Lee Davy sits down with the British poker player, Sam Razavi; to talk about his domination of the Asian Poker Tour (APT), live in Asia and the birth of his newborn son Eli.
Sam Razavi is creating history in Asia.
Not only did he win back-to-back APT Player of the Year (POY) awards, in 2012 & 2013, but also he is on course for an incredible third consecutive title after winning a side event at the recent APT Cambodia.
I caught up with him to find out how on earth he was managing to be so successful?
You are on course for an unprecedented three consecutive APT Player of the Year titles. What on earth are you even doing in Asia?
“I started in Thailand with my friend Ben Meredith, and we both used to grind purely heads up cash. The lifestyle out here is much more laid back, a lot cheaper, and the weather is much better. I met my now fiancée (Menchu) during the APT Cebu, and now I live there. Of course, over the last few years I’ve really improved my tournament game and my main focus is on that. I really worked hard to go back-to-back with the APT POY titles. There was some real tough competition all the way up until the last few events. Winning a third has obviously been my ultimate non-monetary poker goal this year. Menchu gave birth to our son during the APT Manila this year, so I obviously had to miss that stop. That was a bump in the road as there are maybe 10-people in Cambodia that are either in the top six, on the leader board, or well within reach of the top spots. Manila is one of the biggest stops on the tour and I obviously picked up zero points there. I’m going to give it my all for this title, and it will be a huge disappointment if I fail.”
Describe the level of play?
“I’ve noticed it gets better year after year on this tour. There is still plenty of value to be had, but there are a lot of grinders out there that can make things tough for you. Having played so many events I’ve come to know all the regulars well and I think I really have a lock on how to play against them individually – it definitely helps me get the results I do out here. I’ve definitely found that having this ‘Player of the Year’ title attributed to me, I can get away with a lot more than I could otherwise. Some of the good players will look for easier spots rather than getting involved with me (if they can help it) and a lot of the recreational players give me a lot more credit than I am due!”
How great is it to travel through Asia?
“The whole of Asia has a much more laid back quality about it than anywhere else in the world, even in the big cities. It’s easy to relax. Obviously, it’s far cheaper than traveling around Europe. Asian food for me is amongst the best in the world, and it’s not all noodles and spring rolls, as I probably would have believed 10-years ago before I set out on my travels. Some of my favorite destinations are out this way too; Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Thailand, and the luckiest place poker-wise in the world for me, Melbourne, is only around eight hours from Singapore. The Crown is also one of my favorite poker rooms in the world.”
What’s the most challenging thing for you?
“Ironically, it’s that laid back way of life that can also be the most challenging; it can be notoriously difficult at times getting important things taken care of because your business is not received with the same sense of urgency as it would be in more Westernized societies.”
What has become your favorite destination?
“One of my favorite Asian destinations is Koh Tao in Thailand. I love chilled back island living. I’ve been assured there are many beautiful islands in the Philippines to rival that place, but I haven’t really had the chance to get to many of them. I visited Boracay, which was lovely, but we were in an amazing resort with a private beach so we just stayed there the whole time. I’d like to check it out again properly one day. Favorite destinations outside of Asia are the Bahamas and Las Vegas.”
Is the language barrier a problem?
“The language barrier isn’t much of an issue out here, especially in the Philippines. When I lived in Thailand I learned some Thai so I could get by with basics if we visited more remote places, but in the Philippines most people speak or understand English. As far as poker goes, there will be the odd handful of people from either China or Vietnam that really don’t speak a word of English, but we get by with gestures and it’s all good fun :)”
You are a father now, what adjustments do you have to make in order to get the balance right?
“We’re still working on that one; APT Cambodia is pretty much my first step back onto the circuit since Eli was born. He’s become the latest addition to our household along with my stepdaughter Jordan. Now that Eli has become a little easier to handle, Menchu is taking care of the kids while I am out here. It’s taken a lot out of her this week, but at the same time she understands that this is my job and only source of income. We’re going to have to play it by ear. We have a few stops lined up for the rest of the year and we should be able to travel together, but with the recent spate of diseases cropping up (not least of all the person who died of bubonic plague in China recently) we are a little wary of traveling too much at the moment.”
Are you worried about the variance of the poker lifestyle now you are a father?
“I don’t tend to worry too much about that. We both have investments to fall back on, but from a purely poker point of view I don’t generally tend to make too many bad decisions when it comes to choosing my games. I play limited cash online, I grind heads up on occasion which has always been bread and butter for me, but mostly I’m sticking to the live tournament circuit and as long as I break even or make a small profit on each trip which, touch wood, I usually tend to do, then I’m hoping it’s just a matter of waiting it out until the next big score hits. I also grind out the satellites on Stars – that’s another angle to approach poker as a source of income. I’ve won 14 seats to ANZPT Melbourne already.”
No WSOP this year. Why?
|One of my (non poker playing) brothers got married this year, and his wedding clashed with the main event dates. We decided it would be a good opportunity to visit my family back in England, and since Jordan started up school mid-July, the best dates we could do clashed almost entirely with the whole series. It’s been a tough couple of months since Eli arrived anyway and we were both exhausted so I couldn’t see much success having come from it. I had a few fun sweats out there though so it was good to keep up with the action. Menchu has family in the Los Angeles area so we’re planning the full seven weeks next year.”
What does the future hold for you?
“We’re playing everything by ear, and I am going to try to make the right decisions as far as tournament selection goes, not just for the value, but so that it’s fair on all of us. We have a couple of exciting business opportunities/plans lined up, but it’s all about finding enough time to commit to everything. We’re also considering moving to England in a year or two’s time, which will obviously affect any business ideas we have out here, so we need to sit and plan everything out when we have the chance. At the moment the most important thing, especially in these early months of his life, is to balance everything well enough so that I can spend plenty of time with Eli. Maybe I can sneak him into a side event or two somewhere.”
