FINALLY.  Andy (Eurekakid) EXPOSED in this exclusive celeb interview…

This is part 1, where he has revealed personal info about his poker playing and lifestyle as a pro.

What is your poker story and what led you to full-ring over other variations of the game?
I got a free $10 at Absolute Poker through my friend Hui back in late 2004, was very skeptical before playing, even with free money. Promptly busted that of course; didn’t think much of it. Not long after that World Poker Tour came on TV and I got really into that. I started reading more and learning about poker. During that time played a ton of free money sit and go’s at Absolute Poker. I was doing pretty well in them, so obviously deposited some money and started playing micro stakes SNGs, made a little bit and cashed out because holidays were over.

Not long after that I got another free $20 at Bodog (thanks again Hui). Took it straight to $10nl full-ring and ran hot to begin with. Played there for months and months, slowly learned some things, read some books etc etc. Then for the next like 3 years I was very slowly working my way up the limits, also played a whole lot of sit and go’s, bonus whored my way around all the networks etc.

In late 2007, got really into 2+2 and improving my game and learned to mega-table. From that point on I’ve never really looked back.

Full-ring was just what I had always played; I just stuck with what I knew I guess. It wasn’t really a conscious decision at any point in time. Reading poker books when you are first starting that teach a kind of tight approach I guess lends itself to finding your way to full-ring.

Have you, or do you plan to play any other forms of poker than NL Holdem?
I’ve had brief periods of flirtation with Omaha/8, limit and pot limit cash games and pot limit sit and go’s. Other than that, I haven’t really many hours playing other games.
I still feel like I have a lot more to learn about no limit hold ‘em, and would be more likely to head down the path of more 6-max and heads-up type play than to learn a completely different game. It’s just such a huge sacrifice to take yourself out of your normal game and try and learn something that is very different.
How many hands do you think you have played lifetime? Give us a breakdown of the limits and how successful (by your standards) you think you have been at each.
I have absolutely no idea, other than to say millions of hands. I spent a lot of time early when I was playing non-thinking, bonus whore type poker at the micro limits, but I was never playing a lot of tables so my hand volume probably wasn’t as great as when I moved up to small limits. I just didn’t care to improve my game at that time, so I would say that period wasn’t a success and I regret that I didn’t use that time more efficiently.
Since then though, I would say my transition through the small limits up to mid-stakes has been very conservative by most people’s standards, but a success for me.

When you get up in the morning, what makes you want to play poker?
This is a pretty deep question and something I think about a lot. Deep down I think I have a passion for the game and solving the problems within it, but there are certainly times when I question whether I want to dedicate so much time to it in the future. So sometimes it can feel kind of like a means to an end and a grind trying to achieve whatever goals I’ve set out for myself, but other times I am purely driven by the thrill of playing.

What are your poker goals for 2009?
I blogged them at the start of the year, but I won’t repeat them because I’m failing miserably at a few of them. I’m not really too fussed with a lot of them, the most important thing is that I’m still enjoying playing poker and that playing a lot hasn’t gotten old. I’m no longer playing much on PokerStars so all my VPP related goals are obviously irrelevant. My aspirations of getting into PLO and playing tourneys have been put on hold also. Playing more 6-max and on non-US sites has been successful to an extent. Later in the year I’m looking forward to APPT Sydney and meeting a bunch of 2+2ers/friends I’ve made online there.

What is behind your screen name?
The Eureka Stockade is was a rebellion that took place in my home State (Victoria, Australia). Basically it was an uprising by gold miners against the government forcing them to have licences back in the gold rush. The Eureka flag (pictured in the header of my blog) bears the Southern Cross, a prominent set of stars visible in the Southern Hemisphere sky. Individual liberty and freedom is an interest of mine, so I’m sure that had something to do with my choice of name, as well as a sense of national pride I guess.

Are you climbing stakes these days?
I’m very conservative with my shot taking for the most part, but being a full-ring specialist I mean there isn’t really much to move up to. I really don’t see the point in playing much beyond the stakes I play unless I find tables with a few weak players and not many short stackers (they are few and far between these days).

How much time do you put into poker outside of playing, and what do you do?
It varies, but probably more than most that play the kind of hand volume I do, I would say. Sometimes it’s hard to give up playing time to study, but not being locked into a SNE chase or similar helps I guess. I try and do a hand review at least a few times a week, watch a bunch of videos as they are released and do a fair bit of chatting/discussion with other players about hands.

