The Hardest Working Man in Poker - Scott Fischman Will Play Any Tournament Anytime - and There is a Good Chance He Will Crush It

Scott Fischman … a picture of total concentration Photography by Hew Burney

James Brown might be known as the hardest working man in show business, but if he ever decided to take up poker, there is no way he could land that claim to fame. Scott Fischman, two-time World Series of Poker champion, second-place finisher in the inaugural 2005 World Series $1,500 no-limit hold'em event, World Poker Tour Young Guns of Poker champion, and high-stakes Internet player, has this moniker locked up. Scott plays in the biggest tournaments, puts in 10 hours a day online, and didn't even take a moment off to conduct this interview with Card Player. He crushed multiple $5,000 single-table sit-and-gos during our two-hour chat.

With more than 30 money finishes in his first three years of tournament play, Scott has continued to run strong ever since busting onto the scene with a dizzyingly great 2004 World Series performance. At 23, he was the youngest player ever to win two bracelets back-to-back, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. Fischman has won too many online tournaments to count, sees thousands of hands a day, and his studious approach and dedication to the game has rocketed his ascent up the poker ranks.

Getting into the Game

Everyone embraces poker for a different reason. For Fischman, it was a combination of his competitive spirit, need for constant stimulation, and, of course, pleasure in making lots of loot. Scott describes himself as a "total workaholic." When he turned 14, the age you can get a work permit in Nevada, he immediately started working, at first in a doughnut shop. "It was a competitive thing," he said. "I have always just loved to work and make money." He worked in the fast-food industry, flipping mystery meat at Wienerschnitzel. He also spent time in a mailroom, delivered pizza, was a rent-a-cop, worked in an arcade, handled luggage, and chased balls at a golf range.

Luckily for Fischman, his father played a little home-game nickel poker and worked in the casino business. This helped Scott land in Vegas, on the doorstep of the hottest poker action on the planet. Scott was born in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, and his introduction to poker was his father's home games, where buckets of change were in play. His family moved to Somers Point, New Jersey, while he was still young, and his father, the director of entertainment at Trump Plaza, was eventually transferred to Vegas in 1992.

While in Vegas, Scott's interest in poker heightened after living with his high-school friend Jordan Salmon. Jordan had poker in his genes. His grandfather, Merrill Hunt, won a World Series stud bracelet in the 1980s. Merrill and his wife played $20-$40 stud at The Mirage and Scott and Jordan tagged along and played low-limit games. Scott played with the money he made by valet parking cars at Mandalay Bay. This great cash job, a dream for a young Vegas kid, enabled Scott to invest in refining his skills. "I was making such good money that I knew I could go and lose two or three hundred learning the game," he stated. "The cash flow of the job got me addicted to poker." He took his money to Sunset Station every night. "The graveyard staff was just great," he said. "It was like a home game, lots of fun and a great learning experience. I was losing big time and hitting the ATM all the time, but knew I was investing in my future."

A Dealer's Education

This investment began to turn a profit after Scott started dealing at The Mirage. Watching hands for eight hours a day offered him the ability to catalog encyclopedic poker knowledge and become a winning player. "I paid close attention to each player in every hand that I dealt, and tried to read the players as if I were playing myself," he said. "Analyzing the game and the players became second nature to me. I soaked up all the information that my brain could handle, and as soon as I punched out, I went straight to the poker room to play."

At around this same time, Scott learned one of gambling's most important skills: being a good money manager. By this time, Fischman said he was done with other more mindless forms of gambling. "The amount of money I lost at slots and video poker was sickening," he commented. "I got that education real early, which has made me successful. So many players are broke, and the bottom line is, if you are broke, you cannot be successful."

Scott first took down in excess of $1,000 in November 2001 after he won a $200 buy-in tournament. He first took down a $10,000 score in 2002 after winning an online tournament. When he won his first World Series title in 2004 and more than $300,000, it was the first time that he had ever won more than $20,000.

Student and the Professor

Scott Fischman in the midst of tournament action Photography by Hew Burney

If you sit down with Scott for a few minutes, you will immediately sense one of his most revealing characteristics: a zeal for being engaged, especially with all things poker. While the money and success have been crazy, Scott is engrossed in poker and believes he still has a lot to learn. This thirst for knowledge and mastery has him dedicated to continually improving his game. Fischman very well may play more poker, everything from $10 sit-and-gos to $10,000 World Poker Tour events, than any other human.The night before Card Player interviewed Scott, he took down two evening sit-and-gos at the World Series after he busted out of the seven-card stud event. Every day, he wins multiple tournaments online. It isn't uncommon for him to pull down more than the average American makes a year in one online session. This guy is an absolute poker machine.

