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Thursday, February 16, 2012

Weekly Interview Series: Bryan "PrimordialAA" Pellegrino


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Fellow Lock Elite Pro Bryan "PrimordialAA" Pellegrino 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 got started at poker kind of randomly, when I was 15 on some trip for a highschool thing where the top X students go to DC for a week, my roomate (who I had never met) showed me poker, and I crushed some 5c / 10c / 25c poker game for like $50 and I was insta hooked. Was pretty amazed I won $50 and bought a hoodie with it, thought it was the coolest thing in the world, and then when we left he told me about a site called Pokerstars and told me I could play this online... that started it all

As soon as I got home I made my dad create me an account and got him to deposit $50 for me... lost it over about a week playing $5 Sit n Gos. rinse/repeat, ran it up to $100 and then took shots at 10s and quickly busto'd it and was so mad at myself for playing higher stakes... this was my first run in with BRM. I was really frustrated, $100 was a ton to me then... I bought a book, read a few chapters, and put in 'my last $50', I said if I lost it I would take a few months off and read through a bunch of books. I ran it up a little, binked a small $1 or $3 MTT for like $800 and never looked back :).

After that I played a ton of sit n gos, and eventually moved into cash. At age 17 I was 4 tabling 5/10 NL (highest stakes on PS at the time), but after a big downswing I cashed out most of my money and went back to grinding smaller. In college I started getting a bit more serious, playing a ton of MTTs, and I won the HU MTT like 5 times in a couple of weeks, it was a $20 64 man early and 128 man later (2x / day) , and shipped both the early and the late one one of those days, so I thought I was decent at HU but stuck to MTTs for a while longer. It wasn't until I did a semester abroad in Budapest that I was kind of forced into switching to something else due to how HORRIBLE the MTT schedule was for anyone living in Eastern Europe. This is when I started to move into HU, and a year later I was playing 200s+ regularly and left school to play full time and never really looked back since.
 
What has worked best for you over the years in regards to improving your game?

For a long time I was the guy who played all the time and spent very little time studying. I came up via 2p2 though so I had that standard/logical mindset, which I think in a ways held me back a lot, despite giving me a really solid foundation. Now as the games have progressed I find it much more important to focus on your game and improving and my best methods have always been keeping a very strong network of good / smart poker players to bounce ideas off of and double check your game, and also self-HH review. I try to do this once a week when I can, where I just pull 3-5 of my own HHs at random and go through them, I think it gives me a good snap-shot of what I play like on a daily basis, and seeing some of the occasional glaring errors that sneak in there keep me level headed and help me remember there is always more to work on, so I find it pretty motivating and enlightening.
 
How old are you now?

I'm 24   
How many tables do you usually play online?
 
2-6 for HU, pretty much as many as I can get. I usually do something like I'll sit 1k, 500, 300, and when I had 3 tables stop regging 300's, 4 tables stop regging 500s, and pretty much never stop regging 1ks as long as I can get action.
 
When you were playing the most poker of your career, how many hours per week did you usually play?  How many hours did you usually spend total on poker-related activities? 

At my volume peak I would play probably minimum 8-9 hours per day, 7 days a week, so right around 60 hours, with some weeks being way way more, but during that time I pretty much never took days off which wasn't really ideal. Outside of actually playing I would spend another 5 to 10 weekly coaching and studying,
 
How many hours per week do you usually play now?  How many total hours a week do you usually spend on poker-related activities now?

Due to how tough it's become for me to get decent action my play has dropped off a lot, I probably spend 10-15 hours per week now with everything mixed in, including coaching, studying, and playing, but i'm hoping to increase that in the near future, especially with WSOP coming up.
 
What kind of a computer setup do you have for playing?  Do you use any poker software?

I have a PC I built myself for gaming, so pretty high quality, with 2 monitors, a 30" and a 24". I only use hold'em manager for poker software.   
What are your short term & long term poker goals?

Short term I don't have a lot of goals, just putting in volume when I can and enjoying it, long term i'd really like to focus a bit more on playing less of the 8 hours a day every day grind, and more focused on traveling a bit to some tourney series and playing REALLY focused for a couple weeks, and then break again outside of that. I've been playing for a really long time now and finding myself wanting to add increasing amounts of balance to the poker aspect of my life.
 