What are the major poker epiphanies you’ve had to get you to the point of solid, winning poker?
There are so many things that I’ve learned along the way and continue to learn and I have massive breakthroughs all the time. The funny thing about solid poker is that a lot of people are not actually setting out to play in a boring solid style. They want to play loose, they want to make fancy plays, they want to 3-bet a lot, whatever. I’ve slowly loosened up my game over time, but I think I’ve always set out to play pretty straight forward and go from there. Obviously, you can’t be completely ABC, but you really don’t need to mix things up as much as a lot of players do in order to beat micro/small stakes games.

I guess there is just lots of small things you come to realise over time, how important position is, people aren’t bluffing you as much as you think, table selection is really important, bankroll management is key, studying and improving all the time to stay ahead of the curve is crucial and a lot of other stuff.

It’s actually pretty funny to look back and think about my time at lower limits and my view of the regulars when I first started in those games. It’s pretty bizarre to think about how I used to sort of aspire to be as good as them and fear them a little. I think there is a lesson in that. When you think about your current limit, there is sure to be a player that gets the best of you or whatever and it’s really crucial to recognise the fact that, I constantly re-enforce to myself, ‘they are just a dude with a range’. With hard work, practice, patience and discipline you can beat just about anyone or at least not have them smack you around. I’m sure there a lot of people reading this who have had that feeling of intimidation, I’ve struggled with it in the past and still encounter it all the time.

How do you consider your game? Sum up your style of play. Are you a nit, a LAG/TAG. Why are you the player you are?
I would say that my full-ring game has linearly progressed from me being one of the biggest nits in the game to one of the looser TAG regulars at my stake these days. I guess my style of play is just a product of how I was introduced to the game. My basic goal in the beginning was not to lose much/win marginally and make money grinding bonuses and the best way to do that was playing really tight. When you aren’t very skilled post-flop, you instinctively tend to stay out of trouble by not playing many marginal hands and that’s what I did for a long time. When I actually started thinking, learning and improving the loosening up came naturally.

What do your friends and family think of your poker playing?
I imagine my parents were quietly worried initially, but I don’t think it took them long to realise I wasn’t maxing out credit cards to indulge in poker. I think they always knew I was very frugal when it came to money and that I had a good head on my shoulders, so they had no reason to be worried. I kept good grades up at University as well, so I’ve never really given them too much reason to think twice about it. My wonderful girlfriend has always been fine with it, apart from missing me when I’ve gone on poker trips. We were together before I got into poker, so it could have been an issue, but never has been.

As for my extended family I’m not sure how much of it they understand other than that I don’t have a gambling problem, I’ve been to Vegas/Macau a few times and I have a blog. Poker is just one of my many interests; I don’t really see that it should be define me in any way to anyone really. Same with my high school and Uni friends as well I guess. It’s not something I’ve really discussed with a lot of people. I don’t really care how I’m viewed and what people think of me in terms of my choice of hobbies.
These days a lot of my closest friends have either come from poker circles or gotten into the game themselves anyway. I’m happy that I can share experiences and relate to them well I suppose.

What kind of reactions do you get from people outside of poker when you tell them that you play? What are some of the funniest, ill-conceived, tilt inducing and fishiest responses that you get?
There are only two instances I’ve come across where someone has reacted like I have some sort of problem. No real surprises, they have both come from religious types. I guess the notable one was when someone asked my mum if I’m “still addicted to poker”. As we all know, there is absolutely no way to be passionate about playing cards for money unless you are 100% addicted to it and in need of a soul cleanse.
Most people I ever talk to about it are pretty open to it, they’ve seen it on TV or they play sometimes themselves. I get all the usual things like their poker/bad beat stories, tales of other people they know that play and the fishy stuff like can I double their $300 for them.

You have a strategy group known as ‘Life Fish’. Who is in it and what is it about?
It’s basically a private strategy discussion forum, mostly for full-ring. I asked a few regulars from the spectrum of poker sites to join. Some agreed to join and never got involved much, so they were culled. We are left with about 10 members now and at the moment there are about 4 or 5 of us who take it seriously. We might look to get more members in the future. Essentially, it is just a far better alternative for discussion of hands as opposed to a public forum.

