Thayer "THAY3R" Rasmussen just about needs a permit for the kind of killing he's been making playing poker recently. He's always been universally renowned as one of the most solid online players out there, but recently he's been aggressively tackling the major brick-and-mortar events, as well.
Rasmussen played in the
Mandalay Bay Poker Championship, which ran from late May to early June and wound down just as the
World Series of Poker lumbered in. He did quite well in the Mandalay Bay series by nearly anybody's reckoning, taking down a preliminary event and then finishing in fourth place in the championship event series, for a combined $164,000.
He then went on to cash three times in the
World Series before jumping back online to play in the quarterly $1,000 buy-in version of the PokerStars
Sunday Million just last week. He outlasted 1,478 other entrants to eventually finish in fourth place ($88,000). All said, he's earned well over $300,000 in tournaments, both live and online, in barely more than a month.
Card Player managed to stop the THAY3R steamroller for a quick interview during his break in the $5,000 shorthanded no-limit hold'em event at the
World Series at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. He gave us insight into his poker career, how his strategies differ between online and live play, and his chances in the Online Player of the Year race. All the while, players who were walking down the Rio's hallway jumped in to offer him well-wishes and handshakes. (He seems to be quite a popular guy.)
Shawn Patrick Green: You've been playing in a ton of live events, lately. Are you playing a lot less online, then, as a result?
Thayer "THAY3R" Rasmussen: I graduated from college in April, and since then I've been able to travel a lot and play live. So, I've been playing mainly just live for the summer. I've have been playing a little bit online, but mostly live. Since the
World Series started, I've basically been playing just at the
World Series every day, but on days like Sunday I'll still play online in all the big events.
SPG: Despite your increased attendance in live events, you've managed to score some big cashes online this summer. Most notably, you took fourth place in the quarterly $1,000 buy-in
Sunday Million tournament just last Sunday. What are your thoughts on that final table?
TR: I was kind of disappointed with the result. I mean, for most of the tournament I was the chip leader and I was taking over the table and was playing really well. And then I basically got shortstacked at the final table and got fourth place. I'm happy with the score, but I felt like there was a good chance that I could have gotten more.
SPG: As far as the players at the table, was it a relatively tough final table?
TR: Actually, yeah. Most of the player's I'd heard of before. Usually, the final tables have random people you don't know, maybe one pro, but most of these guys were familiar names.
SPG: You were definitely up against a stacked final table. I'm not sure if you read the recap I wrote for the tournament, but that was actually the headline [click
here to read that recap]. To even get fourth place there was pretty good.
TR: The person who won, mlagoo [Matt LaGarde], he's a good friend of mine. We've stayed together on trips and stuff, and I was watching and rooting him on. He's a really good player.
SPG: Do you do anything differently, that you notice, when you play online versus live?
TR: I think online you have to be a little bit tighter. You can't be as aggressive or be involved in as many pots. When you play live, you can read players better and get a feel for the table a lot more easily. You can put opponents on hands a lot more easily, too. Online you kind of have to play a little more straightforwardly. You can still be tricky against people that you know, but, in general, you still kind of have to play regular, tight poker.
SPG: You had an awesome run at the
Mandalay Bay Poker Championship that took place just before the
World Series. How did that feel, knowing that the
World Series was right around the corner?
TR: If felt really good. The
Mandalay Bay had a really good structure and it was full of really good, famous players, so to do really well in it gave me a lot of confidence. I felt like I could play with all of the better players, and it made me really confident for the
World Series.
SPG: You've cashed in three
World Series events so far [see his results
here], but you haven't yet made a final table. Are you disappointed with the way things are going, or are you happy with your run, thus far?
TR: I've had three cashes, but I'm down a good amount for the
World Series. So that's disappointing, but it's just unlucky. I've been in good shape in a bunch of tourneys and on track to make a good score, but it just hasn't worked out.
SPG: But you're happy with your play?
TR: I'm fine with my play, but the results haven't come yet. But that's what happens in poker, and I can't complain after the last month I've had.
SPG: You're currently 26th in the Online Player of the Year standings. How attainable do you think the top spot is from your current position? Do you have a game plan for getting there?
TR: I may get top 10 by the end of the year, but I know
Imper1um [Sorel Mizzi] is way ahead;
P0KERPR0 [James Campbell] is up there, too. There're a lot of people with really big scores and I'm way behind, and if I'm going to be playing live a lot it will be hard. But
Card Player only counts the major tourneys for points, and those are what I still play all of the time anyway, so it's definitely possible.
SPG: How do you manage your poker winnings?
TR: I do a lot of investing. I plan on buying a house or condo, probably out here [Las Vegas], at the end of the
Series. But I do pretty well with my investing. I've put quite a bit into stocks.
SPG: About how much from a big win would you put back into your poker bankroll, as opposed to investing?
TR: I try to keep a decent amount of money in poker. There's not really a set rule that I have, but if I have a big score I'll try to take a bunch offline [for investments], because before the big score I had plenty enough money to play in the big events, anyway.
SPG: And how much do you allocate to just pissing away and having fun or anything like that? Or don't you?
TR: I don't do it that much. I mean, probably not more than your normal poker player, but I'll have fun every now and then.
SPG: What got you interested in poker, initially?
TR: I started playing in college with friends. My roommate and I would play for dish duty and things like that and then my friends started running a home game. I played there and I really liked it, so I started studying and reading up about it a lot and I got really interested and started playing a ton.
SPG: What kind of role do you ultimately see poker taking in your life?
TR: I think it will definitely be a big part of my life, especially early on. But it will always be
a part of my life. For instance, I could see myself always playing in the
World Series. But right now I play so much online and things like that, and I might not be into that kind of stuff as much later.
SPG: I know you've got to head back to the tournament, now. Thanks for taking the time for this interview, and good luck!
TR: Thanks.
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