The Round Table – James ‘P0KERPR0’ Campbell – Going Live
Campbell is one of the most respected online players. He has been ranked for several years
in tournament poker and has cashed for over $2,000,000. Now he is working on bringing his game to the forefront in live tournament poker. KL: What are your thoughts on online rankings websites? Do you think they are helpful?
James: I think they are definitely helpful. If you have ever sat with someone before you can look up their stats to see how they are playing, if this score is going to be a big score for them, and how that might affect their play a little. If someone has never made a final table in a big tournament before where the winner gets like $100,000 they are probably going to play tight and try to move up the money ladder because that money will mean a lot to them. You can kind of take advantage of them by three betting them or trying to bluff them off a hand.
KL: When did you realize you were becoming recognized and known online as a respected player?
James: It was probably a couple years ago at the World Series. I have my picture as my avatar on PokerStars and tons of people were coming up to me at the World Series and telling me that I was a nice guy and a great player online. I think that was the first time I started to realize it.
KL: Have you had to change your game because people know you are a good player?
James: Absolutely, especially lately where everyone is trying to get so aggressive. I have tightened up my game quite a bit and have started opening a few less hands because I feel like so many times people are going to make plays at me and reraise me a lot of times when they don’t necessarily have the best hand, or even a good hand but just because they think I am so aggressive and raising so much. I have been known as an aggressive player in the past.
KL: Why do you think you have been so successful at the game?
James: I put in the time to start, I don’t play as much as I used to but I really studied the game a lot when I first started playing and just kind of soaked it up and learned from other people by reading about different hands or watching videos at some of the different instructional sites. The biggest thing for a lot of players is bankroll management and I have done that over the years. I think that is one of my key successes. At this point I don’t really have to worry about catching a bad beat here or there. I know I have enough money to pay the bills so I don’t have anything to worry about.
KL: How did you determine, as you were moving up in poker, how much you wanted to leave into your account for your bankroll and how much you wanted to take off for enjoyment and bills?
James: Right, I mean it’s not so much of a big deal anymore but initially I would always take out a big portion, maybe like 75% of what I won and just have that to reap the rewards. You want to see the benefits and reap the rewards of you hard work. I would always take out a good portion of what I won and leave enough on there that you don’t have to worry. I think if you are playing multi-tables of $3-$6 to $5-$10 you could have $50,000 online and that’s enough. Anything extra I just take off because you don’t need it on there and you don’t want to have all that extra money. Sometimes if people see all that extra money in their account, they think they can play higher or just cause they think they have a little extra money, they think they can beat the higher stakes when that necessarily might not be the best move.
KL: So you have never made a big score and jumped into a bigger game?
James: Not really, when I do take the shots at the bigger games, like $25-$50, I always look at the game and make sure I will be ok in it and make sure I think I have some sort of edge in the game or I won’t play it. I have taken shots but nothing that would ever hurt me, hurt my bankroll or hurt my financial state at all. I have never really gone nuts and jumped in like the $200-$400 game or $300-$600 game on Full Tilt. I don’t see myself doing it.
KL: What do you have coming up the next year?
James: I will probably play a lot more live events. I have had some success this year so far. I won a tournament at Foxwoods early in January for $100,000 and I have cashed in a bunch of tournaments here and there since then. I will be traveling, definitely going to Aruba with Ultimate Bet at the beginning of October, it’s always a great time down there, and then Foxwoods in November and then probably be going somewhere just about every month. Make a trip somewhere and try to make that big breakthrough live score.
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Terrence Chan
Terrence Chan learned online poker from the inside out, formerly serving as Manager of Customer Support for PokerStars. He worked hard to foster a one-on-one attention to a customer when he or she had problems. His expertise now is still one-on-one, become extremely successful playing heads-up limit wherever he can find high stakes games. Jul 4, 2006
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