Generation Next -- Marc Gork

Marc Gork is not another 22-year-old claiming he wants to be the best or is the best, but in many ways, that makes him more dangerous. Gork became known as “that German guy” who read poetry throughout European Poker Tour Dortmund last season and finished in third place for €307,000. Originally from Berlin he currently lives in Chemnitz and often hops from country to country playing poker and entertaining those around him with his quirky personality and style. The smiling up-and-comer is not to be messed with however, as with another third place under his belt, this time in the Sunday Million for $116,000, he’s now on the hunt for gold.

Rebecca McAdam: How did you get into poker?

Marc Gork: I think I got into poker like most of the players of the younger generation. Five or six years ago, German sports television started to show poker games. I found it quite interesting so I registered and played some play-money games. I played $10-$20 limit hold’em for a while, I didn’t even know that there was a no-limit version of the game.

When I turned 18 I was interested in sports betting. I didn’t have lots of success with that, so I thought about playing poker for real money. I made some deposits but I never won money. Sometimes I doubled up my $50 but one day later I would lose and deposit again. After doing this a few times I started thinking about what was going wrong. I started to read about strategy in poker and became better. After one year my friends also discovered their interest in poker and within the following months I had my first live poker experiences.

RM: How would you describe your game?

MG: I would describe my game as very experimental. I’m not one of these I-play-like-the-book-says guys. I’m sure that it would be better in some situations, but poker is a fun thing for me. I don’t want to “work” poker, I want to “play” it. I’m not specialised in a specific type of poker. I can play cash games, tournaments, from Texas hold’em and Omaha to badugi and crazy pineapple. Whatever the game, I am able to beat most of my opponents. I’m not one of the very best and I don’t have the ambition to be one of them. I think this attitude makes my game very dangerous and incalculable. I would say that I’m more of a psychological player with some problems in mathematics.

RM: You have been known to read at the table – why do you do this?

MG: This book-reading image is so funny. I read Heinrich Heine at the EPT main event in Dortmund because I just had one week left to prepare for a task in my studies. That’s the only reason. I’m neither very interested in German literature nor in reading at all. In Dortmund I made third place and lots of money, but every week anywhere there is a big tournament which always has a winner. So who is interested in a third-place guy? Nobody. Think about it — do you know who came third in EPT London last year? Or in EPT Barcelona? But in Dortmund, ah, of course, the book reading guy. And that’s the good part. Everybody knows me, maybe not my name, but everybody knows the “poetry boy”. I’m kind of prominent, a little VIP on the European poker scene. That’s cool.

RM: How come you played an event in a dressing gown and a fur hat?

MG: That happened not too long ago in Prague. I played the main event of the EPT and I started as the chip leader going into day two. The tournament took place in the Hilton Hotel where you get a bathrobe in your room. The new starting time for EPTs is 12, so I set the alarm for 11 but when I woke up my clock showed 11.50! No time for shower, no time for breakfast. I just kissed my toothbrush really quick, put on my bathrobe and my fur hat, which already decorated my head on day one, and went to the convention centre. In the first break I went back to my room and changed my clothes. That was not a good decision I think. After building my stack up to 200,000 in the bathrobe-levels, I started losing all of my chips with K-K versus 7-7 and J-J versus T-T situations and didn’t even reach the money.

RM: Do you prefer online or live, and why?

MG: I think there are pros and cons for both ways of playing poker. A friend of mine told me after he had been in Vegas for the first time that every single table he played was the worst table he ever played. In live games the players are much worse than in online games. You can win more money in live games, but they take much more time and for many players that’s the reason why they prefer to play online. There is tougher competition in online poker but these guys can beat the games with their mathematics. Like I already said I am not the number one in poker mathematics, so I prefer live games. Another very nice part of live poker is most poker rooms don’t have a maximum buy-in. So you can play with very bad players for a lot of money.

RM: How is poker in Germany?

MG: Poker in Germany is a very difficult thing. There are no laws for online poker, nobody knows whether it’s legal or not. Casinos and poker rooms have to get a license for offering poker games, and I think they are really hard to get. So there are just a few casinos that offer live poker. The problem in online poker is nobody can tell which law comes in to force — the law of the player’s country (Germany), or the law of the country in which the site has its domicile? And who gets the taxes if a German player who plays in the USA wins some money from a Swedish player on a poker site from Gibraltar? What happens to a German player who wins $1 million in a poker tournament in the Bahamas? Is he a professional player who “works” poker or is it just gambling like roulette? Nobody knows it here in Germany.

There are problems with tax offices from time to time. Poker players are forced to pay taxes but nobody will pay them until there’s a clear law. Apart from these problems, poker in Germany is very big. There is a large poker community and a lot of young players with huge potential are coming up. So look around at your poker table and if there is a German player there, you would be doing well if you just stood up and saved your money (laughs).

RM: Is there anything in particular you would really like to win?

MG: I would love to win an EPT. A WSOP bracelet would be really nice too, and if I can win a WPT title I would be happy (laughs). And I really want to win the Sunday Million on PokerStars, that would be great. There are too many things a player can win in his career. I think it’s even more important not to lose some things which could be worth more money — fun at the game or friends. There are more important things in life than poker. But an EPT title would be great.

RM: If someone was starting out on the international poker scene, what advice would you give them?

MG: Have fun, don’t be too serious, be thrifty and focused, and don’t wonder when a crazy German guy, wearing a bathrobe, sits down at your table and raises every hand. The poker world is a very, very, rich and lavish world. Try to keep your feet on the ground and be happy if you find a dollar on the street. Know your friends. And even more important — know who’s not your friend.