Bluff: Nick, let me just say congratulations on your recent $215 rebuy win on Poker Stars. How are you feeling?
Nick: Thank you very much. I feel terrific! I’m glad to finally put up some consistent big wins in tough fields.
Bluff: You’re welcome! Are you playing mostly online these days?
Nick: Yes, I just turned 21 and have only played one live tournament, the PCA. I’m about to graduate school and am playing in the 2008 WSOP. Online is where it’s at, in my opinion.
Bluff: How did your first live experience go?
Nick: It went alright; I doubled up making some semi bluffs, and chipping up, but then ran into Elky on a couple of hands. I used my online knowledge of his play to make my decisions. He was playing much tighter than I had presumed, and I gave him most of my chips. He then went on to win. Haha!
Bluff: Those gamers (Elky- top Star Craft player in the world) will get ya. LOL!
Nick: Ha, yes they will! I knew who he was, but he obviously didn’t know who I was. I thought my information would help me crack him. I was wrong!
Bluff: So you definitely prefer online more than live?
Nick: Yes, I prefer online, because I not only can see many more hands in the same time span, but I can play in my room and watch TV or listen to my music very loud. I can also eat, drink, and do whatever I want as opposed to a live tourney when I have to sit there for hours and see way fewer hands.
Bluff: When you’re playing online do you think its bad to be surfing, watching TV, etc. (basically losing focus)?
Nick: Sometimes! I play my best when I’m playing 1 or 2 tables, and just listening to music. That is 4-8 times as many hands in the same time span as I would see in a live.
Bluff: Online does have its benefits such as rakeback, multi-tabling, being at home, etc.
Nick: Yes it does! You also have the ability to travel, or to be with friends and family.
Bluff: Very true! What are the plans for the WSOP?
Nick: I am planning on playing 12 to 13 events. I am very excited for the $1k re-buy, and the Main Event especially. I’m also excited for the beginning events. Basically the general feel of the WSOP for my first time.
Bluff: All of the online players seem to love the re-buys and 6-max tourneys. Tell me what you are doing about the living situation out in Vegas.
Nick: Well, I actually just decided yesterday on my finalized schedule, so I am still working on the details of the living arrangements. I would prefer to stay in a house with other good players, and it’s possible I will stay with USCphildo and Bhanks, which would be awesome. I actually am planning on focusing on poker the whole time and making it strictly business. I am not a partier, haha.
Bluff: That’s great that you’re dedicated. Will you be doing a lot of prop bets with USCphildo and Bhanks? How about some CCR (credit card roulette)?
Nick: First, I need to pay off my college loans and help my family with the money. I will do some small prop bets. I don’t really do anything huge, or unnecessary like many other players who I have encountered.
Bluff: What do you consider “unnecessary”?
Nick: I have seen many online players do tons of prop betting on the most trivial things just to get a gambling rush LOL. When I was at the PCA, I saw many online players in the lobby drinking, and prop betting on everything they saw. I was amused!
Bluff: Do you remember a specific bet that stands out?
Nick: I recall flipping coins for upwards of 10k at times, as well as drinking prop bets, and stuff. I have heard that two guys flipped for 50k a couple years ago at the PCA, which is just gross.
Bluff: WOW! These people definitely know the value of a dollar, LOL!
Nick: Yeah, riiight! Some of these guys just have a lot of money to throw around. This industry can clearly be very lucrative to some people as young as 18 or 20. I am friends with several 18 year olds who have earned several hundred thousand dollars. Online poker is the only industry out there that offers that kind of potential.
Bluff: Besides playing poker, what do you like to do to relax?
Nick: I am really into music; I write a music blog and collect as well. I love most sports, mainly basketball and soccer. Honestly, I love to relax by going to the beach, or to the mountains. I love nice places with great scenery.
Bluff: Yep, I wish I was at the beach right now (Sigh)! What’s your favorite kind of music?
Nick: Definitely alternative rock and Christian music.
Bluff: You have a favorite college basketball or NBA team?
Nick: I like the Knicks, who suck, and the Hornets for NBA. I like Wake Forest for college basketball. Chris Paul should have got MVP in my opinion.
Bluff: Its so damn close with Kobe, Lebron, and him.
Nick: I think the difference is the attitude. Kobe last year was whining about not having other good players. He wanted to get traded and his team sucked. Chris Paul on the other hand, has built his team with a positive attitude and optimism. He is not nearly as much of a proud snob as Kobe. Chris Paul apparently plays poker as well, and considers himself very good. I think a positive attitude, as well as confidence, are the most important aspects to any competitive game. That’s including basketball, and especially poker!
Bluff: I definitely agree that they are very important aspects to have for a successful career in poker.
Nick: I see so many players who are negative and whine a lot, and they will lose most of the time, whether it be their fault or not. Poker is a tough game so I stress those two qualities the most personally.
Bluff: Do you believe luck is a factor in poker, and do you have any rituals to avoid bad luck?
Nick: Well, luck definitely takes its toll, but what I try to do is to manage the luck. I try to get a lot of chips early on in the tournaments as possible by using skill. That way if I get unlucky or lose a flip, I still have chips and I am not out.
Bluff: Are you superstitious at all?
Nick: Well, I used to not be. I am superstitious with one thing only, and that is IP addresses LOL. I think some seem to suck and others seem to be awesome. I’m sure its just a figment of my imagination, but since switching to a sprint wireless card from my school IP address, everything is going well.
Bluff: Ha. Alright if you could bust anyone in the poker world who would it be?
Nick: Well, I have several and all of whom, I would slow roll if given the opportunity.
Bluff: We’ll let you slow roll for this occasion. Tell us who and why.
Nick: 1. Hevad Khan 2. Humberto Brenes 3. Elky 4. Scotty Nguyen 5. Phil Hellmuth
Hevad Khan because I think he is a rude monkey at the poker table, and I’m sure he would tilt me! Humberto Brenes for the same reasons LOL . Elky because of the PCA, and he is one of my nemeses. Scotty Nguyen because he says baby every 3rd word, and I think it would be awesome to hear "I just got slow rolled baby!" Phil Hellmuth because he is so cocky, and it would make my day to tank it with the nuts on the river. I would call him, and look agitated and flip over the nuts. I think he would rip his own head off LOL.
Bluff: Haha, that’s great.
Nick: You can obviously tell I have thought about this a lot.
Bluff: Let’s say you are a celebrity, who’s in the entourage?
Nick: Well some of the famous people who I respect a lot and would like to meet are: Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, and a few music artists. Music artists include Jimmy Eat World, The Fray, Mat Kearney, Lifehouse, Coldplay, and a few others.
Bluff: Alright time for the hottie question. Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Scarlett Johansson, or Giselle Bundchen?
Nick: Jessica Alba is very hot, but so is Jessica Biel. I think Rachel McAdams and Odette Yustman (from Cloverfield) are the hottest though.... I will go with Alba though by a slim margin. She has the cute and hot factor. Especially in Good Luck Chuck.
Bluff: Nick it was good talking with you. We wish you the best of luck at the WSOP. Ship One!
Nick: Thanks Ryan, I will do my best!
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