**Bird Feed #185 PRO Christoph Wolters**

Name: Christoph Wolters
Location: Schauenburg / Germany
Years Playing Poker: 15yrs
Favorite Game: Stud high cashgame / NLH Tourney
Favorite Hand:
Favorite Quote: " I am already pretty good in raising, just have my problems with showdowns " Marcel Luske

1. Was there a defining moment when you knew that you would become a professional poker player?

No, not really. I had a pretty good job as a Call Center Manager for an American Homeshopping Company. I am married and have 2 sons. So there wasn't a special time of decision and I never just played poker.

2. Do you enjoy poker more now, or before you became a pro?

I guess more in the beginning. I still love the game, but the beginning was more fascinating.

3. If you could give one piece of advice to a player considering going pro, what would it be?

Dont start it, if you never had a job before. Before you start, make yourself a plan with goals and control yourself.

I know very sucessful and talented poker players. When I saw them first about 10yrs ago in Vegas they had a very professional achievment. They came well rested to the tourneys, making sports and eating fruits during the tourneys. You didnt see them partying before a big event. After 10yrs they look 30yrs older. Sometimes they try to borrow the buy in for a tourney, after they won the event the day before. They spend more time at the crap tables than in the pokerrooms.

4. Do you continue to improve your game? If so, what do you do to improve?

Yes. I try to learn from everybody. You can learn even from the worst players as sometimes they make something successful, even if they dont know why. The interesting thing in Poker is, that there is not just one way to play the game. So you have to find your way. Everything you read or hear about poker, don't take it as "the way" to do it. Ask yourself if it makes sense for your style and the game you are in. For example, when I started playing poker the game in Germany was limit stud. I was a parttime blackjack dealer when poker came to my hometown casino. After the first day I recognized that the players had absolutely no idea what they were doing. A very wild game. So I quit the job ( was just partime to my mainjob ) as I was not allowed to play as a dealer, and bought my first poker book from slansky. After I understood the strategy and worked a little bit on a computer software, I jumped into the game. But it didn't work.

First it was a spreadlimit not a fixed limit game and second, I am sure slansky never saw a game like this! You cant raise for a free card against a player who just doesnt care about your board and calls you sometimes in showdown without beating it. So I found my own style and really bust the game in 2yrs. They never played poker in that casino again. After that success I thought I really understood the game and played in Vegas. It was a disaster. My style didnt work. After 3 weeks and learning from the players I started to beat the game there ( 20/40 and 40/80 with slansky (ty) at my table ). So coming back to Germany I thought I found the best way to play the game. What works in the Mirage must work in Germany. But again I was wrong.

5. What is your most memorable poker moment?

I played my first bigger Poker tourney. The buy in was way too high for my bankroll, but I was young and had a good feeling ( btw, this feeling also overcame me before the tourneys where I didnt finished in the money, lol). I did pretty good, I was lucky and focused and chipleader when it came down to the final 2 tables. Then I got a tough beat against a 2 outer. Mickey Finn, one of the most successful and experienced Tournament Players was observing my table, as a friend of his was playing next to me. He took me away from the table and said:" I dont know you, but I saw that you were playing pretty good. Take a short time out, dont let the beat take control of your game. You can still make it" I did what he said, and came in 2nd, making a deal with the winner. After I made the deal, I jumped into the stud tourney which was running for about 1.5hr and finished 4th. Then I had the best cash game week in Baden during theEeuropeanChampionship. I actually really dont know, if that would have happened the same way if Mickey wouldnt have given me that advice. Maybe I would blow away the chips after that beat. But I am sure, since then I never saw again a person doing the same Mickey did.

6. What is your most embarrassing poker moment?

I bubbled 3 days in a row at a tourney series in Austria, then decided not to play the 4th, the Main Event. Instead I took a share of my friend and very good tourney player, Eddy Scharf. He bubbled against a 2outer. I went upstairs into my hotel room to play an online tourney. 4500 Entrants. 450 in the money. I was in 12! chip position when 452 players were left. And didnt make it!!! It was the first time I saw a laptop flying from the 5th floor of a hotel.

