?  What's so wrong with thinking like a smart business person?  People in other avenues of life don't get bashed for this.  Poker is a business, and lots of players leave a ton of money on the table.  Maybe they're afraid of looking like a "dbag" in the minds of these haters.  Maybe they're just lazy.  Maybe there's other reasons.  However, make no mistake about it, there's a lot of money to be made in the business side of poker, and self promotion can be key.  Posting your profits daily doesn't make you a "dbag", it just makes you more aware of a good way to promote yourself.  I don't go bragging to friends and family about how much I make, because that doesn't give me any benefit in business.  In fact, many of my friends and extended family probably have no clue how much money I actually make.  This was especially true before I started up a twitter account and synced it with facebook.  I'll bet a lot of my friends and extended family probably thought I was making $60-$80K/year.

Haters: stop hating and get a life.

This next portion might piss more people off, because I think it's more widespread throughout the poker society.  It may even piss off some friends of mine, but I like to speak my mind and share my opinions, and if people have a problem with that and can't respect honesty then they need to get over it.  What's up with everybody trying to show everybody else how "balla" they are?  To me, regularly dropping thousands of dollars at clubs doesn't make you cool.  Regularly making ridiculous prop bets for absurd amounts of money doesn't make you cool.  I'm fine with prop bets where somebody is pretty sure they have a good edge, but in the poker world these are few and far between.  Putting thousands and thousands of dollars down on -EV casino games like roulette and craps don't make you cool to me.  Spending 75% of your yearly income on a car doesn't impress me.  To me, these things don't make you "balla", they just make you irresponsible.  I don't know if young people are watching too many rap videos or what.  This problem is actually widespread among professional athletes as well.  70% of basketball and football players are broke within 3 years of their last game.  How sad is that?  These people are given ridiculous amounts of money and they just blow it all.  The other year a guy making $250K/year lost a $50K pair of earrings at practice.  He spent 20% of his yearly income on a pair of earrings!  Ask yourself, is that "cool" or irresponsible.  To me the answer is obvious.  It's no different in poker.  You hear of successful players going busto all the time.  Part of it is people not balancing their lives well, or not working hard enough in a poker environment that is getting tougher and tougher day after day, but a large part of it is surely the "balla" lifestyle these players choose to live.  Hopefully this paragraph doesn't offend players currently living this "balla" lifestyle, but forces them to take a good hard look at some of the choices they're making, and make some changes.  Again, I'm just sharing my opinions.

I really don't fit into the "balla" poker lifestyle.  I invest a large percentage of my profits into retirement accounts each and every year.  I have also used large chunks of money to help out my family with loans.  I have a nice house and a nice car, but for my tax bracket, they are both probably below average among poker players considering their typical spending habits.  I don't usually do prop bets unless I'm pretty damn sure I have a significant edge.  I don't just gamble to gamble.  I'll get on some $100 super bowl number boards, but those are neutral EV and not a large chunk of money.  I do fantasy football every year, but in about 17 years of playing, I'm pretty sure I've only had one losing year overall.  Yes I've been playing fantasy football since I was in 4th grade.  Like poker, I consider that to be investing, not gambling.  I've always thought to look to the future, and not just the present, and being financially responsible.  I had a paper route since I was in 2nd grade all the way up until I was 14. when I could legally get a real job.  I saved a large chunk of that money for a car and college.  Once I was in college I had a part time job during the school year and a full time job during summers, until poker came along.  I got married at the age of 25.  I play structures of poker that are seen by the community as the "black sheep."  Because of all of this, I don't really fit into poker society all that well.  I am by no means the stereotypical poker player, but I think that's a good thing.

I think it would be a good thing if this stereotype of the average poker player changed.

I realize this will probably be a pretty unpopular post in the eyes of many, since it's goes against the masses in the poker industry.  It goes against what is seen as standard.  However, I think it's something that needs to be said.  If you want to hate me for my view then hate on hater.

