Paul Wasicka Interview
May 15, 2007 - James Hardy
Paul Wasicka is probably best known for the heads up match he had against one Jamie Gold at the 2006 WSOP main event. The 26 year old poker millionaire almost became a “one hit wonder.” After his dream-come-true six million dollar payday, Paul almost imploded as a poker player.
No longer driven to chase a dream he had already caught, Kwickfish was faced with overcoming personal demons he had thought long gone. With an amazing finish at the 2007 Aussie Millions, a final table at the LA Poker Classic, and a victory at the 2007 NBC Heads Up Championship, it seems that Paul is good and exorcized, and ready to continue dominating the tables.
Chicksnchips: Paul, thank you very much for agreeing to answer some questions for us. I know our readers will be excited to learn a bit more about the "Kwickfish."
Paul Wasicka: No problem. Thanks for inviting me to take part.
CNC: On your website, kwickfish.com, visitors are greeted with a triumphant moment for you. Your standing off to one side of the final table with one fist in the air, watching a victory unfold on the felt as the other players look unhappily on. Could you describe what was happening at that moment?
PW: Ha. I actually just changed that photo about a week ago but the picture you’re referring to was taken during last year’s World Series of Poker final table when my queens held up against Doug Kim’s nines.
HB: Underneath the picture is the caption “observe the ownage.” That seems appropriately fitting given your self-described competitive nature. I watched you play that event-the 2006 WSOP final table-and I would not have described you as a player that felt a sense of entitlement.
Yet, in your blog, you mention more than once that you know you can beat the game of poker. In another player that might be read as arrogance. However, with your track record, it might be seen as a statement of simple facts.
Where does this supreme confidence come from?
PW: Arrogance and confidence are completely different. To me, arrogance is over-valuing one’s skills or importance. Confidence is knowing yourself and believing in yourself. Confidence comes from a place of honesty, arrogance doesn’t. I’m confident in my play because I believe in myself. I’ve studied the game of poker and after playing hundreds of thousands of hands, I understand the game well. I know that by and large I make good poker decisions.
This doesn’t mean that I think I’m immortal or that I never make mistakes. To do that would be to cross over into arrogance. Confidence in oneself is absolutely crucial to this game. If you don’t believe in yourself—your ability to read situations and make good decisions—you really shouldn’t be playing poker.
CNC: You turned pro in 2006, waiting until you fulfilled a commitment to an employer before leaving the job to play poker full time. What made you stick to your guns, when you knew you could be out there, burning up the tables and living the life of a pro?
PW: I really believe that a person is only as good as his or her word. I gave my employer (who also is my brother in-law and a trusted friend) my word that I’d work for him for a year. He trusted me and made plans accordingly. I wasn’t about to go back on that just because my financial situation had changed.
CNC: That's admirable. Of course, your greatest victory in terms of money is obviously the 2nd place finish at the WSOP last year. However, your follow-up victories (4th at this year's LA Poker Classic and winning the NBC Heads Up Championship) have to hold a great deal of weight with you as well.
Would you say they were the more important victories, as they showed that the WSOP was no fluke?
PW: Well, it’s awesome to finally feel like I’m beginning to earn the respect of my peers but nothing to date trumps that WSOP finish. Respect is one thing but being able to take care of myself and my family for life is much more important.
CNC: For the NBC Heads Up Championship, weren't you an alternate? I heard you were brought in to play when Phil Hellmuth couldn't make it.
PW: That’s right. Phil won the first Head’s Up. This time, he had another commitment, and I was lucky enough to get in.
CNC: Has Phil said anything to you along the lines of winning with his chips, or "you're welcome?", something Phil-like?
PW: You know, Phil has a reputation for sounding off at the table but what people do when they’re playing isn’t always indicative of what they’re like as a person. I sent Phil a small present as a thank you for not being there. He told me he appreciated the gesture. Then he taught me a lesson by taking most of my chips in the WPT Championship. If anything is “Phil-like,” it’s playing lights-out poker.
