David Pomroy is one of Britain’s most eligible bachelors, lives his life to the full and is a damn fine poker player
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN PLAYING?
Since I was about 16, but not seriously until I was 18. It’s been around 14 months now.
WHAT GAMES AND STAKES DO YOU PLAY ONLINE?
Cash games mostly – $10-$20 no-limit Texas Hold’em. I also play a bit of Omaha if I’m blowing off steam – but that’s my tilt game. I can play Omaha, lose $50, go totally on tilt and then lose four grand steaming on no-limit Hold’em.
OTHER WEAKNESSES?
I’m undisciplined with money. I let myself get into holes where I HAVE to play and I HAVE to win. It hasn’t got me into serious trouble yet, but truth is I seem to play better under pressure, so it’s a bit of a double-edged sword.
DO YOU THINK ABOUT MONEY IN REAL-LIFE TERMS WHEN YOU PLAY?
No, I was brought up on the whole online thing so it never seemed like real money. I was talking to an older pro player and he told me to regard money highly, but then he’s been brought up playing live for cash so he’s got a totally different mentality.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO ANYONE WHO WANTS TO BE A FULL-TIME POKER PLAYER?
The best advice I got was to be a complete sponge – learn something from every session you play in. Anytime you lose a pot, learn something from it. If you think you’re going to play in all the big tournaments, it costs around £300,000 a year, so you have to win at least 300 grand just to break even. You have to play cash games to make a living.
ANY SPECIFIC ADVICE ON TOURNAMENT PLAY?
Don’t eat during a tournament. It decreases your brain power and makes you lethargic. One of the most important things is that you have to accept that a tournament can’t be won at the beginning. And you need to be confident – you have to believe you’re the best at the table and never allow yourself to be intimidated. Patience and discipline are boring. Live on the edge and don’t be afraid to go broke. Getting shit-faced is the best strategy for me because it slows me down at the beginning. I know I’m going to go crazy and knock myself out unless I’m practically falling asleep for the first few hours.
HOW WOULD YOU CLASSIFY YOUR STYLE?
A bit crazy… loose… aggressive. A gambler! Online I’ll normally only play two tables at once so that I can concentrate. I know a German guy who plays 10 tables at once; he’s got a 32- inch screen. He plays like a robot – I can’t play like that, it’s so boring.
DO YOU GAMBLE MUCH?
Yep – on pretty much anything. In the Caribbean the buy-in was $6,500 and I tried to win it the first night on roulette. I lost the lot so the tournament ended up costing me twice as much as everyone else.
DO YOU EVER BET ON YOURSELF OR OTHER PLAYERS IN TOURNAMENTS?
Some friends and myself had a bet on a mate to win an online tourney once. But when it got threehanded they started making a deal to chop it all up. It was only a $20 tourney, but there was about £30k at stake for us!
AND YOU’RE APPEARING IN A ‘TOP 50 ELIGIBLE BACHELORS’ LISTING…
Yes! In the women’s magazine, Company. I’m hoping for top five, but – to be honest – as long as I’m above Dean Gaffney and Sid Owen I’ll be happy.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE HAND TO PLAY?
6 -4 . I’ve never won any money with it, but it looks really attractive. As far as hands I shouldn’t play, but do… there are too many to list here. There’s one hand that doesn’t come up too often for me, but Q-7 is supposed to be the average hand – it’s supposed to win over 51% of the time. If it gets headsup, I should be playing that hand.
MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT?
When a bunch of us played in the Caribbean Poker Classic last year, we were due to be playing on day one, but the tournament started at midday and we’d only stopped drinking at 9am. We passed out at about 10am in the lobby with our shirts off. The organisers saw we weren’t in any physical state to play so they kindly moved us to day two. Families coming in to take breakfast were confronted by us sprawled topless on the floor.
Career highlights:
29/10/05
The Irish Masters No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout, Dublin3rd – $107,758
Pommo loves…
HIS BED
Like us, he lives in England so he hibernates between October and March. ‘I had three PC screens installed at the end of the bed so I don’t need to get up to play.’
WOMEN
He thinks that every poker player needs a good woman in his life. ‘Unfortunately I seem to spend half my life and half my bankroll chasing after them.’
Pommo hates…
ARROGANT PROS
‘Playing live can be quite intimidating for new players. I’ve seen plenty of pros put down internet, qualifiers which is my biggest pet peeve.’
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