Poker Corner

All night poker binges, followed by full days of drinking and smoking. That’s what life is supposed to be like for a poker professional. However, when I caught up with Dutch Boyd at 10:45am on a Thursday morning, he didn’t sound like he had been up all night playing poker, and he certainly didn’t sound like he had hit the bar yet. For the first few minutes, he sounded like a guy who just rolled out of California bed at 4:45am and was in the first stage of his journey cross country to Tufts University, and their first Tufts Poker Championship.

Poker fans and ESPN obsessives like myself will recognized Dutch from the 2003 World Series of Poker, where he finished 12th in the Main Event. He also got received some coverage as he watched his good friend and fellow “Crew” member Scott Fischman win two bracelets at this year’s WSOP event.

Barstool Sports- What are you doing in Boston. I heard you were appearing at a poker tournament at Tufts University? How’d you get involved in that?

Dutch Boyd - I got an email and then a call from the Tufts Poker Society President, Jake Resnicow. He saw me on ESPN, we started talking, and he started telling me about the event. I got pretty excited about the event.

BS- Have you ever been to Boston before? What do you think of the city? Ever been to Foxwoods?

DB-A couple of times, just passing through. I think it’s beautiful. I love Copley Square. But I’ve never been to Foxwoods. One of these days. Tell them I’m coming.

BS-I know people have probably asked you this a million times, but the hand against Moneymaker in the 2003 WSOP when he called your all-in with pocket 3s, what was going through your head? People have said that Moneymaker made a terrible call, what do you think?

DB- Man, that call haunts me. I don’t think a week goes by that I don’t think about that call. I really honestly didn’t think he could make that call with anything other than a set. He didn’t really have much of a hand. I supposed he made the right call, he was ahead in the hand. I also think in an alternate universe, Moneymaker goes home. It was a pretty big pot, a million and a half.

BS-You recently auctioned yourself off on eBay for a WSOP circuit event. Where did you get the idea for that?

DB - I just came up with the idea. I was auctioning off stuff on ebay anyway, and I figured I might as well give it a shot and it worked. I ended up playing the event, with about a dozen backers. I got pretty close to cashing too, took 32nd out of 200 players, but only the top 18 got paid.

BS-What’s your favorite online site? What stakes do you play online? What do you use as a handle?

DB-Partypoker and Paradise poker are my favorites. My handles are KidDutch on Partypoker, and -Dutch- on paradise. I play mostly tournaments, but I step in on stud hi-lo, and sometimes limit holdem. I don’t play online as much as I should.

BS-So you’re not like Fischman who sits at his computer all day?

DB-Fischman is insane, he never leaves his house. He has like 8 games going on at once. Two monitors, four games on each monitor. It’s sick watching him play. I think I’ll probably set up something like that soon. There’s a lot of money to be made online.

BS-How has the poker boom helped or hurt professionals like you, both online and in casinos?

DB-I definitely think it helps. When I first started playing professionally, I don’t think anyone thought it would be that big. Soon we’re going to see poker as a legitimate sport, instead of a gambling stepchild. One of my friends told me that the #1 theme for bar mitzvahs last year was poker. When I think about the future of poker, there are so many college kids playing and high schoolers, all the way down to 12 year olds, just look at this event at Tufts. It’s such a rich game. It’s just going to get bigger and bigger. It’s about time it got this way.

BS- What’s your favorite hand to play? Least favorite hand?

DB- Least- AQ, there’s no way really to go with it. Favorite- 69 of hearts.

BS-For obvious reasons?

DB-Yeah. (laughs)

BS-What do you like to do besides play poker?

DB-I play guitar, keyboard. I like shooting pool. I do quite a bit of traveling, even some writing. I love writing on my blog, but I don’t do it enough. I’m a huge internet junkie.

BS- Many people know you as the guy who can do all the chip tricks. How did you learn all those tricks? What’s your favorite trick? Any advice for people trying to learn new tricks?

DB-My favorite trick is the chip roll. You take a few chips from one hand and roll them across the table into the other hand. I had a job playing poker in a casino as a prop player. Sitting back, there’s not much to do at the table than just watch and pay attention. You got chips in front of you, and that’s about it. My advice would be to practice with quarters.

BS-Do the chip tricks intimidate people?

DB-I don’t think so. It might impress them if they’re new to poker. I don’t think chip tricks really add a lot to your game. It’s just something fun to do. Some people don’t know poker, you do a couple chip tricks in front of them and they’ll think “wow you’re good.”

BS-If I offered to play you heads up for everything in your bank account, would you do it, having never met me or played with me?

