Poker Generation Next - Steven Burkholder

18.03.2009, Steven Burkholder Dares to Tug on Superman's Cape

BY: CRAIG TAPSCOTT

Look, up in the rankings! It's not a fish, not a donkey. It's an online player running well: more aggressive than a rabid pit bull, more powerful than a disintegrating bankroll, and able to leap bad beats with a single two-outer - at least until the kryptonite of variance strikes. After a few big wins, Steven "PiKappRaider" Burkholder felt like Superman, invulnerable to poker's inevitable ups and downs; then, he went broke while going for broke.

While attending the University of Florida, Burkholder came up short on rent money after a round of beats and variance. He then went to the well that many students go to when in need - Mom. They struck a deal as he negotiated a loan. He had to quit poker and get his life together, which basically meant … get a job. But the hustler within Burkholder plea- bargained for some breathing room.

"At the beginning of 2008, I made a bet with my mother," said Burkholder. "The deal was, she couldn't smoke another cigarette and I could deposit only $300 online. Once that was gone, I was done with poker. The end result was that I started winning and she quit smoking for good."

Last year, Burkholder not only won, he crushed the biggest major events online and cashed for nearly $1,000,000. Last fall, he won the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker $500 rebuy six-max event for $211,133, the Full Tilt Poker Sunday $200 event for $135,903, and the $500 Full Tilt Poker Sunday tournament for $201,848. He surpassed his goal of three five-figure cashes for the year by a landslide. In 2009, Burkholder expects to make a seven-figure score and take down a live major event.

Craig Tapscott: You've mentioned that the transition from online success to competing live has been frustrating.

Steven Burkholder: I know I'm making mistakes. While playing live, I have to be able to have complete control of my emotions. I tend to take it personally and feel like a boxer who just got beat up in the ring. Also, it seems like I'm forced to play a different style than how I play online. I like to raise almost every hand preflop if I have a good chip stack and I can abuse the table. That way, they can make mistakes later on against me in big pots. But when I'm doing it live, I get a lot of stares from my opponents (laughing). But I'm due for a breakthrough soon. I just need to control myself more and be more aggressive.

CT: Congrats on winning the bet with your mother. What a great result for both of you.

SB: Thanks. Now she tells all of my relatives how well I've been doing and how much money I've won.

CT: I understand that you attribute a lot of your success to a bad accident.

SB: I broke my leg really bad when I was wrestling drunk in college. I had to withdraw from school for a period of time, and I had nothing to do at home. That's when I started to play tournaments, read forums, and watch training videos. I also made about $30,000 during that time.

CT: What is one key to your success?

SB: What I know that I do better than most players is adjust to my opponents; a lot of people say they do that, but they don't really implement it. Deep in a tournament, I think the cards don't matter as much as adjusting to your opponents.

CT: What's this I heard about Daniel Negreanu berating you at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure?

SB: I was in the lobby, playing online in a big event. I had 28 big blinds and had raised with jacks. The one guy who had me covered reraised me. That is an awkward stack size; it's shove or fold. All of my friends were around, and I asked for their opinions. Then I called Daniel over for kicks, and he told me to call. I said no, I had to fold or shove. Those were the only two things I would do with that stack size. So, I folded. He said, "Oh, my God. That has to be a mistake." He was berating me, but I stood confident in what I was doing.

CT: Thanks for the interview. Good luck this year, Steven.

SB: Thanks.

Über World Series of Poker (WSOP):

Die World Series of Poker, oder kurz WSOP, ist eine Reihe von Pokerturnieren, die jedes Jahr in Las Vegas ausgetragen werden.

Die World Series of Poker finden jährlich im Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas statt.

Die World Series of Poker ist die grösste und prestigeträchtigste Pokerveranstaltung der Welt. Mit einer umfassenden Liste von Turnieren in allen wichtigen Pokervarianten ist die WSOP das am längsten laufende Pokerturnier der Welt und geht auf das Jahr 1970 zurück.

Darüber hinaus hat die WSOP bahnbrechende Allianzen in den Bereichen Rundfunk, digitale Medien und Unternehmenssponsoring gebildet und die Marke mit der Einführung der WSOP Europe im Jahr 2007 und der WSOP Asia-Pacific im Jahr 2013 sowie der WSOP International Circuit Series im Jahr 2015 erfolgreich international ausgebaut.

Ursprünglich wurden die Tourniere in Las Vegas Downtown im Binion's Horseshoe Casino ausgetragen. Im Jahre 2005 kaufte Caesars den Brand WSOP. Seit diesem Datum werden die Pokermeisterschaften im Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino durchgeführt.

Gewinner der letzten Jahre des WSOP-Championship-Mainevent

2020: Damian Salas 2019: Hossein Ensan 2018: John Cynn 2017: Scott Blumstein 2016: Qui Nguyen 2015: Joe McKeehen 2014: Martin Jacobson 2013: Ryan Riess 2012: Greg Merson 2011: Pius Heinz 2010: Jonathan Duhamel 2009: Joe Cada 2008: Peter Eastgate 2007: Jerry Yang 2006: Jamie Gold 2005: Joe Hachem 2004: Greg "Fossil Man" Raymer 2003: Chris Moneymaker 2002: Robert Varkonyi 2001: Carlos Mortensen 2000: Chris "Jesus" Ferguson 1999: J.J. "Noel" Furlong 1998: Scotty Nguyen 1997: Stu Ungar 1996: Huck Seed 1995: Dan Harrington 1994: Russ Hamilton 1993: Jim Bechtel 1992: Hamid Dastmalchi 1991: Brad Daugherty 1990: Mansour Matloubi 1989: Phil Hellmuth Jr. 1988: Johnny Chan 1987: Johnny Chan 1986: Berry Johnston 1985: Bill Smith 1984: Jack Keller 1983: Tom McEvoy 1982: Jack Strauss 1981: Stu Ungar 1980: Stu Ungar 1979: Hal Fowler 1978: Bobby Baldwin 1977: Doyle Brunson 1976: Doyle Brunson 1975: Sailor Roberts 1974: Johnny Moss 1973: Puggy Pearson 1972: Amarillo Slim Preston 1971: Johnny Moss 1970: Johnny Moss

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