GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 5 - May 2008

22 INTERVIEWWITH Ellen Jacobs | pokertramp City currently residing in: Hammond Park,Western Australia Age: 42 Favorite food: Thai, especially TomYum Vegetable Soup One book everyone must read: If I Did It, the OJ Simpson Story Sites: pokerpokerandmorepoker.com, freerolltournamentsonline.com , badbeatjackpot.com and others. PokerTramp lays down the law: Be honest, be ethical, don’t litter and save the whales. You’ve been in the online gaming busi- ness since 2002. What about the industry made you decide to get involved? I started messing around with online video poker in 2001. I ran into a site that Cynthia Car- ley owned and used her site to pick out the best video poker sites. I started chat- ting with her via e-mail and phone and eventually was persuaded there was good money in this business and started my own video poker site. What do you like about the industry? I love the fact that I can work from home. I hate working for someone else. I can set my own hours and be my own boss, that’s the best bit! I love the fact that you can actually play poker from home in your jammies! What don’t you like about the industry? I was at first put off a bit that I would profit from the bad fortunes of others losing at the online casinos. Then I realized they were going to play and more than likely lose anyway, so why not guide them to the most trusted sites and benefit from it at the same time? The webmaster side of this industry is a wonderful one. I’ve met so many friendly, caring people along the way; so many are willing to help. And if it weren’t for the GPWA back in 2002, I would not have got- ten so far in this business. How has the industry changed between 2002 and today? It’s grown tremendously for one. The business itself is much more competitive, so you have to work harder. There are many more casinos and defi- nitely more poker rooms available to be affiliated with. When I started, online poker was just launching and there were a handful of poker rooms to advertise for. Why did you decide to focus on the poker side of things? I have a lot of knowledge when it comes to poker. I ran a private game for more than five years. I’ve been playing poker for around 25 years. What’s your favorite game and why? My favorite game is Hold’em. My best game is probably Limit Hold’em, as that’s all that we played in the private games when I first started playing. But I do love the No- Limit Hold’em. I also enjoy a good game of Omaha High Low or even Omaha, just to keep things a bit interesting and not get bored, as I play very few hands. So when playing online, I normally play two to three tables of No Limit and at least one game of Omaha or Omaha High Low. Who is your favorite pro poker player and why? There are several pros I respect highly. I’ve played with many and a few are personal friends. But if I had to pick one, I would have to say it’s Barbara En- right. She happens to be one of my dearest friends and I’ve played in live games and tournaments with her. She is an excellent player. She’s won more bracelets than any other other woman. She just won the La- dies Event at Caesars, and she’s the first woman to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame and the first woman to make it to the final table at the WSOP Main Event. What characteristics of online poker rooms do you find are most important for players? For me personally, I need a room that allows me to resize the table; I play several tables at once so that’s a must. But overall the most important factors would be good customer support, fast cash outs, a good selection of games with enough ac- tion at all times, nice redeposit offers and, of course, lots of fish! Two of your sites focus on poker tourna- ments. Do certain types of tournaments work better than others? My freeroll site actually gets more visits, downloads and signups than my guaranteed tournament site (cash buy-in tournaments). Many Continued on page 52 GPWA TIMES | GPWA Affiliate Interview Series