DB I probably would because my bank account isn’t that big, there’s not much to lose. I would have to say, yes, I’m pretty confident with my game. I think I’m one of the best players out there. If I’m going to hold to that, I’ve got to put my money where my mouth is.

BS-Is there one guy you wouldn’t do that against?

DB-I wouldn’t play John Juwanda or heads up with Phil Ivey or Howard Leaderer. I have a lot of respect for those guys’ game. I wouldn’t play heads up with Scott Fischman for any amount either, he’s a brilliant player. And Negraneau. Watching Hellmuth play, he rarely makes a wrong decision, so I’d put him on that list as well. Antonio Esfandiari too. He’s known as the magician. He’s a pretty young kid, and a phenomenal heads up player.

BS-Tell me about this new rakefree poker room. How would you make money without rakes?

DB-Charging membership fees. There’s so much money lost from these poker players to these online sites. It’s really ridiculous. The top card rooms are making $100s of millions a year on rakes. It’s coming straight from the players. Poker should be at least an even sum game in my opinion. As poker becomes bigger, and corporate sponsors come it, it opens the door for poker to be a positive sum game. I envision poker being a game where everyone can win. I think that could happen.

BS-Can anyone with a bankroll and a willingness to learn and play become successful at poker and win?

DB-Yeah, I do. I really do. I don’t think everyone has what it takes to win the WSOP, but anyone has what it takes to become a winning player. If people are patient, and learn, and don’t step up too quickly. Just really think about their game. It’s not rocket science. At any moment you have three decisions you can make. I think instinct and feel, those can’t be taught. But becoming a winning player? Anyone can do that. Now, you don’t even need a bankroll. My little brother recently grinded up $4 up to $400. A couple sites will give you $5 or $15 and you play the micro limits and just learn. There’s so much information, so many books out there. It’s never been easier to learn poker. Back in the 70s when hold em was starting to get popular, there wasn’t that much info available, now they can just learn from those players. Pick up a book, it’s never been easier.

BS Tell me about going to law school as a teenager. Was that strange being a child prodigy?

DB-I didn’t really have anything to relate it to. It felt normal to me, it was all I knew. I was lucky enough to have some pretty good friends in law school. When I was 15 or 16, I felt like I fit in. It was a lot harder in like 6th grade. Later on, it wasn’t too bad. My last year, I was dating a law student, hit 18, and starting going out more. I had a good time in school.

BS-What’s one thing about you that people would be surprised to know about you?

DB-I don’t like watching myself on TV. I still haven’t seen the final table of the 2003 WSOP. It’s so hard not being there.

BS-What one event that you would want to win

DB-The Horse event. Fischman won it last year. Bronson won it the year before. Of course, the WPT Championship would be a dream come true.

BS-How and where to do you get a bankroll and sponsors?

DB-Most of the time you get backers to pay for some of the buy-in and they get part of the money back. If they put up $10,000 they might get %50 of your winnings. Any point when you win, you may have to cover many of your past tournament fees. It’s not easy being a professional poker player. Travel, hotels, food, and all of the tournament fees really add up. The tournament fees add up and can be as much as $500,000 a year. There’s a lot of pressure. Tournament circuits have the best players in the world. I don’t have to be playing every single day to stay on my game, I just pick and choose which tournaments I want to play. But come June, it’s the WSOP, it’s going to be everything.

BS-How do you decide what to play in?

DB-Anytime Scott or anyone else in the Crew is in a tournament, it’s fun to be there. Generally the ones with the bigger fields, it’s going to be harder to win, but the caliber of player is going to be lower. The last thing to consider is places you want to go. I went to Kopenhagen with my ex-gf in January, that was a great place to play. I’d love to go to Amsterdam or Australia. It’s pretty crazy now because there’s always more than one tournament going on.

BS-Do you still hang out and see the Crew much?

DB-We see each other occasionally. I’m going to be out in Vegas this week. My little bro is going to hang out with Scott and Joe Bartholi. We don’t see each other as much as we used to.

BS- What’s once piece of advice you’d give a new player?

DB-Don’t ever think you’ve learned as much as you can. There’s always a lot to learn. There’s always better players out there. Strive to be the best at your table, not in the world. There’s always something more than you can pick up.

BS- Do you think poker players are starting to live like rock stars?

DB- It’s getting to be like being a rock star. Poker players are becoming like celebrities. It’s crazy people recognize me on the street. It’s been a crazy ride, and it’s not nearly over. I’m looking forward to what the future brings.