Thanks & GL,

Jared

http://www.jaredhubbard.com/

http://twitter.com/jhubpoker

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jared-Hubbard-Poker/221586851240049

http://jhubpoker.blogspot.com/

Free Coaching, Merge Tournament Series, & Improved Lock Cashouts

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After signing up please make sure jhub3000@hotmail.com is listed as a safe sender in your email. You can also email me with any questions. Before you begin playing on Lock, or even if you already do play on there, you will probably want to read this post about optimizing the software: http://jhubpoker.blogspot.com/2011/06/making-most-out-of-lock-pokers-software.html

For daily updates & other ramblings please follow me on twitter http://twitter.com/#!/jhubpoker


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I get requests for coaching all the time.  Unfortunately, I don't think it's really worth it for me and have to turn them down.  In February I will be making an exception.  If you follow me on twitter, you will have the chance to win 30 free minutes of coaching from me each and every single day in February!  For more on this monthly promotion, please read these press releases:

http://www.wptmag.com/news.php?articleID=353

http://www.gambling911.com/poker/lock-poker-elite-pro-jared-hubbard%E2%80%99s-j-hu-b%E2%80%99s-challenge-012512.html

If you win 30 free minutes of coaching you will choose which game you would like to be coached in.  However, let me post a little disclaimer: I'm not going to be able to help you much outside of 6 max SNGs, HU SNGs, & MTTs.  Keep this in mind when choosing which area you would like to be coached in.  Since I don't think it was mentioned in the press releases, I would like to note that if you are the first person to correctly answer the trivia question of the day that you will have to beat me in 1 super turbo HU SNG (30bb starting stacks) on Lock Poker.  You will only get 1 opportunity unless you are the first person to answer the trivia question correctly on multiple days.

Some of you long time blog readers may remember that I used to update my blog almost every day I played poker on my old blog at http://jhub3000.livejournal.com/.  My twitter followers also know that I tweet daily updates any day I play with hours played, # of games played, average stake, & profit/loss.  Lately I have started to expand on my daily updates on my facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jared-Hubbard-Poker/221586851240049.  I'll usually comment on how the games were, how I played, how I ran in terms of EV, how the month is going, etc...  Occasionally I'll maybe comment on non poker related stuff.  I hope you guys enjoy these new updates.

Merge (the network Lock is on) recently announced it's first ever tournament series.  It's called Poker Maximus and will take place in March of this year. For more info on the series, please read here: http://thepokermaximus.com/.  If you would like to participate in the series, you can signup for Lock here http://download.lockpoker.com/jaredhubbard for a 150% deposit bonus and VIP benefits (http://jaredhubbard.com/lock%20vip.htm).

I'd also like to announce that Lock is announcing its' own cashier, seperate from the Merge network, in an effort to speed up withdrawals.  Moving forward we will be introducing a much faster withdrawal process and will also be introducing USD bank wires for VIPs.  The minimum withdrawal for a wire will be $2,500 and the maximum will be $9,500.

Thanks & GL,

Jared

http://www.jaredhubbard.com/

http://twitter.com/jhubpoker

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jared-Hubbard-Poker/221586851240049

http://jhubpoker.blogspot.com/

Weekly Interview Series: Pedro "SkyboyPT" Oliveira

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1. Clear cookies & internet history
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After signing up please make sure jhub3000@hotmail.com is listed as a safe sender in your email. You can also email me with any questions. Before you begin playing on Lock, or even if you already do play on there, you will probably want to read this post about optimizing the software: http://jhubpoker.blogspot.com/2011/06/making-most-out-of-lock-pokers-software.html

For daily updates & other ramblings please follow me on twitter http://twitter.com/#!/jhubpoker


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Fellow Lock Pro Pedro "SkyboyPT" Oliveira is my next interviewee for 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?

I started with some friends and with the moneymaker boom too.  I was 18 years old  and I started to play cash game 5 card draw (omg),then i started to play holdem and it was love that I felt for the game.  I always played tournaments and i think i got lucky, i scored some big money in the beginning. 

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?

all my friends are poker players so we talk lots of poker and strategy ,didn't see lots of videos (my bad) ,and i hate to read books so ,i talk strategy with other players and i have an office with other poker players so it's is more easy 

How old are you now?

25 years 

What percentage of the games you play are MTTs as opposed to SNGs?  Do you play any other games besides MTTs and SNGs?

i was playing almost 100% of mtts ,but know i saw you playing hypers and clicking buttons and winning money so i started to play the 6 max and i am like top 5 in the world at my limits 

How many tables do you usually play online?

i normally play like 10 but when i grind sit and gos (not hypers) i can play 20 or more 

How many hours a week do you usually play?  How many hours a week do you usually spend on poker related activities besides playing?  (ex. studying)

lots of hours in the "office", we start the day making analysis from the day before and from some players etc ..probably 2 hours days 

How would you describe your style of play in MTTs?

