I am upto almost 750,000 online hands played one table at a time and make no mistake, with Wonka and a guy who's two letter nick has escaped my mind, Erik are clearly the three toughest online regulars I have come ac****.
Interview with WCOOP No Limit Holdem Champion Erik 123
Elite-Poker: Where are you from?
Erik123: Linköping , Sweden
Elite-Poker: How does it feel to outlast 1357 people to take
$101,850 with no deal made at the final table?
Erik123: It's a great feeling espeicially since the number of
participants are huge and that it was the biggest prize pool for
an online tournament so far.
Elite-Poker: Wow i didn't know that, amazing!
Erik123: The money is actually more secondary when you win a big
poker tournament.
Elite-Poker: Is it all about the glory and the pride then?
Erik123: Of course not, but lets just say I would rather win 102k
in a tourney then 102k in a cash game.
Elite-Poker: Did you have any particular game plan in mind at the
beginning of the tournament?
Erik123: Yea in the beginning I was gonna play a lot of hands to
try and break some weaker opponets in order to get a relative good
chip position with the least possible risk. You will always get
into opportunities to get another not so good opponents whole stack
early so I'm in some pots with not so good hands in this type of
"fast" moving tourney. I'd rather see many flops cheap and try to
outplay them on later streets early on.
Elite-Poker: Were there any hands you felt particularly nervous
about?
Erik123: I made a few calls that people said were bad calls.
Elite-Poker: Yeah the railbirds were going crazy a few times!
Erik123: One hand I called with A5 from the small blind when the BB
moved in. After I raised him I just thought I had the best hand and
that he was pulling something on me.
Elite-Poker: Yeah I saw that one.
Erik123: And I was wrong and that's it basically. I tried the whole
tourney to get into the top 3 spots so that's why I made the call too.
But when i think about it, I agree it was a very questionable call.
Elite-Poker: That's very honest of you
Erik123: There are not many hands that I'm actually more of a big
favorite against and many hands where I'm dead.
Elite-Poker: Do you recall a hand that was a turning point for you?
Erik123: When I caught the ace on the river with three people left!!
To bust out the 2nd chip holder
Elite-Poker: Oh i saw that one, you had AQ and he had something like
KJ with the top pair.
Erik123: Yea, right. I had just overcards and picked up nut flush draw
on the turn.
Elite-Poker: There were a lot of railbirds chatting when it was down
to the last two tables, mostly talking about you and to you. Did that
bother you a lot? How did you handle it?
Erik123: I'm used to having alot of people chatting with me but this
was extreme. I got really mad at a few times when the "haters" showed up.
Elite-Poker: Why do they hate you?
Erik123: No idea. Jealousy i guess. I can't tell from here. Even I can
make bad plays. I'm not more than human!
Elite-Poker: Were you listening to any music or watching anything on
TV during the tournament?
Erik123: Yea i was watching like 4 episodes of sopranos until there were
like 40 people left.
Elite-Poker: How did you get into tournament poker?
Erik123: Through internet sites.
Elite-Poker: Have you ever played in a real casino?
Erik123: Yes of course I've done that many times.
Elite-Poker: Do you play poker for a living?
Erik123: Yes I do
Elite-Poker: Do you ever find it stressful?
Erik123: Yea but it's a good life but only as long as you're on top.
Elite-Poker: What's your favorite poker game?
Erik123: Limit texas holdem, heads up or shorthanded
Elite-Poker: Really? Most people seem to be jumping on the no-limit
bandwagon because of the WPT and WSOP shows.
Erik123: No, I like limit better. I'm better at it and there's more
action. I like that - I don't wanna sit and wait for big hands.
Elite-Poker: What poker players do you admire as great tournament
players?
Erik123: I dont know. Actually I think there are a lot more skilled
cashgame players that deserve a lot more attention than some of the top
tournament pros who can be losing cash game players. The top cashgame
players fight against the best players day in and day out where the top
tournament players face a lot of bad opponents in general.
Elite-Poker: Ok, so what cash game players do you most respect?
Erik123: I'm not sure I want to give out that.
Elite-Poker: What advice would you give a fledgling tournament poker
player?
Erik123: Play alot of small buy in tournaments and develop your own
style. Stay aggressive and if you're a good player see the flop often -
most people won't know how to play after the flop
Elite-Poker: What about when the limits get so high you don't get to play
many flops without someone going all in?
Erik123: Try to steal a lot of pots from the medium stacked players
without seeing the flop.
Elite-Poker: What are your interests outside of poker?
Erik123: I like to play golf and spend a lot of time with my girlfriend.
I have some business projects going which I can reveal pretty soon too.
Elite-Poker: Do you bet on golf? I know a lot of players love to gamble on it....
Erik123: No, I like to keep it non-betting.
