PokerWorks

He just recently came off of a final table at the $25,000 World Poker Tour Championship, finishing 4th. Christian Harder is a well respected online pro making a successful leap into the live poker foray.

Known online as charder30, he has racked up some major accomplishments online and live. In mid 2007 Christian won the Full Tilt Monday $1k for over $80,000 and then went on to win the UltimateBet $75,000 guarantee and has won the PokerStars $100 rebuy multiple times. Christian also has two 2nd place finishes in the Sunday $500 on Pokerstars, one of them just a day after his final table appearance at the Championship. Although he is only 21 years old Christian has already made 3 TV final table appearances and has tournament cashes over $2.7 million.


KL: How long have you been playing poker?

Christian: I have been playing home games since I was 16, and playing online since I was 18.

KL: How did you get into poker

Christian: I started playing poker after watching Chris Moneymaker on the WSOP and playing with friends.

KL: Where did you start, online or live?

Christian: I started online playing for play money and then put on $50 a bunch of times before picking it up. I was playing in small tourneys, but I would also play live in my friends basement, and then eventually at Turning Stone.

KL: What do you play?

Christian: I play high stakes tourneys online and live. I play mostly on PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker and sometimes on UltimateBet. I play tournaments from $50 to the highest they have. I travel to live $10,000 events mostly in Vegas and sometimes other places like Atlantic City, Foxwoods and Los Angeles. I decide to go based on the tournament and how I am feeling, along with the location. I also play sometimes in Europe.

KL: What do you think your greatest strength in the game is?

Christian: Being able to be patient and adapt to tables and players well. I think I’m very patient and know how to adapt, depending on the table you’re at, it’s imperative to change up your play. If you’re at a tough table with lots of chips, I know when to pick my spots, but if I’m at a table with weak/bad players I play a lot more aggressive. I also understand that in tourneys, especially live tourneys, you gotta be patient to win.

KL: What is your biggest weakness?

Christian: Tilting and getting frustrated. When playing online and running bad I used to throw away tourneys, but after realizing how stupid and terrible it was, I have gotten better, though it still happens once in a while.

KL: What do you do to prepare for a big tournament?

Christian: I try and get in a good mindset and play my A game. I just try and concentrate and listen to my music and relax and I think that helps me a lot, I don’t tilt and I play better in general.

KL: Tell me about WPT $25,000 Championship.

Christian: It was a little rocky in the beginning. I dropped down to 2/3 starting stack early in day 1 and finished the day with 66k (when we had 100k starting stacks.) After Day 1 it was smooth sailing though and I slowly chipped up. All in all it was a great experience, much different than EPT final tables. And, I’m not going to lie, I was nervous.

KL: Who was your toughest opponent at the final table?

Christian: Yevgeniy Timoshenko. He was very aggressive, fearless, tough and smart. He knows when to adjust.

KL: What have you done to celebrate?

Christian: Nothing yet, besides a little partying. I will buy a car sooner or later.

KL: What do you want to accomplish in your poker career?

Christian: I want to win a bracelet and a World Poker Tour tournament and be respected among my peers.

KL: How important is respect to you?

Christian: Being respected by my peers is pretty important. Having your peers think you’re very good is a good feeling and having respect from them will sometimes help you on the tables as well, meaning that they may play weaker and more straightforward with you.

KL: Who do you respect?

Christian: Online players would be Gboro780, shaundeeb, wwwBTHEREcom, oldschool043, zugwat, luckychewy, and ansky. Live would be Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Allen Cunningham, and JC Tran.

KL: What do you have coming up, online and live?

Christian: Online I am currently playing the FTOPS on Full Tilt and live I will be playing the World Series of Poker soon.