The Well: Shaniac, 2.27.07

[UMTerp]

Shane, do you ever feel "old" in the poker community? You used to be known as an "internet player" (and still are to some extent), and many of your peers are ~10 years younger than you. Are you resentful/jealous at all that you didn't have the same opportunites in your early 20's?

[WarDekar]

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How do you think weed affects your play? Is it different live/online? Favorite smoking device? Do you have any plans/ideas of quitting? (i don't currently).Do you think it's a good idea or bad idea to start growing your own supply?

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I live in California, where the voters of the state have endorsed an initiative that makes medical marijuana somewhat widely available. The law also allows me to grow up to six plants (and six immature ones), and I would love to grow my own once I move into a bigger apartment. Therefore, in California, and the other dozeon-or-so other states that have passed MMJ initiatives, it's a "good idea" to grow your own, and I think everyone who wants to see grass decriminalized should feel duty-bound to contribute to the process by cultivating a garden (if possible).

As for how smoking affects my play, it's hard to say. I've been an "all day every day" kind of smoker for more than ten years, long before poker, so it's just part of my normal psychological makeup. It does sometimes tax my endurance and my concentration, so I certainly don't recommend that people go out of their way to play stoned, but for me, it's probably central to my ability to remain centered and detached.

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I don't want to hijack this, but I prefer to play stoned a lot as I think it calms me and allows me to focus better. "Sober" play I usually get too aggressive and/or bored and donk away chips. I think you'd probably find the same results if you tried to play sober.


Now for a question, how long do you see yourself playing poker as a primary source of income? That is, at what point will you stop playing for your "salary" and start playing for fun since you're living off of other investments or whatever.

What else do you do in your life to balance it? I find myself growing detached from non-poker friends and just people in general because of my "job."

[kutuz_off]

Do you have non-gambling hobbies and regular activities?

Back when you were into writing, what did you write about? How did you plan to make a living as a writer?

[shaniac]

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Shane, do you ever feel "old" in the poker community? You used to be known as an "internet player" (and still are to some extent), and many of your peers are ~10 years younger than you. Are you resentful/jealous at all that you didn't have the same opportunites in your early 20's?

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On the contrary, I am "in awe" and not "resentful/jealous."

The difference in my mentality, and day to day to life, from the time I was 18 until now (I'm 29) is relatively minor, but I have matured a lot. So I feel pretty in tune with the younger crowd, but also see where the crap I learned during my 20s offers me some perspective that only comes from age.

When I was in high school (and this is something that growing up in NYC somehow fosters), I was always acquainted with people of many ages and learned a lot from people who were older and more experienced. I think it's great that poker is a bridge between people of many generations.

I do think poker has offered unparalleled, unique opportunities for young adults (18-21) to make a lot of money and enjoy a great amount of independence. These opportunities definitely did not exist 8 years ago, and I do think that a lot of the kids experiencing it can't fully appreciate just how unique it is. But that's natural. "Youth is wasted on the young" as they say.

[shaniac]

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Now for a question, how long do you see yourself playing poker as a primary source of income? That is, at what point will you stop playing for your "salary" and start playing for fun since you're living off of other investments or whatever.

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I really have no idea. Things just have a way of coming together, or they don't. I'll probably always play poker, and I doubt I'll ever be "living off investments," since I'm not really oriented around finance or money. But I do hope, one day, to be comfortable enough to play less poker and to be able to derive money from more creative pursuits.

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What else do you do in your life to balance it? I find myself growing detached from non-poker friends and just people in general because of my "job."

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Not much, I don't live a particularly balanced life, but I'm still in touch with a wide variety of friends.

[AllinDan]

Shane- I don't really have any questions for you at the moment, I just want to say that over the last few months I have come to really enjoy your writing and outlook on the tourney circuit. I think your argument with gobbomom rates as one of my favorite 2p2 threads ever because of the degree she and others were getting owned and couldn't even stop to read what you were saying, but I also have a lot of respect for your work in the strategy forums (and brandi threads lol). Your blog has become some of my favorite reading material, though I wish you'd update more. I actually got started on your writing by stumbling across your account of your time in and out of psychiatric care starting in Amsterdam, a story that hit very close to home for me for a number of reasons.

Anyway, so that I'm not just sucking you off here I'll ask a question: It seems like a lot of the time you try to be really level and practical and detached with the way you think about the game yet you clearly get extremely invested emotionally in tournaments and I am sure have suffered your fair share of frustration. How much do you still enjoy poker? I mean as a job, obviously like all of us you are somewhat addicted to the highs and lows, but do you consider yourself happy with the grind/travel/and especially variance? If you had the choice to go back to an arbitrary date and "start over" would you be playing poker now?

oh also- I was listening to some ancient episode of the circuit that you'd been on, I think from wsop this year, and you asked Sebok what had led to his winning two big tourneys in the previous weeks. His answer started with "well I think I was due for a breakout. . . " but before he could continue you cut in with "oh because you're just that special huh?" the comment wasn't said out of any apprent malice but he was fairly offended and took it personally and totally the wrong way. It was basically the perfect comment at the time, and so so true, and I found it and the reaction quite amusing.

