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Grand Championship Tournament Winner
Winter Season ’10
Kerm King was born and raised in Chicago and has lived in Atlanta for 15 years. Kerm started playing poker with his friends in 2003 and his game of choice was 7-card stud. He and his friends then added hands of Texas Hold’em. When his friends lost interest in poker, Kerm went on the Internet and found the Atlanta Poker Club. His first game was at the Wooden Nickel, which at that time was close to his house. It started out as a social occasion a couple of times a week, and he hasn’t stopped playing since. Kerm now plays at least three times weekly at various venues.
Favorite Poker Players – Phil Laak is entertaining with his conversation if nothing else. Would like to pattern my game after him because he’s smarter than most people give him credit for. Laak comes across reckless, but he’s smarter than that. I like his table image. I also like Phil Ivey because you never know what he has. Ivey seems to have the best read on people and knows when to bluff and when to get paid when he actually has a hand.
Who’s influenced my play the most? – Daniel Negreanu because he’s taught me to widen my hand range, and watching him gave me the confidence to play a broad spectrum of hands.
Goals in the APC? – My first goal with the APC was to be in the top 10 or top 20 on the leaderboard. I accomplished that in Winter Season ’10, but I want to keep doing it. Would also like to have the most wins of anyone in one season, and would like to win another Grand Championship because I want to prove it wasn’t just luck.
Advice for new players? – Learn to play your big hands aggressively and don’t be afriad to reraise players. When you have a big starting hand, play that extremely aggressively.
How did it feel to win the Grand Championship? – I’m very proud and a personal accomplishment that I finished what I started out to do – win!
How does APC tournament play differ from tournament play in a casino? – More APC players have to play more tournaments with antes as in casino play, because the antes change the game. Once antes are in play aggression cranks up. Otherwise you just sit and around and watch the game when you should be playing it. Get comfortable with antes. My recommendaion is that one weekend every couple of months that we practice with antes in APC tournaments.