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?

Definitely more like a job, i'm outside of the place in my life where i'm living in a cheap apartment with some friends and outside of basic living expenses it wouldn't be the end of the world to me if I busted a roll, or just stopped playing, etc., I have a wife, house, and so on, so I really feel the pressure of needing to do well and succeed to support my family and keep up a decent life, so it definitely feels like a job and I try to take it really seriously.
 
You have had some nice live scores, including a top 8 finish in the 2009 $10K WSOP HU event for $92,580 and 143rd in the 2010 WSOP Main Event for $57,000.  Were those your biggest scores ever and how did it feel to go so deep in such prestigious events?

Those were my biggest cashes (along with a follow up similar cash in the 2011 WSOP Main Event as well), These all were really unique experiences, in the 10k HU I played suchhh sick draws leading up to the final 8 and had such a big lead there that it was pretty devastating losing to the player I did (someone who wasn't very good). The 2010 Main Event I was like top 10 in chips for days 2 - 5, so it was pretty crazy, got a lot of coverage, a few feature tables, and was just really exciting the whole way through. Lost a huge hand (my 3rd place vs his 6th place chip stacks) vs James Carroll late day 5 to make a HUGE Chip Leader, and then just kind of floated through to day 6 until I busted. Then last years Main Event I never had a great stack or got anything going, just kind of survived until Day 6 and lost a flip there for like 1.8M or so, so 3 super different experiences in all of the tournaments, but all were really amazing. There really is nothing quite like going deep in a big live MTT, one of the best and most exciting feelings there is.
 
You recently attended a poker training camp held by Daniel “jungleman12” Cates, who is widely regarded as one of the best NL players in the world.  Could you tell us more about that experience?

It was great, tons of great guys there and I learned a bunch. We basically all stayed at a really nice hotel in Vienna and were in the conference room 6-8 hours a day reviewing slides and discussing high level theory. Nights were set aside for going out and having fun, and although it was only a couple days I really feel like I learned a ton. The instructors were great and the setup really was a lot more focused than most things in poker. It was well worth it imo. 


You have been focusing more on the affiliate business and also your new fantasy sports site buzzdraft.com.  Do you still plan to play a lot of poker in the future or start to focus even more of your time on those projects?

Yea, black friday was a pretty big eye opener for me on just how fragile some things were. This kind of caused me to re-evaluate some things and start to spread myself out a bit more. I do plan to play a lot of poker in the future, especially with big events like the WSOP coming up, but I have really enjoyed working on some of these new projects so that's something i will definitely continue to pursue in the future.    
Speaking of buzzdraft, could you tell us more about it?  How did you get the idea for the site? 

 So there is a really big industry of Fantasy sports, traditional fantasy sports where you draft a team and stick with that same team throughout the entire season. It takes a ton of time and dedication to keep up with it (especially in BBall and Baseball) and if 1-2 of your stars get injured your totally #!@)$(d.

Take that and run it daily now, more like a poker site where you go on, draft a team for THAT night, enter it into a sit n go or two, and then sweat the games on TV as they happen in real time and see how you do vs your competition and then win money based on your result. The upside is that it's 100% legal in the US and Canada, paypal and all major cc's accepted, etc., so no bad stigmas, accepted by a very wide audience, etc.

I actually didn't end up coming up with the idea, I came into the project after that were already underway and development had started, so I came in a bit late, but I feel like i've had a lot to offer, and the industry parallels the poker industry so much I think it's very easy for me to see where some of the other major sites are making similar mistakes to poker sites in the early days.

If you never got into poker, what do you think you would be doing for a living right now?

   
Probably would have finished my Computer Science degree and been working on some startups, I don't think I would have ended up at a 'normal' job, at least not for long. It just was never something I could really see myself doing.
How did you go about getting a Lock Pro Elite contract?  How has your experience at Lock been so far?


