Mind Game

One afternoon this last week I carried a fella into the Star City Casino. He was in his late twenties, casually dressed in decent clobber and sat up front. Initially we travelled in relaxed silence listening to the radio broadcast of the cricket.

After a while we got into a general discussion on sports and he revealed that he was a big NFL fan, after making regular visits to the United States. ‘What takes you there’, I asked, ‘business or pleasure ?’. ‘Well, I go there to play poker’, he replied. For the last two years he's been a professional Texas Holdem poker player, with some decent wins.

Surprisingly he said that Los Angeles was were the real tournaments are. This was news to me as I’d always imagined Los Vegas to be the poker capital. ‘So how are you doing, making a wage yet ?’, I asked. ‘Yeah, I’m doing okay’, he said. ‘I’m ranked number four in Australia after winning the Aussie Millions last year at Crown Casino. I beat the World Series winner’. ‘Who, that Aussie guy from Melbourne ?’. ‘Yep, Joe Hachem’.

I was impressed and so quizzed my passenger on his profession. He divulged that he was a hot maths student at school, which helps considerably with playing poker. ‘What about memory’, I asked, ‘is a photographic memory required ?’. 'Not really’, he replied, ‘but more so a strong confidence in your intuition’. This was no surprise given he presented as a level-headed man with a quiet self-assuredness.

I wondered about emotional control and how it affected his game. ‘What about relationships and emotions’, I asked, ‘are you involved with a partner ?’. But he emphatically rejected this. ‘No, I couldn’t do that and be successful’, he said. ‘Women naturally make emotional demands which would just be a distraction to my playing. One day I’ll settle down with a partner but first I need to secure my financial future. When I do make that emotional commitment then I’ll quit pro poker and only play for fun’.

As we neared the Casino I asked him what the night held. ‘Just playing some poker before going to Melbourne for the tournament this Saturday’. ‘How long do you usually practise ?’. ‘Around six hours’, he said. ‘That way I have time to recover if I lose early’. ‘What about tournaments, do you employ any particular regime to survive a 16 hour session ?’. ‘Not really’, he said. ‘When you doing something you really enjoy, you’re totally absorbed and time stands still. But when it’s all over I crash big time’, he laughed.

My passenger was a pleasant and interesting conversationalist and great company. His name is Eric Assadourian and this weekend he commences defending his title in the 2007 Aussie Millions tournament at Crown Casino in Melbourne.

Check this blog report on a casual session played by Eric at Sydney's Star City Casino, a real mind game. Hit this link for his progress over the next two weeks. Go Eric.

Comments

[steph]

So he's single? Sweet. :P

[adrian]

Dream on Steph.