Interview with the legendary Stephen Giufre. . .
Stephen Giufre is a professional poker player from Huntington Beach, CA. He is like 25 or 26 or something. I am happy to present fans of the bubble blog with the following interview:
What would you be doing in life if you weren't an expert poker player?
Honestly Im pretty sure if I didnt end up a poker player thre is a pretty good chance I would be living on some distant relative's couch or something. I'm pretty brutal when it comes to sticking to a schedule, so any 9-5 job would basically be torture for me. I took a job as prop at the Bike (note: Bike = Bicycle Casino in Gardena, CA) about a year after I moved to California, hoping to put a little more structure in my life. About three weeks into it I got extrememly drunk one night and had to work early the next morning. I surprised myself by waking up, but on the way there it became clear that if I didnt pull over and find a bathroom it might get ugly. So I stoped in a random neighborhood on the way, and due to my hangover and bad sense of direction, it took me about 2 hours to find the highway again. When I did I turned around and went home. I havent been to the Bike since. Hopefully that explains why I wouldnt fuction that well without poker.
I once had a dream that some guy that I was playing a nl cash game with moved in on me, tabled his hand, and yet I couldn't stop myself from calling anyways even though I was beat. Do you ever have dreams like that, or that you have a 9 to 5 job or something?
I dont really dream about poker much anymore. I think its because I play mostly online and it does get the be fairly repetitive.
Can you remember an instance where you were on wild monkey tilt and literally just gave money away but couldn't help yourself? Like spite capping the turn and then betting the river anyways even though you knew there was a 100% you would get called. . . If yes, what was the hand?
Yes, very recently. I was playing heads up 150-300 VS Greenaple on Doyles Room. Im not the grestest heads up player but I felt like I had an edge. After jumping out to a 9k lead, i proceeded to lose every hand and go on a 21k downswing. The last hand I played I three bet some no pair no draw hand on the turn, and bet the river. He quickly called and took the money. A few seconds later one of the obsevers chimed in and accused me of money laundering. Greenapple then correctly told his it was not money laundering, he was just better than me and I was on tilt. I took that as my cue to quit and I cashed out the rest of my money that day.
Who has helped your game the most over the years?
The famous Jesse leather ass Martin. He convinced me to start playing online, and spent a lot of time teaching me how to not be a weak tight grinder. Matt S. has also helped me a lot.
Who is the best all around or most well-rounded degenerate that you know? and please explain why you picked that person. . .
This one is tough because most of my friends are pretty good at staying out of trouble with other gambling and stuff like that. However when it comes to super high around neutral EV gambling, I dont think there is anybody sicker than Matt S. AKA suitedaces. He is famous turning low stakes pools, fantasy leagues etc. into borderline problem gambling. He is also expert at finding decent spots in the pit games, where he has a better than average chance of beating them based strictly on the number of free coronas he can drink before going bust.
What's in your cd case and dvd player right now?
I havent bought a CD in ages. Im really not that into music, Im still sitting on that expert tip you gave me to download some David Bowie.
Care to share a classic "SteveG has no respect for money" story?
I probably shouldnt go into details on this one but during the Bellagio 15k event this year I remember hitting town with about 5k, and waking up with about 4 bucks, a wraper and headache. I did get unstuck in a bad stars game later that day though.
Any embarassing live poker stories?
Most of my embarassing live poker stories relate to this guy I used to travel with a few years ago. Ive seen him use mouthwash at the table and spit it on a another players foot, eat chinese food off the Taj Mahal floor, and sleep in his car because he was too stuck to spend 40 bucks on a hotel room. Being in his presense was embarasing enough, even though he is actually a good guy.
Which poker player do you dislike the most? No explanation needed.
AmazingGrace on stars, obviously.
If someone offered you a check for $500,000 tax-free right now to never play poker or gamble on anything ever again, would you take it?
See my answer to question one. If you added a zero to that figure i'd think about it.
If there were 3 cups in front of you and two of them had a marble under them, would you bet everything you own plus assets for a chance to double up to find a marble?
Cool question. I'd like to say yes but I dont think I could pull the trigger. Doubling my bankroll would be great, but it would be nothing compared to how miserable I would be if chose wrong. Im not sure how well I would handle going broke, hopefully Im never gonna have to find out.
