Post by jdaddy on Apr 9, 2008 10:17:31 GMT -4
www.cardplayer.com
SpadeClub Poker Winner: Vinnie 'SpclDelivery' Taylor
BY: BETHANY CERMAK | bethany.cermak@cardplayer.com
PUBLISHED: Tuesday Apr 08, 2008 05:02 PM
Donivan “SpclDelivery” Taylor (or Vinnie, as he likes to be called), 43, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, is SpadeClub’s most-recent $5,000 weekly event winner. Playing on SpadeClub is something his whole family enjoys, as he first heard about the club from his nephew. Vinnie’s wife has already reached the final table of SpadeClub’s biggest event, the $40,000 Mega Monthly. Card Player recently sat down to talk with Taylor about his SpadeClub success and how his wife, who got him hooked on the game, is still teaching him a thing or two.
Card Player: How did you choose your SpadeClub screen name?
Vinnie “SpclDelivery” Taylor: I do have a story behind my screen name, SpclDelivery; I chose it because I wanted it to tell something about me, and since I am a letter carrier for the post office, I thought it suited me.
CP: How long have you been playing poker, and how did you get started?
VT: I have been playing poker for more than 14 years but was introduced to Texas hold'em around five years ago. That’s about the same time I got a computer and found out about the online poker clubs. I started playing poker because it is a favorite pastime of my wife’s family, and I sort of got hooked on it.
CP: Is there a professional poker player you look up to most? If so, why?
VT: I think of all the professional players out there now, Daniel Negreanu stands out in my mind the most. It is because I’ve watched him play and call out people’s hands with an uncanny accuracy. I don’t have any aspirations of doing that myself, but I just think it’s cool that he’s able to do that.
CP: Do you think SpadeClub is a good learning ground for people who are looking to start playing?
VT: Absolutely, I think SpadeClub is a good place for people to learn how to play poker, but also it is a good place to learn how to step up your game and get better. Online poker is so much more impersonal for those who don’t want to go to a casino or those who are unable to. Plus the risk factor is so much less, $19.99 a month to play all your heart desires; you can’t beat it.
CP: What’s the most money you’ve ever won while playing poker?
VT: This $1,500 is the most I’ve won to date playing poker, but I haven’t yet gotten into the money on the $40,000 game SpadeClub offers each month.
CP: When do you plan on cashing out your winnings, and do you have any plans for the money you just won?
VT: I already received my check from SpadeClub for the total amount I won at the tournament. My wife and I are going to use it for a trip we had planned in June to go to her mother’s wedding and then for my own 25th-year class reunion.
CP: Was there a particularly key hand that you played in the tournament that helped lead you to victory?
VT: The hand I think of most that helped lead me to victory wasn’t actually a hand I played. I remember watching my wife, SpadeClub screen name Cicci, play in the first $40,000 Mega Monthly event when she was at the final table with isuckatpoker. She had a chip stack of over a million in chips but got beat on some hands and was down to just over 600,000 in chips. She got dealt K-J and hit two pair at the turn, went all-in, got called by isuckatpoker, lost to a straight, and was out of the game at eighth place. As I looked around the table, I saw that she was the second-biggest stack on the table with the short-stack player at only 30,000 in chips. The moral is that it taught me that in that type of tournament, I need to watch the other players’ chips, too.
CP: How do you plan on keeping your points up on SpadeClub? Does your playing style differ when playing a points tournament versus a cash tournament on SpadeClub?
VT: I will keep my points up on this site by just periodically getting into the point builder tournaments. I may have to do several in a row to get any points, but it usually pays out eventually, and those games pay enough points out to make it worthwhile to sit there for a few hours. I'm afraid my points versus cash tournament playing style does differ; I am much looser in the small cash and point tourneys than I am in the larger cash and points tourneys, but then again, aren’t we all?
CP: Have you participated in any of the community features on SpadeClub? What do you think?
VT: I have participated in some of the community features at SpadeClub, I like looking at other peoples profiles, checking out badges and such, and I also think the blog page is great. It gives everybody a chance to set forth their opinions, get “their” side of the bad-beat story out, or even ask questions or give answers.
CP: Have you met anyone interesting at the tables that you’ve chatted with a lot during the games?
VT: Yes, I have met quite a few interesting and polite players at the tables chatting. I can’t name them all, because I know I’d forget someone. I can’t chat constantly, though, because I’m not very good at multi-tasking, and when I play a game and chat at the same time, my chip stack suffers. I do make polite remarks like “nh” and such, though, and periodically I’ll chat with someone who asked me a question or makes a remark.
CP: What do you think sets great players apart from merely good players?
VT: I think that what sets great players apart from good players is their ability maximize their gains and minimize their losses on a regular basis.
CP: You took down SpadeClub’s largest tournament field so far of 700 players [this was prior to the 900-plus field of the April 6 Mega Monthly], how does that make you feel?
VT: I guess getting through a field of 700 players makes me feel good, but as I play, I only think of one hand at a time and taking out one player at a time.
CP: Is there anything else you would like to add?
VT: (Whew) Yes, thank you very much to SpadeClub and the Shulman family for this opportunity. Thank you, too, Card Player for giving me the opportunity to do this interview. I’d also like to wish everyone good luck at the tables.
