Talking Limit Omaha Hi/Lo with Adrienne 'Talonchick' Rowsome

We hear from this weekend's Sunday Million host Adrienne Rowsome on Omaha 8, balancing poker with another career and prop bets.

"It is hard to find a lot of games at Limit Omaha Hi/Lo"

PokerStrategy.com: What's the toughest thing about the games you play?

Adrienne Rowsome: I play mostly Limit Omaha H/L split, ranging in stakes from $5/$10 to $75/$150 on a regular basis. In addition, I have been expanding my repertoire to play 8-Game from time to time. On Sundays, I will take a shot at some MTTs, usually the Women’s Sunday, Sunday Million, Supersonic and a few others, depending on how busy I am or how I’m feeling!

With LO8 being such a specific game, the field that plays them isn’t massive and there aren’t that many purely recreational players taking a shot, so game selection can be tough as there may only be a couple games going at one time. That is why I tend to play a wider range of stakes.

To win, I spend time taking fairly specific notes on players so that I can be aware of tendencies they have that I could potentially take advantage of. For example, if a certain player bets a ‘one way hand’ (i.e., nut low with no pair for high) very strongly, I may wish to either isolate them on the river for a better chance at winning with a high hand that wouldn’t fair well multi-way or take the opportunity to use them to get extra bets in on the river if I have a strong ‘two way’ hand.

PokerStrategy.com: How hard is it to be your own boss as a poker player? 

Adrienne Rowsome: As I balance poker with a conventional job, I keep a fairly routine daily schedule in terms of meal times, sleep times, etc.  A struggle that has come up, though, is that on days where I’m not working at the hospital, sometimes it feels like a weekend or a holiday.

It can be difficult to get into a working mode on those days, which is why I try to maintain a static daytime schedule, although I do allow myself to sleep in 60-90 minutes more. 

"There is a stigma that comes with being a poker player"

PokerStrategy.com: What is the best and worst thing about being a professional? 

Adrienne Rowsome: When games are abundant, I love the flexibility of being able to have the freedom to play poker on your own terms and hours. You get to take advantage of midweek travel deals and other ‘off peak’ deals that are offered by some destinations. Being a woman in the poker world, I also enjoy the look of disbelief I get, followed by genuine interest, after people find out that I have played poker for well over a decade.

One of the worst things I find is the stigma that can come along with being a poker player. When I am working at the hospital, co-workers will often say they wish they could ‘only work two or three days a week’, but they underestimate the amount of time and effort that poker can take, not to mention that they forget that you can have days where you lose hundreds or thousands of dollars! 

PokerStrategy.com: How did you bring up the subject of turning pro with your family?

Adrienne Rowsome: I played poker recreationally for many years before taking a more serious approach to the game, so for my friends finding out that I was going to increase the amount of poker in my life, it seemed like a natural step, not a big surprise. 

My family was a bit more concerned, though. Throughout my years of play, I had always been very open and honest about the swings and steps I was taking to be financially cautious. It was easier for them to accept when they saw that I was still able to participate in conventional activities – buying my first house, travelling, affording some small luxuries. As I never gave up my career as an Occupational Therapist (because I love that part of my life, too), the typical parental concerns weren’t as prominent. 

"I've gone through a few laptops while on tilt"

PokerStrategy.com: What's the craziest thing you have done on tilt?

Adrienne Rowsome: I went through a few laptops probably five or six years ago. I usually wrecked the hard drive by pushing the laptop off my lap, or slamming a fist down in frustration.  I had a safety net though – when I bought the computers, I made sure to get the extended warranty that covered any breakage...no questions asked.

PokerStrategy.com: Do you ever do prop bets away from poker? 

Adrienne Rowsome: In my family, we call them ‘five-dollar challenges’ and there have been some fun ones through the years. The best (aka worst) one ever was when the challenge was to eat a Big Mac that had been put through a blender. The ante got upped in this one with me throwing in $50 on top of a few other $5s but the person wasn’t able to ‘drink’ it at all, despite having had a few cocktails and being hungry after being out at the bar!

PokerStrategy.com: If you didn't play poker, what would you be doing? 

Adrienne Rowsome: Occupational therapist, because on the days when I’m not playing poker, that’s what I’m usually doing. It is really rewarding helping people overcome illness or disability to be independent and achieve goals they may have thought impossible. 

PokerStrategy.com: Thanks Adrienne, good luck hosting the Sunday Million. 

Adrienne Rowsome is hosting the Sunday Million tomorrow at 14:30 ET at  PokerStars. As part of her hosting duties there will be a $215 bounty on her head in the tournament and when the final table is formed she will be in charge of negotiating any deals that take place between the players in the chatbox.