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Heading into the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP), Eric Rizen Lynch made a splash by signing with the Cake Poker Network site Lock Poker. The room is fresh off hosting the Bluff Online Poker Challenge in March, which was won in defining fashion by PocketFiver Brian SN8WMAN Hawkins. Lynch has over $800,000 in lifetime WSOP earnings, won the Monthly PLB here on PocketFives.com in December of 2007, and is also an instructor for PokerXFactor.com. We sat down with Lynch to talk about his new sponsorship and relive some of the action from his deep run in the 2006 WSOP Main Event, where eventual winner Jamie Gold ousted him.

Pocketfives.com: You finished 24th in the 2006 WSOP Main Event. Does that run still stand out in your memory?

Lynch: Like it was yesterday in a lot of ways. I can still tell you lots of details on key hands that you'd never want to know.

PocketFives.com: Do you still go through the "what ifs" or is outlasting over 8,700 other players satisfying enough?

Lynch: I don't really go through any “what ifs” in a negative sense. I'm happy with pretty much every play I made in the tournament minus the pocket aces call versus Erik Friberg. I’m even happy with the infamous A-6 offsuit play against Jamie Gold.

PocketFives.com: That was a memorable hand and, unfortunately, also your last in the 2006 WSOP Main Event. Can you walk us through your thought process?

Lynch: I had about 2.5 million at 50,000/100,000 blinds. Jamie was raising literally every limped pot. The next blind jump was to 75,000/150,000 with 25,000 ante, so I was about to go from a somewhat healthy stack to a pretty slim stack, especially with the large ante. I decided that if Jamie was raising every limped pot, with my stack before the blinds went up, I could limp/re-raise him with any remotely playable hand if it was folded to me on the button when Jamie was in the big blind. I was going to do it with J-10 offsuit, 8-7 suited, and really anything if I got the chance.

I happen to get A-6 offsuit and it limps to me on the button. I limp, Michael Binger completes in the small blind, Jamie makes it 500,000 in the big blind, and I ship. Binger folds something like 4-4 and Jamie snap calls with 10-10; I missed an ace and busted. I like my play given what I knew at the time. Later, Prahlad Friedman pulled almost the exact same play against Jamie with A-4 offsuit. Jamie called with 8-7 offsuit and flopped a straight. If I knew that Jamie could have 8-7 offsuit and call a shove, I probably wouldn't have made the play.

PocketFives.com: Tell us about your plans for this year’s WSOP.

Lynch: I'm playing around 15 events, but some of it depends on how well I do since I can't play some events if I'm in Day 2 or 3 of others. I'm not taking the entire family out for six weeks this year like the last two years, so I'm flying out for eight or nine days and then back for five or six days in three separate trips.

I've targeted No Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Hold’em, and Pot Limit Omaha events of varying buy-ins ranging from $1,500 to $10,000. However, if I go deep in an early event or two and get into the WSOP Player of the Year race like I did in 2007, I'll probably start playing a lot more events of all types.

PocketFives.com: Our members have been largely split on the introduction of a $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament. Where do you stand?

Lynch: I think it's a good idea. The $40,000 and $50,000 events are nice because ESPN gets a field with mostly recognizable faces, which is good for ratings and the game as a whole. I don't play in it because $40,000 is a lot of scratch for a single event, but it's good for fans and good for television, which in the end brings more players into poker.

PocketFives.com: Congratulations on signing with Lock Poker, a site on the popular Cake Poker Network. Tell us about the process of partnering with them.

Lynch: I first started talking with Lock Poker during the Bluff Poker Challenge. As we talked more and more about their goals as a poker room and mine as a player, we discovered that there were a lot of ways it would be mutually beneficial for us to work together. The discussions started from that point and we hammered out details of how we wanted a partnership to work. That started in March and near the end of May we worked out something we're both very happy with and excited about.

PocketFives.com: What about Lock Poker is appealing to you as a player?

Lynch: It's the approach that Lock Poker is taking. In every question they've asked me for input on or every possible idea for the site they've come to me with, their focus has really been on what will make this good for the players. I'm excited to have that sort of input in a developing poker room. They are working on some unique things for players that they've never experienced from a poker room before.

PocketFives.com: You've lent your name to PokerXFactor, Gunnar Optiks eyewear, and Lock Poker, among others. How do you go about deciding what companies to work with?

Lynch: I spend a lot of time talking to the people who make decisions and figuring out why they want my name attached to their product. Most of the time, I can tell relatively quickly if they're someone I’d want to work with or not. I'm really leaning toward people that have a long-term vision and want to work with me not only just to make a quick buck, but also to really understand poker players and do things that are good for the poker community.

PocketFives.com: Tell me about any adjustments you've had to make to your schedule as the kids have gotten older.

Lynch: I play a lot fewer tournaments now than I used to. Unfortunately, a bulk of the MTT schedule online is between 7:00pm and 10:00pm Central Time. I like to put my kids to bed every night and read a book to them, so I've taken up a lot more cash game play and some private coaching to smooth things out. I still play on Sundays and Wednesdays, when my parents watch the kids.
 
PocketFives.com: Is that frustrating even though it has to feel good to spend time with the kids?

Lynch: I love that part of it, but it is frustrating at times because I don't get to play the weekly $1Ks and other big tournaments plus I'm a super competitive person. It took me a bit to get over the fact that the volume I put in wasn't going to get me on any leader boards anymore unless I ran insanely good.