For Scott, success is all about approaching poker with an open mind, continuing to learn and finding ways to improve. Besides money management, he considers mental stability and dedication the most important skills to master en route to becoming a successful player. He says his ability to read people well, develop well-honed instincts, and be aware at all times makes him a successful player. Adaptable is a word you hear him use a lot, especially with the multitude of playing styles present in large-field tournaments. He says he is prepared to play any seasoned pro or low-limit online maniac by mixing up his own play.

Over the last six months, his focus has been on becoming aware of the mental psychology of the game and how important it is for overall success. "Before, I noticed that my mood, good or bad, affected whether I played well or badly," he stated. "I have passed that stage. I am positive at all times and do not let day-to-day results affect anything. It doesn't change my heartbeat a bit."

Online to Limelight

Online poker continues to be the cornerstone of Fischman's game. "Empty Seat" was one of his first screen personas when he began playing poker online while dealing. It wasn't until he contracted rheumatoid arthritis, a disease of the joints that destroys joint tissue, that he was physically unable to deal anymore. This is when he began playing a ton of online poker. While this common ailment is not curable, it is treatable. "When I came down with it, I could no longer be very athletic. I used to play all kinds of sports. I had a 200 bowling average and was a good golfer. But now I cannot play sports, so I play poker all the time because it doesn't hurt."

Online poker is white-hot, and Scott Fischman could easily be its unofficial ambassador. The business, which is now well over a $2 billion industry is growing at more than 500 percent a year and now has more than 200,000 customers a day. Online poker, along with poker's endless television coverage, is the reason most 2005 World Series of Poker events have seen a substantial increase in number of entrants. To give you an example of what a difference a year makes, when Scott won his $1,500 no-limit hold'em bracelet in 2004, there were 831 players and a $1,146,780 prize pool. This year, in the same event, 2,305 players battled it out for $3,180,900, and Scott picked off $352,125 for second place. This is more than the $300,000 first prize he won in 2004!

Fischman, on average, plays online for 10 hours a day, which is amazing for someone who attends all of poker's major brick-and-mortar events. Sometimes he will play for 24 hours straight. "I have made a lot of money online and learned so much about chip management and table awareness," he said. "It's been great. I love the fact that you can experiment with your game so much, and that at any hour of the day, you can always find whatever game you want." As a testament to the experimentation that is possible with online action, Scott said he used to put tape on the monitor so that he couldn't see his holecards. "It was a great way to learn about position."

Ironically, the United States government's disdain for online poker puts this thriving industry's very existence in legal limbo, even though 85 percent of the players are Americans. Operations for most of the more than 250 online sites are set up overseas. "I think online poker should be regulated," he stated. "But if they made it illegal, I would not live in the United States. I'd move to someplace like Costa Rica."

Thefishtank, anyone?

With his roots so heavily influenced by online poker, it seems natural that Scott would get his name behind an online poker site. Recently, thefishtank.com was launched. This site, part of the Doyle Brunson poker network, is a poker room of players for players, and is designed to be extremely user-friendly and fast, with great game offerings and software, according to Fischman.

Thefishtank.com is still dialing in its game offerings, and Scott said his main goal for the site is to attract players with a big tournament on a routine schedule. The most lucrative draw, still in the works, will be the chance to play Fischman heads up for cash and major prizes. Winners of daily qualifying events will be entered into a tournament, and its winner will square off with Scott. The site will also have leader boards that recognize cash-game players and tournament players. At the end of the year, those at the top of the leader boards will be eligible for a professional poker "contract." Fischman is going to back one person on the live tournament circuit. Players can accumulate leader-board points by playing cash games and tournaments, as well as the heads-up challenges.

"A lot of online players dream of playing the live tournament circuit but don't have the bankroll to do it," Fischman said. "Playing online is the best way to work on your game, and thefishtank.com is a place for players to prove they deserve to be backed. I get e-mails all the time from players with a list of their poker accomplishments, asking to be backed. Here is their chance."