What are the best and worst parts of being a poker player?
Winning and losing, of course (not really). The only bad part about poker I can come up with is how sedentary an activity it is. I could make a long list of things that are great about it. I really love that there is always something new to learn, there are always games going, there are always people that think they know more than they actually do, there are lots of cool/interesting people I’ve met playing (and now call my friends) and I guess one of the most satisfying things is that I’ve actually become a decent at it.

If you are having a really bad run, or a really good run, does this affect your day to day life outside poker?
Not really. I can’t really think of a time where I’ve lost any sleep over poker (which is more than can be said for the trials and tribulations of other passions of mine, such as my sports teams). Sure, if I’m going through a rough patch I might get a tad grumpy now and then, but nothing major.

Who’s your favourite famous pro?
I’m not really massive on following the tournament scene, TV poker or railing nose bleeds online. I’ll watch High Stakes Poker and occasionally some high stakes videos, but that’s about it. My favourite TV tournament pro would be Allen Cunningham. As someone who really quietly spoken myself, I can relate to the way he carries himself and he just comes off as a really humble nice guy. He seems to be pretty sick good a poker too.

In terms of an online cash hero, it has to be BalugaWhale. I’ve learned a lot from every single thing he’s written or recorded. He might not be one of the biggest names in high stakes, but he has a way of breaking down the game that really works for me.

————————————————————

Part 2…coming soon

here it is.

What’s the difference between people who pray at the poker table and people who pray in church??

People who pray at the poker table really mean it.

Great on so many levels!

I was talking to Harald on the internet yesterday afternoon and he invited me and Benny over to the place him and the other guys are staying at. We get a taxi out to the place they are renting, and its pretty balla. really nice inside with a sweet backyard and pool area. At the house I met in person for the first time Harald (Forza_Acroma), John (Zeenith/soapypapoose), Evan (gripsed.com), OJ (How2usechips), Mads (letsmuckem) Ian (?), and Nick. Evan, John, Ian and Nick were all from Toronto (i think) and the rest of the guys are from norway (i think).

I had played against Harald, John, Evan, Mads and OJ very regularly up until a few months ago when I changed networks, they were/are the old ongame regs and they are all extremely good. We had some beers and they put on a BBQ for us. Thank you very much for having us over, it was great to meet you all and hopefully we can do it all again next year. Anyway after dinner we headed into the Rio via another taxi and went to Voodoo, which is the nightclub on the roof. We attempted to get a table, but the only one they had left was like right next to the speakers, and I would have gone deaf in about 2 seconds had we sat there. We go outside and its a super mad view of the strip, there were a couple of fireworks going off cuz it was the 4th of july. We hang outside for a bit and take it all in, the club is packed. I go to the bathroom and there is a guy working in there at a big sink thing with heaps of cologne and stuff, so i put some on and tip him. Head back outside and we stay for a bit, not for too long though cuz it was $45 for 2 drinks.

On the way out of there Mads has this little thing that looks like a box of shoe polish. He explains to me that its chew tobacco, some really strong stuff that can only be bought in norway. So of course I have some and put it up under my lip how he showed me. It tastes pretty ordinary but i keep it there for a bit. About 2 minutes later I get really lightheaded and feel like ive just had about 10 shots. I spit it out. Fun fun.

We ship on out of there and 7 of us jump in a limo. We buy more champagne and drive around the strip. We go to a casino, no idea what one it is but there are beer pong tables. I have more drinks and start feeling pretty ordinary, so get some subway and feel much better. I meet a girl and chat to her and her husband for a bit and we have these weird shots which is guiness combined with some type of milk drink. Pretty bad. I am not very good at beer pong either. We are there for a few hours i spose but i really have no idea.

At some point all the guys get back together and someone suggests that we should go to the spearmint rhino (look it up). Somehow its light outside already..but inside its extremely dark. We sit down in a booth thingy and some girls come and talk to us. One thing leads to another and all of a sudden most of the guys have been kicked out or left, and its just me and i think Mads (i think) left. Then the girl starts saying I owe her $400 because she did a “dance” for me, whatever that means. Im like “nup I told ya before im not paying you anything”, then she gets the bouncers and I get dragged into a back room behind these curtains. Uh-oh. They start talking to me and telling me to pay up in a not very nice way. I have had about 48 drinks so I tell them not so politely that I wont be paying anything. They try and intimidate me, and it would have worked had I not been drunk. Ha. They threaten to get the cops, I say go ahead. The cops rock up, ask me a few questions, chuck me in handcuffs and we walk outside. The bright sun hurts raiderducks eyes. I get searched by the cops a bit and they ask me some other questions, they uncuff me and give me a red bit of paper which is my official life ban from the spearmint rhino.