CNC: It has been said that heads up is the purest form of poker, especially in No Limit Hold'em, and you are obviously skilled at this game. Is there any truth to that statement?
PW: Well I can’t really comment about either part of that statement. I have no idea what “pure poker” is. Is a ring game or a short handed freeze-out somehow less pure? As for me being skilled at heads up, I don’t always like to admit this but before the NBC tourney (and with the exception of about 15 minutes against Jamie Gold), I’d never really played heads up before.
CNC: Wow! That's impressive. In the bio on your site you mention how, after you won over six million at the WSOP, you almost became washed up as a poker player. To us on the outside it doesn't seem that way at all. Especially since you've had those amazing victories like the Millions, the LAPC, and the NBC game.
Your bio is rife with up and down behavior-you succeed, then allow a personal behavior to compromise that success, then learn, recover, and succeed in an even greater fashion. Do you see this trend continuing, or are you done with the "crash and burn" part of the cycle?
PW: Life is a series of learning opportunities. I have an addictive personality and that has gotten me in trouble, but it’s also one of the keys to my success. I almost look forward to crashing and burning again because if what you say is true, hopefully I’ll bounce back even stronger.
CNC: Has your success (WSOP, Millions, Heads Up Champion, etc.) taken you out of the hermit-like existence of an apartment piled high with empty pizza boxes, or have you just replaced them with caviar tins piled high in a more expensive apartment?
PW: (Chuckle). Well I can afford to put nicer toppings on my pizzas now, but I’d like to think I’m still down to earth. I’m less of a hermit now because I have more responsibilities. Plus I have a girlfriend so she picks up the boxes.
CNC: Congratulations on signing with Poker Royalty, and joining the Full Tilt Poker crew. Does this mean you get to be in those awesome Full Tilt commercials? Oh, and is it true that, as part of the membership requirements, you have to let Chris Ferguson hit an apple off of your head with a thrown playing card?
PW: Man those commercials are hilarious! I love the one of Mike Matusow trying to bluff Alan Cunningham. I’d really love to be in one of those commercials, but you’ll have to talk to Howard and those guys about that. Maybe if I can get an evil laugh down like Mike has they’ll let me in.
I’ll let Chris hit an apple off my head with a card if he lets me try knocking one off his head with a golf ball.
CNC: Your site is well put together. I couldn't help noticing that it was done using iWeb and/or .Mac. Are you a Mac user, and did you do the site yourself?
PW: Thanks for the props but a good poker player never tells his secrets.
CNC: On your blog page you have "Welcome to my world gramma!" is that a reference to the thug in Rounders?
PW: I’m not sure which part of Rounders you’re talking about but the quote actually references Ben Stiller playing a male nurse in Happy Gilmore. Great actor, great movie. Nuff said.
CNC: Okay, now about the nickname-sounds like an online poker room user name-what's the story behind it?
PW: Well I used to be called Kwicky and some people still call me that, but I was changing my account for some reason and I’d kept winning money off of this guy. Every time I did, he’d curse me out and call me a fish. I thought it was funny so I became the Kwickfish.
CNC: You provide a well-crafted description of poker on your site: "Played responsibly, poker is a wonderful game. It combines everything we look for in a contest: head, heart, nerve, a lot of skill and an element of luck." Do you think that this attitude, this approach to the game of poker, is partially responsible for your tenacious success at the game?
PW: I guess so. I attribute my poker success to a few other things too, like being able to read people, being able to handle swings both financially and mentally, and not engaging in too many of the temptations that one finds in Sin City.
CNC: Paul, you have had a fantastic rise to the top of the poker world, and it seems like you are just getting started. Your healthy attitude towards the game and determination to defeat your own weaknesses in order to defeat your opponents promises a long road of successes ahead of you, and we will be happy to watch and report on it along the way. Thanks for taking the time out to answer questions for our readers.
PW: Anytime. Thanks for having me. You can always reach me at my website at www.kwickfish.com
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