Richie from bigslick asked me to do a Q&A for there site, the outcome is posted below
1 do you prefer live or online poker, Answer live but you have to play online if you want to make money at poker.
2 do you prefer Omaha or holdem, Answer holdem, Omaha to me is a game of jamming it in 60/40 situations but my limited experience is based on full ring games’ I’m sure Omaha gets more complex shorthanded.
3 tournament or cash games, Answer tourney I just don’t find cash games that interesting however later in the year I’m going to concentrate on cash on line because that’s where the money is
4 how often do u play; Answer depends I’ve been playing a lot the last few months but cant really quantify how much I’d say somewhere on average between 30 and 50 hours a week.
5 what’s ur favourite venue. Answer that famous pub game in 19; TV table in the burlinging comes a bad second
6 whats ur most memorable poker moment; Answer I think winning the main event at the macau winter festival in December 2005; at the time a lot of people thought I was cracked paying €1000 entry to a tournament while to me it was a natural progression. To win was proof that I as right
7 how long have u been playing; Answer first played holdem in September 2004 started playing regularly when blazing aces opened April 05.
8 how long have u been a pro, Answer I don’t think I have ever told anyone that I’m a professional poker player although poker is my only income. I have a vision of what a pro is and I’m not there yet
9 who has been ur toughest opponent so far; Answer padraig Parkinson, the only time I have felt in the presence of genius on a poker table, it’s nothing specific that I can put my finger on but I just felt this guy was different class and over the last two year’s I have played with most of the named pro’s from England and Ireland
10 what’s the next big tourney u plan to play; Answer I’m off to Vegas so the main event but will play a few bracelet events before that. If I don’t get a run in the WSOP I hope to play the WPT event in the bellagio on the 10th of July
11whats ur favourite aspect of poker; Answer winning
12 whats ur least favourite aspect of poker; Answer losing
13 how do u feel ur playing at the moment; Answer I’m playing OK and I’m not running well, if I start to play well and run good I will do some serious damage in Vegas.
14 who do u most admire on the local, national & international scene and why; Answer having played all over the country I know that that standard locally is very good. There are probably about 15 quality players in Waterford but for some reason over the last four months the standard is dropping rather then improving which is puzzling me. Nationally well I’ve played most of the big games in the last 18 months and I can’t see anyone who stands clear of the pack. Dave O’ Callaghan is a class player who will win big and you cant argue with flippers results but there’s no one head and shoulders above the pack. On the world stage well I want to play with them to make my mind up not watch or read about them. The best I’ve played with are Parkinson and Vaswani.
15whats ur long term poker ambition; Answer to be able to play and compete in the top tournaments I have never been a goals oriented person so I find it hard to set targets for myself. I’m more inclined to think wouldn’t it be nice to be playing all the WTP and EPT events rather then I will be playing them in say two years
16 outside poker, how do u relax....no jumper stories please; Answer I like a game of golf and the odd drink; I’m also a regular glue sniffer which I find quite relaxing.
17 whos the funniest player u ever had at ur table (apart from urself) Answer Sideshow is always great to have on a table yeh he probably stands out
18 whos the most intimidating player u ever had at ur table. Answer Had a good think about this and don’t think I have ever been really intimidated on a table
19 whats ur biggest cash in a tournament to date; Answer €100,000 this years open’ never thought I could be gutted winning that much but I was
20 how do u psyche urself up for a big tourney; Answer listen to the music from rocky three “ eye of the tiger “
21 i-pod,shades,hat or hoody or none of the above; Answer shades if hung over or at the end of a long days play I cant understand listening to music playing live poker.
22 whats ur favourite online site, Answer I’ve always liked the cryptologic network, That’s willhill littlewoods sun betsafe ect
23 whos the biggest fish uv played with; Answer I’ve played with many very bad players who think there very good, in my mind these are the biggest fish rather then the poor mugs who have no idea. I’m not going to name one person but the biggest donator was Fred
24 whos the biggest rock uv played with; Answer HMM Whitty, Alan O’ Goram and Dave MaC was fairly tight in his day 25 when u play online do u look for certain opponents; Answer Na mostly just play systematic in stts so not an issue
26 suited connecters or small pocket pair early or late in a tourney; Answer I just play situations so I never have a predetermined way to play a specific hand
27 who was ur biggest influence in poker; Answer I used to watch late night poker before I knew how to play the game, this sounds a bit off the wall but I also knew that a lot of players on it weren’t any good so before I knew how to play I knew I could be better then many of the named pros. This has to have been a major influence
28 what did u do b4 u were a pro; Answer the last two jobs I gave up were in an accountancy firm I also stopped lecturing in accountancy part-time at WIT
29 in general, do u play the cards or the player; Answer well you play both you also play your image. Building a table image has become a more prominent aspect to me over the last year. But sometimes in tournament’s it can be worthless because you just get moved.
30 whats ur poker nickname; Answer none but a few people have started to call me teapot when I’m all in lately
31 pocket 2's pump 'em or dump 'em; Answer pump em sure there as close to AA as KK