I jump in a taxi and tell the taxi driver my story on the way home. For some reason I tip him about $70 for the $15 trip. I get home and go up to the room and there are cops in my room, im like WAT IS GOING ON. Benny was home and couldnt find his wallet, somehow it got in my pocket. I think he gave it to me cuz he didnt wanna be able to spend anything. So the cops in our room leave and I go to bed. When I wake up I discover i have lost my license, my bit of paper from the police detailing my life ban, and I have a cut on my head. I think either one of the bouncers punched me or I ran into a door or something. No idea.

I talk to benny and he gives me the details of how he got kicked out of the club just before I did, he forgot he gave his wallet to me and couldnt find it, so he thought either the girls in the club or one of the bouncers stole it. He said he made a big scene out the front of the club, and said to a mexican bouncer “Your type knows all about this stuff” (in regards to stealing). The bouncers chased him on bikes and benny kicked one of them off his bike and damaged the spokes. Somehow he avoided getting beaten to death. Benny outdid my $70 taxi tip by tipping his driver $200. Good form Benny.

Anyway to Harald, Mads etc - thankyou again for a very cool night and hopefully will catch you guys again soon for more epicness. PS my previous 2 blogs were written this morning after I came home, the first one is god knows what and the 2nd is my chat transcript with punchi.

ÌRÕN»MÅN - In Vegas says:
omg
blog coming
punchi says:
haha aiite
onli jus read it today
ÌRÕN»MÅN - In Vegas says:
OMFG
punchi says:
the older stuff
ÌRÕN»MÅN - In Vegas says:
just got home
got locked up
punchi says:
? home canberra?
locked up?
WWTF
mad
ÌRÕN»MÅN - In Vegas says:
HOLY CRAP

i got handcuffed
punchi says:
lol
wtffff
still smashed??
ÌRÕN»MÅN - In Vegas says:
yse

punchi says:
lol
ahahahah
mad shit
ÌRÕN»MÅN - In Vegas says:
gagve taxi $80 tip
punchi says:
lol wtf
balllaaa
whyd u get handcufrffed
lol
ÌRÕN»MÅN - In Vegas says:
cuz i didnt pay the chik at the stip club

ok,
lAST night me and benny go to forzas house. I end up getting locked up and getting bennts wallet. uep

Got up at the usual 4:30 pm and played the usual session online. At about 10pm me and Benny got a taxi into town and explored around the MGM, venetian and a couple of other little places, basically walking down the strip and having some drinks. Ate some pizza at about midnight for lunch at the venetian, it was greasy and slightly sickening. After walking around the maze we found the exit and decided to suss out a limo to take us for a drive.

We get in the Limo and turns out its only $65 per hour which is pretty sweet, we get the driver to take us to buy some champagne and pringles and eat them in the back seat. The driver offers to take us to sapphires which apparently is the biggest strip club in the world. We say we are not interested but the driver keeps pestering us. We say no again, then he says he will pay our cover charge for us and all we have to do is go in there for 10 mins. Apparently he gets $60 per person he brings there which I thought was pretty good. We go in there and there are lots of naked ppl. Hang about for a bit, some girls talk to us for a bit and there seems to be some kind of mysterious force that is about to cause money to magically float out of my wallet, so I grab benny and we bail out of there quick smart. drive around in the limo a bit more and then head home.

Yesterday we did pretty much our first non poker activity and hit the stratosphere for
the rides.

We had the buffet first which was pretty good. We headed up to the top and
got our tickets, unfortunately the ride called “the insanity” that was closed for me and Andy last year, was closed again for me and Benny. Anyway we went on the other 2 rides which were scarier than I remembered. Was good. After the rides we grabbed a drink and checked out the view of the strip and the rest of vegas. We briefly sussed out the poker room which brought back some bad memories of me wrongly folding a set (see vegas 08 blogs). They didnt have any 2/5 running so we decided to go downtown to fremont street to check out the golden nugget poker room. We got there about 10pm, had a quick walk around the shark/pool thing and the Actual golden nugget, then went into the poker room. They didnt have any 2/5 tables but the 1/2 game was uncapped so I bought in for my $600 I planned to use in the 2/5 game.

