Former Online Poker Star Using Experience On Virtual Felt Deep In World Series Of Poker Main EventSteve Gross Says He Might Open A Restaurant If He Wins Main Event |
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There were several poker superstars remaining in the 2015 WSOP main event as the field shrank to less than 50 on Monday, and one of them was former online poker pro Steve Gross.
The New Jersey native came into the day with less than the average stack, but it’s definitely not something that had him worried. In the online realm, Gross became accustomed to being deep in tournaments with less than 20 big blinds and knowing the optimal push-fold spots.
Gross accumulated more than $3 million in online poker winnings before Black Friday in April 2011. He won Card Player’s Online Player of the Year award in 2009, after back-to-back years of finishing runner-up. We had the chance to speak to him during a break in play on Monday to catch up on his poker career and what kind of edge he thinks he has in the main event.
Brian Pempus: How is your day 6 going so far?
Steve Gross: It’s been up and down. I was at the feature table and not much happened there. Then they moved me here. I don’t have the best seat in the world. I managed to get into a pot with Fedor [Holz] and lost some chips. So I was down some, and then I played with this guy Bradley and we battled. I was able to make some good calls and get back up to around where I started the day.
BP: What have you been up to lately since online poker hasn’t been available in the U.S.?
SG: I lived in New York City for the past year and a half. I did cooking school for awhile. I was doing other things because the last seven or eight years prior were all poker, all the time. It was good to do other stuff. I came back [to Las Vegas], and I am ready to grind again. I am ready to play.
BP: Have you gone back to online poker here in Nevada on the regulated site?
SG: Yeah, I played the online bracelet event, and I’d like to play more, but I don’t think there is much action on there now. If they got bigger buy-in tournaments and more people playing cash games I would love to play more there.
BP: Did you ever consider relocating to Canada or Mexico to continue playing online?
SG: I did that for a few months a couple of years ago. It was nice. I went to Vancouver for a few months, I went to Rosarito for a few months. I would just love for it to come back to the U.S.
BP: Do you feel like you are at the top of your game even though you stepped away for awhile?
SG: Yeah, I had been feeling real rusty when I was living in New York City, not playing so much. I did get into a few cash games out there. Now I have just been playing a whole lot, like every day this summer. If I busted a tournament, I’d go play in the sit-and-go room. By the end of the Series I felt like I was coming into form and playing well. I am happy to go deep here.
BP: Do you feel like all your online experience gives you a big edge deep in this main event?
SG: Yeah, you can’t put a price on that experience. You can’t teach experience. So being in these spots so many times before is huge. Also, when I first started playing live I didn’t understand the live game and I didn’t have the right game plan, the right amount of patience to play a 12-hour day in a tournament. I used to press things a little too much. Now I just wait for the game to come to me a little more. This comes with playing more live tournaments and coming to the Series every year.
BP: Some people panic when they get under 20 big blinds, but obviously with online having 20 big blinds deep in a tournament is quite a bit to work with. Can you talk about this difference?
SG: Yeah, definitely. I was always a proponent, back in the online days, of thinking you just don’t have to give up your tournament because you have eight or nine big blinds. You can go through the blinds and then double up with six big blinds, and then with the antes you are back up to 15 big blinds. Then you are right back in it. I would always let myself get a bit shorter than a lot of regulars back in the day, and I think that’s even truer live, even though there are big antes here. The structure is great, and some guys don’t call the correct push-fold ranges. I think you can find good spots, and you don’t have to gamble per se.
BP: Where are you at in the process with culinary school?
SG: I wanted to do the full year, real deal thing, but that ran through the summer. I would have missed the Series. So I did a night class for a few months at the French Culinary Institute in New York City. It was awesome. I learned a lot. I have been real lazy this summer with cooking because of poker. I’ve been eating bad (laughs) out here.
BP: If you have a really big score here in the main event do you plan on investing in something culinary-related, like opening a restaurant?
SG: Yeah, I have always had that pipe dream of owning a restaurant or bar and restaurant. My dad and brother are both in the industry, and they are always like ’don’t do it.’ There’s such a high failure rate, and it’s a lot of tough hours. It’s not as easy as it sounds, so they are always advising against it. But, you know, I think about it a lot. You miss the [shots] you don’t take, so I might. If I get first place, I might take a risk.
For more coverage from the summer series, visit the 2015 WSOP landing page, complete with a full schedule, news, player interviews and event recaps.
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