This week, PocketFives caught up with The Agnostic(pictured), who had a terrific week on Ultimate Poker, taking down both the Sunday $10,000 and Event 5 of the Big 25 series. All told, he has nine cashes in the last eight days for a total payday of $7,600. Playing mostly Pot Limit Omaha cash games until a month ago, he decided to try out the tournament side of poker.

The Agnostic has resided in Nevada since 1999, living in a small town outside of Carson City. He recently joined our Nevada poker community.

PocketFives: Where do you like to play poker online?

The Agnostic: I only play online at Ultimate Poker. I tried WSOP.com for about three minutes on the play money side and hated the software. I feel more comfortable with Ultimate Poker. I feel a loyalty to that site since it was the first in the marketplace and have found that playing at different sites is not good for my game. I feel that focusing on one site and getting to know the players and their tendencies is paramount to having success in the online game today.

PocketFoves: How did you come up with your screen name?

The Agnostic: I play as The Agnostic on Ultimate Poker. I chose that name because I am an Agnostic and it seems simple and controversial as well as a name people will remember when they play against me.

PocketFives: When did you first start playing online poker?

The Agnostic: I was introduced to online poker in 2003. At the time, I was a losing horse racing player and made all of my wagers and did all of my handicapping online. A friend told me that with all the time and effort I was putting into horse racing, I should learn the game of poker.

I started like most people, playing freerolls at various sites, and couldn’t get enough. It was as if a whole new world was opened up to me and I soaked it all in. Things really did not start to click for me until 2006. I started playing some bigger buy-in tournaments on PokerStars and was holding my own. In 2009, I had my best year as a full-time player, taking down several Sunday Mixed Game tournaments on PokerStars and also winning the Nightly $100K for $19,500.

When Ultimate Poker started up last year, I was skeptical at best. I had not played online poker since Black Friday. I knew the player pools would be small and questioned whether it would really be worth full-time grinding online poker again. I did okay, taking down the nightly $50 buy-in $1K Guarantee in May. I was in Las Vegas at the time and decided that the time involved would not be worth the reward since the site only offered Hold’em and I do better at Mixed Games.

PocketFives: We understand you started playing full-time recently?

I started playing full-time again four weeks ago and have found the PLO/8 games to be interesting and full of action. As far as my recent tournament success, it has been a combination of everything clicking and making the correct moves at critical times. My approach to the game is simple: I choose my tournaments carefully and put thought into if the time involved is worth the prize money at the end. I find poker extremely draining mentally and, as I get older, it gets harder to stay focused for long sessions.

PocketFives: What are your favorite games to play right now?

The Agnostic: My favorite game to play is Stud/8 or HORSE. Stud/8 is a great game that requires, in my opinion, more skill than any other variant of poker. I am planning on playing a few live events in Reno this month and will be down in Las Vegas for a couple of weeks during the World Series of Poker.

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