If you answered yes, you should ask yourself why you drank from a stream where beavers are living and excreting waste. PocketFiver Lucas Beaver Fever Rifkin devised his popular screen name one day while in med school learning about parasitic diseases. That night, he signed up an online poker account under the unique name and the rest, as they say, is history. Rifkin took down the PokerStars $200 rebuy over the weekend for $41,000, six months after emerging victorious in the site’s weekly Sunday 500 tournament for $92,000. The PocketFiver is in the midst of finishing up med school and took time out of his day to discuss his big Sunday win.He set himself up for success at the final table by coming out on the winning end of a race holding A-Q against pocket nines and cracking kings with queens when play was 10-handed. If you’ve never played in the rich tournament before, Rifkin describes the field that generally turns out: “There are a lot of great players in the $200 rebuy, but it takes place at the end of a Sunday and sometimes I feel like people are worn out or frustrated after playing all day. Consequently, they can be reckless at times, especially before the add-on.” Earlier in April, he took second in the $1,000 buy-in $150,000 Guaranteed on UltimateBet for $24,000, a tournament he finished eighth in to open the month for $5,000.
He’s backed by fellow PocketFiver thechemist83 (pictured at left), who hails from New Orleans and took down the Sunday Mulligan over the weekend. Being staked has allowed Rifkin to open his game up considerably and play in high-stakes contests like the $200 rebuy with little risk. He explained, “I might get stressed and unhappy if I played with my own money. I try to focus on enjoying poker and improving my game. If I make money, that’s great.” He’s currently participating in a fellowship between his third and fourth years of med school at the University of Kentucky. When he returns, he’ll have one year remaining before pursuing a career in plastic and reconstructive surgery. He commented, “It’s a great field with a lot of unique cases. Most people think it’s cosmetic surgery, but that’s only one part of the field.”He typically heads to the virtual felts on Wednesdays and Sundays and his live career leaves a lot to be desired due to lack of time. Having to budget a week for a typical high-stakes live event is out of the question, at least for the time being. Rifkin noted, “I never play live because I can never get away, but I’d love to do that someday. I use all of my time off to go back to Madison, Wisconsin to see my family and friends.” Rifkin has been friends with PocketFiver and Madison native Mike Wiscomurray Murray since he was 10 years old and the two competed against each other early on. Later on, it was being backed that escalated his growth in the game: “I really started to improve a lot when I got backed. Before that, I was good about bankroll management, but didn’t have much money and always had to take it out. Once I was backed, I got to play a lot more and become better in higher-stakes tournaments.”
If you ask his friends in med school what they think of Rifkin's poker career, they may look at you like you've contracted Beaver Fever. He explained, "I don't really talk about it with anyone at work and only with a couple of med school friends because many people just wouldn't understand. I am proud of being a poker player, but advertising it to everyone is not always in my best interest. There are a lot of misconceptions out there." Over the first 26 days of April, Rifkin piled up $93,000 in tournaments that are tracked for the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings in 23 qualifying cashes. To open March, he took down the $150 buy-in $65,000 Guaranteed on Full Tilt Poker.
Among his opponents at the final table of the $200 rebuy was Jeff yellowsub Williams (pictured at right). The champion of the 2007 European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte Carlo Grand Final for $1 million, Williams also finished as the runner up in a $1,000 rebuy No Limit Hold’em tournament held during the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) for over $400,000. On Williams’ play at the final table on Sunday, Rifkin lauded, “He played a great game. Once he got a stack, he really put some pressure on. It’s a thrill to compete with someone like him, who is a nice guy and a world-class player.”He wanted to extend a shout out to his backer, who Rifkin claims is “a great player who has taught me so much and helped me build a solid game.” Also grooming Rifkin as a backer has been PocketFiver 8balldeluxe, a native of Virginia. Both of his backers are partners in MTTBacking.com. Congratulations from all of us here at PocketFives.com to Lucas Beaver Fever Rifkin, the reigning champion of the PokerStars $200 rebuy.
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