i play really aggressive live ,online i play solid until i get a good stack & then i start to play aggressive ...i am a sicko :)

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

i just play on my laptop .... some times i use HM ,not all the time ,and i use sharkscoop 

How many live events do you usually play each year?

it depends but like 13 14 

What was your biggest cash & how did it feel to win that much money in one tournament?

i think here i missed some big opportunities ..just got unlucky & was really close to big scores ..but i won some tournaments...my biggest score was 35k like 1 live and 1 online ...i bubbled emop FT and lost a big pot in the wsop for the chiplead ..but i am going to get there :)

What are your short term & long term poker goals?

my goal short term is printing money like jhub ,in long term is winning a big live event 

Do you have any plans of branching off into other forms of poker in the future?

no i love holdem baby 

At this point in your career does poker feel more like a hobby or a job?  Do you still enjoy the game as much as you used to?

now it's more like a job ...it's not that funny anymore , but i still like poker ,but like all in the beginning was really crazy about it 

How long do you plan on playing poker professionally?

forever

How long have you been a Lock pro?  How has your experience at Lock been?

2 years more or less and i love lock and i love the team ,and Jennifer is probably the best boss ever ...life is good 

How has the popularity of poker increased in Portugal over the years since you started playing?

i think there is a big poker boom here ,but the problem in Portugal is that just the global economy and the boom come at the same time..but all people love poker here, it's crazy ...we are all super stars 

If you weren't playing poker professionally, what would you be doing to make a living?

i have a diploma on economy ..probably that or working for my own 

What do you like to do in your spare time besides poker?

i am a party animal ,and i love traveling so ...

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

scarface ,don't wach tv ,i have a lot of i love guns oasis etc 

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

i thank you, really appreciate it ,i was saying good luck to you but you are god babt ....PRINTING MONEY :)

To get a 150% sign up bonus & VIP benefits (http://jaredhubbard.com/lock%20vip.htm), sign up for Lock here: http://download.lockpoker.com/jaredhubbard

In case you missed the past weekly interviews, here they are:

Greg Tiller: http://jhubpoker.blogspot.com/2012/01/weekly-interview-series-greg-hokiegreg.html

Matt Stout: http://jhubpoker.blogspot.com/2012/01/weekly-interview-series-matt-stout.htm

Stevie Devlin: http://jhubpoker.blogspot.com/2011/12/weekly-interview-series-stevie.html

Marc Alioto: http://jhubpoker.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-interview-series-marc-alioto.html

If you have any recommendations for which Lock pro you would like to see me interview next or any questions you would like to see asked please comment below.  For a full list of Lock pros please visit: http://lockpoker.eu/pro

Thanks & GL,
Jared


http://www.jaredhubbard.com/
http://twitter.com/jhubpoker
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jared-Hubbard-Poker/221586851240049
http://jhubpoker.blogspot.com/

Weekly Interview Series: Greg "HokieGreg" Tiller

If you like my blog please click the BlogTopList vote button to the right. This will give my blog a better ranking & help increase traffic to my blog. Thanks.

To signup to play at Lock Poker:
1. Clear cookies & internet history
2. Either click the banner above or 1 of the following links:

http://refer.lockpoker.com/jaredhubbard

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After signing up please make sure jhub3000@hotmail.com is listed as a safe sender in your email. You can also email me with any questions. Before you begin playing on Lock, or even if you already do play on there, you will probably want to read this post about optimizing the software: http://jhubpoker.blogspot.com/2011/06/making-most-out-of-lock-pokers-software.html

For daily updates & other ramblings please follow me on twitter http://twitter.com/#!/jhubpoker


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Fellow Lock Elite Pro Greg "HokieGreg" Tiller is my next interviewee for my new weekly interview series.  You can read the interview below.

Hey guys. I'm pumped for this interview. Anything I can do to help out JHub! He's a great guy. Though I've only known him a few months, I've already learned a ton from him. What a F'ing pro. Alright, time for some "aha" moments!

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?

The Short Version:

I'm ANYTHING but a natural talent. 

I started out as an epic delusional fish, then a marginal winner in microstakes 6max cash, I busto'd rolls multiple times at small stakes, learned a million lessons, and finally started to slowly put it all together and make a real career out of it. I've been playing husngs for about 4-5 years now, but i spent at least 3-4 years before that donking it up in other forms of poker (and online blackjack!). 8 years of trial and error later - I better be able to show something for it!

