The Mole

[Guest gazza271]

I met Steph for the first time at this weekend's Virgin Festival and I have to say what a lovely guy, very genuine and very very funny. We had quite a long (drunken) chat and he is happy to answer all and any questions. For those of you who dont know him I was browsing through some old threads and here is one of his hands..... ***** Hand 501658655 ***** 25.00/50.00 Texas Hold'em (No Limit ) - 05 January 2007 19:59:48 Table TH 906 (Real /Cash Game ) Seat 5: Mr.Aki (7610.00) Seat 6: the mole (8049.00) Seat 10: AllUcanE@T (6541.00) Mr.Aki post SB 25.00 the mole post BB 50.00 ** Deal ** Mr.Aki [N/A, N/A] the mole [Qh, Ad] *** Bet Round 1 *** Mr.Aki Raise to 200.00 the mole Raise to 550.00 Mr.Aki Call 550.00 *** Flop(Board): *** : [4s, 3c, Qc] *** Bet Round 2 *** the mole Bet 500.00 Mr.Aki Call 500.00 *** Turn(Board): *** : [4s, 3c, Qc, 3h] *** Bet Round 3 *** the mole Check Mr.Aki Bet 1300.00 the mole Raise to 3000.00 Mr.Aki All-in 6560.00 the mole Call 6560.00 *** River(Board): *** : [4s, 3c, Qc, 3h, 3s] *** Showdown *** : Rake: 3.00 Total Pot: 15217.00 Mr.Aki [2c, Kc] Three of a kind, threes Win :0.00 the mole [Qh, Ad] Full house Win :15217.00 Now you can see from the limits and total pot what sort of level he is playing at :loon:loon:loon:loon BUT What a lot of people dont know is that 3 years ago he was playing $3 qualifiers etc on various networks There are loads of similar hands like the one above and he told me one story at the weekend about an 88k pot which had me in stitches :lol:lol:lol:lol Now I did discuss this with Steph and as I said, he told me he was happy to answer questions so I'm going to ask a few :ok The limits you play at, now we did talk about it and bankroll management. What level did you start at and how long before you were consistantly making money and then move up to next level ? Every level step by step of bypass any levels ? I know from an old thread that you dont always buy into a table for the maximum amount, whats your reasoning for that and how many buy in's would you have in your bankroll to move up a level ? At what stage did you turn round and think "I'm making enough money here to turn pro" and did the missus/family fully support you ? Huge decision to make High's and low's so far ? Are you still moving up the levels ? Where do you see the Mole in 12 months/24 months ?

[staffy]

Re: The Mole Nice one Steph for taking time out to answer questions. Just for everyones infoI have spoken to Steph oin MSN before and he is very genuine with his help and replies.

[Valiant23]

Re: The Mole

At what stage did you turn round and think "I'm making enough money here to turn pro""

Can't remember the exact time but I can remember telling him not to bother. :lol :lol :lol (To be fair I didn't know the level he was playing at) :eek Steph (The Mole) is a top lad. I'll tell anyone that will listen that this guy is (probably) the highest stakes player we have on here but more importantly is that he has managed to (a) do it in a short space of time and (b) move up from the smallest levels. We are lucky to have him on here and more importantly, extremely lucky that he would love to share what he's learned. I did manage to give him a bit of advice at the weekend and I hope he takes heed and that is when playing live he needs to be a bit more extrovert as he's a shy withdrawn type. :lol

[SteveO]

Re: The Mole

We are lucky to have him on here and more importantly, extremely lucky that he would love to share what he's learned. :lol

I second that we are extremely lucky to have such a high stakes player on the forum, plus he doesn't have a huge ego which is very apparent with high stakes players on other forums. Remember a thread I posted not so long ago about Introverts being tight players, obviously Mole has blown this theory out of the water!

[Pocket Lady]

Re: The Mole

We are lucky to have him on here and more importantly, extremely lucky that he would love to share what he's learned.

