Poker topic: Lakerman Interview

After that I would sometimes see LakermaN on irc and any question as to what he was doing would usually be met with the same reply. He was living on his previous winnings, and getting some fresh air for a change, golf was his new passion. But one cannot live on passion alone, and at the end of 2002 his bank account had run dry. What to do, what to do? He made a decision, a decision which in the past 12 months has made him over $100'000. He became a professional online poker player.

As fate would have it LakermaN had by then moved to the same city as me (Gothenburg) and since I've been playing online poker for over 4 years I decided to ask him if I could visit, watch him play, and maybe pickup a few tricks since he apparently has a bag full of them. He was more than happy to grant my request and at the same time have a brief interview with me regarding his return to pro-gaming, or pro-gambling if you prefer.

What made you decide to start playing online poker instead of getting a normal job like everyone else?


I didn't really think of it like that. I just wanted to try it out and see if it was fun so I deposited $50, 1 week later I was +$1000. By then I knew I wanted to be doing this for a living.

Playing Poker
Which qualities would you say you possess which makes you so successfull both at Quake and at poker?
I guess you have to be somewhat smart to handle the tactics in Quake and the strategies in poker. Being able to handle stress is another quality that helps, you can't be making bad decisions when the stakes are high. Also I work hard at anything I want to succeed at, I've spent many hours on the quakeservers and many hours at the tables .
Did you ever try out Counter-Strike and incase then what do you think of it?


I tried it many years ago for a couple of days when I was sick and had nothing to do. Being an old quaker it was just too slow for my liking. I also prefer dueling over teamplay.
Do you ever miss the competition of major eSports events and does poker ever give you the same "kick"?


I do miss it a little bit since I love competing. Poker can definetly give you some nice adrenaline rushes as well. It's a great feeling when you play a big pot perfectly and maximize the profits. There are also some major tournaments in poker, both online and in real life. Just a couple of days ago a swede won $350'000 in an online event and the major tournaments all over the world have prizepools of almost $10'000'000. I've only been developing my cash game skills so far, eventually I might start working on my tournament game and then play some of those tourneys. Hopefully the competing there will be as much fun as it was in Quake.
What tips do you have to give to our readers incase any of them would like to follow in your footsteps?


Buy a couple of good books, Texas Hold'em for advanced players by David Sklansky is what most people start with, me included. After that you need to invest a lot of hours at the tables. It's important to remember that out of 100 people playing, 85% lose money. 10% break even or small winnings, 5% are regular winners. This is because the companies that provide the pokerrooms take about 5% per pot which is quite a lot in the long run. My most important advice would probably be to not play for money you can't afford to lose.