Interview: Trond Erik Eidsvig

Age: 24 Hometown: Alesund, Norway Biggest Cash: $896,000 Best Known For: Three six-figure scores in a 70-day stretch of 2007 The fourth most winning Norwegian poker player of all-time shut down some of his online cash game tables to answer a few interview questions for us. Trond Erik Eidsvig grabbed the poker world's attention in the fall of 2007 when he made two straight final tables on the European Poker Tour and then won the Master Classics of Poker a week later for $896,000. online poker 468x60 PokerTips.org: In one stretch of 10 weeks in 2007, you had three six-figure scores capped with a win at the Master Classics of poker for €620,600. How did you feel after that run? Were you blessed with a few big suckouts or were you just dominating everything? Eidsvig: All the confidence in the world! I was dominating the tables but I was lucky in some BIG key hands (coin-flips, etc) but find a winner of a tournament that wasn't! ;P PokerTips.org: Do you play every stop on the EPT? What are your favorite venues? Eidsvig: No I don't play every stop, I play when I want to travel and when a lot of my friends are going to the same location. The Monte Carlo stop of the EPT is by far the best event in Europe. WSOP in Vegas is of course the "Main Event". PokerTips.org: Do you stick to strictly tournaments or do you play cash games as well? If so, what stakes? Eidsvig: Online I play mostly shorthanded and heads up cash games but I also play the biggest weekly online tournaments. I'm working on my game at the moment at the mid-stakes. Hopefully I will be back on the higher stakes pretty soon. PokerTips.org: What hobbies and activities do you enjoy away from the poker table? Eidsvig: I watch a lot of movies with friends, I also love watching my favourite soccer teams Man Utd and Aalesund FK :). I also try to motivate myself to work out more (right now I'm not working out at all!) :D PokerTips.org: If you could change one thing about the poker world, what would it be? Eidsvig: Ban the statistics programs from online poker! My personal opinion is that it's cheating. It has completely changed the game, and people get information they never would have gotten in a live game. I don't use such programs. I've tested it of course and I probably should start using it since everyone else does... PokerTips.org: What are some of your weaknesses as a poker player? Eidsvig: The one and only TILT! I can be very rude at the tables and I've also lost so much money on tilt... PokerTips.org: Is poker something that you see yourself doing indefinitely, or do you aspire to do something different eventually? Eidsvig: No I don't wanna play poker for the rest of my life, but I hope some opportunities will show up because of the poker. PokerTips.org: Who are some other poker players you respect the most? Eidsvig: Johannes Strassmann, Søren Kongsgaard, Dario Minieri, David Pham, Thor Hansen and a lot of other online high stakes guys I don't wanna mention due to tax issues in their countries ;). PokerTips.org: For our readers hoping to become the next Trond Erik Eidsvig, what is some advice you would share with them? Eidsvig: PLAYPLAYPLAY! Knowledge and experience is everything. If you have seen a similar situation before you're always better prepared to make the right decision!