:notworthyabsolutely top blokie and it is never too much trouble to help or give advise when asked for . He's always happy to share his thoughts experiences. A credit to us and an inspiration. :dude

I did manage to give him a bit of advice at the weekend and I hope he takes heed and that is when playing live he needs to be a bit more extrovert as he's a shy withdrawn type. :lol

:rollin:rollin

Remember a thread I posted not so long ago about Introverts being tight players, obviously Mole has blown this theory out of the water!

:lol;)

[gavham]

Re: The Mole Tx for the kind words ( you have all got me blushing now). Still feeling a bit ropey and the rangers game is on tonight, so i will leave it until tomorrow to answer Probs a good idea would be if someone could find the thread where i told my story sometime back ( perhaps GAF ) as he seems to be good at that kind of thing. then i could tell what happened from there. cheers steph

[BAM]

Re: The Mole I can't stand the man personally, he's obviously been lucky to get where he is and he just a NLHE one trick pony. Oh and he always keeps me up late drinking and eating pizza ;)

[Sharpe1ne]

Re: The Mole Well i've gone through your posts Mole and this is the closest i could find to where you stated how you started off.Just click on your Username and have a look at all 343 posts. thanks, thing to remember is i started with £50 and built it up, this was like an apprenticeship i dont know how easy it would be going straight in at a high level with a new found wealth. first thing you need is a consistantly winning game no matter what level you are playing at, then you can take that game up through the levels. i think the most important thing in cash games is how you handle it when you take a hit we all get bad beats . you must trust fully in your game and as i said if its a winning one then you will always win in the long term. another very important thing is to try not to tilt we all do it but if you can limit the damage you can always live to fight another day. Though i'm sure you were on Sporting Odds way back and i gave you some advice and you've never looked back;)(though that advice would have probably been,folding a hand that i wanted to win):lol

[gavham]

Re: The Mole

I can't stand the man personally' date=' he's obviously been lucky to get where he is and he just a NLHE one trick pony. Oh and he always keeps me up late drinking and eating pizza ;)[/quote'] Well at least the feeling is mutual. as for the 1 trick pony statement i am now the master of spoof, thinking of taking it up pro :). you really are such a bad influence on me.

[fenner]

Re: The Mole a bloody nice chap

[swampster]

Re: The Mole I second, and third that. Mole, I PM'ed you, can you get back to me, I need to talk business :)

[gavham]

Re: The Mole i started about 2 years ago playing 12/25 c limit games as it was only limit games at that time on sporting odds. i cant remember when they brought in the nl games but when they did i had a go and never looked back. i won up to about $3000 at that level over a year. i deposited £50 originally and have never deposited again. at the end of last year i sytarted playing 1/2 nl games which got me up to $6000 at the start of this year. confidence was high so i went straight in to the 5/10 game in january this year it did not work out and i lost $5000 over 4 days. i went back down to 1/2 and got up to $2000 at this point (having lost confidence) i withdrew £1000, this left me with $100 on the 09.02.06. from there i played 1/2 and quickly got up to $3000. it was march when i started playing 2/4 and again was winning consistantly at this point i started withdrawing £300 every friday (which i still do, now upped that tp £500 a week). In april i won qualification to play a 5 man tourney with SO in london which i finished 2nd in and got $1500, this took my stack up to 5.5k. it also gave me no end of confidence.In june i won nearly every day and by the time i went on holiday at the end of june i had $13000 in my bankroll. i tried to move up to the 5/10 game in july and again lost about 5k in 4 days this time i had the roll so i stuck with it. since july i have been winning consistantley at this level wih the odd exception. in the last 2 months i have ventured into the 10/20 and the 25/50 but it is absolutley mental in there had some serious ups and downs at they levels, so i've decided i am not ready for that YET. Lol this all seems like a life time ago but this was a post i put on october last year. the last year has been incredible when i see where i was then. i will write some stuff tomorrow of how it has went

[BAM]

