Poker News

Poker pro Scott Seiver has been on the run of a lifetime. The young gun finished fourth in the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) High-Roller Bounty Shootout last month for $215,000 and won the L.A. Poker Classic High-Roller event for another $425,000. In December, Seiver took down a $5,000 No Limit Hold’em event during the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $218,000.

Poker News Daily: Tell us about your recent run in which you’ve logged nearly $1 million in tournament cashes in just three months.

Scott Seiver: I feel I’m playing well right now. Obviously, some of it is getting lucky, but the tournaments’ deep stacks have been helping me. I’ve been playing well recently and it feels good.

PND: Talk about your single-handed destruction of your NAPT Bounty table, where you knocked out all six of your opponents.

Scott Seiver: It was a really interesting tournament because it was a bounty tournament. Some of the players might not have adjusted to that. I just tried to play in a way here I could get all-in to get bounties, which is I think the way to play because that’s where the money is.

PND: Some poker players would argue that you should pay less attention to the bounties and more attention to the prize pool. You feel differently, then?

Scott Seiver: I think it’s not even close. The bounties are a huge part of those tournaments. Any time you get all-in, a huge amount of money is at stake. As long as you can get all-in even with a coin flip, it’s a good idea. All seven players at the NAPT Bounty table were top-level players, so there’s even more reason to be aggressive. You can’t wait to outplay guys like Elky and Barry Greenstein.

PND: How did the field of the NAPT High-Roller compare to the L.A. Poker Classic High-Roller?

Scott Seiver: The L.A. Poker Classic might have been tougher. I happened to have the toughest table for the NAPT, but all around the room, there were sponsored pros. When you’re doing well and playing well, you actually play better. I was feeling good from the NAPT going into L.A. and I think that helped me.

PND: Tell us about your upcoming tournament schedule.

Scott Seiver: I’m at the Wynn right now playing a $1,000 tournament. What I always say is that if you’re doing poorly, you don’t want to see a single card. When you’re doing well, you want to play everything you possibly can. I might play some Circuit Events and might go to Indiana for the WPT. I just want to play right now. I’ve been really enjoying it.

PND: This month, you made your first appearance on ESPN’s list of the top 10 players in the world, dubbed “The Nuts.” How big is that for you?

Scott Seiver: I think it’s wild and it feels great. It’s wild to see your name in print like that and it’s a big publication that I can tell my parents to look at. While I was playing at Bay 101, a friend of mine pulled it up and showed me. Daniel Alaei, who is also on that list and was at my table, hadn’t seen it either.

PND: Two other extremely hot players right now are Jason Mercier and Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka, who you faced at the L.A. Poker Classic High-Roller and NAPT High-Roller Bounty Shootout final tables, respectively. Talk about their games.

Scott Seiver: They’re both on incredible hot streaks and winning every tournament they’re playing. I had one final table with Jason Mercier before and he didn’t have many chips in L.A., but he played well. Faraz is very good and a very strong player. He’s very aggressive, but not just wildly aggressive. He knows when and who to attack.

PND: How have you been able to evolve your game in the last two years since your World Series of Poker bracelet run in 2008?

Scott Seiver: It’s been by playing a lot. I play a lot online – tournaments and cash games – and also live tournaments and cash games. I play big stack games and short stack games. I’m learning through experience and have a great group of friends to talk to. Practice makes perfect and I try to absorb what I can.

PND: Which fellow pros to you talk to?

Scott Seiver: A bunch of different people like Isaac Haxton, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, Aaron Been, and all sorts of other friends. We usually just talk theory and whatnot.

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