The Long Version:

I started playing poker in 2002, when I was 19. I played the standard college home games with friends (5-10$ sng's…sometimes we'd play "high stakes", i.e. $20!!!). I was obsessed with poker immediately. The thought of winning $100 in just a few hours playing a card game was prettttty sexy to me! (obv i thought i could have a 100% winrate if i played well!)

After 2 years or so of home games, i made my first deposit of $25 to UltimateBet. I spent the next 2-3 years being a marginal winner/degen in low stakes games. I would occasionally try to run up my winnings in Party Blackjack - guess how that ended up?

Through a random internet search in 2006, i found the twoplustwo forums. I read a lot of the articles, lurked the forums for a year or so…really started to get an idea of what it took to be a winning player over the long term in poker.

The first form of poker I really took seriously (i.e., no more blackjack/sports/chasing losses higher) was 6max 10NL cash on PokerStars. I started with a $50 bankroll and would buyin in for the minimum. I played about 75k hands and ran the $50 up to about $600 before starting to take shots at 25NL. I ran my roll up to about 1.5k…then the inevitable happened: had a fight with girlfriend, tilted off entire roll in one night, and "quit poker" (i probably quit poker 20 times over these first few years, haha…who hasn't?).

So in February 2007, I "quit" poker, broke up with my girlfriend, and moved back in with my parents (was in school full time, and had a bull shit part time job). It was a pretty humbling step backwards. Initially, I really did intend to quit poker completely as I was fed up with my self-defeating habits. After some thought, I realized that over those 125k hands of 10NL-25NL, I had proven to myself that with discipline, hard work, and consistency, poker could be a form of investing, and not just gambling. 

I redeposited $50 to stars and started playing the $5 regspeed husngs to build a roll. I knew husngs were really soft at the low stakes, and were probably a game I had a decent winrate in already. I also liked the idea of being able to play 45-60 minute sessions and taking a lot of breaks (I really sucked at playing much longer than that at the time). I ran good/played well…had something like a 20% roi at low stakes for the first few hundred games. Eventually I found myself at the $22s with a $400 bankroll and a lot of confidence (some delusional). I started reading the husng forum on 2p2, and soon after finally opened a 2p2 account and began posting husng strategy. I ran the $400 up a bit more, and then decided to start a blog to hold myself accountable and motivate myself (hokiegreghu.blogspot.com, now www.hokiegreg.com).

The 33s on stars are where I really started to become convinced that I could make a lot of money through poker. I knew I had a lot of improving to do before I could make enough money to justify poker being my only source of income long term, but I felt that I had developed the correct work ethic and discipline to continue to improve over the very long term. I was making something like 2.5k a month at the 33s - though I became complacent with that amount of income and stuck at that buyin level for too long. I met a lot of other motivated, aspiring poker pros at this time as well - PrimordialAA (Lock Pro Elite), chicagory (owner of HUSNG.com), and so many more that I'm forgetting. I started talking strategy with them on AIM a lot. Most of us kept blogs following our progress. Establishing a network of like-minded, motivated poker players was really helpful in my progress, and still is today.

Since then, I've made it further in poker than i ever dreamed of. I never really expected to play higher than the $220 level, but i've played and beaten up to the $2200s (and a small sample of 5ks, including some matches vs Isildur :O). I signed a Lock Pro Elite deal earlier this year and am doing well in the tough post-BF poker world. All of my successes have come from those early lessons I learned at 6max cash - if you can avoid the multitude of self-defeating traps in poker, and you combine that with hard work, self-analysis, humility, and discipline…it's actually quite realistic to make a legitimate career out of this game.

What has worked best for you over the years in regards to improving your game?

Establishing a network of like-minded, motivated poker players is the best thing you can do for your game. Having friends that could relate to the ups and downs of the game was really helpful for me early on - especially before I started developing mental game skills…every day was such a F'ing battle! 

I also learned a bunch from the 2p2 HUSNG forum, HUSNG.com videos by Mersenneary, Bluefire.com videos by Galfond and Jason Senti, and Mersenneary's work in the FastTrack Forum on HUSNG.com.

I think the most overrated form of studying is reviewing sessions on your own. I don't necessarily think it's -ev, but it's unlikely it's optimal either imo. If you have a leak, especially early on when your poker thought process isn't very developed, it's just going to look "standard" to you when you review. Get a friend to review with you, get second and third opinions, etc.

How old are you now?

