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Pro-file Tony G |
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December 2007
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Tony Gouga - spiteful and poisonous to some, hugely entertaining to
others, but few can question the enfant terrible's awesome skills at
the table. Off the felt he's polite and meditative; on the felt he's a
monster. So, will the real Tony G please stand up?
BLUFF: Tony, it's psychoanalysis time. Tell us about your childhood
Tony:
OK, I was born in Kaunus, Lithuania, which was then part of the Soviet
Union - interesting times. It was pretty tough under Soviet rule - you
couldn't go anywhere you wanted and the money was tight, but people
were good and would help each other out. When I was 11, I came over to
Australia and started playing poker soon after.
BLUFF: What kind of kid were you?
Tony:
I was a pretty tough kid, getting into a lot of trouble, missing school
a lot. I wasn’t so happy in that system, growing up, so I was on the
borderline of being thrown into a kids’ home. I used to play gambling
games, tossing coins for any money that was available at the time.
BLUFF: Is it true you were the Lithuanian Rubik’s Cube Champion?
Tony: Yeah, I was pretty good at that. It was something I enjoyed.
Whatever I did, I had to enjoy it. That’s why I didn’t go to school
very often.
BLUFF: Was it an upheaval immigrating to a new country at such a young age?
Tony:
Well, I’d been trying to go to Australia for a long time. My mum had
gone over earlier, when I was seven, so I was kind of growing up by
myself with my sister, waiting for my visa. I had been expecting to go
much earlier, but it took a long, long time. Then, when I got the “all
clear,” I flew to Australia by myself. I had to get a train to Moscow,
and then I flew to Pakistan, then to Singapore, and on to Australia. I
didn’t speak any English; they just put a sign around my neck with my
destination on it and away I went. I remember on the flight from
Singapore to Melbourne, I went upstairs to first class. I hadn’t been
invited; I just felt that I deserved it after a journey like that.
My family members in Australia would get together and play poker
during holidays on Phillip Island and they let me join in. We’d play
for low stakes – a few cents here and there. I got the feel for it then
and I’ve been developing since.
BLUFF: Is that where you discovered the power of your tongue at the poker table?
Tony:
Yeah. I've always been the type to say one too many words… But it was
fun back then; we used to enjoy it. Since I had the gift of a big
mouth, I always tried to use it to my advantage to get people off their
game. And to enjoy myself, too…
BLUFF: Are you quieter away from the table?
Tony: Oh, definitely, a lot quieter. I’m not the same person at all.
BLUFF: So poker takes you out of your shell?
Tony: Yes. It’s an outlet that lets me release my tension and use the
skills that I have - reading people and working out mathematical
problems.
BLUFF: Does it bother you that your table image makes you unpopular?
Tony:
With some people I’m popular and with some I’m unpopular. Some people
find me entertaining, some people find me obnoxious. I can’t really
control that too much. It’s who I am. I’m a warrior. I want to fight
and I want to win.
BLUFF: Have you ever said anything really harsh to a player and then regretted it?
Tony: Yeah, it probably happens every day.
BLUFF: What’s the worst thing you’ve ever said?
Tony: Well, there are so many things. But I don’t really use swear-
words or anything. I usually just say to people, “Why are you here?
What are you doing? You don’t belong here,” and I guess that’s pretty
insulting. But I do that all the time.
BLUFF: I guess the one we all remember is the “I’m gonna send you back to Russia” clip (http://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvCn_KbLpLY). Did you feel bad after that?
Tony: It’s fine. I can’t do anything about it now – that’s life. But I
get on okay with Ralph Perry now – there are no problems. It was a
pretty emotional tournament and I decided to give him a bit of verbal.
The whole table knew where I stood and I went on to win that
tournament, so I achieved what I wanted to achieve.
BLUFF: Are there any players yo particularly enjoy winding up?
Tony:
It’s fun to wind up Howard Lederer and Ralph Perry, especially. Most
poker players don’t react that much, though. Howard gets upset and
refusesto shake my hand. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have a lot of
respect for him. People don’t realize that I respect a lot of these
players. But I have to work harder these days because people know me
now and they know what to expect. It was fun when no one knew me. Then
I could really get under people’s skin.
BLUFF: What are the best and worst things about being a professional poker player?