We had talked a long long while back, when they were still on Cake, but never really finalized anything. So then a few years later when Black Friday happened they got in touch with me and I was really honored they still wanted to work with me. My experience with lock has been nothing but great, the owner Jen has been amazing. I'm thankful every day I got involved when I did and try to do everything I can to help them out, so nothing but good things to say about working with Lock.

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

pretty typical stuff, I watch a bunch of movies and TV shows, play video games, work on my two other companies i'm running (BuzzDraft and Coder Den), hang out with my wife and dogs, and travel a bunch.   
What are your favorite movies and TV shows?  Who are your favorite bands/musical artists?

Movies it's way too tough I watch a TON, my favorite movies i've watched in the last couple of months would be Drive, Ip Man, and The Warrior. Really really enjoyed all of them. Bands is tough too, i'm a huge music guy, my favorite band had been Tool for a very very long time, on a daily basis lately though I find myself listening to a lot of Drake, Florence and The Machine, Lil Wayne, Adele, Foo Fighters, Metallica, and Mac Miller, so pretty weird mix
 
What’s your favorite food?
   
Wow all the questions I find oddly difficult to answer. I'd say some of my favorites are a really good filet, chicken cordon bleu, and fettucini carbonara. 
What’s your favorite place you have traveled to?

Really really enjoyed my time in Europe, Budapest, Cyprus, UK, France, really love all of them for totally different reasons.   
Thanks for taking the time to do this & good luck at the tables.

Thanks a lot for having me, much appreciated and much respect to your game jhub :). GL and thanks again.
 

For more on PrimordialAA you can follow him on twitter @PrimordialAA and watch his training videos at http://www.pokerstrategy.com/.  He is also starting up a new blog at http://bryanpellegrino.com/ 
You can sign up for Lock Poker here http://download.lockpoker.com/jaredhubbard for a 150% deposit bonus and VIP benefits (http://jaredhubbard.com/lock%20vip.htm)
In case you missed the past weekly interviews, here they are:

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Ethics in Poker


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There seems to be a lack of ethics in poker.  I'm going to cover a couple topics: sitting other regs/professionals HU and registering for another player's game with the intention of blinding them down when they aren't there.  I will use this new Merge reg (reg wannabe might be more accurate) tyraak for both examples.

I've recently read posts on forums from players who think it's unethical to sit other regulars/professional players.  This is absolute nonsense.  We're all in competition together.  Being able to sit first in a HU SNG is a privilege that must be earned, not a right.  Hehasrisen said it best "If I can't hold my own against other regs that's my problem, not theirs."  I couldn't have said it better myself.  Me letting weaker regs open sit the same lobbies as me without sitting them is like Apple saying to Dell "You know what, why don't you just take 1% of our sales."  Do you realize how ridiculous that is?  I'm sitting you and beating you fair and square in competition.  When Kobe drives the lane Lebron doesn't move out of the way and say "you know what pal, you have this bucket."  If you don't like playing other regs then either move down in stakes to where you are left alone, or don't play when those particular regs are on.  It's that simple and there's plenty of regs who follow that strategy.

That brings me to tyraak.  I'm only using him as an example for this to tie into my next story.  The first time I sat tyraak he said "sorry I only fish."  He then proceeded to time down every single hand in each game we played.  Some people have a problem with the ethics of timing down.  It's kind of a grey area but I don't really have a huge problem with it.  He knows I am a better player and is probably timing down for a couple of reasons.  First off, my edge will be smaller as the blinds increase.  Second off, he probably thinks I'll get so annoyed that I won't sit him anymore.  He's 100% wrong on the second part, but that's besides the point.  Ethically, I don't think I really have a problem with it.  That doesn't mean I think he's smart for doing it.  Basically, all this strategy is going to do is piss off other regs and get him "sat for life."  Also, the fact that the game against him is moving so slow really allows me to play an extra table that I normally wouldn't.  With 4 tables running, 1 of them against him and his stalling tactics, it's really more comparable to 3.25 tabling, since I have far less decisions in his game than the average game.  Tyraak only sits $250 HU SNGs.  He doesn't sit higher or lower.  That brings me to my next point.

