Forumite Focus - Doombadger

How did you get involved with the Betfair Forum?

Guess I just read it for a while, picked up some very useful advice and felt it was my duty to contribute!

Do you often play offline? If so where?

Not often. I played in Dublin at the Student Open a while back and in a few home games with mates. I’m not allowed to fleece the bro's anymore! I’ll probably get some practice in though before the BWCOP (Betfair World Championship of Poker).

Why did you take up poker in the first place? How long have you been playing and how long on Betfair Poker?

Played since I was a kid - Grandad would turn up with big bags of 10p coins - beat us, tell us what we did wrong, and then give us the money! The way poker should be! In Uni I played with the dudes on the 9th floor almost every night and it paid for my beer- no mean feat! Started online around couple of years back, lost a lot on the betting exchange so thought I’d give the poker a spin - ain’t looked back since!

An early learner! Which do you prefer: STTs, MTTs or ring games? And what stakes are you most likely to be found at?

Started on STTs but now it’s almost exclusively cash, HU (heads up) limit in particular. As for stakes well that depends what day it is. I start the week on shorthanded low limit ($1/2) to build a bit of a roll for the HU toward the end of the week- then withdraw the excess and start all over - well that’s the plan anyway! Tried to jump limits recently and got slapped back down! Maybe playing $5/10 HU limit blocked outta your face ain’t the best idea – there’s a subtle but distinct difference between calculated aggression and being a complete
muppet!

So you like your poker heads up. In an average week, how many hours of poker do you think you play?

No idea - probably far to much! Depends though. Sometimes I just need a break, so at a guess I’d say 40/50/60 hours a week.

How about the ladies? Do you have a partner, and how do they feel about the amount of time you dedicate to poker?

Single at the moment - have a kinda on/off thing with a girl back home (I try it on, she tells me to **** off). Nah it’s not that bad! Went 'steady' for ages, think the poker had something to do with the end of that - the forum were most supportive! Hey, there’s plenty of fish in the sea :p

Absolutely, in poker as in life. What is your biggest win on Betfair or anywhere else?

I’ve had a few £600/700+ weeks both on Betfair and another site. I don't have any illusions about being a big 'player'. Because I play cash you’re not gonna get the big MTT payouts, but I think it’s more important to grind out a consistent profit. Generally I aim for around £200/300 a week and that’s good enough for me.

Which players do you respect most at the poker tables? And which pro player do you rate the highest?

There are a few players I won’t play heads up, and they won't play me, because it usually ends in stalemate, or whoever's running the best wins. ‘Reactive’ is deadly on the STT's, and I wouldn’t like to be on a final table against ‘Pokerq’! ‘Strak’ is the only dude on the forum to ever beat me heads up so u gotta respect that! Apart from that I’ve a lot of respect for players like ‘Mavis’, ‘Dpommo’, ‘Hawko’, ‘Kpnutz’, ‘Dubai’, ‘Smart Money’ (tho I reckon he makes half of his results
Up - he NEVER loses! :p), really any player who consistently takes returns from high stakes games. As for pro’s - I like Jennifer Harman, she’s had a lot of health problems but still battles it out at the highest level- she took down a $1.7million cash pot!

That’s quite a list. What about lucky cards? Apart from the big pairs, are there any hands that seem to be lucky for you?

I like small pairs in late position. I also like 10 7 sooooooooooooooted- not really sure why tho!

Will you be trying to qualify for the WSOP or any other event through Betfair?

I'll definitely be giving it a go - maybe through the MPP route, I’ve been trying to practice on low stake MTT's - but I really don't have the patience!

What do you like most about Betfair poker?

Graphics are clean and there’s good incentives from time to time - but most of all I like the fishes!

How do you see poker evolving over the next 5 years?

A lot of people seem to think the bubble’s gonna burst- but I don't think so. Poker’s been around for donkeys years, and as long as people enjoy it they'll always want to play.

Which forumite would you most like to meet? Don’t be shy.

Looking forward to meeting everyone to be honest at the BWCOP, but if I had to pick it'd be the illustrious ‘Ms Q’!

Ever the ladies man! But on a more competitive note: which forumite would you most like to play heads up against?

I’ve played a quite a few HU matches against the dudes of the forum, but it’s really not a great place to go looking for them! Pretty solid bunch of players. If I had to pick I guess it would be Mandylou - he's got a bit of a reputation for being a rock and I’d like to see his reaction to me betting 72o :p (not that I 4 bet 72o- well not all the time!)

Lastly about yourself…what do you do for a living?

Just killing a bit of time really until MA in Journalism in September. My folks have a business and are always looking for me to help out, so usually I spend a couple of days a week at that.

Do you ever plan to make a living out of poker?

It kinda does make up a fair percentage of my income at the moment to be honest - but long term and for proper money – I don't know. Could prove extremely stressful indeed!

Is there anything else that you would like to add?

Yeah just like to give a big shout to all those on the forum! Mandylou,
Deejay, Mavis, Canaryboy, Strak (TUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNE!), Reactive, Bella, cheers for stickin up for me all those times! JPJ- has one of the best attitudes of any dude I’ve ever spoke to on or offline- makes Ghandi look like a drunken thug. Big up the Belfast Posse- Stevie P and Shaaboom. There’s loadsa others who have given great advice. Toshi's a legend. Can't mention them all. Anyone thinkin of postin on the forum go for it, its a great place. The photo’s naff but it’s the only 1 I could find of just me! Oh yea and BRING BACK HIGHSTACK!!!!!!!! (do I get the golden account now?!) :)