KL: How did you start playing poker?
Jared: I used to occasionally play with friends in home games in high school & college. Then I tore my Achilles tendon & didn't feel like going everywhere on crutches so I needed something to do while all my friends were out. I started up a play money account in the spring of 2005, did extremely well & decided to make a real money deposit. I deposited $50. I started at $1 & $2 SNG’s. I was making money but nothing much. Then I read some books and switched to cash games. That's when I really started doing well. I played mostly NL hold ‘em and some Omaha H/L. I went from site to site clearing deposit bonuses and probably played on about seven sites. Finally, in the fall of 2005 I switched back to SNG’s, except this time I played 5 max SNG’s since that is what I had been playing most recently in cash. When I switched sites I began playing 6 max SNGs, which are basically the same w/ 1 less player.
KL: What is your biggest poker accomplishment?
Jared: I rarely play MTT’s so I don't have any big tourney wins. That said, I guess I'd have to say that being ranked #1 on the sharkscope.com any game 5-6 seated leader board the last 2 years & having more total profit than anyone in any SNG’s since the beginning of 2007 would have to be my biggest poker accomplishment.
KL: How do you handle bankroll management?
Jared: I generally keep 100-200 buy-ins online. Since the high stakes games don't always fill well & I like to play at least 10-12 tables, I play a variety of buy-ins, so I generally just keep 100-200 buy-ins of my average stake. If you aren't playing for a living you can get away w/ having less than 100 but I like to keep at least 100 online because if I were to run bad & have to move down in stakes for a while it could be quite the hit to my hourly rate.
KL: Why not play more live?
Jared: I'm not a big fan of live poker. I find it kind of boring, especially since I'm so used to playing 10-12 tables online. There's not any big live cash games near where I live. I'm not a big fan of trying to travel the tournament circuit either. They're all very high buy-in, very high variance tournaments and you have all the travel expenses, being away from friends and family so much, etc. I also think my hourly rate is probably better or at comparable online in the long run. Even w/ a 100% ROI in the high buy-in tournaments I think I would still be able to make just as much online. I also like the freedom of playing online. With SNG’s, I'm able to play whenever I want. I can start & stop whenever. If friends call me & want to do something, I can be done playing in an hour. If I want to take 15 weeks vacation during the year & play some longer weeks during the year, I can do that. You don't have that freedom with live poker tournaments.
KL: What is the most you have won/lost?
Jared:
- Best day: $12,700
- Worst day: -$9,500
- Best week: $23,500
- Worst week: -$24K
- Best month: $72K
- Worst month: -$25K
Jared: I play mostly 6 man SNG’s anywhere from $52 to $1,100. It depends what's running and how profitable each game is. I generally play at least 10-12 tables at a time. I'm playing almost exclusively on Cake Poker now, with a little bit of PokerStars highest buy-n games mixed in. I'm also planning on starting to mix in some 10 man SNGs on Cake within the next few days.
KL: What is the biggest mistake you see amateurs making online?
Jared: Playing too many hands.
KL: Any splurges you have made from poker winnings?
Jared: I haven't really made any big splurges yet. I guess the biggest splurge I've made is my car (07 Chrysler 300). When my girlfriend graduates in September I'll be buying a house.
KL: What are your future poker goals?
Jared: It’s to make at least $450K from SNG’s and rakeback this year, make at least $100K from staking people in the next year, be the most profitable short-handed SNG player as long as that's still my main game, improve a lot at 10 man SNG’s & become very good at them, and eventually become a top cash game player (whenever I get sick of SNG’s).
Check out Jared’s blog at jhub3000.livejournal.com