How long have you been playing poker Stuart and what actually got you involved with the game?
Gambling itself has always been in our family really, as my Dad was a bookie for a long time working both on and off course. I can remember standing with him in exotic venues such as Ayr on a wet Monday afternoon feeling like it was the biggest buzz in the world. I loved the three minutes before the race when friendly banter between us was stopped as people frantically tried to get a bet on at the best price.
I didn’t take up poker until a bit later, somewhere around 2001; I was sitting one night during University Exams playing blackjack in a local, small casino in Aberdeen when one of the regulars came through and told me and a friend that there was a poker game going on through in the other room. As I am sure it is the same for lots of players, the idea of playing poker seemed cool and something a bit underground. So we joined them and I remember being asked things like “you guys aren’t sharks are you?” I tried not to open my gills to embarrass myself but I think once I had lost the last of my money with bottom pair on a four flush board they realised I wasn’t exactly Jaws!
After a couple of months of losing the main portion of my student loan in the cash game there, I realised that the same guys were getting my money every week. I began to make friends with them and ask questions and guys like Jim “The Razor” Welsh, Les “The Admiral” Clark and Martin “Jez” Sutcliffe all took me under their wing and taught me the ins and outs of winning at poker.
I know that you play an awful lot online but do you play much live poker these days?
I occasionally play live. I think I probably played about fifteen times total in 2007. I enjoy going up to see the guys in Aberdeen and will normally try and make sure I visit them when there is a game on. I also played in the GUKPT event in Cardiff last year and a few events in St Kitts during the CPC. I find live poker generally pretty tedious and usually only play when it is going to be a lot of fun or there is a local tournament that presents good value. I think that playing a lot of online poker makes you pretty impatient for action in live poker.
It is always good to hear the views and opinions of strong online players but what are your views on how you see online poker going over the next few years?
Even in the past year its pretty clear that games have began to get tough across all levels. I think people have realised that even a good $1/2 NL player can make an excellent living from multi-tabling and so many are quitting jobs to play online poker full time. I expect this trend to continue and in the future games from 2/4 up to be more or less filled with full time players. There will still be plenty of weaker players but finding them will become more difficult with players already employing software tools to hunt out good games. There has already been a real drought in high stakes games (25/50) on most sites in the past six months and I think this is a reflection of the fact that as the mid stakes games have become tougher fewer full time players have been able to build their bankrolls to successfully tackle the higher stakes.
From the online sites perspective the market is saturated and it seems like now they really need to focus on retaining full time customers in front of generating new ones. I see so many sites offering first time deposit bonuses but I see very few thinking of innovative ways to get full time regulars playing consistently. Just think how much of an impact it would have on a poker sites traffic if they decided to run a promotion for two months where the biggest winner in the sites 25/50 NL games was sent a Porsche car. With the egos in poker a competition with a prize like this will be sure to bring out all the best players and lots of shot takers. The main result would be that site would really increase their traffic within the part of the market that it is critical to hold onto. I just don’t think we are seeing enough sites taking risks like that, as a player I would love to see sites being comfortable taking a loss on a promotion like that.
I know full well that you are a big advocate of PokerTracker, what do you think this does to the average player’s chances of success online?
An average player, with an above average commitment to studying his own game and his opponents, a tool like PokerTracker will make a huge difference in their game. An average player who just uses it to log sessions and track results, it won’t make a difference at all.
I think almost all the best players in the world now online can attribute a fair chunk of their success to employing tools like PokerTracker to improve their own game and understand the best ways to exploit their opponents.
What are your views when you see poor players receive huge sponsorship deals all because they got lucky by winning some online tournament, does this infuriate a pro like yourself?
I am always happy to see people getting sponsorship deals. The more money coming back into poker the better, it’s hard to see a downside to that. I do however think that a lot of sponsorships are thrown out because of “the right person in the right situation” without correctly thinking what type of player is great for marketing their site.
The assumption is by a lot of these sites that having a good looking male or female from a growing poker economy (like Germany or Italy) who is a full time poker player is a recipe for making the site look appealing. The next most important factor in players getting sponsorship deals is their social skills; the idea being someone who has a big personality would be a great ambassador for the site. The last thing they normally take into consideration is the player’s poker ability. This is bullshit.
