Eric “Basebaldy” Baldwin joins us for an interview, filmed at The Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles during the North American Poker Tour stop in Los Angeles. Baldwin is a player quickly gaining steam as one of the fastest rising stars in live tournament poker.
Baldwin first made a comment about some of the internet exclusive players making their debuts at this event. He said, “You see a lot of online guys try to win the tournament on Day 1. You need to realize that folding one orbit in live poker feels like an eternity, especially when you see bad players at your table because you just want to own them every hand. You learn that lesson the hard way when you first make that transition.”
In this interview, Baldwin is asked about playing tough fields such as the $5,000 Main Event during the NAPT LA. “I’m starting to get used to it honestly, after playing as much as I have in the last year. But, you try and not look at their name or their reputation, you try and just reduce it down to how they are playing. You can get caught up in saying ‘oh my god it’s so-and-so’ and let that affect your play, but you can realize they are humans too, figure out how they are playing and go from there.”
Baldwin is winding down what will surely be looked at as another banner year in 2010 on the live circuit, highlighted by his runner-up finish at the $25,000 World Poker Tour Championship Event which earned him just over one million dollars. He was also the 2009 CardPlayer Player of the Year award winner and a sponsored pro at UB.com. He owns a WSOP Bracelet he earned in 2009, from the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event which came with a prize payout of $521,991 as well as a deep run in this year’s WSOP Main Event, finishing 59th out of 7,319 players for a $138,285 payday.