I ended up sitting next to Erin from new york, and we had a yarn about music and vegas etc while playing. Before I know it its 6:30am and we had been playing for almost 10 hours. Gawd. We go for a walk outside and the natural light hurts my eyes. We rock into a gift shop and i buy a las vegas brew mug and 2 las vegas pillows, and 2 see through hat thingys. We go back into the golden nugget for the breakfast buffet which was great. We go home and go to bed about 8:30am.

Get up at about 4:30pm or so, play a sess online then go to the bellagio. See Patrick antonius, Freddy Deeb and David Benyamine playing in Bobby’s room which was pretty sweet. The poker room is good, kinda cramped though. They have squished probably 30 tables in there when there is really only room for 25. Anyway the standard of the poker is rediculously good, which I discovered shortly into my session there. Yuck. Finished down a little bit and came back to the Gold Coast to write blogs.

1/2 NL Live at the Golden Nugget. its about 4am and I must have had at minimum 10 vodka and red bulls.

I had about 4 interesting hands in the session, first was a top 2 vs set, 2nd was AA vs AA All in pre flop for a $1600 pot, 3rd was where I folded QQ to a raise on the flop on an 8 high board. 4th hand was a set vs top trips. In amongst it somewhere was this hand -

So im having a great time, had been playing for about 4 hours and was up a couple hundred. A guy raises UTG to $7, gets one caller, and a middle aged asian lady raises to $15 (Reads on her - super tight, in the couple hours I had been playing with her she had shipped in twice, both with sets. She has probably raised pre flop 5 times, and this is the first time she had 3bet Pre flop, has a stack around $600 or more). Its folded to me and I have KK, I cold 4bet to $50. Original raiser folds and the action is back on her, she instantly makes it $200 to go. I say to the table that they should see what im about to fold, and I throw the Kings face up into the middle of the table. The Asian lady looks at me kinda confused and says “you called right?!”, and I said back to her “No…im folding”. She slaps the table with her hands in frustration and flips over her AA. Yay. Half of the guys at the table come and shake my hand and congratulate me and say it was the best fold they have ever seen, ha!

Well I made my WSOP debut in event 54. I was a little nervous before play started, but once I had played a few hands the nerves dissapeared and it just felt like another game. I didnt have many hands for the first 2 or so hours, in the 3rd level I sucked out on a hand for my tournament life with AQ vs KJ on a AK7J7 board. A few hands later i had another lucky hand, winning an all in with AQ vs KK when I rivered an Ace. All of a sudden I was up to 12k from my starting stack of 4.5k.

After the next break I went totally card dead, the hands I raised got 3bet, and my cbets failed and before I knew it I was down to about 5k with blinds 150/300. I picked up QQ and lost to AT, next hand shipped all in with 63s for my last few chips and busted out about 1100th out of 2800. It was a very gruelling 5 hours, and I think my lack of patience cost me a little. The standard of the field was decent, especially a few hours in. There were a few notables in the tournament, Phil hellmuth, Men Nguen, JC Tran, Antonio Esfandiari to name a few. Anyway I am glad to have played and now I can say I have officially been in the WSOP. I will probably enter the same event next year for a bit of fun too.

Stayed up late last night cuz I was chatting on the internets and the ppl I was chatting to wouldnt let me go (you know who you are). I did get to bed at a reasonable hour though, just as the sun was coming up. I woke up about 10am-ish and half listened to benny scuttle around the room. Ended up getting up about 2pm and we hit wall mart. I bought 2 massive things of Advil cause its the best stuff ever, and a toothbrush. yay. Benny bought some socks and an Ipod and a new mouse. We went to the gun section and played with some of them.

For some reason they dont have taxi’s from whatever suburb wall mart is in, so we had to get the customer service people to ring one for us. We had a good chat to the taxi driver on the way back, he told us they only get paid $2.65 an hour and apart from that all they get is tips! Pretty ordinary.

I headed to the Rio and decided that I will enter event 54 starting tommorow. I lost a bit of enthusiasm for it the other day, but im keen to play in my first WSOP tourney and now im a bit nervous about it. It was at least half an hour in line to register. Benny is also playing, it starts at midday tommorow. First goal is to make it through day 1! GL me. I played some cash games afterwards, didnt have much luck, now back at the room writing blogs before bed. Have to get up early tommorow (11am at latest) to get to the event in time.