Tournament Trail Q and A Part II -- Roland de Wolfe

As Roland de Wolfe heads into day 2 of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Polish Open as chip leader, he spoke to Card Player about televised events, online play, and honestly described the extreme swings of high stakes action.

Rebecca McAdam: Would you say the televised games are like sitting down in a live event, or for instance, would you play differently?

Roland de Wolfe: I think that sometimes people who are inexperienced on TV have difficulty adapting, and the structures aren’t very good, they’re pretty fast. So, yes up to a point it is different, but it is real, it’s a serious game and you’re playing for serious money, and sometimes you’re trying even harder on TV because things don’t look good for you if you’re messing around.

RM: If a player was going into their first televised event, what should they expect?

RW: You have to show your cards to the camera, you’re miked up, sometimes you’re in make-up. You’ll probably look like a walrus, because you can look about a stone heavier, you can’t swear — I’ve been caught out by that a couple of times, people are going to be seeing every hand, and people could be quite over-awed by the fact you’re on TV. As it was I just thrive on that sort of thing. But be prepared to be a little bit disorientated, it’s difficult to play well in, especially if you’re coming for the online arena because it’s one thing to reraise someone when you’re behind a computer, but actually to do it in front of a real top player ... Everyone feels different when they’re holding aces to when they’re holding an average hand, and it’s not always easy to hide that. The best players might pick up on that.

RM: Do you think that’s why you do so well in televised events?

RW: There’s not that many players so they are more about playing your hand and adapting to the structure, but they’re probably a little bit about intimidation. I can try and talk people into doing what I want them to do.

RM: Do you play much online still?

RW: Yeah I play a lot online. Some weeks, I play like 15 hours which isn’t a lot to some people but for me it’s quite lot. I sometimes play even 20 or 25 hours a week. I play a lot on Full Tilt.

RM: Cash or tournaments?

RW: I only play cash online. I play in some of the high games. My regular game is somewhere between 25/50 and 50/100 in no-limit, and in limit I play 200/400, 300/600, 500/1,000.

RM: How are you doing online?

RW: I think the last year and a half I’ve been winning, and before that I was losing. Because you’ve always got side bets going on and Chinese poker and so much other stuff, you’re always transferring money in and out, as I am in my Full Tilt account. I don’t actually keep a tally, so I think I’m winning but everyone kids themselves. I know that online doesn’t especially tailor itself well to my skill set, I’m essentially a live player, but I also know that it is really possible to make adjustments, so it’s not about the hands.

RM: What about live — I know that there was talk that you were down money, are you coming back from that, and how did you get there?

RW: Well, I don’t really want to go into it too much but they say down on money, I know I’ve got more money than say 98 percent of all poker players, in terms of actually getting your hands on, as well as a long list of people who owe me a hell of a lot of money. It’s not that much of a secret how much I’ve lost in other forms of betting but hopefully that is cleared in terms of table games, sports — I still do but I’m not that heavy but then the swings are just unbelievable. Every week for me, when you’re swinging so good it’s really hard to imagine — every day is like a five figure sterling swing, every week has the potential to be a couple of thousand either way. Some poker players have ten million in the bank, I don’t.

RM: Do you not worry about going bust then from such swings?

RW: Not really because I know that I can always earn money. I can always settle down and just grind out some money at poker, as well I can always get staked in anything I want. I’ve got things to fall back on, I’ve got my degree but I’ve also got all the sponsorships as well, and the freerolls and stuff.  It really isn’t a problem. It is possible I could go broke, just because I like to play on the edge, I like the adrenalin and I like to play higher than sometimes I should, because it’s nice to push yourself a little bit. If you don’t play higher in poker you don’t get better.

RM: Have you always been that way?

RW: A little bit. I always liked to push the edges of life a little bit. I’ve never been into drugs or anything like that but I was always the kid at school who always pushed the teacher a little bit further to see. Also, I’ll tell you one thing about poker, it’s good to tell people that you’re not doing great  because ... I think Barry Greenstein said it in his book — you don’t want to be seen to be winning that much because people will come and ask to borrow from you and people who owe you don’t pay  you back. So, it’s better for me always to not say I’ve got this or I’ve got that. I keep myself to myself, I keep my business personal. I don’t know where I’ll end up money-wise but I’ve been in a lot better situations, and I’ve been in a lot worse situations than I’m in now as well, and I’ll probably be in  a lot better and a lot worse situations again. It’s a fun life.

RM: What do you think your weaknesses and strengths are in poker?

RW: I think my weaknesses in poker are — my game selection isn’t amazing, and also my bankroll management isn’t great either. I always just want to push it and play a bit higher, and see what I can do. I’m quite easily distracted, I’m not the most focused I probably gamble a little bit too much, I can be impatient, sometimes I could make better lay downs in the game. People who say they are the complete player are wrong, you can always improve. I’m not under any illusions. I’m obviously good at certain things. I’m very good at the people side of things, and that can sometimes make up for technical deficiencies, but I actually think that I’m a lot better player than I was a couple of years ago, when I was technically not the strongest, but that was made up for by the fact that I was really fearless, knew how to put the pressure on, and was a good reader of other people.

RM: Are you going to play some Chinese poker while you’re in Warsaw?

RW: I don’t know, I’ll see what happens. Hopefully, I’ll have a deep run in the tournament and stay focused on that.

RM: Who are the players you most respect at the moment?

RW: I most respect Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius for all they’ve achieved in the game, and for their talent and success. I’m not just saying that because they’re friends of mine but they actually genuinely are pretty strong people as well as strong poker players.

RM: Where are you going next?

RW: I might go for a holiday. Obviously there’s always Vegas and Australia, but I’m thinking of swerving that and staying in Europe. I’ll probably swerve the Caribbean as well.

RM: Why?

RW: Oh, another long flight ... I can’t say that about the Caribbean because that would be nuts, but just another flight and whatever.

RM: If you could achieve just one more thing in poker, what would it be?

RW: I would like to be a consistent winner for a year in the highest cash games all over the world.

RM: Is that your goal?

RW: It’s not really a goal, it’s if I could. I’ve got so many goals in life. In poker I’m really hungry to do well, but I’m not going to let it take over my life.

Check out CardPlayer.com's live updates today to follow De Wolfe's action as day 2 of the EPT Polish Open unfolds.

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