The Scoop -- Huck Seed

Huck Seed prominently appeared on the poker scene when he won the World Series of Poker main event in 1996. He has won a total of $5,187,844 in tournaments, four World Series of Poker bracelets, and the 2009 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

Diego Cordovez: A lot of these younger guys who are coming along now have become no-limit heads-up specialists, which didn’t even exist when we started playing. It was almost impossible to find a heads-up game, so does that intrigue you? Do you like to play heads up on the Internet?

Huck Seed: Oh, definitely. It’s amazing how riveted I was when “Isildur1” played “Durrrr” [Tom Dwan] in their first big matches. Actually, the day that the World Series of Poker main-event final table was going on, Phil Ivey was at that table and I wanted to watch it, but I almost wasn’t able to do so, because I was more into watching Durrrr and Isildur1 battle over six tables.

DC: Really?

HS: I talked to a lot of people who got really fired up to play heads-up no-limit after those matches. There were some crazy, long sessions. Did you see any of that?

DC: No, I didn’t rail it. I read as much as I could about it, but I didn’t watch it live.

HS: Actually, after watching that, I played a lot more heads-up poker, on four or six tables. It motivated me to do that. Whoever thought that you would be able to play thousands of hands an hour? It is the most crazy action you could ask for.

DC: Is it a lot different for you in the sense that, as you said, when you are at the table with someone, you are getting inside his head and you know what he is doing. On the Internet, when multitabling [playing multiple tables simultaneously], it becomes a lot more mathematical, in the sense that you pick up on patterns and so forth.

HS: Well, I think that it’s the same thing; it’s just going at hyper-speed. Live, it is a different type of skill, because you see the person, and things are changing as you play.

DC: So, do you have the temptation to jump in with these guys and play big-stakes heads-up no-limit online?

HS: No. I mean, it is such a different game, and it goes so fast. I have been improving my online game, but I am not at the top level yet, I feel. I am not going to jump in there at the top until I have worked my way up.

DC: Some people would be surprised, because, obviously, you have accomplished an enormous amount in poker. You won the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship last year, and have been competitive in live games and in tournaments — not just tournaments, like some people. What are the things that even someone like you needs to work on to ascend the ranks in the online game?

HS: Well, I think that all of the old-school players like me need to come back and study again, because it has gotten so much more mathematical and analytical, and I have done some of that. For a while, I played sit-and-gos online, and I would look at those independent chip models and things about improving short-stack play — which are things that just come naturally to all of these young players.

DC: They know what the equities are in those situations, and so forth.

HS: They have a good feel for that.

DC: I think the debate has been tempered, but for a while, there was a debate in terms of online players versus live players. Do you feel that online players are way ahead in terms of shorthanded situations? Have the better players gravitated there because there is more money to be made?

HS: I don’t know if there is more money to be made online. I mean, they do play pretty big, but, obviously, online is more mathematical, so the more mathematical players are going gravitate to that.

DC: But you went to Cal Tech and were studying electrical engineering. In addition to all of your other skills, you do have a strong base in math.

HS: I do have a strong base, but I never really focused on or studied the math of poker. I just kind of had it internally; I always just had a feel for it.