Yesterday I forgot to unregister for a $500 and a $1K.  I often don't unregister for them until my last game is actually over, simply because the games are so valuable that I'm usually willing to play overtime if one goes off.  However, this also makes it easier to forget to unregister for tthe games since you aren't doing it at the same time as all of your other games.  That may cause me to re-evaluate this process of unregistering from games.  Anyway, I ended up coming into my office at the very end of these games that I  forgot to unregister from.  Tyraak was sitting me in both games and I had pretty different chip counts, meaning he registered for one game significantly later than the other.  I pushed all in with about 6BBs on 1 table and lost, while I was on my last chip at the other table and lost.  I tried to get his attention in the chat, which I'm sure he probably saw, but he didn't respond.  I'm guessing either one of two things happened:

1. Since tyraak started playing HU I had never been registered for only the $500 and $1K lobby with 0 games running.  He may have noticed this and suspected that I had simply forgotten to unregister for these games.  He decided to sit the $500 and find out.  Once he knew I wasn't at the tables, he sat the $1K and simultaneously blinded me down on both tables.

2. Tyraak misclick registered for one of the games.  Once it became blatantly obvious that I wasn't there, he sat my other game with the intention of blinding me down at both tables.

Regardless of how it happened, one thing is clear: Tyraak sat at least one of my tables, knowing that I wasn't there, with the intention of blinding me down.  Before I get into this more, let me first state that I am well aware that this unfortunate situation is my own fault.  I forgot to double check my lobbies before leaving my office.  That's something every poker player needs to get in the habit of doing.  Had I done so, none of this would have happened.  Having said that, tyraak is still a complete scumbag for what he did.  I'm appalled that some poker players are actually defending his actions, which is what motivated me to write this blog.  I think this is very similar to other real life situations and I'll give a couple examples.  In the first example a business owner forgets to lock up his store when he leaves.  This is certainly his own fault, but that doesn't mean it's ethical to rob the guy when you find out that the door is unlocked.  In the second example a man drops his wallet on the street.  The wallet contains his identification, some cash, and some credit cards.  It's his own fault for dropping the wallet.  It's a careless mistake.  However, if you pick the wallet up you know who it belongs to, and keeping the wallet and/or the belongings is 100% unethical and I would call you a piece of shit if you chose to do so.  The right thing to do is to give the wallet to the police or return it to the owner's address.  

I really don't think anyone in their right mind would argue the ethics of those two examples.  However, since we're hiding behind a computer screen all of a sudden otherwise intelligent people don't see what's wrong with a similar situation.  If I were tyraak I would have also sat my second game with the intention of blinding me down.  However, I would be doing this so that another scumbag didn't have the opportunity to come along and blind the player down, keeping their money.  I would then transfer the buy-ins back to the player, minus the rake I paid so that the games didn't cost me anything.  If you want to argue for a small finder's fee I would probably be fine with that.

I reimburse people all the time who disconnect from their internet while playing me.  It's what I believe is the right thing to do.  However, that's a little more of a grey area than the tyraak situation.  In the internet disconnection situations we are already playing the game.  In the tyraak situation he clearly went out of his way to knowingly take money from somebody he knew wasn't there, at games he normally doesn't even play.

Situations like this are part of the reason why poker gets such a bad name sometimes.  There are many great people in poker, but there are also pieces of shit like tyraak who bring the reputation of the rest of us down.  I would say to the poker community: stop being greedy, unethical scumbags and have some morals!  Money isn't everything.  Think of other people for once.

I would like to start putting together a better compilation of my popular blog posts.  If there is a particular blog post that you really liked, please feel free to let me know by commenting on here, emailing me, tweeting me, or sending me an IM on Skype or AIM.

Thanks & GL,
Jared

http://www.jaredhubbard.com/
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http://jhubpoker.blogspot.com/

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Weekly Interview Series: Jeff "hurricanejeff" Romano


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.