Re: The Mole

i started about 2 years ago playing 12/25 c limit games as it was only limit games at that time on sporting odds. i cant remember when they brought in the nl games but when they did i had a go and never looked back. i won up to about $3000 at that level over a year. i deposited £50 originally and have never deposited again. at the end of last year i sytarted playing 1/2 nl games which got me up to $6000 at the start of this year. confidence was high so i went straight in to the 5/10 game in january this year it did not work out and i lost $5000 over 4 days. i went back down to 1/2 and got up to $2000 at this point (having lost confidence) i withdrew £1000, this left me with $100 on the 09.02.06. from there i played 1/2 and quickly got up to $3000. it was march when i started playing 2/4 and again was winning consistantly at this point i started withdrawing £300 every friday (which i still do, now upped that tp £500 a week). In april i won qualification to play a 5 man tourney with SO in london which i finished 2nd in and got $1500, this took my stack up to 5.5k. it also gave me no end of confidence.In june i won nearly every day and by the time i went on holiday at the end of june i had $13000 in my bankroll. i tried to move up to the 5/10 game in july and again lost about 5k in 4 days this time i had the roll so i stuck with it. since july i have been winning consistantley at this level wih the odd exception. in the last 2 months i have ventured into the 10/20 and the 25/50 but it is absolutley mental in there had some serious ups and downs at they levels, so i've decided i am not ready for that YET. Lol this all seems like a life time ago but this was a post i put on october last year. the last year has been incredible when i see where i was then. i will write some stuff tomorrow of how it has went

And this was at spoof?

[SteveO]

Re: The Mole Wow, thats an impressive story well done and good luck to you. Also if you don't mind me being cheeky:unsure where's your current bankroll at and do you still withdraw £500 a week. Also what line of work were you in when you started playing poker.

[gavham]

Re: The Mole

Wow' date=' thats an impressive story well done and good luck to you. Also if you don't mind me being cheeky:unsure where's your current bankroll at and do you still withdraw £500 a week. Also what line of work were you in when you started playing poker.[/quote'] This year i have won well over $500k, i now withdraw £2.5k p/w and withdraw large amounts for buying the big things, house, car etc I was a fitness instructor and sports centre supervisor

[GaF]

Re: The Mole Woooow :ok

[bigphil2]

Re: The Mole How many hours would you say you average per week?

[teaulc]

Re: The Mole

a bloody nice chap

i concur wholeheartedly,,when myself,connor and ciaron met him ealry this year in a home game,he made us feel completely as ease and my boys are very happy to say,especially connor, they have beaten him. i for one learnt a heck of a lot from him especially playing the lower cards on cash tables... all i can say is keep up the good work steph:ok and look forward to meeting you again. p.s. connor wants to kick your butt again :loon:loon:lol:lol:lol

[goater14]

Re: The Mole Do you predominately play at just the one site or do you play at several?

[ubermonkey1]

Re: The Mole i agree with all the above comments :ok a really top bloke and a inspiration for us all :notworthy and if there is one thread that will help a lot of players i bet it will be this one;)

[Sir Puntalot]

Re: The Mole Never met him as yet, but I agree we're lucky to have a down to earth high stakes player that can advise and improve the general standard of PL Poker, which is already fairly high imo. :ok

[gavham]

Re: The Mole

How many hours would you say you average per week?

This is actually a tough question because i don't really think about time.In the early day's i played as much as i could 2 - 3 hours a day most days, but now somedays it only takes 10 mins unless i lose a few then i sometimes have to play a few hours. At the stakes i play things happen quick

[gavham]

Re: The Mole

Do you predominately play at just the one site or do you play at several?

This ones easier i only play on virgin ( although i still have a roll in my old sporting odds account

[gavham]

Re: The Mole

The limits you play at, now we did talk about it and bankroll management. What level did you start at and how long before you were consistantly making money and then move up to next level ? Every level step by step of bypass any levels ? I know from an old thread that you dont always buy into a table for the maximum amount, whats your reasoning for that and how many buy in's would you have in your bankroll to move up a level ? At what stage did you turn round and think "I'm making enough money here to turn pro" and did the missus/family fully support you ? Huge decision to make High's and low's so far ? Are you still moving up the levels ? Where do you see the Mole in 12 months/24 months ?

