Stephen Chidwick just graduated high school in July of 2007. While his peers in the United Kingdom were preparing themselves for University, perhaps taking a quick jaunt to the continent or further abroad if they had the means, Stephen sat down in front of a computer and went to work. We know this young man on Pocketfives as stevie444, one of a tag team of “stevies” from the UK who have risen to the top of the Pocketfives worldwide rankings this past year (the other being allinstevie). Chidwick just returned from the Bahamas were he won a side event for over $70,000, proving once again that the online pros are a force to be reckoned with whenever they play live.

On the strength of two Triple Crowns and plenty of impressive scores, stevie444 sits on the cusp of breaking into the top ten of the worldwide rankings. Interestingly, the top player in the UK by PLB score is still moorman1 who has a couple Triple Crowns of his own, but in the “what have you done for me lately” world of online poker, stevie444 has edged out his compatriot in the Pro Poll and passed him in the worldwide rankings. Of course, the two are separated by only 40 PLB points, which makes up less than 1% of their total score. Meanwhile, allinstevie is representing Northern Ireland quite well by earning the 22nd spot in the rankings overall.

I had the chance to speak with Stephen “stevie444” Chidwick about his recent live success and his rapidly advancing poker career.

Lenny: Was the Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure your first live tourney?

stevie444: No, I played in the EPT Prague in December. The PCA was my second event.

Lenny: Did you play any side events in Prague? Was the trip a satellite win?

stevie444: I won the winners choice monthly freeroll on Full Tilt Poker and my friend allinstevie was already going there so I decided to join him. That was the first time we met in real life.

Lenny: So, what is the power of the name “stevie”?

stevie444: [laughs] Stevies run good.

Lenny: You have been moving up steadily in the rankings and currently sit at #11. Are you excited about the prospect of cracking the top Ten?

stevie444: Yes, I have always been motivated by moving up in the rankings. I got to #11 at the start of December but I had already told myself I was going to have a month or so off to spend time with family and such. Now I have some time for poker again I can’t wait to make a run at the best tournament players in the world.

Lenny: It’s been a little while now, but were there any key situation in your win of the 1k side event in the Bahamas you can remember and share with us?

stevie444: There weren’t many really interesting hands since the structure was quite fast. A lot of it was shoving or reshoving preflop. There were a few hands on the bubble where I amassed a lot of chips. I was running over the table a fair amount and I four-bet all in twice on the money bubble with marginal holdings and I got folds both times.

One hand I remember was on the final table bubble where I raised with AK and got one caller. He was very aggressive as well and he had a good stack to check raise me all in on the flop, which came all rags. Being wary of this, I checked behind on the flop. The turn came another rag and he bet out. I shoved and he folded, giving me a pretty big pot.

Lenny: Interesting, do you think he checks the flop if he actually caught a piece of it?

stevie444: With the stack sizes involved I think he probably bets out on the flop to induce a shove from me if he had a big hand. On the bubble of the final table I really thought his calling range would be very tight to my shove, but I think he was betting the turn with almost his whole range. Even if I lost the hand I would have had chips left, but I was very confident with the play.

Lenny: Were you comfortable playing live in big-money situations?

stevie444: Before hand I was a bit worried I would be giving away tells due to my inexperience in live poker. I had several people stare me down a number of times in the Bahamas when I had nothing and they still mucked, so it reassured me somewhat. The whole experience put my mind at rest regarding live poker.

Lenny: Do you find that playing so aggressively makes it much easier for you to make big calls when appropriate?

stevie444: Weak players adapt to super aggressive players quite badly. You get some who will just sit and wait for a premium “knowing” you will pay them off when they get it. Others will just snap and make big bluffs at you, so if you can recognize who is who at the table it becomes much easier to make big calls or tough laydowns.

Lenny: Also, having chips helps, I imagine.

stevie444: Yeah that helps a lot, of course. In the 1k I had about one third of the chips in play coming into the final table, but I had to sit tight for the most part early on. When most people talk about changing gears late in tournaments they are usually referring to getting more aggressive. I think you have to be able to downshift and tighten up as well.

Lenny: Does it ever seem surreal to be making so much money at your age?

stevie444: I don’t really think about it very often in terms of money. I just see it as 'X' buy-ins and I might think about how much more I need to take the next move up. When I take a step back it is quite a shock sometimes. I feel so privileged to be in the position I am in.

Lenny: I have heard you say you have most of your money invested. When you invest outside of poker, do like risky propositions, or do you go for the sure thing?

stevie444: My investing mindset is very similar to my poker mindset, I just go for the most +EV route if I can find it. Right now I am keeping my options open, as I may be buying a house so I don’t want to tie up most of my money.

Lenny: You are currently living with your folks, correct? They must be very supportive of your poker career.

stevie444: Yeah, my whole family is fantastic. They obviously love it when I do well and they also help me keep a balance between poker and the rest of my life. I really couldn’t ask for anything more.

Lenny: Do you have siblings?

stevie444: I have one older sister who is currently in university in Wales.

Lenny: Do you feel like you are missing out not going to University?

stevie444: I started to worry about that because I wanted the social aspect that comes with University life, but going to Prague and PCA has shown me that I can have that with poker as well. I am very happy with choosing poker as my path at the moment. There may be a time when I feel the urge to go to University. The nice thing is that I still have that option, plus the money to finance it if that is what I want to do in the future.

Once again, I was very impressed with the maturity of a young poker pro. Annette_15, stevie444, mr. menlo, and others have proven themselves capable of managing huge amounts of money and success while keeping life in perspective. Poker is certainly not the right path for everyone at that, or any age, but with a little luck and a lot of discipline it can turn out quite well for the right person. We at Pocketfives would like to wish stevie444 and the other young phenoms continued success in poker and in life.