[HoosierAlum]

Shane, exactly how "tough" is it out on the tour?

How difficult is it to turn a substantial profit at the end of the year focusing solely on tournament play?

Also, would you say the players on tour who focus more on cash games tend to be happier and/or more financially secure than the top tournament-only pros?

What minimum bankroll would you recommend having if a player was to take a full fledged shot at playing on tour? Is having a backer 100% necessary?

One more. Could you go through your thought process on the hand against JC Alverado at the recent Rincon event where you busted him on the bubble making the call w/2nd pair?


Thanks for doing this Shane.

[shaniac]

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Do you have non-gambling hobbies and regular activities?

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Not too many--I play tennis; I love movies, music and television, like most people do. I like reading, but don't read nearly enough.

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Back when you were into writing, what did you write about? How did you plan to make a living as a writer?

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I wrote first person accounts and rants based on my youthful misadventures, and I also published occasional works of criticism--music and film reviews.

The problem was I never had a "plan" on how to make a living as a writer, and I didn't have anyone to mentor me along the way. So I drifted. Talent, without motivation, discipline or a plan, gets wasted pretty quickly. In any case, a friend once told me that "you're either writing or you're living" and, to a certain extent I guess, I needed to live a little more before I figured out what I had to write about.

I currently keep a blog and am trying to write a novel.

[UMTerp]

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Shane, do you ever feel "old" in the poker community? You used to be known as an "internet player" (and still are to some extent), and many of your peers are ~10 years younger than you. Are you resentful/jealous at all that you didn't have the same opportunites in your early 20's?

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On the contrary, I am "in awe" and not "resentful/jealous."

The difference in my mentality, and day to day to life, from the time I was 18 until now (I'm 29) is relatively minor, but I have matured a lot. So I feel pretty in tune with the younger crowd, but also see where the crap I learned during my 20s offers me some perspective that only comes from age.

When I was in high school (and this is something that growing up in NYC somehow fosters), I was always acquainted with people of many ages and learned a lot from people who were older and more experienced. I think it's great that poker is a bridge between people of many generations.

I do think poker has offered unparalleled, unique opportunities for young adults (18-21) to make a lot of money and enjoy a great amount of independence. These opportunities definitely did not exist 8 years ago, and I do think that a lot of the kids experiencing it can't fully appreciate just how unique it is. But that's natural. "Youth is wasted on the young" as they say.

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That's a good outlook to have. I'm 29 also, and although I only play part-time or as a hobby or whatever, I always think, "Wow, my life would be completely different if online poker was around when I was 18. I'm playing with a bunch of kids, and they're really really good (and rich) already. That could have been me."

As a follow-up, since you are in tune with the younger crowd, are there any younger players in particular that you've taken it upon yourself to "mentor" (not even necessarily in poker) to some extent, or is the business too cutthroat by nature? Surely your life experiences could be helpful to someone of the "next" generation, and I assume many of them would be a lot more receptive to advice from you then someone much older.

At least on the forums, I often get the impression that you try to share your experiences on tour with some of the younger crowd here (the gobbomom thread comes to mind), in hopes that they can avoid some of the obvious pitfalls on their way to success.

[shaniac]

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Anyway, so that I'm not just sucking you off here I'll ask a question: It seems like a lot of the time you try to be really level and practical and detached with the way you think about the game yet you clearly get extremely invested emotionally in tournaments and I am sure have suffered your fair share of frustration. How much do you still enjoy poker? I mean as a job, obviously like all of us you are somewhat addicted to the highs and lows, but do you consider yourself happy with the grind/travel/and especially variance? If you had the choice to go back to an arbitrary date and "start over" would you be playing poker now?

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Assuming I could back and engineer my life to be something other than a poker player and be successful and happy, I might "start over" but, as it is, I feel poker offered me the first viable outlet for my misfit 20s. But yeah, in the end, I am content with the poker lifestyle. My goal throughout life has been to travel and meet different kinds of people. Poker combines that with a way of making money and keeps me living on whatever sort of "edge" I thrive on. Yeah, I guess I love the variance, the heartache and the frustration. I'm also lucky to know a lot of great people on tour, so I feel like I have a decent support network, and that is important.

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oh also- I was listening to some ancient episode of the circuit that you'd been on, I think from wsop this year, and you asked Sebok what had led to his winning two big tourneys in the previous weeks. His answer started with "well I think I was due for a breakout. . . " but before he could continue you cut in with "oh because you're just that special huh?" the comment wasn't said out of any apprent malice but he was fairly offended and took it personally and totally the wrong way. It was basically the perfect comment at the time, and so so true, and I found it and the reaction quite amusing.

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Nah, I don't think Joe was offended. It was just schtick. If I recall, he said something like "well I was due to break out" and I said "cuz you're just that awesome?" But I said it with a smile on my face, and I think Joe knew I was just ribbing him, but it's possible that I am wrong or that it came off different on the broadcast.