This week, Poker News Daily’s exclusive news show “The Showdown with Jon Friedberg” welcomes one’s of the game’s hottest young guns, UB.com pro Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner discusses his rapid ascent in the game and how he continues to keep his edge. UB.com sponsors “The Showdown,” so support the show by signing up using the bonus code “UBPND”. Check out Part 1 and Part 2.
Before getting to the interview, Friedberg focused on 2008 WSOP Main Event champ Peter Eastgate’s return to poker, which was announced this week. Friedberg was not enamored with the news, telling viewers, “All I have to say about that is, ‘Are you fucking kidding me?’ I mean six months ago, you retire from poker and now you’re already coming back to poker.”
Friedberg adamantly continued, “Did you really have to retire? Couldn’t you have just said, ‘I miss my family. I miss my friends. I’m sick of being on the road. I’m sick of all these appearances. I’m sick of playing. I’m just going to take a few months off and reevaluate.’ That would have made a lot more sense.” Eastgate will play in the upcoming European Poker Tour (EPT) stop in Copenhagen and the National Heads-Up Poker Championship in Las Vegas.
Over on Full Tilt Poker, Multi-Entry tournaments have been the centerpieces of the ongoing Full Tilt Online Poker Series, or FTOPS. On the format, Friedberg asserted, “My opinion on them is they were just going to create too high of a pro to fish ratio because the pros have the money to buy into each tournament multiple times, whereas many of the less experienced players don’t have the bankroll to do that.” Many viewers of “The Showdown” agreed with Friedberg’s assessment.
The focus then turned to deal making in live poker tournaments, including the 23-way chop that occurred at Foxwoods late last year. “I think doing deals in tournaments kind of kills the integrity of the event,” Friedberg remarked. “It’s up to the players, but I think it creates a very different dynamic and I personally would like to see the tournaments where players are not allowed to make deals, which is how the WPT has always been.”
Baldwin then joined the set to comment on his recent hot streak, which included a win in the North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Los Angeles Bounty Shootout in November. Baldwin explained, “I know it’s poker and variance plays a huge role, so I’m making sure to enjoy the hot streak and not take it for granted because you see a lot of people go on hot streaks and then go on equally opposite cold streaks.”
“There are a lot of things that can possibly go wrong,” Baldwin told “The Showdown” viewers when asked why hot streaks can abruptly freeze. “One, playing as much as I have the last couple of years, you can possibly get burned out. Two, having that much success over an extended period of time, you can think you know it all and quit improving.”
Baldwin finished second in the 2010 WPT Championship at the Bellagio for over $1 million and explained how he continues to elevate his game: “When you go on autopilot, you quit challenging yourself. It’s just not as fun… When it comes to No Limit Hold’em tournaments right now, I very rarely feel like I don’t know what I should do in a certain situation. Most of the books don’t have anything new to offer, so most of the learning comes from group discussions with friends.”
Finally, Friedberg asked Baldwin about the lack of recognition he receives. After all, he’s not a household name in the poker world, yet has had a considerable amount of success on the biggest stages. Baldwin admitted, “I really can’t complain with how anything has worked out. I’ve seen the household name guys – those are the guys I’m talking about with the game passing them by. They had everything hit them at once like they’re superstars… I think there’s a lot of value to having done it the hard way.”
Catch new episodes of “The Showdown with Jon Friedberg” every Tuesday right here on Poker News Daily.