VIP Featured Player

Fraser 'ThePyschic' Elphick

'ThePyschic' has been a member of the VIP Club for a good few months now and been a regular at our €1/€2 tables over the last year. He has just returned from joining the VIP Team in Killarney for the second year running, so read on and watch the video to see how he got on.

Previous Featured VIPs:

Thomas 'r0lfus' Rolfe
'WhyRuSmiling
Simran 'D33pincider' Mahon
'appleb1te'
Martin 'Michelin' StÃlros
Timo 'Viljam' Vuorento
Lloyd 'rubberducky' Rees
Tim 'boomer797' Falla
Alex 'Alexdb' Bowler

1. What advice could you give to other players wanting to take the jump from part-time player to a pro?

Honestly, don’t do it. Obviously I’m kidding, well kind of. Games are much tougher these days so make sure you really are a winning player over a large sample size. I don’t recommend quitting your job after having a massive winning month. You are probably just running good. In my experience that isn’t how most pros become pros though. As a fellow degenerate I can say that I play poker because I hate the idea of doing a 9-5 job. I love the freedom it gives me to be my own boss and decide if I want to work or not and the hours I want to do. Most people find themselves playing poker and go broke several times until one day you find that you are making a living at it. Ask yourself these questions, do you have a job? And how do you pay the bills? If the answers are no and poker then you are already a pro poker player. The biggest tip I could give someone is that you need to treat it like a job. Don’t expect it to always be fun. In fact if you treat it as such you will probably find yourself in some spots that are obviously dumb. You can no longer treat it like a home game where you want to bluff your mates just so you can show them to wind them up. Or be making mad calls without the odds just to hit that miracle card. Every decision needs to be reasoned. It’s ok to come to the wrong conclusion and make a bad play now and again but as long as you can honestly say your play had merit and was justified in that particular spot.

2. How do you manage your bankroll?

As a multi-table player who usually plays 8-10 tables at a time I think it’s important to be conservative with my roll. Playing with 100 buy ins or more is important. I don’t think of my roll however as just the money I have in my poker account. In truth as a pro your entire worth is your roll whether that’s money in savings or assets. I’m lucky though as in life I currently have no proper responsibilities. If I went broke tomorrow I’m sure I’d be fine. Just have to get a “proper” job so for the moment 100 buy ins to 150 buy ins is my comfort zone. But in the next few years I’d like to increase that upward to 200 to 250 as the responsibilities that come with getting older increase. Please don’t be playing with your kid’s inheritance, pawning your wedding ring or remortgaging your house to play guys. Unless, of course you’re a fish and are at my tables. I know that’s wrong but someone has to take your money so it might as well be me.

3. How do you cope when you have a losing month/streak?

That can be tough. It really depends on the reason. The first thing I do is assess my play and my mentality. If I feel I’m playing well but just running bad then I will step down in limits. If I’m on tilt ill take a break from it for a few days. Or if I’m on mega tilt i’ll even take the month off. Poker is such a mental game with many decisions that have such a fine line between being profitable and terrible loosing plays so if you’re not focused or in the right frame of mind don’t play. Things off the tables can affect you too. Don’t play if you’re in a bad mood. Maybe you’ve just broken up with you girlfriend or your pet gerbil died. Always sit down fresh and with a good mentality.

4. What are the benefits of being in the Ladbrokes VIP Club?

Over the years I’ve played at all the sites and even though I was making them a reasonable amount of money I never felt appreciated. Usually id jump from site to site getting various bonuses and switching when I had fulfilled them. But at Ladbrokes it was different. The customer support is second to none. No more waiting about for weeks on a response from an email or problems with cash withdrawals. With Ladbrokes it is almost instant and with the VIP windows messenger feature it usually is. Nine times out of ten they have an answer for you and the other one they will get back to you within the day either by email or by phone. They are very professional but at the same time informal and friendly. Seriously VIP Manager peeps whatever they are paying you it isn’t enough!