I'm 28, and my birthday is June 21, 1983 - email me at gtillerhokie@gmail.com so I can give you all my mailing address so you can send me a gift. Thanks! (As I'll mention later - If you want something, just ask for it!)

How many tables do you usually play online?

Ok guys, pay attention!

I rarely play more than 3 tables. Multitabling is a skill, and one that I never developed past the ability to 3 table. 

STAY WITH ME!

I am going to share a secret with you all. 

The key to improving is CUTTING BACK ON TABLES. Stop the mass-tabling, especially if you are at lower stakes. Practice doesn't make perfect in poker, practice make permanent. Cut back on your tables and focus more on improving your decision-making. The $/game that you gain from improving your strategy decisions will eventually outweigh the money u were making from rakeback. The average poker player is getting better every day - don't let your game stagnate and eventually find yourself far behind the curve. 

I had a few long stretches where I played too many tables throughout my career. I still worked on strategy a lot outside of sessions, so my game continued to improve, but it could have improved a lot more if I was able to think and implement new thought processes while I played. Cutting back tables is the most valuable lesson I learned in the past 2 years or so. The majority of the most successful HUSNG players 1-2 tabled on their way up - Livb, IceVenom, H2olga/Lotte Lenya, Spamz0r.

The key to your long term success is your short term decision-making.

***I am at a point in my career where when I play my session I am really only concerned with maximizing my hourly rate - so that's why I've cut back on the 1-2 tabling and play 2-3 as much as possible now.

For more info on improving non-strategy skills, check out this article I wrote: bit.ly/nonstratskillz 

How many hours a week do you usually play?  How many total hours a week do you usually spend on poker-related activities?

It really changes on a week-to-week basis. I definitely spend 35-50 hours a week on poker-related activities (coaching, social media, studying, playing, etc). Before BF I was working towards SNE on Stars and was spending 90% of my time playing, and the rest studying. Post-BF, things obviously changed a bit and I've gotten more creative with maintaining a reliable income, so I spend a lot more time building my coaching brand through social media, private forums, and hourly coaching. 

If you want a glimpse into what I was like when I was just grinding full time, check out my SNE thread on 2p2. I kept it from November 2010 until Black Friday. I think there is a lot of quality content there: bit.ly/SNEThread

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

I am SUCH an Apple fanboy. It is more expensive than PCs, but it is so reliable...just the nuts. I have a 24" iMac desktop with 22" external monitor. 

I regularly use Pokerstove, PokerTracker3 (I used HEM when I was on PC few months ago), and PokerProTools.  

What are your short term & long term poker goals?

Short-term goals:

- Learn as much as I can about building a brand through social media. 

- Help a lot of players improve their game by releasing a bunch of free content through my blog and HUSNG.com. I was going to be a teacher before my poker career took off, so it's just something I love being involved in reguarly - even if it's for free, though I do think their are some big benefits to being very active with social media as a poker player (check out this article by JHub if you don't believe me, check out Jhub's blog post 'promoting yourself as a poker player').

- Start playing live MTTs and working on MTT strategy very regularly. While I love HUSNG's, it's SUCH a niche market in the poker community. I want to be able to reach a broader market of poker players through my coaching and social media, so I think the transition to MTT's will take care of that. Also, I just love challenging myself and trying new stuff. I'm excited about it!

Long-term goals

- Make a lot of money, and don't spend it all. 

- Adapt quickly with the rapidly changing poker landscape in the US. 

- Focus my work on things I'm passionate about (challenging myself, teaching, travelling) - don't let poker feel like a job.

You have stated that you have changed your views on some of the things you wrote in your excellent article"Playing Poker For a Living: It's a Marathon, Not a Sprint" (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/185/heads-up-sng/playing-poker-living-its-marathon-not-sprint-pooh-bah-1078795/).  Could you explain?

I've rethought a lot of my main points from that article and I still believe in the general point of "warm up, push, cool down, rest, repeat" but what has become more clear to me is that the actual amount of time someone can push themselves while avoiding burnout varies drastically person to person (and in different types of work). 

How are you feeling in an out of sessions? Are you tilting easier or being more negative than usual? Are you motivated? Etc. Try your best to be honest with yourself about your mental state when you are playing. Self-awareness is one of the most important skills for a poker player. 

I just wouldn't put any strict rules on X days / X hours per week as a blanket statement for all players. Everyone's different. I just think most of us need a break with some kind of consistency. 