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Fellow Lock Pro Jeff "hurricanejeff" Romano 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 playing in college (UMass Amherst), we had some really good players.  The game was usually just $1 $2 no limit but the players were some of the highest caliber.  A lot of the guys were high stakes online players even playing up to $25 $50 No Limit on pokerstars, so it was a great way to learn from them.  I used to crush that game and then deposit it all online and lose it, or spend the rest I made on beer.  I was 18 at the time and pretty much just degened my way up stakes.
What has worked best for you over the years in regards to improving your game?
 Learning from past mistakes, and donating to better players.  Losing is a huge part of the game, and probably the fastest way to learn.  I used to watch the WSOP on t.v. but I think that made me worse.
How old are you now?
 26
Jeff doing a little wine tasting in France for the Lock Pro retreat:

How many tables do you usually play online?
 I play a lot of different types of games, but when I play sit n goes I try to get as many games going as possible up to 30.
How many hours per week do you usually play?  How many total hours a week do you usually spend on poker-related activities?
 Well it’s funny because I put in my highest volume last month and lost the most I’ve ever lost.  I was playing 70 hours a week, which is way above my normal 30.
Over the years you have played a lot of 6 man SNGs, HU SNGs, DONs, & MTTs.  What’s your current mix of games like and what do you focus on the most?
 I’ve played everything.  I break even at just about every game except for MTTs which I crush.  However, playing 15+ tables of sit n goes rakes a lot of money, and breaking even is very profitable. 
What is your favorite game to play?
 2-7 lowball with bigdogpocket5s
What kind of a computer setup do you have for playing?  Do you use any poker software?
 Laptop and 27inch monitor…HEM2
What are your short term & long term poker goals?
 Break even for life.  I don’t plan on playing poker for a very long time.  It would obviously be awesome to win a WSOP bracelet or whatever, but it just doesn’t matter to me.  I get into these arguments on the felt with players, they all say I’m terrible at poker and that I’m a rakeback whore.  Then I look them up in the forums and it turns out they are backed to play all of their games…well good one guys.  They don’t understand that playin 20 tables at break even poker isn’t easy, but its very profitable.  Last month I raked about $9,000…how many players are capable of that?
Do you plan on getting into any other games in the future?
 Yeah I plan on getting into “Game of Thrones” season 2 coming out in April.
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?
 A job right now, I hate playing.  Well actually I hate grinding, I love getting deep in a MTT.  But playing in June at the WSOP is extremely fun.  So I look forward to that every single year and it gets me through the online grind.
How long do you plan on playing poker professionally?
 I will be applying to grad school in the fall, hopefully able to buy my way into Harvard. I’ll probably play throughout my educational career, and then try to open a business of sorts. 
If you weren’t playing poker for a living what would you be doing as a career?
 Working for a startup company in Boston.
How long have you been a Lock pro and how has your experience at Lock been so far?
 Well, since the first day the site opened.  I was one of the sites very first sign ups, legend status I think.  I hated playing for the site while they were on cake, but that’s because I hated cake.  
What do you like to do in your spare time besides poker?
 Eating, cooking and drinking.  I’ve thought about going to culinary school many times, you can impress just about anyone on this earth with good cooking, it’s a timeless skill.
What are your favorite movies and TV shows?  Who are your favorite bands/musical artists?
 Clint Eastwood and older Nick Cage movies are great, and probably my “go to’s” when there is nothing else on.  I like a ton of music but despise dub step, I think its trash and I don’t care if it’s the future of music.


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

You can sign up for Lock Poker here http://download.lockpoker.com/jaredhubbard for a 150% deposit bonus and VIP benefits (http://jaredhubbard.com/lock%20vip.htm)
In case you missed the past weekly interviews, here they are:

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Weekly Interview Series: Mike "Bigguylegend22" Drummond


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:
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 Mike "bigguylegend22" Drummond is my next interviewee for my new weekly interview series.  He is a cash game specialist and 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 got started in poker like every other American, after the Moneymaker boom.  I started playing cash games in high school (age 18) with my friends for $5 and $10 and fell in love with it right away, but when I found out that you could play online I was hooked.  I would deposit $50 here and there but could never really build a bankroll because I lacked the knowledge of proper bankroll management.  I loved playing the highest stakes I could, so that’s what I did.  A couple of times I was lucky enough to turn $50 into $100k or so and that’s when I started taking poker seriously and playing within my bankroll and steadily built it up from there.

