About You

1. What is your name, age and where are you located? What is your personal twitter account?

my name is Dong Kyu Kim and spend most of my time in the pacific north west where I’ve spent a few years in high school and college.

@dongerkim

2. What are Your online poker Screen names?

donger kim on pokerstars
donger274 on ftp

3. How would you define yourself as a poker player? / What poker game(s) do you normally play? Are you learning any new games?

my main game I play is heads up no limit online. I am familiar with other big bet games with slight variations such as HU PLO/6max cash/tournaments etc

4. What do you most enjoy about your job?

It use to be the traveling but now I’ve gotta say I’m going back to the freedom it gives me. also in a very strange way, financial security.

5. Who are the top 3 players in your main game from your home country in your personal opinion?

in my personal opinion, much of the top HUNL players are American. I would say Doug Polk, Dan Cates and Isaac Haxton are.

6. What reg in your game do you respect most? Can you briefly describe why?

I respect Doug Polks game the most. It is common knowledge that Doug and I are very good friends and without him, I would not be the HU player I am today.

7. Besides yourself who do you think the most underrated poker player is?

First off, I never thought I was an underrated player. I was just not as well known in the general poker world. To answer your question, the most underrated player I think is premium whey. he is somewhat new in high stakes heads up world, but a fierce contender. I’d imagine we will be hearing a lot from him in the coming months

Past

1. Why and when did you start playing poker? Do you still play for the same reasons?

i started play poker just like many college kids, as a hobby. I don’t play poker for the same reasons but I still do get just as much enjoyment from the game as when I started. although this wasn’t always the case.

2. What were the best and worst months of your poker career? What happened?

relativity is an important aspect of this question l. the best month/a big turning point in my poker career was definitely the nick frame challenge. things couldn’t have gone better that month after a crushing January of high stakes live tournament poker at PCA/Aussie millions.

the worst month was a long time ago, when I lost a third of my bankroll at a 10-20 game. at this time The highest stakes I’ve ever played was 1-2. I vividly remember how devastating that was.

3. Are you satisfied with your 2014 poker year?

I’d like to think so yes. I’ve successfully went from a long time 5-10 player to an establish high stakes player for the first time. took me a few years of moving up and down stakes.

4. How did Black Friday impact you? How did you adapt after Black Friday?

Black Friday impacted me in a big way. I was forced to sell the little money I had on the twoplustwo market place to continue pursuing poker. I packed up my bags and moved out the very next month and drove to vegas to play live cash. I started off at the 1-3 games and managed to get back on my feet.

5. What was the biggest factor in your development as a player?

being creative. poker is an ever evolving game. the moment a player is too stubborn to acknowledge a different point of view will have trouble growing as a player. about a few years ago, I went through this stubborn phase and failed to adjust. I quickly saw the games passing me.

6. What was the biggest mistake(s) you have done as a poker player?

I wish I was more aggressive with my bankroll. I was such a nit. I was playing small stakes professional ally with over 500+ buy ins. poker is not as popular as it was once before, and in the past decade, it is clear that the games today will be better than games tomorrow. I make sure that I give it lots of thought and have a calculated plan while taking big risks.

Present

1. How do you prepare for your poker activities?

I actually take a very passive approach in preparation for a big important day ahead. I generally try to go over everything a few days before and take the whole day off the nigh/day before.

2. If you could pick the brain of anyone in the world for 3 hours, who would he/she be?

Mark Cuban

3. What 3 poker pros should PokerStars sign to their team online roster?

Martin Jacobson, Pratyush B. and Mike McDonald

4. What is your favorite way to relieve stress when running bad?

watching a movie. it’s hard to think about anything else during a movie

5. How much volume are you playing on Eurosites?

I’ve had bad experiences on euro sites. I don’t particularly trust them.

6. Why are you not playing mid/high stakes already? If you are, what are the 3 most important things that got you there?

sounds cliche, but persistence and hardworking. I’m not afraid to say it but ultimately running good when you’re playing your highest stakes is a huge factor.

7. What is the most important positive change you’ve made to your poker approach for 2015?

Being flexible with different game types. personally starting all over from scratch sounds very inefficient so I’ll be looking for a game that I enjoy but also has great potential.

Future

1. What are your poker goals for 2015?

to win a poker tournament, is that so much to ask?

2. Are you confident that you will meet those goals? Why?

I am confident because I come from a game type with that is incredibly competitive. My living has come from other pro’s that play one on one poker for a living.

3. Do you see yourself still playing poker in 10 years?

i see myself playing poker in 30 years, although not as a primary source of income. since I’ve googled “rules of Texas holdem” there hasn’t been a day that’s gone by without thinking about poker

4. Do you have any ambition to coach/teach other players?

I consider myself a player, not a teacher.

5. What’s the poker dream for you?

the same dream every poker player has, to win the WSOP ME

6. How do you see the poker landscape changing in the next five years?

it’ll be tough. I’d imagine those who game select the hardest will be the first to go. a lot of sites are changing their lobby’s by rewarding players who start tables/ the better players. unfortunately there isn’t as much room for professionals as 10 years ago

7. How much time are you putting into studying financial issues like investing. What are your preferred sources for this? What investments are you making with your poker winnings?

I personally take the passive approach to investing. A mixture of low beta ETFs and bonds. for all the money that I win and lose on a daily basis, when the market is down 5%, it gives too too much anxiety. I just don’t like getting involved in something I don’t fully understand. if I lose a ton in poker, at least I have a good idea what happened.

Other

1. Do you have any regular non-poker hobbies? Whats your favorite way to spend your spare time?

I’m actually quite the homebody. I enjoy quiet nights.

2. If you could give you from five years ago (make it ten if over 30) one major piece of advice, what would it be?

to play as much poker as you can and try to move up in stakes. I got into poker on 2009, and I’ve heard all these great stories of the “golden age”. 2009 was the golden age

3. What are the 3 things everyone should have on their bucket list?

Do some international traveling where you live for a long period of time. preferably not the country next door. especially for you Americans that never leave the U.S. Americans just don’t travel enough

skydiving. I’ve never felt more alive. this should count as two things

4. Do you follow any poker podcasts or poker players on Twitch?

I’m more of a YouTube guy

5. If you could change one thing with online poker, what would that be? What if you could change one thing with live poker?

I would cap the number of tables the HU lobby accordingly to the traffic. i know this very well since I am a HU player myself. players need more of an incentive to to play, that way, the game will continue to evolve, the lobby will look lively.

6. What is the best place and the best restaurant your have ever visited?

i personally enjoy food in Hawaii the most. I don’t enjoy “Hawaiian” food but the fusion asian food there.

7. Who do you challenge to do the Poker Player Snapshot next and why?

TCfromUB, because he recently did a challenge himself