Squid's In: In the Well with Sam Grafton

[The Squid]

hey sam (i lost my old account but am a long time lurker)

yeah to follow up, a post above. where do you stand on tax? like, i'm not a video maker yet or a winning player. but hope to be. i live in the uk, but have no idea about financial stuff like that. are you self-employed? do you only pay tax on runitonce vids? if you coach (how much btw?), do you have to pay tax on that? do you have an accountant who handles all this while you get on with the tweeting?

another q: any innovative vids lined up for a rio series? i suppose you're a bit constrained due to the structure of mtt's (although that maybe an incorrect assumption in addition to this), as well as there being a more wide variety of potentially winning playing styles in cash games than mtt's.

cheers 4 doing the well bro

I don't have a accountant but maybe I will have to consider it after I get paid by RIO. First time I've had formal income in a long time.

As I said I'm really pumped to do more vids after getting such good feedback from subscribers in Vegas. Plan to look at just 'key hands' from SCOOP chop. So that'll be something a little different.

[The Squid]

Given you spent a lot of time at the International/Gutshot, where there were a mixture of personalities shall we say, did you ever have any bad experiences?

Very early on had to hold a guy back while he tried to hit this kid who was threatening him with a chair. No lie! In general things didn't spill over in that way very often. Certainly a huge mix of people hanging out at the club. Miss it more than I can say.

[theprawnidentity]

Do you think there's a long term future for poker? (Particularly unlimited hold thems)
What's the biggest downswing you've had £££ wise?
Have you ever been / are you staked? (Don't have to answer if you prefer to keep it private)
Do you agree that there would be more of rain forests left if the vegetarians weren't eating them?

[The Squid]

Serious one....Do you have conflict with what your chosen job is as a professional poker player and your undoubted strong values and moral compass, in terms of using your skills and talents to make a difference to society in general?

I don't think i can entirely blame poker for my lack of contribution to society. I mean it would b much easier for me to take time out to do voluntary work or or activism at this point in my life than it was when I was younger. It's just that now my political impulse is in competition with my ambitions in poker and I prioritise that.

If i reflect on the amount of my energies I've put into poker it is a little disappointing when compared with my earlier life goals. However, poker has allowed me to live outsides the constraints of a lot of the institutions and bureaucracies that I abhor. I am part of a network and a community that is very pluralistic and  diverse and most importantly is largely free from formal hierarchies. The is something that sits very well with my political sensibility.

You describe it like a colony. Do you think poker should be so separated from reality? I can't help thinking it gets closer in some ways but then I see a thread on late payment, grimming or thefts and I am left scratching my head again.

Although you're very much on the inside looking out, I've no doubt from how you have come across ITT that you are intelligent and perceptive enough to be able to answer objectively.

Poker players job isn't recognised by innumerable governments as a legitimate source of income, it isn't understood by our financial institutions and in many cases it isn't comprehended by players family and friends. This does mean that in some key ways we are separate and are more reliant on each others more than most communities. If we operate with care concern for each other this can be a source of strength for us, if we prioritise self-interest then it becomes even more of a problem.

[The Squid]

Hey Sam sorry we didnt meet up for drinks in Vegas ! Somehow it didnt happen however :

Fav hole cards you just hate passing and not seeing a flop ? 67s the nuts ye ?
Mojitos with cuban rum the nut cocktail ye ?
Is there a case for missing the wsop action to stay at home and grind online the now 'much softer ' tourns ?
Is it possible to stay in vegas and do nothing but just grind poker during the wsop .ie. no nights out ,no rails ,drinking etc ( i think this is a good prop fwiw )
November 9 short stack or win any EPT ?

Gl in the future & please lose the Timmy Mallet hat  : )

97 spades is the nuts and I also I have a soft spot for suited Jacks with a dangler they make up more of my three bet range than I would like to admit.

Mojitos are great. Spent a month in Cuba when I turned 21 and spent a full Summer drinking them.

I couldn't do a full month with no outlet. Think your poker would suffer. Staying home might be more sensible but I'm all about the romance.

Last question is really good btw. Hmmm it's close but win an EPT I think. Tough one.

See you soon I hope.

[Fenix35]

Hey Sam,

How many tables do you play at once online during peak?

What are your usual reg times from start-finish?

What's your online set-up like (monitors, chair etc.)?

Always nice catching up with you m8, good luck at the tables!