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

Watching videos and talking to other poker players can help you learn the math and the situations well, but in heads up the only way to learn is through experience.  Finding out what works and why, developing a feel for the game.  Although math comes into play, developing your own feel and style of play for the game is what it takes to be successful.  When I talk to another poker player or watch an hour long video, I usually only pick up one small thing that I hadn’t thought about before, but overtime those small things add up and that’s how you can become a complete player. 

 How old are you now?

24 years old

How many tables do you usually play online?

As much action as I can get, but usually between 2-6 tables

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

I try and log 40-50 hours a week and then spend the rest of my time doing things completely non-poker related, balance is definitely important to keep your sanity in poker. 

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

Laptop and 42’’ monitor, I use holdem manager

You got your Lock Pro Elite contract by winning the Bluff Pro Challenge.  During that month you made $90,198 pre rakeback at the tables, with over double the profit of the 2nd place finisher.  Is this your biggest profit month when excluding MTTs?

No, I’ve actually won more than that in a day before (also lost equal amounts).  Back when I was playing 25/50 and 50/100 heads up I’d go on daily swings of 10-50k and have some big swinging months.   I haven’t really played a lot of tournaments in my life but I did chop the Sunday Warmup on stars for 75k or so. 
This year you finished 16th in the WSOPE Main Event for €43,000, which today is worth approximately $56,511. How did it feel to go deep in such a prestigious event and make so much money for just a few days of work?  When you got knocked out, were you happy to go so deep and make a nice chunk of money or were you more upset that you came so close to the big prize?

I was actually the most devastated I’d ever been in poker just because of the way I went out.  The difference between tournaments and heads up cash games is that in tournaments you have to be in control at all times and be very disciplined.  I played perfect for however many days it was, until I blew up on the last hand and bluffed off all my chips.  50k was nice but $2M for first would have been life changing so it was really hard getting that close and coming up short.  Hopefully I’ll get another chance soon.   



What are your short term & long term poker goals?

Now that online has become saturated and less lucrative, I’m transferring trying to expand my repatuare to live tournaments as well.  The places the lives tournaments are, France, Bahamas, Vegas, Australia, are all amazing places and great places to have an excuse to go to.  I want to use poker to travel the world and continue to live the lifestyle I’m living.  I graduated Babson College which is big on entrepreneurship and I do as much as I can on the side trying to pursue side ventures in hopes that I can do something besides playing poker full time.  I’ll never fully stop playing, but not having to do the daily grind would be nice. 

Do you plan on playing more live MTTs in the near future or getting into any other games?

I do plan on traveling  to all the live MTTs now to try and bink a live event.  I’ve started to learn PLO which is the craziest variance I’ve ever experienced, but it’s a lot of fun. 

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 you feel that on your downswings when you have to cutback your life style.  However, I think I’ll always enjoy it and I’ll never stop playing, hopefully I can cut back one day though. 

How long do you plan on playing poker professionally?

As long as it’s still printing money. 

If you weren’t playing poker for a living what would you be doing as a career?

I had a job as a stock broker in New York, I probably would have continued with that, or pursued an entrepreneurial venture of some sort. 



How has your experience at Lock been so far?

Lock has been amazing.  The staff and support and always there to help and make the site the best it can possible be.  The other pros on the site are more of a family then competition, and it seems everyone wants what’s best for everyone.  The games have gotten a lot better with Black Friday, and I continue to play on lock almost every day. 

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

 Basketball is my first passion and what takes a back seat to poker now.  I played in high school and a little in college, and now I get to play almost every day and watch as many games as I can.  I love going out to eat and trying new food.  Going out on weekends to bars and events is my favorite break from poker. 

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

Shows: Entourage, Curb your Enthusiasm

Movies: Happy Gilmore, Good Will Hunting

Bands: Dave Matthews Band, Red Hot Chili Peppers

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

 For more on bigguylegend22 you can follow him on twitter @BigGuyLegend.  You can also check him out on http://shortstackedradio.com/ tonight.
You can sign up for Lock Poker here http://download.lockpoker.com/jaredhubbard for a 150% deposit bonus and VIP benefits (http://jaredhubbard.com/lock%20vip.htm)
In case you missed the past weekly interviews, here they are: