Congrats to one of my favorite bloggers and friend Iakaris on his first Mookie title. He was able to bob and weave his way through 43 players for the victory. It is with great pleasure that I present to you Iak’s Champion Profile…

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Champion: Iakaris

Blog: Flights of Iakaris

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Q: What is the story behind your ID, Iakaris?

I: I wanted a relatively anonymous online handle but thought I’d be [faintly] clever and use my initials IAK. Icarus was the closest I could come. Actually, as a NLHE role model, you couldn’t do much better - Icarus was Stewie before Stewie was Stewie. Icarus went out raising. We should all do so well.

Q: How did you get into poker ?

I: A little known site called WilWheatonDotNet. Former Star Trek actor I believe*. I was reading his blog for about a year when he started getting involved in poker. Moneymaker had just happened, and ya know THAT story. So I joined Stars, played with fake chips, then one day decided I wanted to play the WWdN:Invitational. The rest is history. Or silence, depending on how exasperating you find my style.

* For the Tonally Impaired - yes, I am

Q: Do you have any poker related goals and if so what are they ?

I: I have learned from guys like Wes and Fuel to really focus on being the best tactical decision maker you can be and focus exclusively on results. That said, I respond very well to articulating targets. Plus my blog is possessed by a nine thousand year old genie who gives me whatever I ask her for.

Thus my near-term goals are to final table the FT 20k and the Party 40k before I have to go back to work in the next few weeks. Likely impossible, but I too will go out raising. Oh, and of course to win the Mookie 4 more times and pass Surf, like Federer blowing by Sampras.

Is vanity a cardinal sin? Just curious.

Q: Who would be at your 6-handed SNG ?

I: Jen Tilly - if you have to ask why, we’ll have to stop right there. Who else? Clonie sounds good too, but I’d give her a sandwhich or two. Then we stick Matusow in there to make me look good. And Sheikhan to make me look downright charming. One left? Waffles would be a good choice: who doubts he would tilt Matasow, Sheikhan and himself long before we hit the antes?

Q: What was the first poker blog you read

I: That would be Pauly, who I met this summer and enjoy reading more now, since I have a face to the name. Great blog, great guy. Iggy wasn’t far behind, and I gotta say the same about him. Vegas was good times, good times…

Q: What are key improvements that you’ve seen in your game over the last six months, and what is one priority you have for improving? (Submitted by CC)

I: I have become keenly aware of how playing within your roll allows you to open up your innate aggression. It removes an unconscious fear that is otherwise very difficult to grapple with. The other key improvement has been a focus on position. Eric (when that dummy had a blog) once put up a great post about playing position in a live tournament, and that really stuck with me. Jules of course gave me the best advice - stick to what works: for me, that’s MTTs.

The big priority these days is the mental lapses in the mid-game and the late-game deep field MTTs, where I implode trying to swing a big er…stick, with pocket threes or AQo, when there is no need.

Q: How would you describe your poker style ?

I: Developmentally Delayed but Reasonably Functional for a smart guy who hates numbers and cards. And, yeah, I’m not too fond of computers either. People sort of scare me too. What was the question?

Q: Who is your favorite poker player ?

I: I gotta stick with the obvious choice: Ivey. Class Act win or lose. Although I do think Danny Boy is more human in that he’s brilliant but defective. [Should I put down that I can totally relate? Nah, that might be a little over the top - even for you. Let it go my man, let that one go...]

Q: What’s the last book you have read ?

I: Nonpoker: The Dante Club (can’t give it an unqualified recommendation - it wants to be a smarter version of The DaVinci Code, but what the hell kind of benchmark is that to set for yourself?) Last great book: My Name is Red, by Orhan Pahmouk - it’s a tale of how East and West met artistically at the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Easy read, lyrical, and it offers a deeper understanding about what’s going on today than all that Clash of Civilizations nonsense that gets a lot of play.

Poker: Rereading The Theory of Poker, because I know I didn’t understand it well the first time through. Am trying to learn Stud via a book Wes lent me, but with varying degrees of success. Unlike some (Felicia, why are you coming to mind?), I think I am pretty fulfilled by All Hold’em, All the Time. Ignorance, it turns out, is fairly blissful after all.

Q: What level of static do you get over your poker habit ? (Submitted by Drewspop)

I: Well gotta be truthful. I have gotten static so loud I thought a woofer was gonna blow. I deserved it though - I was being a selfish tool with my time management. Once the initial bloom came off the virtual rose and I started playing in smaller, targeted chunks, all was well.

Q: Between Nihilism and Masochism, which do you think better describes why you play poker? (Submitted by Iakaris)

I: Well, since you asked, it’s Masochism by a mile. There’s an unbearable lightness of being associated with the way we’re all looking for proof that the universe couldn’t give a shit about us and our pocket aces. It’s a desire for a twisted validation that says, “yes, you may be a cog, but you are still a self-aware cog.” If that’s not masochism, what is?

But seriously Mookie - and I don’t want to be rude - what the hell kind of question is this really? Pseudo-intellectual psychobabble meets over-compensating mumbo jumbo. Use a few big words and try to impress people - talk about insecure. Jebus. Anyone wonder why everyone’s convinced poker blogging is ghey? This guy is proof positive!

Q: Tell us a little known fact about yourself.

I: I speak Spanish and play guitar with the same level of questionable skill. If you don’t speak Spanish or play guitar, I sound amazing. And my well-roundedness creates a halo-shaped aura around my head as I move through the room.

If however, you speak Spanish or play guitar, you will wonder why this Splanglish trash talking Mariachi-school dropout is holding a flashlight behind the back of his head.

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Congrats again to Iak on the big win and thanks for participating in the profile. It took me awhile to look up all the big words (for me that means any word over 6 letters), but it was well worth the time. I think I may add “Iak’s Word of the Week” to my blog.