What would you be doing in life if you weren't an expert poker player?
Honestly Im pretty sure if I didnt end up a poker player thre is a pretty good chance I would be living on some distant relative's couch or something. I'm pretty brutal when it comes to sticking to a schedule, so any 9-5 job would basically be torture for me. I took a job as prop at the Bike (note: Bike = Bicycle Casino in Gardena, CA) about a year after I moved to California, hoping to put a little more structure in my life. About three weeks into it I got extrememly drunk one night and had to work early the next morning. I surprised myself by waking up, but on the way there it became clear that if I didnt pull over and find a bathroom it might get ugly. So I stoped in a random neighborhood on the way, and due to my hangover and bad sense of direction, it took me about 2 hours to find the highway again. When I did I turned around and went home. I havent been to the Bike since. Hopefully that explains why I wouldnt fuction that well without poker.
I once had a dream that some guy that I was playing a nl cash game with moved in on me, tabled his hand, and yet I couldn't stop myself from calling anyways even though I was beat. Do you ever have dreams like that, or that you have a 9 to 5 job or something?
I dont really dream about poker much anymore. I think its because I play mostly online and it does get the be fairly repetitive.
Can you remember an instance where you were on wild monkey tilt and literally just gave money away but couldn't help yourself? Like spite capping the turn and then betting the river anyways even though you knew there was a 100% you would get called. . . If yes, what was the hand?
Yes, very recently. I was playing heads up 150-300 VS Greenaple on Doyles Room. Im not the grestest heads up player but I felt like I had an edge. After jumping out to a 9k lead, i proceeded to lose every hand and go on a 21k downswing. The last hand I played I three bet some no pair no draw hand on the turn, and bet the river. He quickly called and took the money. A few seconds later one of the obsevers chimed in and accused me of money laundering. Greenapple then correctly told his it was not money laundering, he was just better than me and I was on tilt. I took that as my cue to quit and I cashed out the rest of my money that day.
Who has helped your game the most over the years?
The famous Jesse leather ass Martin. He convinced me to start playing online, and spent a lot of time teaching me how to not be a weak tight grinder. Matt S. has also helped me a lot.
Who is the best all around or most well-rounded degenerate that you know? and please explain why you picked that person. . .
This one is tough because most of my friends are pretty good at staying out of trouble with other gambling and stuff like that. However when it comes to super high around neutral EV gambling, I dont think there is anybody sicker than Matt S. AKA suitedaces. He is famous turning low stakes pools, fantasy leagues etc. into borderline problem gambling. He is also expert at finding decent spots in the pit games, where he has a better than average chance of beating them based strictly on the number of free coronas he can drink before going bust.
What's in your cd case and dvd player right now?
I havent bought a CD in ages. Im really not that into music, Im still sitting on that expert tip you gave me to download some David Bowie.
Care to share a classic "SteveG has no respect for money" story?
I probably shouldnt go into details on this one but during the Bellagio 15k event this year I remember hitting town with about 5k, and waking up with about 4 bucks, a wraper and headache. I did get unstuck in a bad stars game later that day though.
Any embarassing live poker stories?
Most of my embarassing live poker stories relate to this guy I used to travel with a few years ago. Ive seen him use mouthwash at the table and spit it on a another players foot, eat chinese food off the Taj Mahal floor, and sleep in his car because he was too stuck to spend 40 bucks on a hotel room. Being in his presense was embarasing enough, even though he is actually a good guy.
Which poker player do you dislike the most? No explanation needed.
AmazingGrace on stars, obviously.
If someone offered you a check for $500,000 tax-free right now to never play poker or gamble on anything ever again, would you take it?
See my answer to question one. If you added a zero to that figure i'd think about it.
If there were 3 cups in front of you and two of them had a marble under them, would you bet everything you own plus assets for a chance to double up to find a marble?
Cool question. I'd like to say yes but I dont think I could pull the trigger. Doubling my bankroll would be great, but it would be nothing compared to how miserable I would be if chose wrong. Im not sure how well I would handle going broke, hopefully Im never gonna have to find out.
posted by G.P. at 10:06 PM
1 Comments:
Aaaaahhhh...that's my little cousin! :-) So glad I'm not the relative whose couch you would want to crash on!
Post a Comment
<< Home