Poker Interviews

If you follow the rankings of online players then you must know Russell Carson. Known online as rdcrsn and heyfreddy on Full Tilt Poker, this 25 year-old Canadian is dominating online tournament poker. He is currently ranked 4th on pocketfives.com and he has cashed in tournaments for over $1,903,402 and $400,000 of that in 2008 alone. Today he is sitting at The Round Table.

KL: Tell us a little background info on you.

Russ: I am originally from British Colombia just outside of Vancouver from a town named Powell River. I went to high school there and pretty much grew up there my entire life. I did live in England for five years. I went to a university, went to school there for about four years and then moved to Toronto afterwards. I currently have a girlfriend and her name is Sara. We are living in Toronto now actually and we will be moving to Fredericton in the next month.

KL: How did u get into poker?

Russ: I got into poker at my university mainly. We used to have little $10 games, $10 buy-in cash games but even growing up as a kid on sports trips and all that sort of thing we used to always have lots of card playing, small time gambling I guess. Gambling was always kind of in my nature.

KL: How many tournaments do you usually play a day?

Russ: If I put a full day in I probably play at least 40, I would say. I don’t know, I play quite a few and I don’t really track it.

KL: How much attention do you give to online rankings? Do you follow a lot of that stuff?

Russ: I definitely follow it; I think it kind of makes your profession a lot more fun if you are competing against people like that. Yeah I follow it, but I don’t take it too seriously. I am taking off next month, April to May, so I won’t be playing at all. If it did take it that seriously I don’t think I would be taking off that much time.

KL: Why are you taking off?

Russ: Just off to Africa, doing some volunteer work and visiting with a friend I have in Johannesburg and then the last week I am off to a tournament in the Mediterranean, Party Poker Million.

KL: Where do you mostly play?

Russ: Mainly PokerStars and Full Tilt because they have the most tournaments, but I play five or six different sites. I like PokerStars for the software.

KL: Are there any qualifications for you or something that stands out that makes you want to go play on a certain site? Or is there anything you think all sites should have?

Russ: I think all sites should have better software. I really like Party Poker , but the software is a joke and it totally freezes up my computer so that kind of always frustrates me. I like PokerStars the most for their tournaments, but I kind of like all the sites. I don’t have a bad feeling or a great feeling for any one I’d say.

KL: You have been very successful at tournaments online, why do you think that is?

Russ: I think I put my time in. I have been playing professionally now for over two years, about two and a half years. I have put a ton of hours in and I think I am very disciplined. I am able to sit down and plug 13-14 hour long shifts in. If you know what you are doing, you are going to constantly improve your game if you put the time in and obviously that’s a good thing.

KL: There are some different styles that a lot of the top online pros adapt, where do you think you fit in?

Russ: I think my base is definitely a tight aggressive game but I think I really adapt when I get a bit of a stack so I definitely have a few gears in my game now, which I have really improved on. If you were to strip my game down it is definitely built off of a tight approach.

KL: Are you playing any live?

Russ: I have probably played like eight events now. I like online better, though. I like the action more. I don’t mind live if I am playing for a big event, like a $10,000 event, obviously I will put the time in, but I don’t enjoy it nearly as much. I don’t have any desire to be touring from city to city playing live tournaments at all, that’s not what I want to do.