Bratislava : Le Cash Game Festival et le MPN main dans la main!
March 17, 20185 Reasons for a Poker Vacation in Bratislava
March 30, 2018From the very first moment he heard about the Cash Game Festival from his friend Henry Kilbane, George has been enamored with our live poker festival. Not only did he enjoy the London festival vibes but he also got to sit in the commentator’s chair with Henry during one of our TV table sessions. The guys did such a great job that the decision was made to “book” them for our Bratislava stop. So, during our Bratislava festival on April 4th – 8th, keep your eye on our Twitch channel because George and Henry will be rocking the show. Let’s “hear” George’s take on his involvement with the Cash Game Festival and more.
Hi again, George! How are you & where are you at this very moment? Happy that spring is coming to town?
Hey, hey! Life is great right now as I’ve just followed through on something I’ve been contemplating for a while, leaving my corporate sports trading job! It feels extremely liberating to be out on my own playing poker and with the Cash Game Festival involvement too the future looks bright. I’m currently based in London and am just grinding online poker every day at present but have a golf trip in Portugal planned for the end of the month before joining in the party at Bratislava! Bring it on!
You are going to be co-hosting CGF Twitch stream with Henry in Bratislava. We are excited! Your comments, please!
Thanks, it’s a fantastic opportunity and we’re really looking to make an even bigger impact than last time – doubling the views. I’ve told all my friends about the festival and, while I’m at it, here’s a shout out to the readers to give me and Henry as much banter as you can muster. We can handle it, give us your best!
The poker is great but first and foremost we want to build a chatty, fun and interactive environment for the viewership. For me, CGF is all about spreading the buzz of live low-med stakes NLHE and PLO. It’s much more than me absolutely butchering the analysis hand after hand but spreading the awareness of this beautiful game I’m lucky enough to play on a daily basis and hopefully inspiring a new generation of players to get involved in the game, we know the likes of Limp-fold Linda and Bad-call Barbara aren’t going to be around forever, bless them.
London 2018 was your first CGF stop. What was your very first impression on the whole set-up?
I have to say I was instantly enamored by the-set up and the atmosphere that the CGF brought to London Aspers! I love that it offers players with smaller bankrolls or just starting out in the game the opportunity to play a televised cash game. The poker world is of course rife with high buy in tournaments, but usually they’re too quiet and people are just ‘at work’ so it can be mind-numbingly boring. The thing I loved most about CGF was the excitement and positive energy everywhere, and I met some really interesting and insightful people I wouldn’t have bumped into if I hadn’t left my Mum’s basement, that’s for sure!
Do you agree that cash game players need more events like ours?
One million percent yes! I know loads of live cash grinders that pricked their ears up when I mentioned the festival and I was exactly the same. The opportunity to play on Twitch, improve your game, travel around Europe and potentially make some gains is simply fantastic. I’m looking forward to rubbing shoulders with the CGF crew and the partners too. The poker world fascinates me and I hope to go far so, the CGF is very exciting for Henry & I.
Who introduced you to our festival tour? Give us the whole story, please!
My co-commentator Henry is a bit of a man about town in poker! The guy knows everyone! We actually met about 5 years ago but have been good mates for the last year or so. I love his infectious energy and passion for the game, we’re still very early on in our poker journey and he mentioned the festival. Before he could even finish, what he was saying, I was sold! I’d done some commentary at the UK Student Poker Championships and used to be a regular caller on a local radio show between the ages of 10-12. Some might say I love the sound of my own voice! Overall, I’ll be hoping to offer as much insight and humor as possible.
You & poker. We already know that the movie Rounders got Henry playing? (Edit: read Henry’s interview here.) But what got you into the game?
I used to play local low-stake tournaments in Newbury, Berkshire where I’m originally from. Started off by limp/folding my way into profit and it’s still a solid strategy that I revolve my game around. I used to aspire to be a professional player but the edges are ridiculously small these days and by the time I’d done my whole month’s wages in Stan James at 18 years old on my lunch break, I desperately feared a life of White Lightning and loudly lamenting to myself in a busy shopping center about how my 7-fold acca at Cheltenham in 2014 got chinned on the line and that I’d been in and out of consciousness ever since. Poker is perfect for me as I have a liberal personality and anti-establishment kind of outlook on life, the idea of playing cards for a living and getting to banish negative energy out of my life from unnecessary things like office politics and, my all-time most hated kind of phrase, ‘sorry that’s protocol’. The massive unique selling point is that it affords me freedom. I can’t help but feel trapped if I work a job and it can bring me down. So, now I’ve ventured fully into poker it’s super, super-energizing.
What’s your favourite poker variation?
I really like all of the games, I’ve always been a bit of a jack of all trades and thus meandered into most variants. The favorite, however, has to be 8-game. Fun for all the family and you get some people playing doing things like Razz thinking it’s Stud! The general level is very poor and for me it’s likely to be a juicy area to focus on in the future as No Limit becomes closer and closer to being solved.
Where you “forced” to play Sviten Special at your very first CGF? What do you know about the game?
No, no, but plenty of time to twist my arm into getting involved over the next few stops!
Your non-poker life. Where and what did you study? What do you do now?
I went to Cardiff University but I don’t ever really mention it to anyone. A piece of paper doesn’t define who I am. The academic side of things wasn’t really to my liking. I did business but always was skeptical of how much one can learn from a business teacher that has likely failed in business and had to resort to teaching to pay the bills. I tend to pretty much forge my own path in most aspects of life instead as I enjoy the pressure of being accountable for yourself, far more a back against the wall type fun!
What keeps you going when life gets tough sometimes?
Great question – I really like to relax and listen to music or watch something like Californication. I find music incredibly stimulating and have learned a lot from simply listening to songs and analyzing the situations they’re singing about and how I can potentially apply that to improve my own life. So, with all this going on I feel way less down and much more enthusiastic about gaining productivity and knowledge. Californication is a show which has a main character, played by David Duchovny, that I identify with and resonate with highly, so, it’s a great form of self-destruction free escapism, and we all need to get out of our own head and click that reset button from time to time. Thanks for the interview, see you all in Bratislava =D
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