5. You recently returned from your second visit to the Ladbrokes Irish Poker Festival in Killarney, how did you get on and how was it?

Had a great time off the tables there and managed to put faces to the names I know from playing online. Also great to meet the people I was in correspondence with, who work with Ladbrokes. Unfortunately I didn’t do so well in the tourneys I played this year. I was knocked out for huge pots in both the main event and one of the side events with KK vs. AK all in preflop. That’s tournament poker for you. It wasn’t all bad though as after taking an early night and getting refreshed I hit the cash tables the next day and managed to turn a tasty profit for the weekend. There were loads of crazy Irish gamblers sitting at them. They were not only profitable but a great laugh.

6. How did you qualify for your Killarney package?

Well I decided quite late on that I wanted to go again this year after playing with a fellow scot online at one of the cash tables who mentioned he was going so I just booked my plane ticket and planned just to buy in to the main event. Then I was speaking to a VIP Manager and he mentioned that there was a satellite running online for the buy in to the main event. I decided to play that and won my seat. Was close though had less than 1bb left and the next hand was going to put me on the bb when the bubble burst. But either way I was going to make sure I was there and playing after having an awesome time there in 2009.

7. Will you be returning for your third year in 2011?

Unless I’m struck by lightning I’ll be back next year. You better start lining up those jagerbomb trains now cause it could get messy.

8. Do you change your style of play depending on whether your opponents are Nordic or from the UK?

I find that because you play so few hands against a specific opponent when playing live you have to use stereotypes to modify your play against an opponent. I like to find out as much as I can about my opponents. Ask them where they are from, what they do for a living etc. Remember though don’t ever totally believe what someone says at a poker table. I used to say I was a student on a gap year and was passing through so I decided to play. Damn, guess my cover is blown now. I’m always ready to ignore stereotypes however once you get a better read on an opponent’s style. For sure Nordic players are more aggressive on average but, if I’m honest, age and, I’m sorry to be sexist, if they are male or female are bigger factors into how I imagine a player will play. If they are in their 20s and in a hoody I’m ready to go to war.

9. How much offline Poker, Tournaments or Cash, have you played in the past?

I play quite seldom offline poker these days. When I first started playing it was home games purely recreationally and I ran super hot and that’s what sent me down this path. I can’t see myself ever wanting to play live as part of my job. When I play live its more for the chat and banter at the tables. Sure it would be cool to make a big score live and get a big payday but at heart I’m an online cash game grinder. So apart from the odd home game and a couple live events you will only find me online.

10. How would you describe your playing style?

Not wanting to give too much away id say I’m a tight aggressive player who believes that position is key. It really depends on my opponents though. I see so many regulars playing on the site that think they have a formula that they simply play against all their opponents. In truth you have to mix it up to be able to beat anyone you sit down against.

11. Do you have any long standing rivalries with any Ladbrokes players?

I try not to take it too personal when playing poker. As it can only affect your play negatively. So I wouldn’t say I have any rivalries. However there are a few players I have played a tonne of hands against and have had some big wins and losses to. I believe that every player has a leak in their game so it’s important that you find it if you are going to play a lot with that player. Obviously I’m not going to say any names but you can imagine that it’s all the players that are on every time you log on.

12. If you could sit down and go head to head with 3 celebrities, who would they be and why?

If I was playing to beat the game I’d obviously chose terrible players. For the buzz I’d love to sit at a table with the real characters of poker that first got me interested in the game. My dream table would have Negrano, Matasow and Doyle. These are the celebs I like to watch not your footballers or your pop stars.

13. Away from poker what other interests do you have?

I love snowboarding and going to punk rock concerts. Maybe it’s because I don’t want to grow up and keeps me feeling like a teenager. When I’m not playing poker I have to get out. It can be quite surprising to someone who doesn’t play online poker for a living to find out it is actually quite an insular lifestyle so it’s important that when you’re not working that you are out and socialising.

14. If you could have one philosophy to play poker by what would it be?

Our tool of the trade is money, like a hammer is to a joiner or a net is to a fisherman.