Interview with last week's #tpt winner Rhoegg

Interview with last week's #tpt winner-Ryan Hoegg

Share with us a little about who you are?
I'm 29, and married with three children. I like to write software, and I also make a living doing it.

When did you start playing poker?
April 1, 2007 (I just checked). I joined Full Tilt because I was curious after seeing it on TV a few times, and played play money. It took a few months to learn the game, and I decided to deposit $80 when I got up to 2,500,000 play chips.

What is your favorite poker game? Why?
I play No Limit Hold 'Em almost exclusively. I am starting to learn Razz now, and will learn another variant once I play that profitably.

Do you play in many poker tournaments? If so, where?
Yes, I play a lot of multi-table tournaments on Full Tilt and PokerStars. I am trying out Cake Poker recently, and have played a few live tournaments as well.

What is the most valuable poker lesson you've ever learned?
Move up in stakes carefully! I'm still learning this one. If you play a lot of MTTs, there will be times that you win big and you find yourself with a bankroll several times the one you've been playing. It's tempting to move up and play a lot bigger than before. If you try it, be very disciplined about dropping back down when you start losing. Which you probably will. Surprise, the players at higher stakes are better than the ones you've been playing against!

Did you have a strategy when you play the #tpt?
When we got down to the final table I started using twitter for a kind of table banter. I thought it would be fun to see if anyone changed their play because of my tweets. I'm not sure if anyone did, but Street 3 started answering me.

Were there any hands that you recall in the #tpt which were key to you winning?
There were several times I won a race when it counted. I doubled up when it was 4-handed with 10-2 against A-3 of spades on a flop of J-10-2 with two spades. That put me in a good chip position for the rest of the tournament.

Do you have any poker goals?
I'd like to keep having fun playing, without going broke. I'd also like to learn a few more games; stud and omaha look interesting.

Ryan, thanks so much for taking the time to be interviewed. Congratulations on your victory!