Generation Next -- Rob Eckstut

It can be difficult to build a poker bankroll while attending high school. Girls, gas, and homework tend to get in the way, along with not having a job. But that didn't stop Rob Eckstut. He discovered that many online poker sites offer play-money tables, but they come with a downside: People don't fold … ever. But Eckstut took his time, played seriously, and eventually discovered that play-money chips could be sold for cold hard cash on eBay.

"Instead of study hall at school, I played play-money poker online," said Eckstut. "I made it my mission to get one million in play chips. Eventually, I did, and then sold them for $10. That was the start of my bankroll. Since then, I've never deposited money on any poker site, and it's an achievement I'm very proud of."

Eckstut gradually worked his small bankroll skyward with sit-and-gos, low-stakes tournaments, and 1¢-2¢ cash games. A $960 score in a $3 buy-in event led to a more flexible bankroll. Bored with tournaments, he turned his laser-beam focus toward cash games and never looked back. Currently, Eckstut is quite comfortable online at the $5-$10, $10-$20, and occasionally $25-$50 stakes, but he looks to play higher on the live poker circuit during upcoming World Poker Tour and World Series of Poker events.

Craig Tapscott: Your parents did not really approve of you playing poker when you began college.

Rob Eckstut: I went home at spring break and told my parents all about poker.

CT: First mistake.

RE: (Laughing) My mom was not thrilled, as she thought it was very destructive. She told me I couldn't play anymore. I still loved the game so much that I had to stay a part of it, so I started coaching people. It was 2005 and I charged $40 an hour. I had three students, and one has gone on to be a very successful high-stakes player. This started my coaching business. Since I couldn't play, I still wanted to talk about poker.

CT: You went on to develop what you call Bobbo's Bible from those lessons.

RE: Well, I noticed I was saying very similar things in each lesson, so rather than scrap them, I started being very meticulous with my lectures, pouring over them in detail and introducing quizzes to them. This information was the basis for my book.

CT: Were you ever able to play at home again?

RE: I decided to move and go to college in Marin, near San Francisco, and live with my dad. Then, it seemed I was coaching far more than I was playing. So, I made a stronger commitment to playing that summer, and began grinding in $2-$4 and $3-$6 cash games.

CT: What are some of the fundamentals you stress?

RE: The main thing I try to instill in students is to always have a reason for doing something. People call, raise, or fold so many times without knowing why. Too often from reading books and such, people understand what to do in certain situations, but there is a real disconnect with the why. For the students who come for a weekend workshop, the biggest thing is to articulate that thought, and if they can't explain what they are doing and why, they probably shouldn't be doing it.

CT: I watched some of your training videos. You're very articulate and detailed. Please share some pointers for deep-stack cash play, as many sites now allow a buy-in of more than 100 big blinds.

RE: It changes things somewhat, in that you can play a wider range of hands in position. You have to exploit the depth of the stacks with stack leveraging, as you can threaten an opponent's entire stack by risking only a small amount of your own.

Another thing is that the deeper your stack is, the less apt you should be to defend your blinds or play pots out of position. People tend to have a macho attitude about it, and they put people on wide ranges with possible steals from the button. Even if players should be stealing light from the button and are doing so, you have to let them at times, due to the game's structure.

CT: I'm curious, how much can a good $2-$4 or $3-$6 online player make in a year?

RE: It really depends on your motivation and general dedication to playing. But I would say that if you logged 80,000 hands a month, $200,000 is easily possible.