Poker News Daily: When you first started playing poker, did you have any aspirations of it becoming anything other than a hobby?
James: I didn’t know what to expect. It’s a game. I grew up playing games with my family. I just had regular jobs and I just kind of fell into it. This was way before television or anything like that. It was an exciting game and I took to it like a fish to water.
PND: How did you decide you could play poker for a living?
James: I would say pretty quickly. I experienced success from the start. I read a couple of books which, back then, wasn’t very popular. Studying the game just wasn’t popular. It definitely gave me an edge over my opponents and I recognized that. I was able to exploit that into a career.
PND: What books did you find most helpful?
James: The first book I read was David Sklansky’s Hold’em Poker for Advanced Players. I started off playing $1/$2 limit poker since limit hold’em was the game of choice; no limit hold’em was just found in tournaments.
PND: Who were your mentors?
James: A guy named Chip Johnson was my mentor early on. He was an old-time road gambler and he really taught me some principles that have stayed with me today, such as how to evaluate your hand based on your table position. I was lucky enough to surround myself with great people as I came up.
PND: What was the defining moment of your poker career early on?
James: About a year into my poker career, I traveled to Amsterdam for the Master Classics of Poker, my first major tournament. I finished sixth in the Main Event. From that point on, the defining moment was in 2002 when I won a ring at the Hustler Casino in Los Angeles at the Grand Slam of Poker. It was my first really big win. After that, the flood gates opened. It took me five years to win an event. That was after about five to seven years of hard work.
PND: What aspects of poker would recreational players not understand?
James: The aspect of leaving your family and traveling on the road alone. Also, the emotional swings can turn poker into quite a grind, but I still wouldn’t do anything else.
PND: What qualities are often overlooked in order for someone to become successful?
James: I think awareness, which is to be able to focus and center yourself on what’s going on around you. On the surface of the game, poker is fun. It’s a game, it’s entertaining. People play it for all types of reasons, so you can get carried away in the excitement of it all and miss the details. That’s where you find the differences between pros and amateurs.
PND: What mistakes do many aspiring amateurs make?
James: Most mistakes today have to do with timing – choosing the right hand in the right situation. Today, more than ever, people overplay their hands because it’s paid off. Aggressiveness works in poker. If you say what mistakes, it depends on what part of the tournament you’re talking about. The mistakes are probably deep in the tournament when the money is on the line and players have probably gotten there by being aggressive.
PND: What do you consider to be your strongest attributes that allow you to be successful?
James: I would say I’m a “feel” player. I put myself in good situations. Unfortunately, you can’t control the outcome or it would be a lot better. I also think self-awareness of my own mistakes and being able to correct them is a strong point.
PND: What was your most trying time as a professional?
James: In the 2007 World Series of Poker, I played 18 events and didn’t cash once. I was about ready to hang up the spurs because that followed about a year that was pretty tough. In poker, you go through cycles. The down cycles can be pretty brutal sometimes.
PND: What job would you be doing if you weren’t a professional poker player?
James: I could be a director or producer. I love film and television. I love projects that illuminate the human condition. I love going to the theater and being carried away into a story. I find that it’s the same in poker. During the play of a hand, you’re telling a story to your opponents and to the table. Those stories are really interesting.
PND: What do you like the least about playing poker professionally?
James: Being away from my kids. The losses are also tough. In 2003-2005, I never went three months without winning a tournament. Today, the tournaments are much larger. Dealing with that is an emotional challenge, but it’s one that I’m looking to face.
PND: Talk about the playing style of online poker players.
James: They’re fast. They have no value for money. They have no fear. They exploit fold equity. Their first thought is that percentage, using it to their advantage, and pressuring their opponents in and out of pots. They move their chips around great. Their betting amounts are fantastic and their hand reading skills are strong. One of the keys to exploit it is to let them be overly aggressive and let them give away some chips. There are some great shining stars in the online community and I have a great deal of respect for them.