Basically, if you are having to force yourself to play bc you don't want to, I would consider trying to find ways to remotivate yourself and if that doesn't work - take a decent break. If the break doesn't help, figure out what you do want to be doing and put 100% of yourself into it. 

I think passion is the key to attaining real sustainable success (not just financial success). That's probably the biggest thing I've been thinking about recently, and a lot of the reason I'm starting to branch out into mtts/hucash, getting super involved w social media, and getting back really active in the poker community - it's what i'm passionate about. I like challenging myself with new things, I'm a very social person, I love teaching. It's important to know who you are and what you value.

The general point of the article I still stand by 100%: To maximize your chances of your sucess over the very long term, it's important to not run yourself into the ground by never taking breaks. Warmup, Push Yourself, Cool Down, Break - Repeat. Just realize we're all different, be self-aware, and find a schedule that works for you.

How did you go about getting a Lock Pro Elite contract?  How has your experience at Lock been so far?

I was running a HUSNG camp in Austin, TX with PrimordialAA (Trip Report: bit.ly/TripReport). He signed a Lock deal that month and it inspired me to contact the Lock CEO and see if I could get one too. I had no idea at the time how +EV getting a deal would be for me - it's pretty much the only reason I'm able to live in the US post-BF and still make a living similar to what i was making on stars pre-BF. I think too many people spend their lives waiting for people to give them an opportunity. If you want something, ask for it. The worst that's going to happen is you are going to be told "no". 

My experience on Lock has been great. Lock held a retreat at a castle in Bagnols, France (just outside of Lyon) for all of its pros in October. 7 course meals, hot air balloon rides, archery tournaments, etc…absurdly baller. It was an amazing trip and I met a bunch of really great people. I'm proud to represent Lock Poker.

What do you like to do in your spare time besides poker?

I love working out. I go to the gym 6-7 days a week. I've lost about 50 pounds over the last 1.5 year - it's really become a bit of a healthy addiction. 

I follow pretty much every major sport as well. I'm a fan of the Washington Capitals and Baltimore Orioles. 

I read a lot. I was a History major in college, so I read a lot of History stuff - right now I'm reading "The Rise of Globalism in the US since 1945" by Stephen Ambrose. I also am a sucker for self-improvement/inspirtational books - I highly recommend 'The Power of Now' by Eckhart Tolle.

What are your favorite movies and TV shows? 

TV series >>> movies! The Wire, Deadwood, Sons of Anarchy, Breaking Bad, Sopranos, Entourage.

Thanks for reading and please feel free to follow up with questions!

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

For more on HokieGreg you can access his blog here: http://hokiegreghu.blogspot.com/, his facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HokieGreg, his training videos:http://www.husng.com/ and follow him on twitter @HokieGreg

To get a 150% signup bonus & VIP benefits (http://jaredhubbard.com/lock%20vip.htm), signup for Lock here: http://download.lockpoker.com/jaredhubbard

In case you missed the past weekly interviews, here they are:

Matt Stout: http://jhubpoker.blogspot.com/2012/01/weekly-interview-series-matt-stout.htm

Stevie Devlin: http://jhubpoker.blogspot.com/2011/12/weekly-interview-series-stevie.html

Marc Alioto: http://jhubpoker.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-interview-series-marc-alioto.html

If you have any recommendations for which Lock pro you would like to see me interview next or any questions you would like to see asked please comment below.  For a full list of Lock pros please visit: http://lockpoker.eu/pro

Thanks & GL,
Jared


http://www.jaredhubbard.com/
http://twitter.com/jhubpoker
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jared-Hubbard-Poker/221586851240049
http://jhubpoker.blogspot.com/

Weekly Interview Series: Matt Stout

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Fellow Lock Elite Pro Matt "all_in_at420" Stout is my next interviewee for 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?

I actually learned how to play five-card draw and then stud from my sister starting when I was just four years old. We never played much growing up, it was just one of the many card and board games we played occasionally. Then when I was 19 and in my sophomore year of college my buddy Nick Luisi IMed me and asked if I wanted to play some ".25-.50 limit hold'em" and I had no clue what he was talking about. He said it was poker, so I said "I'll be there." I literally get chills thinking back to that IM now, because it was a turning point for the better in my life no matter where I go from here. I made $4.25 in about five hours. I remember eating a Wendy's bacon cheeseburger from the dollar menu that I bought with my profits on the way home and thinking about how awesome it was that profit from poker had paid for the meal. I was BEYOND hooked.