Tony: Well, first of all, I don’t consider myself a professional poker
player. It’s my hobby. The worst thing is that you can lose a lot of
money. You can have bad swings and get in trouble financially. The best
thing is knocking people out of a tournament. Sending them back to
Russia (laughs). It’s more of a sport to me. That’s the bit I really
enjoy. Recently I’ve been playing a lot of high stakes poker games in
London – playing with Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, and people like that.
It’s a lot of fun: bluffi ng, calling, making them bluff…I enjoy the
battle. Patrik’s a very good player. He and Phil Ivey played an
$800,000 pot in London last month. I’ve played a lot of big pots with
Patrik and I’m not afraid of playing those guys. I always come out
pretty good playing with them – especially recently.
BLUFF: You’ve become a bit of a star on YouTube recently. Do you have a favorite Tony G clip?
Tony: My favorite is the one with Surinder Sunar at the WPT in Paris,
when I made him bluff (http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=JoDQ8kKvG90&mode=related&se arch=); or the one where I
bet three timesin a row with nothing and got him to lay down his top
pair (http://www.youtube. com/watch?v=7ATdJFTNqlU). I was proud to be
there on the day to put so much fight and effort in. I didn’t win, but
it helped me strive for bigger and better things in the future. It
shows you don’t have to win; you just have to fight hard. Surinder was
a great warrior, too, and I’m happy that he won. It probably did me
some good not to win. But it was fantastic to be in Paris when poker
was just beginning to bloom, and to make the final table and just play
my game and play it well.
BLUFF: Tell us a bit about Pokernews.com and the other websites you’re involved with…
Tony: Yeah. To be completely honest, it’s about making some money from
poker. No one wanted to sponsor me, so I thought the way to go is to
set it up myself, and I had the confidence and commitment to the game
to do it. I looked at the Card Player site and I thought I could do it
a lot better. And then it was all about investing in the right people,
putting up good content, and doing the best job that I can.
BLUFF: What do you do when you’re not playing poker?
Tony: I keep an eye on my businesses. At the moment I could be playing
the London EPT but I’m not looking to play any big tournaments. I’m in
Moscow, which is where it’s all happening now. There’s a big boom in
poker here due to the laws they’ve just passed.
BLUFF: Can you give our readers a tip to help them improve their game?
Tony: One of hte key issues is bankroll management. If you can improve
your bankroll management and always play within your bankroll, you will
have an edge over everybody else. Also, don’t tilt. You don’t have to
be the best player at the table; but if you don’t get upset you’ll do
well. Just find a system that works and keep it simple. Poker can be
simple – find a way to play and you’ll win money.
BLUFF: What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever seen happen at a poker table?
Tony: Probably all the stuff I’ve done myself. I mean, berating Ralph
Perry when he got knocked out of that tournament. That was pretty
strange, wasn’t it?
Big Mouth Strikes Again
The wit and wisdom of Anthony Guoga
Tony asserts that he will send Russian-born Ralph Perry “back to
Russia,” and then goads him into calling all in pre-flop with K-J
against his A-2. A-2 holds up and Tony explodes: “Yeah baby! Come on,
Russian, get out! It’s time to go. Look what he’s doing. Look how he’s
playing. Look how ugly this is. You’re a professional player and I can
do this to you? You’re a terrible player. This is disgraceful. Bring
the Russians on! Bring more Russians on! You played that as bad as you
can. Your career’s fi nished. You are gone, gone, gone! Feel the power!
You feel my power, baby? Is this how you play? Calling with K-J?
Calling? I’ve got you covered like a baby (laughs). Come on, up, up and
away. On your bike!”
Tony induces a bluff from the Zen-like Surinder Sunar while heads up at
the WPT Grand Prix de Paris: "Bye-bye-hee-hee. I'm going to rip you
apart so hard. All your chips - everything. I made you bluff. I'm going
to punish you so hard and your going to suffer so much. Man, you will
never want to play poker with me again, ever. (To the crowd) Now I am
the captain. I am the captain, and this guy has just gone and doubled
me up! I'm going to be the best player in the world."
Tony welcomes wealthy amatuer Phil Curtis to the table in the
Party-Poker Poker Den cash game on UK TV: Where are you from? What do
you want? You want to take me on? What are you doing? Tell me! Have you
come to rob me? What are you doing here? Do you think you belong here?
Do you belong at this table? What’s your name? You’re stupid. Stupid!
Look at this: I’m spitting, spitting tomatoes. You’re a stupid, stupid
man and you’ll be very sorry and very, very sore.
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