I now only buy in for max because i have a big roll, but i still think i did the right thing on the way up the stakes buying in minimum to protect myself. I know there is the " book" procedures to follow as regard to BR, but i think it comes down to the individual, i would never have made so much or moved so quick by following the book. My family are 100% behind me. and yes it was a massive decision to turn pro but it was also an obvious one by the time i did it highs - living the dream in my eyes, it still amazes me how much i win, i win on average 28 days a month. i think the best highs are yet to come though. My wife doesn't play poker or even understand it, but the night i won the 88k pot i ran up the stairs and said "i just won an 88k pot" her reply was do you want chips or tatties.:crybut it works well for us lows- i lost 57k in one session, i had jj on aaj flop all in for a 20k pot he had aj, then i tilted badly, but i learned so much from it and now i keep that under control better. Yes still upping the levels, but only play at the level where i'm comfy. never go below 5/10 though unless im just having some fun. i have intentionally kept away from pokerstars and fulltilt because i would want to play in the biggest games and there is no need for me to do that YET the next year or two i want to win a major tourney thats the main thing on my agenda at the moment. i also think i have the personality to do well on Tv so will aim for that

[slapdash]

Re: The Mole

This is actually a tough question because i don't really think about time.In the early day's i played as much as i could 2 - 3 hours a day most days' date=' but now somedays it only takes 10 mins unless i lose a few then i sometimes have to play a few hours. At the stakes i play things happen quick[/quote'] Does this mean you set yourself a target to win each day? And if so, do you ever keep playing after you've hit the target if you think it's a good table or you feel you're playing particularly well that day? Oh ... and why are you called "the mole"? :unsure

[msaban]

Re: The Mole Not sure the best way to phrase this question - Do you ever worry about the value of money that you could lose. I think a problem Ive got is that say I get up to a £1K, I'll withdraw the majority of it and spend it on other things..something for the house/family/bills etc ...because I'd be gutted if I lost it, as still see that as a lot of cash.

[gavham]

Re: The Mole

Does this mean you set yourself a target to win each day? And if so, do you ever keep playing after you've hit the target if you think it's a good table or you feel you're playing particularly well that day? Oh ... and why are you called "the mole"? :unsure

No not really it depends my mood/ confidence levels, i try not to be too greedy, if i'm in a value table with lets say a muppet i don't leave until he does. if i win 4 - 6k quickly thats plenty for 1 day, even at that if i am still in the mood to play i will. the mole, when i was 17 i had an accident and lost my sight it took a long time to get some vision back. one night when i was out with my mates i fell down a hole and when i was trying to climb back out ( and they picked themselves off the floor) one said look the mole and i was nicknamed that for a while.

[gavham]

Re: The Mole

Not sure the best way to phrase this question - Do you ever worry about the value of money that you could lose. I think a problem Ive got is that say I get up to a £1K, I'll withdraw the majority of it and spend it on other things..something for the house/family/bills etc ...because I'd be gutted if I lost it, as still see that as a lot of cash.

No i play it like a nintendo game, i want to see what the next level looks like. A good example was last week i played a hand where i bet 12k on a bluff to win an 8k pot. the following day i was in the town where i saw a pair of trainers for £90 and thought im not paying that. ( maybe thats just the scottish in me)

[GaF]

Re: The Mole

No i play it like a nintendo game' date=' i want to see what the next level looks like. A good example was last week i played a hand where i bet 12k on a bluff to win an 8k pot. the following day i was in the town where i saw a pair of trainers for £90 and thought im not paying that. ( maybe thats just the scottish in me)[/quote'] :ok Sounds like a great approach To turn the question around on Mike - do you not fear that the way you're playing, you're playing below where you could be and achieving less than you could? By withdrawing all your profits, and worrying about the "money" you have on the table, are you not costing yourself money....

[SteveO]

Re: The Mole My final question Mole (you must be worn out) are you a Poker Tracker Poker Office advocate or do you base your play more on the feel betting patterns etc.