I started playing $5-10 games around my college, along with a $30 monthly re-entry tournament. When the games around my school weren't enough I started playing online. I forced myself to accumulate a million play chips before I started putting real $ online. Then I proceeded to get crushed for $1000 I couldn't afford to lose in $5-10 MTTs and SNGs online. 

Eventually I got the hang of it and started winning within a year with a lot of study and practice. I won $26 and $75 MTTs online for $3k and $5k respectively to build my online roll while I was still under 21, even though I lost a lot back in cash games. That's how I learned that $5/10 NL probably wasn't the game to play on a $6k roll!

After two years of playing pretty heavily I turned 21 and had a pretty sick run in Atlantic City. I built up a bankroll with weekly AC tournaments and took a shot at the WSOP-C Caesars AC event in March of 2006. I bricked the first $340, but won a SNG into the $560 second event. I ended up chopping that final table with Matt Glantz for $34k (who has since become like an uncle to me in poker), and my career had officially begun. I went on to win two seats to the $10k main event in $200+r satellites that week, played one and sold one, and my bankroll was officially on swoll. =)

I kept grinding live prelims and satelliting into main events and eventually took a big chunk of my roll and threw it online when I decided I'd rather focus on tournaments full-time and didn't want to fill in the gaps with live cash games anymore. I found success in the high stakes MTT's almost immediately, and I take great pride as being known as one of the best players at successfully bridging the gap between online and live success.

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?

 It's a bit of everything you mentioned, really. I'd say in terms of how much of each, it'd be: talking > videos > calculations > books. That's not to say it's the optimal blend, but that's reflects what I do the most of in reality. I definitely need to do more work on my game and have been a little more complacent than I should be, which is completely unacceptable in such a competitive game where players are getting better and better.

How old are you now?

I just turned 27. 

Do you currently play any games besides MTTs?

I play a little bit of NL cash games, but never get as much satisfaction out of succeeding in them as I do making deep runs in tournaments. That's made it difficult to really develop my skills in them over the years.  I'm working on my PLO cash game, especially short-handed, because I think it's the wave of the future and because I personally enjoy the game a lot. I'm planning on working on my stud games this year, because I love 8-game mix tournaments and Stud/Stud8 are the only games I think I need huge improvement in to be competitive. I also want to work on my heads-up game, both in SNGs and cash.

How many tables do you usually play online?

I usually play about 6-10 comfortably, and try to cap it at 15ish. I've played up to 23 at a time when I was trying to chase a PocketFives Triple Crown, though. My brain wanted to explode.

How many hours a week do you usually play?

For the first few years of career I played insane amounts...probably averaging around 80-90 hours a week. There's an addiction element to it that most successful players write off and ignore, because if you're making money at it there's not really a problem...in a way. This has a huge impact on a lot of players' social lives though, impacting relationships with friends, significant others, and even families. 

Some players become so engrossed in poker that it becomes difficult for them to carry a conversation with anyone who doesn't understand what it means to checkraise someone on the river. It's more like being a workaholic than an alcoholic or "degenerate gambler", but it's an addiction nonetheless. I've spent the last couple years trying to play a lot less poker and focus more on my family, friends, and interests outside of poker. It has been rewarding, both in terms of the relationships I have with people outside the poker world and for my game.  It makes poker feel like less of a grind, because I'm not in there just busting my ass every day. Just about any time I take a few days off from poker I really start to crave it, which is a constant reminder of why I chose this career.

How would you describe your style of play in MTTs?

Anywhere from nitbox to spazztard, depending on the situation. I find it hysterical when people tell me they've had arguments with other pros where one person talks about how nitty I am, and the is shocked and insists that I'm a spewbox. It means I'm doing something right!

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

 I have a Dell Vostro 420 desktop with two monitors, 30" and 24". I use Holdem Manager and haven't set up MergeKeys yet. I used to use TableNinja as well.

Do you focus more on live or online play?

That depends. I've always been one of the very few players who goes back and forth between live and online play a ton. I just go with whichever one has the best tournament action at the time. I try to estimate travel expenses, amount of buy ins, and expected ROI (hardest part obv) across my options and plan accordingly.

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?

$266k for 3rd place in the 2009 WPT World Poker Finals $10k event was my biggest cash. I took two sick beats at the final table including one for 2/3 of the chips in play so it was a bit of a bittersweet win, but no day where you win a quarter million can really be considered a bad day. I was really happy with the result, and the fact that I knew I'd played my best in just about every spot at the final table helped in getting over my unlucky breaks.

