In American culture, poker conjures up images of the Old West, riverboat gamblers, and backroom games at the speakeasy. It’s a little hard for me to imagine Austrians playing stud or the French playing Texas Hold’em. Nonetheless, Europe has a longstanding love affair with poker and its popularity is increasing every day. In this article I get some different perspectives on poker from the following international Pocketfivers: dmmikkel (Norway), Wlleiotl (England), Zpaceman (England/Netherlands/etc.), and Crazy Cypriot (Cyprus by way of New York). <READMORE>
My first guide on this journey is well qualified since he has lived all over the world. Stu “Zpaceman” Taylor was born in England, currently lives in The Netherlands, and has lived in the U.S., Luxembourg, Jakarta, and who knows where else. The life of a contractor has taken him to the four corners of the globe, but now that he is pursuing poker full time his travels may only increase. Poker has already taken him to the Bahamas and Monte Carlo, where will it take him next?Lenny: Do you consider poker an American export?
Zpaceman: I have never thought of it that way. I played poker with my dad and brother when I was 4 years old, probably before I knew America existed.
Lenny: You are well traveled, and have even lived in the States. What do you think of the reputation of Americans of having an insular nature?
Zpaceman: I'm not sure if its nature or opportunity. Europeans can easily travel to other countries and when we get there the culture and language is different so we are forced to be more open-minded. I think if every American state had a different culture or language, then Americans wouldn't be insular at all.
That's actually one of the great things about Americans playing online poker: being exposed to non-americans on a daily basis. At the EPT in Monte Carlo there may be 100 Americans who otherwise might never have traveled overseas. There will be lots of diversity there for sure. The EPT is a very good example of why poker can be thought of as a global game, rather than an American export.
Lenny: What differences have you noticed playing on sites where Americans are no longer allowed to play?
Zpaceman: I do notice different styles of play and a different overall vibe. The play is a lot looser, quite loose passive I would say (i.e. lots of calling).The vibe is friendlier, most of the players are obviously just doing it for fun rather than to make money.
I think poker is really taking off in places like Holland, England, Spain, and it hasn't matured as much as the US market, so players tend not to know as much theory and many play in a very -EV way, but they are having a good time.
Lenny: That sounds like a +EV situation.
Zpaceman: Yes, I went back to playing paradise a month ago after getting frustrated with a bad run on stars and I made some decent money. The smaller prizepools would make it hard to make a living just playing on Paradise.
My next stop on this tour was a chat with Elliot “Wlleiotl” Bowker, of Stoke, England. His screenname was born out of a hideous misspelling by a drunken friend not, as I thought, some exotic Welsh spelling.Lenny: Do you notice any difference in playing styles between players from the U.S. and Europe? What about within Europe?
Wlleiotl: Yeah, I suppose I do have some basic pre-conceived reads on people based on their nationality. Southern Europeans tend to be crazy/loose while Scandinavians tend to be a bit tighter, but even more aggressive. From the UK, they probably tend to be generally tight. There are so many different types of U.S. players, it’s hard to lump them all together.
Wlleiotl won his seat into the 2007 WSOP Main Event, and he has been honing his live skills in the new GUKPT, sponsored by Grosvenor, the “Harrah’s of Britain” according to Elliot. He has two cashes on that tour, including a final table worth almost $25k.
Crazy Cypriot currently resides on American shores, but his heart is in the Mediterranean and his blood is Greek. He is studying for an MBA at Columbia in New York, which has slowed down his poker playing a bit.
Lenny: How much would you say televised poker has effected the game around the world?
Crazy Cypriot: A lot, really a lot. There would have been no moneymaker effect without TV, so it’s probably the biggest driver behind the growth, along with the internet.Lenny: Do you notice any differences between U.S. and Eurpopean/international players?
Crazy Cypriot: Yes, there are different styles and different trends both between the U.S. and Europe and within Europe. Scandinavians as a whole are definitely the best players. Poker is probably something new to them and young players are very savvy. Inevitably they play a very modern strategy of poker - more analytical and more correct.
Lenny: Do you consider poker a sport, game, or profession?
Crazy Cypriot: I can consider it all three. It really feels like a sport, because of the competitive nature and the situations you find yourself in are very similar to sports, but in essence it is a game. For some it can very well be a profession. It is very similar to modern finance and trading professions.
The consensus seams to be that Scandinavians are the best players based solely on nationality. It’s a good thing then that my next stop is in the great white north, with dmmikkel aka Dag Martin Mikkelsen.
He is nearing the end of his PLB challenge inspired by Annette_15. He is looking to prove that he can move from MTT obscurity to top 20 in the PLB sliding Leaderboard in a few months. With a couple weeks to go he is sitting at #41 after starting somewhere around 500, but he has some very stiff competition ahead of him.
Lenny: How much does poker air on TV in Norway?dmmikkel: Not that much. There are some bad Norwegian shows and some European channels like eurosport that air EPT and WPT events.
Lenny: Are poker pros becoming celebrities over there?
dmmikkel: More and more, but nothing like America yet.
Lenny: Do you have any long term plans in poker?
dmmikkel: I really don't know what to make of the current situation, but as for plans I'm playing at least one more year and if it goes well I'll probably have the money to "gamble" with for a few years. Poker will never disappear, but the way its played and the media used to play it might change drastically.
Overall I suppose I didn’t discover anything revolutionary in my short talks with these four players but I did find that my perception of Poker as intrinsically American was not shared by any of them. I think Zpaceman said it best,
“Poker is a game enjoyed by people from many different countries and cultures. It has global appeal and is not thought of as an American game by most non-american players.
I guess it touches something in the human spirit that goes beyond national boundaries.”
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Canada
United Kingdom
Costa Rica
Australia
Mexico
Denmark
Russian Federation
Sweden
Brazil
Germany
