Interview: Adam "AJunglen7" Junglen

Age: 20 Hometown: Stow, Ohio Biggest Cash: $268,000 Best Known For: At the age of 19, winning the Sunday Million and finishing sixth in an EPT event both within a month of each other. online poker 468x60 This week, one of poker's brightest young players, Adam Junglen, spoke with us about his career. In just 2007, he had over $500,000 in tournament cashes. You can expect to hear this young player's name pop up next to huge paydays for years to come. PokerTips.org: How long have you been playing poker and what got you interested in the game? Junglen: I started playing poker when I was 16. I was a sophomore in HS and it was right around when the game was picking up as far as popularity. I'd always been extremely competitive, especially in card games. I had just quit playing Magic the Gathering and was ready for another challenge. PokerTips.org: You're something of a celebrity partially thanks to a single hand you played against Patrik Antonius. Can you tell us about that hand as well as what it's done for your poker career? Junglen: Well, I'm not going to go into any strategy talk, but I sure am glad I was able to put up some results after that hand. Otherwise I'd simply be known as "the guy who called Antonius with A high" rather than the guy who final tabled an EPT event and won the Sunday Million within a month. PokerTips.org: What did you do before poker? Junglen: When I was very young, in grade school I was a professional magician. Myself and two friends would perform at private parties, and occasionally restaurants. As I previously mentioned I also played magic the gathering, and play a lot of video games. PokerTips.org: You had a significant amount of success in online tournaments before venturing into live games. Did you find that transition easy? Which type do you feel more confident with and why? Junglen: Well, I played in a lot of home games with friends before I took online poker seriously. I truly believe that helped my transition from online tournaments to major $10k live events. Personally I prefer playing a major live event as opposed to a lineup of online tournaments. I feel as though I have a bigger edge in live tournaments. There are more mistakes for your opponents to make and therefore to take advantage of. It's also a much better feeling going deep in a major live event. Plus the money will always be significantly higher. PokerTips.org: Describe some of your weaknesses as a poker player. Junglen: Although I'm working on it, my main leak is lack of motivation. I'm able to pay my rent just off of the interest from my big cashes, so sometimes it's hard to play when you don't exactly have to. PokerTips.org: Do you play tournaments exclusively? If not, what cash games do you enjoy playing? Junglen: I dabble in mid-stakes no-limit games like; $2/4, $3/6, and also higher games like $10/$20 and $25/$50 if they're capped. PokerTips.org: What are some things you credit for helping you become a top online multi-table tournament player? Junglen: Talking with friends has really helped to open my mind and see all the angles when playing. PokerTips.org: How do you deal with the emotional and financial swings inherent to multi-table tournaments? Junglen: It's not a problem for me. It sucks to get unlucky, but it's apart of the game. If you're playing in a game where losing the tournament really hurts you financially, then you're likely underolled for the game and should be playing lower. PokerTips.org: What personal accomplishment in the poker world are you most proud of? Junglen: Winning the Sunday Million in July of 2007. Despite my sixth place finish at EPT Barcelona being more financially significant, winning the biggest weekly online tournament was just an indescribable feeling. As of now, I consider it the best day of my life. PokerTips.org: Tell us about your traveling plans for the 2008 tournament circuit. Junglen: I'm not doing nearly as much traveling this year as I did last year. I will be flying to Las Vegas very soon to do some work on a new training site called the PokerVT. Besides that I'm on the fence of whether or not to play the EPT championship in Monte Carlo. In October, I turn 21. At that time, I'll start traveling all over the US to the various WPT events. PokerTips.org: When you get a break from your busy poker schedule, how do you like to pass the time? Junglen: I have some friends here in Ohio that I try to spend some time with. Not to mention most of my family is in the area as well too, so I try and visit them as much as possible. I also maintain a blog at adamjunglen.com. PokerTips.org: If poker hadn't worked out for you, what would you likely be doing today? Junglen: I'd probably be dead. PokerTips.org: For our readers out there aspiring to reach your level of success in the poker world, what tips would you share with them? Junglen: I think there's a lot to be said for money management. Plenty of good players miss out on opportunities by playing above their bankroll level and going bust. Also, join a poker training site and talk about poker with friends. CardRunners is great, but again I'm working with PokerVT, which I'm very confident is going to be one of the premier training sites on the market. Once you do become successful, it's important to capitalize on that. There's a lot of money to be made in poker without having to play a single hand.