What are your short term & long term poker goals?

Short-term: To keep making a good living post-DOJ for now...that's about all I can ask for at the moment.

Long-term: I plan on dying with a bracelet and a WPT title. 

Do you have any plans of branching off into other forms of poker in the future?

Yes, especially PLO and 8-game. (Talked about this above tho).

At this point in your career does poker feel more like a hobby or a job?  Do you still enjoy the game as much as you used to?

It's definitely a job and not a hobby, but I still have a strong passion for the game. I can't say that I enjoy grinding out NL MTT's as much as I used to, but I still enjoy doing it and miss it when I take time off. That's one of the main reasons I made a conscious decision to stop playing so much poker as soon as I began to feel the slightest bit burnt out from years of grinding. I also try to make sure to have the occasional drunken, dealers' choice, wild card home game with friends to remind myself of what makes me love poker so much.

How long do you plan on playing poker professionally?

I don't have a definite plan on this, but I do plan on eventually going back to college and possibly getting a MBA/JD (masters in business/law degree). Chances are that even when I start to pursue other avenues in life, I'll be playing a good amount of poker on the side and still taking it just as seriously.

You were previously working on starting a charity poker tour.  Is that something that is still in the works?  If so, could you tell us more about it?

There's a group of us, including Mike Frazin and Stu Nitzkin, who put together a proposal regarding the proposed Charity Poker Tour being aligned with the World Poker Tour, since the WPT had plans on expanding its charity efforts anyway. We worked closely with my good friend and WPT Executive Tour Director Matt Savage on the proposal, and are still waiting to see what comes of it. We'll likely try to align ourselves with another tour if that initiative fails.

You have been a pro for Lock since the summer 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?

It has been an amazing ride. I always believed in the site, but to see the exponential growth that Lock has achieved has been incredible. I was one of the very first pros to sign with the site, and one of even fewer to stick by Jenn's side through the hell we went through switching from the Cake network to the Merge network. Continuing to believe in her and represent the site through that turmoil has made it that much more rewarding to watch them turn into one of the biggest sites in the USA after Black Friday.

When you aren't puking on 17th century antiques at Lock retreats, what do you like to do in your spare time besides poker?

Low blow. Will I ever live that one down? Sometimes a man arrives at a LockPRO retreat after a very long flight and is ready to party...a little too hard. =)

I actually love visiting family, especially my 9 nieces and nephews. Taking them Christmas shopping is one of the things I look forward to all year. I go to a lot of concerts, especially rap concerts. I'm a die hard New York Rangers fan and have been to a third of their home games so far this season despite living in Vegas and Costa Rica (both >2500 miles from Madison Square Garden). I just got my first tattoo, which was the Rangers shield on my right arm. I used to play ice and roller hockey before I got into poker, and am planning on getting back into it soon. And I know it sounds like a plug, but I really like doing poker training/coaching. It's really rewarding to see my students improve their game, even though a couple of them have become top MTTers who I now have to play against on a regular basis.

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

Talladega Nights and The Big Lebowski are my favorite comedies. Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption are my favorite dramas. My favorite TV shows are Family Guy, Tosh.0, World's Dumbest (Criminals, especially), and the new Impractical Jokers. TruTV kicks ass in general. My favorite artists are Sublime, Biggie, Eminem, Jay-Z, Incubus, Kid Rock, and Tool.

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

For more on Matt Stout you can access his website here: http://stoutpoker.com/ where he blogs and offers coaching through one on one coaching and training camps, and follow him on twitter @MattStoutPoker

In case you missed it, here's the 2 previous interviews in my weekly interview series:

Stevie Devlin: http://jhubpoker.blogspot.com/2011/12/weekly-interview-series-stevie.html 

Marc Alioto: http://jhubpoker.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-interview-series-marc-alioto.html

To signup for Lock Poker to get the max 200% 1st time deposit bonus & VIP benefits (http://jaredhubbard.com/lock%20vip.htm) please click this link: http://download.lockpoker.com/jaredhubbard

If you have any recommendations for which Lock pro you would like to see me interview next or any questions you would like to see asked please contact below.  For a full list of Lock pros please visit: http://lockpoker.eu/pro

Thanks & GL,
Jared


http://www.jaredhubbard.com/
http://twitter.com/jhubpoker
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jared-Hubbard-Poker/221586851240049
http://jhubpoker.blogspot.com/