Elite-Poker: Thank you very much for your time, and good luck in the rest
of the WCOOP!
Interview with WCOOP No Limit Holdem Champion Erik 123
Elite-Poker: Where are you from?
Erik123: Linköping , Sweden
Elite-Poker: How does it feel to outlast 1357 people to take
$101,850 with no deal made at the final table?
Erik123: It's a great feeling espeicially since the number of
participants are huge and that it was the biggest prize pool for
an online tournament so far.
Elite-Poker: Wow i didn't know that, amazing!
Erik123: The money is actually more secondary when you win a big
poker tournament.
Elite-Poker: Is it all about the glory and the pride then?
Erik123: Of course not, but lets just say I would rather win 102k
in a tourney then 102k in a cash game.
Elite-Poker: Did you have any particular game plan in mind at the
beginning of the tournament?
Erik123: Yea in the beginning I was gonna play a lot of hands to
try and break some weaker opponets in order to get a relative good
chip position with the least possible risk. You will always get
into opportunities to get another not so good opponents whole stack
early so I'm in some pots with not so good hands in this type of
"fast" moving tourney. I'd rather see many flops cheap and try to
outplay them on later streets early on.
Elite-Poker: Were there any hands you felt particularly nervous
about?
Erik123: I made a few calls that people said were bad calls.
Elite-Poker: Yeah the railbirds were going crazy a few times!
Erik123: One hand I called with A5 from the small blind when the BB
moved in. After I raised him I just thought I had the best hand and
that he was pulling something on me.
Elite-Poker: Yeah I saw that one.
Erik123: And I was wrong and that's it basically. I tried the whole
tourney to get into the top 3 spots so that's why I made the call too.
But when i think about it, I agree it was a very questionable call.
Elite-Poker: That's very honest of you
Erik123: There are not many hands that I'm actually more of a big
favorite against and many hands where I'm dead.
Elite-Poker: Do you recall a hand that was a turning point for you?
Erik123: When I caught the ace on the river with three people left!!
To bust out the 2nd chip holder
Elite-Poker: Oh i saw that one, you had AQ and he had something like
KJ with the top pair.
Erik123: Yea, right. I had just overcards and picked up nut flush draw
on the turn.
Elite-Poker: There were a lot of railbirds chatting when it was down
to the last two tables, mostly talking about you and to you. Did that
bother you a lot? How did you handle it?
Erik123: I'm used to having alot of people chatting with me but this
was extreme. I got really mad at a few times when the "haters" showed up.
Elite-Poker: Why do they hate you?
Erik123: No idea. Jealousy i guess. I can't tell from here. Even I can
make bad plays. I'm not more than human!
Elite-Poker: Were you listening to any music or watching anything on
TV during the tournament?
Erik123: Yea i was watching like 4 episodes of sopranos until there were
like 40 people left.
Elite-Poker: How did you get into tournament poker?
Erik123: Through internet sites.
Elite-Poker: Have you ever played in a real casino?
Erik123: Yes of course I've done that many times.
Elite-Poker: Do you play poker for a living?
Erik123: Yes I do
Elite-Poker: Do you ever find it stressful?
Erik123: Yea but it's a good life but only as long as you're on top.
Elite-Poker: What's your favorite poker game?
Erik123: Limit texas holdem, heads up or shorthanded
Elite-Poker: Really? Most people seem to be jumping on the no-limit
bandwagon because of the WPT and WSOP shows.
Erik123: No, I like limit better. I'm better at it and there's more
action. I like that - I don't wanna sit and wait for big hands.
Elite-Poker: What poker players do you admire as great tournament
players?
Erik123: I dont know. Actually I think there are a lot more skilled
cashgame players that deserve a lot more attention than some of the top
tournament pros who can be losing cash game players. The top cashgame
players fight against the best players day in and day out where the top
tournament players face a lot of bad opponents in general.
Elite-Poker: Ok, so what cash game players do you most respect?
Erik123: I'm not sure I want to give out that.
Elite-Poker: What advice would you give a fledgling tournament poker
player?
Erik123: Play alot of small buy in tournaments and develop your own
style. Stay aggressive and if you're a good player see the flop often -
most people won't know how to play after the flop
Elite-Poker: What about when the limits get so high you don't get to play
many flops without someone going all in?
Erik123: Try to steal a lot of pots from the medium stacked players
without seeing the flop.
Elite-Poker: What are your interests outside of poker?
Erik123: I like to play golf and spend a lot of time with my girlfriend.
I have some business projects going which I can reveal pretty soon too.
Elite-Poker: Do you bet on golf? I know a lot of players love to gamble on it....
Erik123: No, I like to keep it non-betting.
Elite-Poker: Thank you very much for your time, and good luck in the rest
of the WCOOP!
