AOL is sending twelve lucky winners to the
World Series of Poker 2007 in Las
Vegas this year. Were excited to have such fine players represent our team. AOL
games are running a series of winner interviews of our top players. Our poker studs
beat out tens of thousands of other players to get a shot at the
World Series of
Poker Championship. From the looks of it, Thomas seems a proper type. He's in commodities. The AOL games team needs as many intelligent people as it can get.
Thomas, you are under the AOL games spotlight
Thomas, what is your occupation? I am a Senior Commodities Accountant for a trading/shipping company. Louis Dreyfus Corporation is the name of the company.
Tell us about your family and who will be accompanying you to the WSOP? I am very close with my family, a lot of my best friends come from my family and I am going to Vegas with my brother Rob. My mother and father are very dear to me as they have been through a long travel of health issues. My other closest relatives are my brother Jon from Oregon, and my cousin Jeannette from Maryland.
What is it about poker that so engrossing for you? Poker is just pure entertainment for me. I love to play, and I try not to get wrapped into how much I'm winning or losing. I, of course, love to win though and I plan on winning the World Series of Poker. If you do not plan on winning then you are already missing step one in the process to becoming the World Series of Poker Champion. However, even if I won, I would never become a full-time professional player. I guess what I love the most about Poker is the many details and non-verbal (& sometimes verbal) communication that needs to be picked up in order to understand what is going on at a poker table.
Is there any advice you would give to the online poker playing public? Unless you are playing with someone elses money, than don't play for money (online or not) that you do not have or cannot afford to lose.
Do you watch poker on TV or read about it? I have read some about it, and I have watched a lot of the past World Series Poker main events. My favorite player is Daniel Negreanu.
Do you have a "lucky" items? I don't really have any lucky items except for my pool cue. My father bought me my 2 pool sticks and I cherish them. For Poker, I am more of a believer in staying away from bad luck then in having good luck.
If you win a huge prize, what will you do with the money? First and foremost, with the money that I win, I plan on taking care of my families needs. My mom currently has her house on the market, mostly because of financial reasons and she could really use a little cash. After taking care of the family, I really want to go back to school and I would like to have the financial capability to be able to go back without having to work so that I am able to fully concentrate on my studies. I have different ideas of what I want to study. Something in City Development/Planning with a smart-growth/environmentally-friendly philosophy engrained into the education or I could go for a Business/Law Degree with the idea of becoming a sports agent.
What did you do when you won your online tournament and found out you'd be going
to play in the live WSOP? First of all, I was ecstatic. I called all of my friends and family. A lot of them didn't realize what I was talking about and it took them awhile to fully understand what was going on. It was a pretty cool moment. Some of my friends from work were watching me online and they were calling me up and congratulating me, they were going just as crazy as I was.
Are you making any special preparations for the WSOP? To be honest, my work schedule has been hectic and other then a quick trip to Foxwoods to practice some, I haven't had any time to prepare or practice much. But, I still remain confident in my abilities.
What is your strategy for playing at the live WSOP? I really have nothing to lose at the WSOP, thats what makes me a risky opponent. I really am going to wing it and live on the edge, I guess that is what my plan is for the WSOP. I will probably make some unexpected moves intertwined with my steady patient manner.
Thanks Thomas, we hope you win for your family. Good luck!
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Thomas battled and played by the seat of his pants but was eliminated from the tournament. We caught up with him right after he left the tournament room.
What was it like to play in the Main Event at the World Series of Poker? I had a blast, I had nothing to lose, I was doing really well for a while, I got up to like 70k at one point. I played a little too aggressive, trying to increase my chip stack, wasnt observant enough. I had a couple bad beats, but my mistakes were in that I should have bet stronger when I had a good hand, and there was one hand that I chased that I shouldnt have and I lost. I will definitely keep poker, and will try to make it to next year's event on AOL too!
Did you have any big hands where you won a lot of money?I knocked out 2 people with bullets where I probably won about $10 k knocking out one and $20 knocking out another where they had a pair of 3s and jacks. I thought I played pretty decent for the most part, until I lost $70k total. One was not playing aggressive enough, one was chasing, and one was a bad beat.
What was your last hand?My last hand, I was the low stack at the table, and I went all in with 6s, but the guy had an over pair. At that time I had $20K ish and wanted to increase chip stack for the next day.
Could you have done anything differently? I want to say yes, I would play less aggressive after I reached such a high chip stack at 70k. But its also tough to say because I had the best hand but I doubted myself and lost....
