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| Craig Daniel (gosox83)
Age: 33 Site of Choice:Pokerstars Occupation: High School Mathematics Teacher | | SitnGoGrinders How long have you been playing poker - how did you get started? | | |
| I have been playing poker since I was 9 years old with my grandfather. I have always loved games and am highly competitive regardless of what’s at stake. My grandfather was not able to walk, so when we transferred him to bed for the night I would often find aces tucked in the cushion of his chair. We were simply playing for nickels, but make no bones about it, neither of us wanted to lose.?? I started getting serious with Texas Hold Em back in 2001. As a full time high school math teacher I did not have a lot of time during the school year to play poker, but I would spend a good part of my Christmas break at the local riverboat casinos playing in tournaments. I had early success taking 3rd place in a $300 buy in tournament, which was good for about $3600 in the summer of 2002. I would then play at the casino during my summer break and also found success taking second place in a tournament for nearly $5,000 in 2003. When school started back up in the fall of 2003 I signed up for my first online account at Doyle’s Room and fell in love with online poker because the tournament fees are less and it is so convenient. This is also when I discovered Heads Up poker and really liked how a match would be done in less than 30 minutes. I was now able to play during the school year in the evenings after grading papers. I deposited $500 on Doyle’s Room and never looked back. I made the switch to Pokerstars in the spring of 2006, and took down a $109 buy in tournament for $6600 on Tuesday June 13th, 2006.
| | | | | SitnGoGrinders What are your ambitions? | | | | | I hope to eventually leave the teaching profession in order to play Heads Up full time and give myself flexibility with my 1 year old son. As far as long term I would love to win the W.S.O.P. bracelet in the Heads Up event. I also want to travel to different live events playing in some tournaments with my Heads Up bankroll as well as the heads up events they offer.
| | | | | SitnGoGrinders What made you specilaize in the area that you have? | | | | | The main reason I play Heads Up is because of time. I come home from teaching and grade papers and spend time with my family. I don’t have 4 – 8 hours to commit to a multi-table tournament. Heads Up is also more fun for me since you are playing almost every single hand. It is also one of those specialty games where many people just do it for fun and don’t truly understand the nuances of it, so there is a plenty of money to be made!!
| | | | SitnGoGrinders How much do you expect to earn by playing professionally? | | | | | All I want to do in 2009 is win 59% of my heads up matches, avoid tilt, and final table the Heads Up event at the 2009 World Series of Poker. Well, maybe I’ll stick with winning 59% of my matches and being tilt free, but I dream of final table. As I write this I am currently 284 – 181 which is good for a 61% win rate so far in 2009. I have also heard Barack O’Bama is a poker player and a White Sox fan so I wouldn’t mind a Heads Up match for season tickets.
| | | | | SitnGoGrinders Whats your HW setup for playing? | | | I don't use anything fancy at all. Its a desktop I bought back in 2003. I did upgrade to a 22" monitor two summers ago. I mainly play 2 tables at a time since I play heads up.
| | SitnGoGrinders Tell us something about yourself? |
| I am 33 years old and have been married for 13 years to Monica. We met when I was only in high school and after she shot me down the first time, I asked her out again a few months later and she finally said yes, and the rest is history. We have a 14 month old son who was born on Christmas Day 2007. I currently teach 12th grade Probability and Statistics, and have been a math teacher for 10 years. I earned my B.S. in Mathematics Education from Indiana University Northwest in Gary Indiana and earned my Masters in Mathematics Education from Purdue Calumet in Hammond Indiana. I also have completed 4 Chicago marathons, one of which was the hottest marathon ever in Chicago marathon history. They ended up canceling the race just a couple minutes after I crossed the finish line (3:59.07) because it was so hot. Many people were rushed to the hospital and one man lost his life. I am also a huge Chicago White Sox fan and was at the “Dropped Third Strike Game” in 2005. (ALCS Game 2) The night the White Sox won the World Series (October 26th, 2005) my wife and I were at the United Center in Chicago watching it on the Jumbotron. We then went to U.S. Cellular field to celebrate!!
| | | | | You can find Stephen's blog here. | | |
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