[CHIPPYMAN]

Hey Sam , don't think u know me but hi anyway . My questions are :-
1) what's your best moment in life beside poker win?
2) what do u rated yourself as a poker pro comparing to the like of Phil Ivey ?
3) what are your biggest strength in poker ? Is it live MTT , online MTT or live cash or online cash ?
4) if u not playing poker , what do u think u will do for a living ?

Good luck in poker dude and hope u win lots

[Pinchop73]

Given you spent a lot of time at the International/Gutshot, where there were a mixture of personalities shall we say, did you ever have any bad experiences?

Very early on had to hold a guy back while he tried to hit this kid who was threatening him with a chair. No lie! In general things didn't spill over in that way very often. Certainly a huge mix of people hanging out at the club. Miss it more than I can say.

OiOiii

Spent some time with Sammy pingpong, TLD, elliott and JJ for Jerome's bday on Sunday evening mate, so so good to see them again. Miss the Int muchly.

My question. Do you find that you have a better ROI or worse when in a relationship? Like when you have someone you care for greatly, you obv aren't able to spend as much time grinding and working on your game compared to times of singledom, so in theory it would be -$EV. Yet somehow when someone's there who actually cares/takes an interest in your results that you maybe play better than you could when alone? So because of the big boost in +LifeEV, it maybe ends up as +$EV too?

[Cook]

What does it to take to become a strong, steady online player?

[NoflopsHomer]

5 books that everyone should read?

Guess books everyone should read are like the supreme works of literary fiction. So 'Ulysses' would top that list, guess your looking at 'Crime and Punishment' next, then 'Anna Karenina' and the like.

The novels that really switch me on to reading in my late teens though were more contemporary. John Updike's Rabbit Quartet is perhaps the greatest literary work of the post-war period. Also novels like 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being', Paul Auster's 'New York Trilogy' and Delillo's 'White Noise' opened my eyes to the ways in which the novel could explore and depict human experience in ways that TV and film just aren't capable of.

Judging from how much people seem to have enjoyed 'The Wire', 'Homeland' and such-like it really surprises so few of my peers are avid readers. The most successful TV series are very novelistic both formally and thematically.

Surprised there's no Chomsky in there. Or Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine

[Claw75]

Hi Sam,

I'm well out of touch with the 'celebrity' (for want of a better word) side of poker and the professional game, so I hadn't actually heard of you before opening this thread, and am afraid I am still none the wiser as to your poker achievements (although I shall look them up).  I just wanted to say, having read your posts on here, that you come across as a top bloke who would totally get along with me and my friends (I rarely think this of people so it's a high honour indeed, and one I'm sure you're going to treasure as much as your poker successes)

Be lucky!

[Tal]

I get accused plenty often on this forum and beyond of being a pedant, a know it all, even a snob. So let's dispell some of that with an honest question:

I started Ulysees and, after my first reading session, never went back to it. You know a book is sometimes described as unputdownable? Well this was the opposite; I couldn't pick it up. It was like eating 500 ryvitas without even a glass of water or a slice of cheese.

Convince me Joyce is worth another go.

[The Squid]

Do you think there's a long term future for poker? (Particularly unlimited hold thems)

I think just as the economy has got worse in recent years there so know reason to think it can't get better in the future. Whether that's because of the emergencies of knew personalities, better television coverage or innovations in the game I don't know.

I do sometimes worry about increased rake. There is no reason that casinos, or Stars for that matter have to provide a game people can beat for a living wage. Pros need to continually make the case that having career poker players and narratives of success are good for everyone in poker.

[Rupert]

what is your stance on currency vigging?

[rossydreamer]

Hey Sam,

Ross from PokerPlayer here - thanks for all the great work you have done for us in the magazine over the last year.

My question/thought...

I think poker is a brilliant way for young people to make money - sometimes a lot of money - in a relatively short space of time. However, I always worry about the future for 18-25 year-olds that have never had any other form of income outside of poker. If you're beating $200NL (or higher) for a decent rate when you're that age it's a really good wage but if you suddenly lose that capacity to earn at the same rate - whether it's through losing your edge, not being prepared for a downswing or whatever - then these people are screwed. Nobody is going to employ a 25-year-old with no employment history in a decent job. And it's very hard to start from the bottom money-wise when you are used to the daily swings of poker.

So, as someone intelligent and with tangible skills that got into poker relatively late, what would be your advice for youngsters coming into the game? Dedicate themselves to it completely and worry about the future later? Or try and secure a fall-back option from the start, perhaps at the expense of some poker experience?

I just worry there will be a lot of busto former 'pros' in the next few years that are basically restarting their lives from scratch in their 30s.

Cheers!