"Poor work ethic is the biggest leak I see in poker" - Toby Lewis

EPT champion and Online Player of the Year Toby Lewis discusses staking, high rollers and the importance of work ethic.

"How can you compare what I did with Ragen winning $6m?"

PokerStrategy.com: Congratulations on your European Poker Award for Online Player of the Year. Do these things mean much to you?

Toby Lewis: The awards are a cool thing, but I don't think they do them in the right way - the one I won should definitely have a separate online tournament and online cash game category.

How can you compare what I did to ragen winning $6 million? That's a different league. I don't care for the awards that much, but it's nice to win it.  

PokerStrategy.com: You got the award for winning a WCOOP and an FTOPS event in the same year. That's pretty much the online equivalent of winning a bracelet and an EPT right?  

Toby Lewis: They are just as hard to win, if not harder. The WCOOP I won was a turbo, so there was a lot less skill involved. The FTOPS I was proud of; the $2k FTOPS is the biggest one in the series and all the good players come out for that one. 

"I just load up a lot of tournaments and try to win them all"

PokerStrategy.com: It is hard for any tournament player to set out and win a specific tournament. Do you set big goals like to win specific accolades like these? 

Toby Lewis: Not really. I learned a lot from Chris Moorman in this regard; I load up a lot of tournaments and I just try and win them all. I don't really set goals of trying to win a TCOOP or WCOOP, I just try and win whatever is there. 

PokerStrategy.com: In a way, his aim to win online Triple Crowns is probably one of the better goals to set, because it encourages volume and consistency. 

Toby Lewis: The Triple Crowns are a great achievement, but he will tell you himself that some of the tournaments in the Triple Crowns are not the hardest to win. I would still say the Triple Crowns are a bigger achievement than winning just the one tournament like a WCOOP.

I also like people who work hard so I can relate to that sort of thing, I'm not a fan of poker players who come out of their apartment one or two times a year for a Main Event and call themselves a professional -that's not how it works. 

"Poor work ethic is the biggest leak I see in poker"

PokerStrategy.com: Expand on that. The stereotypical image of a poker player is lazy, do you think work ethic is what separates the elite players from the rest? 

Toby Lewis: Yeah I think that is probably the biggest leak I see in poker. There are a lot of really talented players who just play Grand Theft Auto or golf all day. Poker is still a job at the end of the day; I think a lot of people take advantage of the lifestyle we lead.

Because you can be independent and work on your game as and when you want, people get very lazy very quickly. It's important to keep getting better and to keep your standard of play up with the kids who are working really hard. It's really easy to fall behind.

PokerStrategy.com: Do you think keeping up your online game is most important in making sure you don't get rusty? 

Toby Lewis: I do personally. Also the stacks are much shallower online, so you get into situations you find yourself in during the latter stages of live tournaments. Live tournaments take a long time; you are not going to have a great hourly rate in a live tournament - it is more of a lottery situation. 

PokerStrategy.com: You've been around the circuit for a long time. Do you think the culture of staking in MTTs is making the game tougher because more good players get a chance to play the big events? 

Toby Lewis: You can look at it both ways. There are good guys who play these events that couldn't have afforded it normally, but on the other side of things there are people who have been staked for a long time who are in a big hole, who probably aren't winning players, and they are chalking up $10,000 every time to play these events. With one good reg, you might get one bad reg. 

PokerStrategy.com: What's it like dealing with the pressure of being in makeup? 

Toby Lewis: I've only really backed players, I've never been backed myself. I know that having people in makeup has been pretty stressful at times. I think really hard before I've taken horses on.

I've said no to players who were profitable investments, but they might not have been good investments when they were stuck. Will they work hard, will they look after your money, are they going to be loyal, are they going to steal money? A lot of people take it for granted that some people will do the dirty on other people, unfortunately I'm not surprised how much it happens. 

"It is good there is more emphasis on side events these days"

PokerStrategy.com: You play a lot of High Rollers. Is their increasing popularity a sign that Main Event buy-ins should go up? 

Toby Lewis: My personal opinion is no, I think €5,000 is a good number. I think the EPT is a stronger series than ever. The side events are getting better and the turbos in the evening are better.

When you travel to a tournament and are paying money for hotels and flights, you need to try and play as many events as possible to make the trip profitable. I think the EPT are doing a good job of this, that's why less people are going to WPTs.  

PokerStrategy.com: What are High Rollers like to play in? They obviously seem tougher, but they also seem more relaxed and have good banter between the players. 

Toby Lewis: I like the €10,000 events a lot. There are a lot of good regs and there are also a lot of high roller recreational players, so it makes for a good balance and a relaxed atmosphere.

They are eight-handed as well - I can't stand when you go to a tournament that's ten-handed where you can't breathe at the table. To play profitable ten-handed poker means you have to play tight tactics. 

I like the fact they have introduced having trophies, that there is more emphasis on side events, and having photos taken. Not that I care personally, it's just that it's nice when you win a tournament to get a trophy. A lot of people like that. 

PokerStrategy.com: Thanks Toby, no doubt we will see you getting your photo taken with a trophy again pretty soon. 

See more of our recent interviews with the biggest names in poker

By Barry Carter l Barry Carter on Twitter

 
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