Alexander เว็บสล็อต 289 : I go back and forth between playing all the time and not playing at all. When I am in Seattle I will wake up, go for a jog, lift some weights, although not enough, get something to eat, and then I will play for usually about 6-10 hours. Sometimes to get over the monotony I hang out with my friends who are also professional poker players. I usually play the bigger MTT’s and a couple cash games, and then turn off the cash games as the MTT’s get more intense. When I bust out of everything I just 12-table cash, listen to my music, chill out. When I am really working hard I do about sixty hours a week, but often I will just fly somewhere and probably play maybe 10 hours a week, and just cash.
DT: You’ve experienced plenty of highs and lows in the past year in tournaments, with your numerous final tables in tourneys like the 200r, 100r, and Nightly Hundred Grand, along your deep runs in live tournaments, just falling short. With that said, what is it about tournaments that tend to polarize a player’s feeling toward them? What makes you still play them, despite the heartbreaking nature of them?
Alexander Fitzgerald: I would say that a lot of people, whether they like to admit it or not, play tournaments simply for the feeling of being at the top of the mountain at the end of the day. There is so much more money in cash games. That being said, I think a lot of people either love or hate tournaments because of the ridiculous amount of variance involved. I do not care who you are if we change 10 hands in any tournament player’s year we can almost certainly cut his results in half. It is that factor that drives anyone crazy. Everybody will win roughly half of their coinflips over their lifetime, but maybe 10 coinflips, suck-outs, or what have you might determine whether your ROI in live events is negative or positive by a wide margin over a five-year period. I continue to play them because I am in a financial agreement where it is no longer my own money in them, so it is a freeroll for me. They are the best chances you can have to turn a little amount of money into a lot. Furthermore, there are few things in my life that make me feel as alive as playing a large final table. Having finished 11th and 13th in two larger (live) Poker Stars events, my biggest regret first was of course not getting a chance at the big money, but a close second was how fun and intense it is to play with great players for so much money. That is pressure. That is intensity. That is where we separate the men from the boys, the ladies from the girls. That is what I live for.
DT: What’s the worst downswing you’ve encountered in playing poker, thus far? How did you deal with it?
Alexander Fitzgerald: The worst downswing I’ve ever had was last fall. I do not want to say a number, but it was a very significant portion of my roll. A large part of the reason for the downswing was my own immaturity. Instead of taking a well needed break and re-evaluating, moving down, discussing things with my poker friends, I just kept playing the biggest tournaments non-stop and heads-up cash. Eventually I ran through more than half of my bankroll and I finally decided to figure out what was going wrong. I decided to move into cash games because when you look at professional horse bettors, stock traders, or anyone else’s job that involves gambling they diversify their bets between the long shots and the steady money. When I was just playing tournaments I lacked that bread and butter game. Tournaments are so variance-ridden, I know of very successful players who have gone through $100,000 downswings. Having a game you can play on the side that is more consistent, like SNG’s or cash games, will really help you. I also re-evaluated my game and found some errors I was making late in MTTs, and after I did that I won a $100 MTT and took 2nd in a $100 rebuy within a 24 hour period. I just was so worn down I wasn’t even realizing how bad I was playing. If I had taken breaks and been honest with myself, and moved down, I could have avoided the whole mess.
DT: You sound like you’ve matured a lot since then as a poker player. How do you feel your mindset and game have changed over time, and where do you feel you’re at in your journey as a poker player right now?
Alexander Fitzgerald: When I was eighteen and started playing for a living I had no real idea what kind of swings you could go through, nor did I possess the emotional maturity to handle it. Over the years I think I have gotten better at accepting things as they come and trying to be calm during the lows and modest during the highs. I have also come to realize that winning a big tournament is a very special thing, and that I shouldn’t get down on myself if it doesn’t work out. I’d also like to think I’ve grown an appreciation for the fact that there is life outside of poker. Instead of just staying in my apartment all day addicted like I used to do I have traveled a lot, met a lot of people, and tried to expand my mind. I think I still have a lot to learn as far as the game goes, especially in cash games, but I would like to think I have laid the groundwork for success with a strong emotional and mental framework.
DT: Everyone has a certain hand that they remember, that sticks out in their head as one of their favorite or best hands, whether it be a great call or fold. This hand just stands out from the rest. What is that hand for you? What is your most memorable hand?
Alexander Fitzgerald: I want to tell you about when I was sixteen and in a home game I called a guy down with one pair on a scary board, and how at that point it kind of hit me that I could be a professional poker player, but to be honest with you every player remembers their biggest beat, and when you asked that question I thought of one hand in particular. Without going into too much detail Alex Brenes and what seemed like a thousand of his friends were cheering for a seven on the river, for 2nd place chips with 10 left in LAPT Rio De Janeiro. I had called him preflop with A-Q when he had A-7, and he had only three outs on the river. Since my name on Stars is Portuguese many of the locals took a liking to me there, so they were cheering for the queen; when the seven hit there was a brief pause and then the whole room seemed to collapse with Alex Brenes freaking out and jumping with his friends. It was the most numb I had ever felt in my life after a poker hand. They counted the chips a couple times and finally figured out I was out.
DT: How did you deal with that beat? You’ve gone deep in many live tournaments in the last year, including the APPT Manila last year, the Irish Poker Open this year, and the LAPT Rio, and have fallen just short. How have you dealt with this? Do you think it’s hurt your game, or empowered you?
Alexander Fitzgerald: I think it has been good for me, actually. Many guys my age are fortunate to win a big tournament early, and then they develop unrealistic expectations, and do not use the money wisely. Of course, I would love to have those issues with them, but I think I have a more realistic view of what a life in tournament poker entails because my first couple years weren’t all strawberries and champagne. I have learned to appreciate the fact that I was lucky to be in those exotic countries taking those beats, instead of serving in Iraq so I could get some kind of education, working as a security guard still, or what have you. Having to focus on the positive when you are faced with disappointment I believe makes you a stronger person, and I would like to think it has made me stronger.