I did this with Rafe a few weeks ago but just got way too caught up in some things in my personal life that I never got around to posting it. My apologies to Rafe for not getting to it sooner. Later on this month I can go into some additional detail about what it was that kept me so occupied.
WSOP bracelet winner, Rafe Furst, is a lot more than just a poker player. He’s also a talented technologist, a full-fledged member of the Tiltboys, accomplished Roshambo player, a member of the Full Tilt Pros, sometimes poker journalist, investor, and co-founder of Expert Insight. Oh, and in his spare time he and Phil Gordon raise money for cancer research.
In addition to his WSOP win he also took fifth place in a ladies event (yes, you’re reading that right) and developed a certain level of infamy when he was featured on the ESPN coverage of the 2003 WSOP Main Event as the first player out in under 11 min.
Without any further ado, 10 questions with Rafe Furst.
1. You’re somewhat known for your interests in cutting edge, geeky stuff. What’s got your attention these days?
I’m into cancer complexity and blogging about cutting edge, geeky stuff.
I’m also helping a friend revolutionize the way seed funding is done for startups. If there are any serious venture investors or startup companies who consider themselves mavericks and who have read and agree with the premise of the book, The Black Swan, have them contact me.
2. You and Phil and Phil Gordon have both been good friends of the poker blogging community. In fact, you have both been known to do a little blogging yourselves. What are your impressions of blogging and social networking in general and then more specifically your thoughts on the poker blogging community?
I have been a bit out of the loop on poker blogging lately. But in general poker blogging has been largely to credit for the rapid increase in overall skill amongst players worldwide, shortening the time it takes to become a world-class expert from decades to a couple of years, and it has also helped tremendously in making the game popular in all corners of the world.
More generally still, blogging (and social networking) is changing the face of public discourse, politics, journalism, science, and interpersonal communication. For those who don’t quite get it, find out how the world feels.
3. The whole online poker industry has gone through an exciting change ever since the UIGEA was signed into law. What are your thoughts on how the legality of online poker issue plays out over the next few years?
The trend (thanks in no small part to the PPA) is towards reversing draconian policies, educating lawmakers on the nuances of poker and its positive impacts on people and society, and eventually creating a welcoming, regulated environment in the US for online play. If Obama wins, the poker world will be far better off than it is currently, across the board. OTOH, the Republicans seem to be throwing poker under the bus in an attempt to get McCain elected, so anyone who is inclined to support McCain needs to convince him to break with his party on this. Go to PokerPlayersAlliance.org and it will take under a minute of your time to blast a missive to McCain telling him how you feel about keeping poker legal.
4. The Absolute and UB cheating scandals have given the industry a black eye when it can afford it the least. What kinds of things can online rooms or the industry do to better promote game integrity?
The main thing is for the US to regulate and tax online poker. That will solve most of the problems automatically. As far as the poker rooms are concerned, they need to be as forthcoming and transparent as possible when it comes to cheating of any sort. It’s in their own financial best interest to do so, and the it’s strictly mismanagement and shortsightedness that would cause any site to act as if it weren’t. The honest players (which are 99.99% of them) and the online poker rooms have the same goal here, so it’s also incumbent on the sites to listen to what the players are saying and to take all allegations seriously and investigate promptly.
5. You and Phil have been very involved with the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation and have used poker to raise money for cancer related causes. Do you ever feel like more professional players could be doing more to raise awareness for causes they believe in?
Honestly the thought never occurred to me until you asked. People do what they are moved to do and what they are capable of. I don’t resent anyone who makes different choices than I do because I am not them and I have no idea what lead them to this point in their lives, or what they are doing that I don’t know about. I know for a fact that I am one of the most fortunate people on the planet and one of the happiest. For me personally, it’s only natural to want to help others attain some of the the happiness and good fortune that I have had, and maybe in the process inspire others by example. That may sound platitudinous, but it’s how I feel.
6. 2006 was a really great year for you having won a WSOP bracelet in the $1500 PLH and took first in the UPC. How’s the poker been going since then?
It’s been fantastic. I haven’t had any results to speak of, and to be honest, I’ve played very little compared to previous years. But I view poker as something that I enjoy doing when it fits into the rest of my life, not as my entire life. Other things, including my personal relationships, have taken more of a front seat in the last couple of years. My fiancee is incredibly supportive of everything I do, even though she is not interested in poker at all herself, and I’ve just found myself wanting to do more things with her than not. That said, I am writing this on a plane to Europe with her, and while we mostly going to be travelling as tourists, we’re going to stop in Cannes and Barcelona where I’ll play in some events. To me that’s the perfect way to integrate poker into my life.
7. Beating Phil Gordon to a WSOP bracelet has been devastating for Phil. How frequently do you remind him you’re a bracelet winner and he isn’t?
As you probably know, Phil is self-tilting so I don’t need to remind him at all :-) In all seriousness though, I have never felt from him anything but happiness and pride in my accomplishment. He’ll get his soon enough and he knows it. He’s such an unbelievably talented card player that sometimes people think that he doesn’t try hard enough or play enough to have the success that he has had. But anyone who doubts this should check out how he finished in the recent bridge championships, a game he hasn’t played seriously in 20 years.
Phil also recently had his first child, and I feel that this has profoundly affected his Tiltmeter(TM
), in a positive way. This year at the Main Event, he had something like $200K going into Day 3 and was just destroying his tables with good play. He got cold-decked and was out in a few hours, but was not on tilt at all. He told me he’s got nothing to complain about and was looking forward to spending the rest of the day with his wife and baby. I’m really proud of how Phil has comported himself and his philosophy of life over the last few years.
8. Any chance of you and Phil bringing back the poker podcasts at future WSOP events?
Yeah, it’s possible. Both of us are more inclined to innovate than go back to the same well, but stay tuned, there will always be something interesting around the corner.
9. The WSOP Main Event final table in Nov . . . what are your thoughts?
Great idea in theory, I agree with the decision based on the goals of invigorating poker and getting more excitement and attention paid to the ME Final Table than in years past. If it does the trick, then I see nothing to complain about by anyone.
10. What’s your secret for dominating the Roshambo world?
Duh, I always go rock!
Nice post, will be keeping an eye on this site alot closer from now on