Why did Katja Thater have a sponsorship deal before Annette15? Why does Paul Zimbler and Michael Greco continue to get sponsorship while Dave Colclough gets dropped? Why does David Pham not have the best sponsorship deal in the world? The poker sites need to start really thinking about sponsoring players with longevity in this game, who will be seen on lots of final tables endorsing their logos not some geezer who ran hot for a couple of tournaments.
What stakes do you play online and how many tables do you play normally?
Right now 2/4NL to 5/10NL is my mainstay but I will play higher if the game is good. Last night I played some 25/50NL as I saw two of my regular opponents sitting with short stacks. It turned out to be a profitable venture, and I am comfortable taking shots when I see good games but right now I am comfortable where I am and where my poker is headed.
As for table amounts it really just depends I vary between 2 tables and 8 tables depending my frame of mind and the stakes I am playing.
What would you say to people who ask you about the merits of joining a poker forum….are they worthwhile?
It really depends what you want out of a forum. They are a fun way to interact with other poker players, I think some are more geared toward high level poker discussion and others are a lot more sociable. I have made friends (and enemies) in my time posting online but most of all it has served me with some good entertainment while I play. Some people take them too seriously when really it’s only the internet, this is not real life!
Can you tell us how you came by your nickname of “The Bear”
I guess my stature. I’m 6ft5 and broad shouldered. I have been called a lot of different nicknames, the most appropriate has been “Balloo the bear” which these days even my girlfriend’s daughter calls me!
How many hours a week would you say that you work on your game when compared to how many hours you play?
It is only really recently that I have began to become a student of the game. For the first two years playing for a living I just put in lots of hours and did not spend much time studying my play. Then I decided to get a coach and with his help began to look at the game completely differently and realised the importance of working on your game strategy.
These days I spend probably half my time playing and the other half of my time discussing hands, reading forums and books and watching instructional videos. I feel like my learning curve is huge right now and headed in the right direction.
Is multi-tabling something that you have always done and did you find it easy at first or did you have to work up to playing more tables?
I began by playing two tables then gradually increased to four tables and then at one point last year I was ten tabling. It probably took me a couple of years to get good at multi tabling, for some other players I know it comes a lot more naturally. It has huge benefits of course as more hands = more profit, but for every player there is a saturation point where playing too many tables and their game begins to suffer. At this moment I think my saturation point is around six tables.
Who are the most difficult players to play against in the games that you play in and why?
Most full time players currently have a pretty watertight strategy when it comes to playing pre flop but many have a lot of leaks playing streets. Already, I see the game is changing to becoming more and more aggressive post flop as players slow down with pre flop three betting and four betting. Players who are currently balancing their range for post flop aggression between the absolute nuts and complete air are the ones who are the most difficult to play against in my experience.
As poker develops in the next few years I think post flop strategy is going to evolve quite a lot where lines change as players find more value in doing things the opposite of what would be considered theoretically correct.
I know that you play a lot of NLHE but are you planning to expand into playing other games as well?
I play almost all the poker variants. I think Omaha is the most fun and I normally play PLO for about five or six hours per week. When I first started playing poker the game of choice in the casino was six card Omaha which is guaranteed action. I would love it if an online site started six card Omaha games! I think that the edge a good PLO player has over a weak one is massive and it seems like the game of choice for a lot of new players and fish at the moment online.
A few months ago I made the decision to play thousands of hands of PLO and get some coaching to get my game in shape. Around the same time I made this decision I also had my best week ever in hold’em so the idea of getting my PLO game sorted out was put on the back burner and it has remained there since. I am pretty sure I will at some point this year play PLO full time but right now Texas continues to be good for me.
Do you see yourself playing online poker for years to come or do you think that the novelty will wear off and you will switch to something else?
Right now I am having a lot of fun playing poker. I am enjoying the game as much as I ever have and appreciate the great life it offers me. As I continue to learn more about the game my hunger to learn and study in other areas has grown too.
At some point in the future I think I will go back to university to study finance and world markets, I think there are a few similarities between stock trading and poker and it certainly seems like something I would really enjoy. I don’t have a timeline on that though because right now I couldn’t be happier gambling for a living.