SpadeClub Poker Winner: Vinnie 'SpclDelivery' Taylor
BY: BETHANY CERMAK | bethany.cermak@cardplayer.com
PUBLISHED: Tuesday Apr 08, 2008 05:02 PM
Donivan “SpclDelivery” Taylor (or Vinnie, as he likes to be called), 43, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, is SpadeClub’s most-recent $5,000 weekly event winner. Playing on SpadeClub is something his whole family enjoys, as he first heard about the club from his nephew. Vinnie’s wife has already reached the final table of SpadeClub’s biggest event, the $40,000 Mega Monthly. Card Player recently sat down to talk with Taylor about his SpadeClub success and how his wife, who got him hooked on the game, is still teaching him a thing or two.
Card Player: How did you choose your SpadeClub screen name?
Vinnie “SpclDelivery” Taylor: I do have a story behind my screen name, SpclDelivery; I chose it because I wanted it to tell something about me, and since I am a letter carrier for the post office, I thought it suited me.
CP: How long have you been playing poker, and how did you get started?
VT: I have been playing poker for more than 14 years but was introduced to Texas hold'em around five years ago. That’s about the same time I got a computer and found out about the online poker clubs. I started playing poker because it is a favorite pastime of my wife’s family, and I sort of got hooked on it.
CP: Is there a professional poker player you look up to most? If so, why?
VT: I think of all the professional players out there now, Daniel Negreanu stands out in my mind the most. It is because I’ve watched him play and call out people’s hands with an uncanny accuracy. I don’t have any aspirations of doing that myself, but I just think it’s cool that he’s able to do that.
CP: Do you think SpadeClub is a good learning ground for people who are looking to start playing?
VT: Absolutely, I think SpadeClub is a good place for people to learn how to play poker, but also it is a good place to learn how to step up your game and get better. Online poker is so much more impersonal for those who don’t want to go to a casino or those who are unable to. Plus the risk factor is so much less, $19.99 a month to play all your heart desires; you can’t beat it.
CP: What’s the most money you’ve ever won while playing poker?
VT: This $1,500 is the most I’ve won to date playing poker, but I haven’t yet gotten into the money on the $40,000 game SpadeClub offers each month.
CP: When do you plan on cashing out your winnings, and do you have any plans for the money you just won?
VT: I already received my check from SpadeClub for the total amount I won at the tournament. My wife and I are going to use it for a trip we had planned in June to go to her mother’s wedding and then for my own 25th-year class reunion.
CP: Was there a particularly key hand that you played in the tournament that helped lead you to victory?
VT: The hand I think of most that helped lead me to victory wasn’t actually a hand I played. I remember watching my wife, SpadeClub screen name Cicci, play in the first $40,000 Mega Monthly event when she was at the final table with isuckatpoker. She had a chip stack of over a million in chips but got beat on some hands and was down to just over 600,000 in chips. She got dealt K-J and hit two pair at the turn, went all-in, got called by isuckatpoker, lost to a straight, and was out of the game at eighth place. As I looked around the table, I saw that she was the second-biggest stack on the table with the short-stack player at only 30,000 in chips. The moral is that it taught me that in that type of tournament, I need to watch the other players’ chips, too.
CP: How do you plan on keeping your points up on SpadeClub? Does your playing style differ when playing a points tournament versus a cash tournament on SpadeClub?
VT: I will keep my points up on this site by just periodically getting into the point builder tournaments. I may have to do several in a row to get any points, but it usually pays out eventually, and those games pay enough points out to make it worthwhile to sit there for a few hours. I'm afraid my points versus cash tournament playing style does differ; I am much looser in the small cash and point tourneys than I am in the larger cash and points tourneys, but then again, aren’t we all?
CP: Have you participated in any of the community features on SpadeClub? What do you think?
VT: I have participated in some of the community features at SpadeClub, I like looking at other peoples profiles, checking out badges and such, and I also think the blog page is great. It gives everybody a chance to set forth their opinions, get “their” side of the bad-beat story out, or even ask questions or give answers.
CP: Have you met anyone interesting at the tables that you’ve chatted with a lot during the games?
VT: Yes, I have met quite a few interesting and polite players at the tables chatting. I can’t name them all, because I know I’d forget someone. I can’t chat constantly, though, because I’m not very good at multi-tasking, and when I play a game and chat at the same time, my chip stack suffers. I do make polite remarks like “nh” and such, though, and periodically I’ll chat with someone who asked me a question or makes a remark.
CP: What do you think sets great players apart from merely good players?
VT: I think that what sets great players apart from good players is their ability maximize their gains and minimize their losses on a regular basis.
CP: You took down SpadeClub’s largest tournament field so far of 700 players [this was prior to the 900-plus field of the April 6 Mega Monthly], how does that make you feel?
VT: I guess getting through a field of 700 players makes me feel good, but as I play, I only think of one hand at a time and taking out one player at a time.
CP: Is there anything else you would like to add?
VT: (Whew) Yes, thank you very much to SpadeClub and the Shulman family for this opportunity. Thank you, too, Card Player for giving me the opportunity to do this interview. I’d also like to wish everyone good luck at the tables.