Smiley_Chicky: I hope this was the last time that you had such a tough ending.

7. Besides playing poker, do you have other business interests?

Yes, btw. Every new player entering the Bonus Code " Deutschland " is getting 27% Rakeback besides the 100% up to 600$ first deposit bonus.

8. Do you think internet poker has affected poker as a game, or has it stayed the same for you?

Alot. So many talented Players (especially from Scandinavia) are playing. They maybe would never play the game w/o internet. The effect on the live games are also enormous. What I see a bit critical is the fact, that most of them seem to just have the target to play higher and higher. So many are making hundreds of thousand or even millions out of nothing. We all know the impressive stories about anette_15 or sbrugby. But always remember that there are thousands who didnt make it. There are players starting with a few hundred, making hundred of thousands. Always stepping up into the next higher level. And loose everything. Then they borrow money, start ageing. Making alot again and lose everything. And all that w/o cashing out. I am not sure what their target was. Playing the highest level or showing everybody how good they are. Actually think you are 20yrs old, never working for a dollar. Knowing u were already close to a millionaire, and searching for a job for 5$/hr to pay back the money you needed for your last comeback.

9. How do you feel about the increased number of women who play professional poker?

Not enough yet. What about you Stephanie?

10. Do you prefer tournament poker or cash games? Why? Can you give us a strategy tip for playing winning poker?

I prefer tournaments, as the decisons are changing more often (stacksize, avg stack, payout struct. , increasing limits etc ) and you play with a wide range of players. In a tourney you can have a player regular playing 1/2 $ next to one regular playing 1000/2000$.

11. Do you prefer live poker, or online? Why?

I like the mixture. But coming from live, my cashgame results live are much better. My online-tourney results are pretty good but i definitely have to work on my online-ring games. I often dont take it serious enough.

12. If there wasn't poker, what would you be doing?

I would still be in my old job.

13. What to you consider your greatest accomplishment?

No idea

14. What is your next goal that you wish to achieve?

I haven't played too many live tourneys in the past yrs, so nobody knows me really. I had some good results in bigger online tourneys. I want to play some bigger live events.

Smiley_Chicky: There was a hand in a recent railbird private game in which you min-raised pre-flop from late position, then folded to a 5X BB push from the BB. With what hands would you tend to make this play?

Wrong Question! lol. Its not the question of my hand, but the situation. (My hand was of course something real bad like 73 or so) Amazingly a discussion, started by an observer,was ongoing that I always just min-raised the blinds, but nobody really did something against it. They mucked or moved all-in if they had something. So my decision of how high my raise compares to the blinds and antes is, has nothing to do with math. It has something to do with; the player in the blinds, how aggresive the game is, my table image, my stack, the blinds stack, the stack of the agressive players behind me etc.

In this particular situation I had (maybe wrong) this impression:

I was the chipleader and the most aggressive player at the table, I was able to built up my stack w/o any showdowns, that means my cards were not important. The other players were extremely under pressure. Even if they call my min raise, they were close to pot committed. So it was the perfect situation for me. In this situation I definitely don't want to double somebody up plus loose some of my chips and my good chip position. In regular I raise higher if in the blinds are good and tricky players which want to play the flop.

Smiley_Chicky: Thank you for the explaination and the learning opportunity. I'm sure that it all makes a bit more sense to the others as well. (No wonder it felt like you were picking me) You'll have to watch out now that you told me your secret. LOL

Thanks again for your time. Hope your 2008 is healthy, happy and successful, on and off the felt.

Your're welcome. All the best for 2008!

Regards

Chris

Please extend a warm to Christoph, as he is now a member of Railbirds.

http://www.railbirds.com/rails/ChristophWolters/