Railbird name: Thebigeasy59
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Years Playing Poker: 5
Fav. game: Stud Hi/lo
Fav hand: 53dd
Fav Poker Site: FTP
PS ID: Thebigeasy59
FTP ID: plessis204
#1 Why did you chose your Railbird.com screen name?
It's a reference to how much of a golf fanatic I am. Ernie Els' nickname is The Big Easy, 59 is essentially the holy grail of golf scores.
#2 How would you define your style of play?
Depends upon the situation, game, chip stacks, etc. Online, I tend to start off pretty tight and wait for a hand to try and chip up, since people are generally really bad and will pay me off. If the table is fairly tight then I can be crazy loose. Live, I'm a raising machine. I have the most fun playing live and raising any two cards, whereas people online don't let you get away with that stuff.
#3 Poker Achievements?
- Grinding my way up via freerolls. I've never deposited in to any site, and have withdrawn $2000 lifetime.
- Simultaneous final tables in a $3.30 KO mtt and 180 man sng on
FTP was pretty neat.
#4 what brought you to join railbirds in the first place, and what keeps u here ?
I decided this past October that I was ready to give online poker another shot and told myself that I'm not depositing. I noticed rb's freerolls at
FTP and decided to sign up; I stay for the action and private tourneys, but having my own poker blog is pretty neat.
#5 Which pro would you like to face in a HU match and why?
If it's a standard NLH match for fun, drunk Gavin Smith is the winner solely for entertainment value. Everytime he is on tv I laugh hysterically. I really think he needs his own tv show (he has a radio show called poker road radio, hysterical). If it's a serious game, Negreanu, Layne Flack, or Lee Watkinson are all guys that I look up to.
#6 how have you improved your game...was it by lots of practice, was it by books you have read and if so, which books, was it by playing live ??
The Harrington on Holdem series helped quite a bit, but it was mostly playing, both live and online.
#7 Who are 5 players you look up to on railbirds and why? or Who do you think based on what you've seen or read, would you like to face heads up on railbirds?
I admire anybody who can play consistently enough to lead the tourney rankings. My goal is to be the winner of the real money ranking at the end of the year. I also admire those who put in the work and effort to maintain the clans that make railbirds what it is.
#8 How do you play differently in tournaments vs. cash games?
It varies on the game and whether it's fixed limit or not. I play a little bit more conservative in tourneys, simply because once you bust that's it. Cash games are spots where you lose a pot and just reload, so I can play pretty fearless in cash games. Limit games (stud especially) are a lot easier for me to make the correct reads so I'm not as passive.
#9 What would you consider a weakness in your game/ something you need to improve?
Too many to count. I don't think I have big gaping weaknesses, but instead little things that I can get away with in the lower limits, but keep me from making a move up to higher limits. Playing out of position with marginal hands at a crucial time is the big one. I also tend to not say enough is enough once I start running bad. If I'm playing well and get my money good, but still lose, I try to get it back, which leads to poor play. It's nothing for me to drop $50-100 over a day or two just because I took a couple suckouts close together, and decide that I'm playing well enough to get it back. Any time that happens, I've gone on a little run soon after once I catch a heater and win some races deep in tourneys. Long term
tilt I supposee. I think that's the difference between having a good bankroll and a great one.
#10 What are some typical "TELLS" that a online poker player gives?
I don't find that there are standard tells for everybody; it's more about patterns that you can associate with a given player. A lot of players don't mix up their play, i.e. never bluff or bet out their draws, always reraise with big pairs instead of trapping, etc. Once they get predictable, they may as well just write me a cheque and give me money, because I'm probably just going to embarrass them in the long run.
#11 How Has Railbirds.com helped your game play?
If I'm not on the golf course, odds are I'm in poker mode. Railbirds is one more way to think poker 24/7. Whether it comes to reading blogs or simply playing incredible amounts of poker, there's always something here. I learn something almost every time I'm here, and if I don't, I can help someone else learn, which is just as valuable to me.
#12 Best Moment in a trny ?
This might sound a little arrogant, but, when I get fairly deep in a tournament, sometimes I get the feeling that I'm not at all nervous or excited about winning, because I know for a 100% fact, I'm going to win, and that nobody else has a shot. The first tournament I ever won was a $2+r on
Absolute poker for $300. There were 250 or so players, and when there were 40 people left, I suddenly felt so at ease with the situation like a weight was lifted off my shoulders, and there was no doubt in my mind as to who was going to win. I knew exactly what was going to happen before it happened, like I could see in to the future. I knew Guy A was going to bluff off all his chips, I knew Guy B was going to move up and be the guy to be careful of, etc. It's tough to describe, and it's like nothing else in the world; I would compare it to athletes who get 'in a zone'. Any time I fall in to this zone is the best moment in a tournament, I know it's "over" before it's over.
#13 Most recent trny win?: (non railbird trny):
$2.25 holdem on
FTP for $122, early February. Had a few close calls in the FTP $1 and $2 rebuys, a stars $5.50 holdem and the
FTP daily double.#14 Who intrduced you to poker? I got serious about poker during my first year of university, where the boys in my dorm would play every once in a while (shout out to Stfx_newf and bert9974). Watching the wsop and other poker on tv just fueled the fire. The convenience of playing online was nice, and having one of the most addictive personalities in history doesn't hurt either.
#15 How does your strategy help in Freerolls provided by Railbirds.com?:
I don't play the freerolls anymore (even though that's where my
FTP bankroll started from). It may sound cocky, but I've built my bankroll up to the point where 1st in the freeroll doesn't even make it worth my time. I play every real money ranking tourney I can get my hands on though. I feel that for the most part, the players in the rb's games are pretty solid but too tight, and it's pretty easy to steal their blinds. Once my LAG image is established, I just have to be patient and I'm bound to get reraised while holding AA or KK.
#16 If their wasn't Poker, what would you be doing?
Let's fix this question... If it wasn't for golf what would you be doing? The answer is of course 4 tabling micro holdem cash games, which is just a fancy way of saying 'Canadian Winter'.
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