This Poker Life: Karl "discomonkey" Fenton Part IITeam PKR Pro Discusses British Poker Buddies And Online TakeDown |
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Team PKR pro Karl Fenton is a 25-year-old living and studying in the UK and really coming into his own in the world of poker. _Card Player Europe chatted to “discomonkey” only days after his latest online win to find out more about him.
Check out part I of the interview to find out Fenton’s background and how he hit rock bottom. Here, in Part II, he discusses being part of a successful generation of British players and his latest win online…
RM: You had some good results in Vegas in 2010, this was obviously during the time you were turning things around. That must have been nice to return to Vegas and have something to show from it…
KF: Yeah, I went to Vegas nearly broke, I got backed by this guy in November ’09 and didn’t get paid from poker until June 2010, and I didn’t have a lot of money when I got backed. I am very privileged with the friends I have in poker though,
not necessarily huge names but winners, and they bailed me out when I needed it and never asked me for the money until I had it. The two people that I’m most grateful for their financial help were Andrew Cradock and James Sudworth (PKR pro). If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t have gone to Vegas.
RM: Would you also discuss hands and strategy with these people too, or was it just mainly with your coach?
KF: Yeah, not so much James, he has a busy life and plays cash whereas I play tournaments. I have a number of people I can post hands to and get answers; my coach is one of course, then there are players like Jon Spinks, Craig McCorkel, Chris Brammer, Alex Carter, Jamie Sykes, Ash Mason, Toby Lewis, and so on who will give me their thoughts if I post a hand. It’s so important to player development to get thoughts from these sorts of players, they are all very good and winners of hundreds of thousands, and they give you a different perspective based on their own style.
RM: If you all discuss hands, you must get a wide range of opinions or do you find that you come up with the “right way” to play certain hands?
KF: Exactly, or not even one right way, the MOST right way.
RM: And do you then find your group of friends would all have a similar style because you influence each other?
KF: I guess so yeah to some degree, we are all similar in age, we all started playing the game in the last three-to-six years I’d imagine, and we are as a rule all aggressive players, some more so than others, and there is a lot of creativity. All of the guys I mentioned and the others such as John Eames, Jack Ellwood, Jake Cody, and a ton of other guys from the UK scene are all highly intelligent people. It’s hard to mention everyone, the UK has a lot of very good, dangerous players now, and I’m in a fortunate position to be able to talk to a large percent of them and take in info on hands and knowledge they have on the game.
RM: When you come up against each other at events, you probably have a good idea of what they will do?
KF: Right, there is some definite levelling going on. It’s more fun to play the drunken cash games, the tournaments we are all trying to win and are likely to avoid each other if we can.
RM: You have just taken down the PokerStars Sunday 500, is that your biggest cash?
KF: Yes, when I was in Vegas last summer, I cashed the Venetian 1k for 45k, partied, flew back to see my sister get married, flew back two days later, busted the $1,500 six-max and then went home and chopped the 1k heads up for 60k, so in terms of one score, the 91k was the most, but I did have 100k in less than seven days during Vegas.
RM: The fields in these events, like the Pokerstars $500, are quite big, how do you get through them? What’s the recipe to success?
KF: 1,000 runners is not so big, it feels doable and to be honest when you’re playing the 100 rebuy, 500, Brawl, Mulligan ⎯ all of these have big money, you’re not trying to win one tournament, you’re trying to win one of 35 on a Sunday.
RM: Do you think if you can only afford to play one you shouldn’t be playing it?
KF: Definitely, unless you satellited, bank roll management is something not enough people do very well, me included, I’m better off being backed, for now at least.
RM: Are you more careful when someone else buys you in?
KF: Well yes, I feel I’m a pretty genuine guy, so I wont ever enter a tournament and waste his money, whereas my own I might just not be bothered and spew it off.
RM: Right. So, was the 500 tough?
KF: Yes, the toughest final table I have ever had without question.
RM: How so?
KF: The people. There was gboro who is widely renowned as one of the best in the world two to my left. He’s not super aggro, but very tough, gray 31 is a high stakes regular, oncommand who is also a high stakes regular and is super agro, hitthehole (Tom Middleton), jvbizz another high stakes regular, mement mori (Mickey Peterson), obvaments yet another high stakes reg, and a random I didn’t know. I had won a big flip on the final table bubble A-Q versus J-J, blind versus blind, so I was chip leader.
RM: Pressure…
KF: Very much so. I had had a 10-month stretch of not being paid by my backer and I wasn’t exactly flush with money with Vegas coming up and having a girlfriend in Florida I go and visit.
RM: So how did you play it?
KF: Well I was kind of tight at first, the 500 is an exceptional structure, so I was 80-90bb deep at the start and I had the other two big stacks in the small blind and big blind when I was on the hijack, and the two people to my left were quite short and capable of shoving light and correctly, so there weren’t many good spots to apply pressure. I waited a while and played good hands and took good spots and then two or three people busted and I had a tight image.
RM: Was the heads up quick?
KF: About 70 hands, we never discussed a deal at any point of the final. I have always been someone who performs better under intense pressure.
RM: Did you have anyone with you at this point – because when you win an online tourney sometimes the initial celebrations aren’t as good considering the circumstance!
KF: I was at my parents house after coming home from a pool tournament that ran over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning, there was some drinking involved and not much sleep. I went back to my parents, played the 16-hour session and at 9 a.m. my Dad is getting breakfast, he asks me how I’m doing, I told him I was heads up for 91k or 66k, he swore, laughed, shook his head and went into the kitchen to get breakfast.
RM: Madness!
KF: Yeah, I earned 2.5 times the yearly wage in the UK in seven hours.
RM: Are you going to be playing many live events now?
KF: Not in the immediate future, university deadlines are piling up.
RM: You obviously then don’t want to just play poker all your life…
KF: No, the plan is to be freelance in an area of advertising and marketing and do that when poker is boring or I need a break.
RM: Nice plan! Are you going to buy anything with your winnings by the way?
KF: Well I have been known for winning money, then spending it on crazy stuff. The first year I won 40k, I bought a 2k outfit from Dolce and Gabbana; $700 shirt, $700 trousers, $400 belt, $400 shoes. I grew a little, so now the shoes are my Dad’s, and the trousers need altering. This year in Vegas I won $100,000 in a week, I took all the guys out and spent $2,500 on drinks for everyone, and bought a $500 Armani hoodie, and $400 Gucci shoes. I love nice things!
RM: You planning your next shopping spree after your recent win then?
KF: My girlfriend is a good influence on me, she won’t let me buy ridiculous things.
RM: So no more shoes for your dad!
KF: Yeah exactly, not unless I win something huge!
RM: Diamond encrusted laces all the way then!
_Coming up soon, “discomonkey” discusses some key hands from this final table in Card Player Europe’s The Poker Play.
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