Continuing to provide its free transportation services, 888poker Ride has recently accommodated Jeremy Ausmus, the man whose live tournament results speak louder than any words possibly could.
Sitting behind the wheel, Dave Tuchman did his magic, fully utilizing the fifty-odd minutes to uncover the mystery behind the success of the man he refers to as “Tom Brady of poker.”
It’s an inspiration interview from someone who’s pretty much seen it all when it comes to poker, and who learned that adopting to new circumstances and accepting the change was an essential element to long-term success.
The Importance of Being in the Moment
Ausmus built his poker experience primarily grinding cash games, switching to tournaments only when the world of high stakes cash became too “political” with most good games being private and requiring an invitation.
While the switch went fine in monetary terms, it did require him to adjust his schedule, as tournaments aren’t nearly as flexible when it comes to planning one’s time.
Talking to Tuchman, Jeremy explains that one of his main skills when it comes to achieving a good balance between his professional and personal life is the ability to be in the moment. Whether he plays cards or spends time with his family, he tries to be there 100%
This approach has clearly worked for Ausmus, who has a beautiful family and has been crushing tournaments for over a decade now, with $23 million in live earnings.
It’s interesting that his very first WSOP bracelet came some 11 years ago, and it was in a PLO event, a game that he wasn’t nearly as experienced with as NLHE. That said, during the interview, he dispelled myths that he had only learned the rules on the day of the tournament.
Staying on Top
As mentioned, Ausmus made switch from cash games to high stakes tournaments and, seemingly, he’s never looked back.
The world of high stakes tournaments has blossomed in the last ten years, opening a whole new world of opportunities that he captured without any hesitation.
Reflecting back on his reasons for the switch, he explains that the world of cash game poker became way too political for his liking, with all good action going to private games, and getting a seat in these can be quite a toll.
His response was to turn to tournaments, although he says that many of his fellow players adopted the new reality by setting up their own private games. Although Ausmus certainly had enough connections and reputations to do this as well, he decided it wasn’t his thing.
In his opinion, tournaments are the “promised land” for players who want to put in the hours, improve, and reach the top, as there are no artificial barriers. That kind of path used to exist in live cash games, too, but he believes it is now broken.
To stay on top while playing in some of the toughest events around, Ausmus continues to study and improve his game working with solvers and analyzing his opponents. He also does a fair bit of coaching himself, which he finds rewarding and fiscally responsible to help him ride out the sometimes brutal variance of high stakes tournaments.
On Motivation and Poker Hall of Fame
While making money is, of course, important for someone who does poker for a living, this is not the only thing that motivates Ausmus. He loves the competition, year-long leaderboards, and chasing after more WSOP bracelets.
When asked about his thoughts on the Poker Hall of Fame, he explains that he’d love to get in, but not being nominated this year, he feels like it’s not likely to happen soon, as there are so many players coming of age (40) who’ll become virtually automatic candidates.
He’d also like to add a World Poker Tour title to his resume, but there are only a limited number of opportunities every year, especially as he rarely travels overseas to play.
Looking ahead, he doesn’t see his life changing that much in 10 or 15 years, as he plans to continue doing what he does best — winning at poker.
If given the power, there are some things he’d like to change, primarily relating to online poker and just how easy it is for someone to cheat in the virtual environment these days. He’d also like a little less overlap between major events (referring primarily to the dense December schedule, with the WSOP Paradise, WPT World Championship, and EPT Prague running almost simultaneously).
Overall, though, he’s happy with the direction the game has been taking and changes like shot clocks and big blind antes being introduced. So, as long as the world of high-stakes tournaments continues to grow, he’s not going anywhere.
