An hour heads-up with a poker pro

I'm playing poker with Simon Jenvey-a 20-year-old from Great Britain who makes his living playing the game--and I'm winning. By more than $1,000. Maybe I'm the one who should have dropped out of college to bet my future on the world's most unforgiving card game. Maybe Jenvey's starting to reconsider his decision to do so.This is the 70th hand of our matchup, a game of pot-limit Omaha (Jenvey's favorite poker variant) that we're playing online---on a relatively new poker website called Gr88.com (pronounced "Great 8") that sponsors Jenvey. Our game was set up for its publicity value, as a way to promote Gr88.com. But this couldn't have been the kind of publicity they were looking for. And I've just been dealt four more pretty strong cards.

That's how many cards you're dealt in pot-limit Omaha, which is otherwise pretty similar to Texas Hold 'Em, in which you're dealt two. Omaha players can only use two of the four cards they're dealt (plus three of the five on the board that are available to all players to make the best, five-card hand). But I've just been dealt an Ace and the King of spades, as well as a five and six.

I open with a minimal raise of $100. Jenvey quickly calls.

***

Simon Jenvey was attending Brockenhurst College, focusing on learning a trade---he took classes in construction and computers---when he was bitten by the poker bug. He'd always been fascinated by the game, but had never learned to play, figuring it was too complex. But that's the thing about a college education-not all the learning happens in the classroom.

"I saw my mates playing a friendly game of poker, I sat down and watched and they asked me join in, so I did," says Jenvey. "From then I was hooked."

Jenvey became obsessed with poker. He read as many books as he could find, and cruised the online 2 + 2 forums for discussion about poker philosophy and different hand strategies.

Long days of classes would morph into even longer nights of poker-and a growing bankroll. Jenvey realized he was paying for almost everything he need through his poker winnings.

"The time came when I had to decide if I wanted to do another two years at college or play poker," he says. "I chose poker. It was the easiest choice I've made in my life."

***

My game with Jenvey hadn't started so well. Twenty-two minutes in, I was pretty nervous. My $2,000 opening chip count had been slipping away. Fast. After a combination of my bad reads, failed attempts at aggression and, all right, Jenvey's skill left me with only $520. My blood was in the water. Jenvey, like any shark, could smell it, I was sure.

But my luck turned-not on a great hand, but one that convinced me I needed to make a final push or face being forced all-in on a hand that might be even worse. I pushed in all my chips after the flop gave me three 2's. The shark-that is, Jenvey--obliged, calling with a hand that is one card away from a flush.

It was a good play by Jenvey. The final card was 10 of diamonds, which gave him the flush he was looking for. But that 10 of diamonds also gave me a full house---10's full of two's. I took down the pot and began my comeback.

Now here I sit with that Ace and that King of Spades and that five and that six.

On we got, the pot getting bigger and bigger and my hand getting better and better. How hot am I? The six-card that I had only considered as an afterthought turns out to be huge when two other six's appear on the board. Then comes a king, which gave me another full house. My heart is nearly beating out of my chest. Jenvey gives his predicament some consideration. And then he folds, sending me $1,200 more--a $1,300 chip lead.

I'll always cherish my memory of every detail of that hand. It was my last really good memory of our game.

***

Once Jenvey chose poker as his profession, he became even more serious about the game, playing online for hours on end, and taking down some big tournament prizes in the process.

He's still strictly an online player. He says that's what he knows best, and going with what you know is part of making a good poker player. He recently won $7,000 in an online tournament and his consistently high finish in others shows just how successful this formula has been for him in his short career.

During our conversation, Jenvey was pretty open with stories of his poker successes and failures--he described failure as coming in 20th in a tournament he felt he could have won, but still took home $3,000. But he has been hesitant to share complete details about his day-to-day life as a professional poker player with his friends and family.

"I keep my parents in the dark about how much I play poker," he says. "If I have a bad day and lose a chunk of cash---which happens to us all---they would probably go crazy. I don't want to worry them. I know what I am doing. I also try and keep my friends in the dark as well just to avoid some stupid questions about what I do for a career. When I am with my friends I want to have a good time, I do not want to spend the whole night speaking about poker. Some of them wouldn't understand it anyways."

***

Looking back, I probably should have been more aggressive. As our game wore on, as Jenvey began to catch up and pass me, I noticed that a good poker player doesn't slow down when he gets a lead.

Then again, the turnaround happened pretty fast. It took Jenvey only 19 hands to completely reverse our fortunes, steadily bleeding me of my chips and finishing me off with an all-in hand that I was playing out of desperation rather than advantage. We'd played for 55 minutes.

So much for the $50 prize that Gr88.com had put for the winner. So much for my fantasies of fame. Jenvey had cleaned me out. He typed "good game" onto the screen. I typed something about lasting longer than I thought I was going to. But Jenvey never answered. I doubt if he ever saw it. I'm pretty sure he had already signed off.