Tournament Trail Q and A Part I: Sami KelopuroSami Kelopuro Speaks about getting to the Big Time and how the Game has Changed |
|
One name widely known across the virtual world of poker belongs to a face which is less familiar in the live poker circuit. Sami Kelopuro should perhaps introduce himself as “LarsLuzak” when he sits down at a table – that is if he wants to send shivers down the backs of his opponents. The 21-year-old Finn has successfully sent many an online player broke, but other than cashing in the recent European Poker Tour San Remo in 12th place for $59,410, he is yet to take down or final table a major live event. Some say that cash is where the skill is, if that’s the truth, Kelopuro is one talented young man. But these days, poker success is largely rated on live titles and trophies, and the Finn appears more hungry than ever before to get one. In this two-part interview Kelopuro speaks to Card Player about how he began, his need for a challenge, giant swings, what lies in store, and the evolution of the game in general.
Rebecca McAdam: Can you give me a brief summary about your background and how you got into poker?
Sami Kelopuro: I’ve been playing poker for three and a half years. Some of my friends were playing and I was invited to some home games, and I got excited about the game, and shortly after that I started playing online. At the beginning I was playing a lot, I did nothing else but playing poker. But it’s so different now, I play like … not at all.
RM: How did you find eventually going from online to live?
SK: Actually at the beginning I was playing live more – the smaller tournaments in Helsinki and that kind of thing, but I mean I don’t think it’s that different, it’s the same game. The biggest difference is it’s so much slower to play live, it’s kind of boring, you only get like 20 or 30 hands per hour, you can get 10 times that online, but it has its good side as well, it’s a social thing, it’s nice, you’re able to talk to people. If you get a nice table it’s really nice sometimes.
RM: You’re pretty swingy aren’t you? Up and down on the high stakes.
SK: I’m pretty swingy yeah, that’s true.
RM: Are you doing well now?
SK: Eh, not really.
RM: I know that you were doin well in February, but before that you had dropped off the radar for a little bit.
SK: Yeah, I’m still down this year but it goes up and down, that’s the way it goes. I’ts no big deal.
RM: Do you think the game is changing or is that just the way it goes?
SK: Pretty much the game is dying. I mean there are no bad players anymore, everyons is a professional, and there shouldn’t be any losers, so that’s the problem at the moment. So, it’s been very very quiet this year.
RM: What kind of stakes and games do you prefer to play now?
SK: I play no-limit and PLO, that’s pretty much it. 500-1,000, I play lower sometimes but I usually stop whenever there’s a game.
RM: Is it a challenge for you to play against other really good high stakes players, or why do you do that?
SK: I mean I do that. I’ve been doing that for a long time. It’s a little bit about the challenge but it’s also the fact that there are no other games, except for the second highest game but that’s 20 times smaller so I don’t want to play that. So, I end up playing with Patrik Antonius and Phil Ivey – just there is no one else to play with at those stakes.
RM: Some people would say that that’s not where the money is to be made because you should be going after the fish. What you think?
SK: That’s true, but I’m not a grinder. I’ve never been.
RM: How did you make your way up the stakes then?
SK: Well the first six months I played really really small games. I started with like no money. I played 25-50c or 50c-$1, stuff like that. After six months I had a bank roll of about $1,000 or a little bit over, and I moved to another site which had higher tables, and I started taking big risks to move up. I took shots at higher levels and it worked out really well. I don’t know exactly what happened, but I was playing with better players, I was learning a better game, and that’s how I built my way up.
Check back tomorrow for Tournament Trail Q and A: Sami Kelopuro Part II.
Copyright © 2001-2024
CardPlayer.com. All rights reserved.