Scott is also combining his wealth of online and high-stakes tournament knowledge into a forthcoming book about how to be a great online player and the transition to being a great live player. "This book will teach you how to go from playing $10 tournaments to playing at the World Series of Poker. I have done it, and all of my friends have done it, so I know a lot about how to help others get there."

Trophy Room

Cliff Josephy, aka "Johnny Bax," and Scott Fischman Photography by BJ Nemeth

When asked about the poker accomplishments of which he is most proud, Fischman immediately said "the bracelets," referring to the back-to-back World Series of Poker championships ($1,500 no-limit hold'em and $2,000 H.O.R.S.E.) he took down in 2004. But he added, "I look at the H.O.R.S.E. bracelet as my number one accomplishment. Lots of players think anyone can take down a big-field no-limit event."

H.O.R.S.E. is considered by many to be the ultimate test of poker mastery. It is a mixture of hold'em, Omaha eight-or-better, razz, stud, and stud eight-or-better. It starts with hold'em, and the games alternate throughout until someone is left standing alone. "You cannot get lucky in that event," he said. "Doyle Brunson says this should be the World Series main event, and every time I think about this, I get goose bumps." Brunson himself said he knew that Fischman was going to be a world-class player the first time he sat at a table with him. "He has great table presence, like all the greats have, and I sensed it immediately with Scott. I said he was going to be a world-class player and he is proving me right.

"Some old-school players think Fischman's contemporaries are all degenerate online players who know how to play only no-limit and will move all in from early position with A-9. Fischman never has been a one-game player, and revels in his ability to play any and all games well. "I enjoy the fact that I am able to play all games, and think it is important for all players to get a change of pace," he said. "I don't agree with running bad. Sure, you go through losing streaks and might temporarily play badly in a particular game. But, I will switch to a different game rather than try to change the way I have played and should play a game. Changing the way you play is not the right way to get back on track." Scott thinks pot-limit hold'em, an event in which he locked up his first World Series cash, 14th place in 2004, should be the World Series main event. "You cannot win pot-limit and get lucky," he said. "You have to play after the flop, and with no antes, there is more time for developing your game plan, maneuvering, and setting traps."

Fischman's poker knowledge had a hand in one of the best bracelet stories of the 2005 World Series of Poker. He gave Cliff Josephy, aka "Johnny Bax," a few tips before he won the $1,500 seven-card stud event. Believe it or not, Bax had never played stud, and got a quick tutorial from Fischman and others. "I tricked his mind," Scott said. "I gave him a pep talk and told him it was just like no-limit, that it was not about how to play stud, and it worked."

Tournament Terror

Despite his expansive ability to play any and all poker games well, Fischman is a specialist: He's a tournament poker pugilist. "For me, tournament poker is a total addiction," he stated. "It is a good thing it is acceptable and profitable, or I would be in rehab."

For Scott, tournament poker is all about making the best decisions based on an ever-changing, interlocking series of factors and stimuli. "My tournament mentality is being aware of everything, every factor all of the time, and paying attention to how each factor influences and changes the necessary decision." While he plays tons of live and online tournaments, he says his personal preference resides with online action. "It is just so busy online; there is not a second that goes by that I have nothing to do. In the amount of time it takes me to play one live tournament, I could play 100 online." And he isn't exaggerating. This year at the World Series, it took 40 hours of playing time to complete the first event. "It is so slow," he said. "I also don't like multiple-day tournaments. Every day is different. If I am rocking and rolling, I want to play today."

The three-day $1,500 no-limit hold'em 2005 World Series event was the ultimate test on how to beat a large-field tournament, and Fischman achieved the closest thing to mastery. "I got chips right away and never looked back from the first 30 minutes," he said. "I was never in all-in mode. My stack never slipped below eight big blinds, and that was the first time that ever happened to me." When the cards came out bricks, resilience kicked in, and he grinded out enough blinds and antes to keep his chip count the same for six consecutive hours. Ironically, when Card Player interviewed Scott after this huge event kicked off, early on day one, he said, "If you have any expectation of winning one of these things, you're out of luck." I guess he was bluffing.

Cash games are a no-no for Fischman. He doesn't like to confuse skill sets. Because the blinds do not increase and people do not protect their stacks like they do in tournament play, he says cash games are an entire different animal. "I am so focused on tournament play that I am just a fish in a cash game. I hate to lose, so I don't want cash games to get me in a negative frame of mind for the tournament at hand," he confessed. Many big cash-game players have a problem with tournament play because of the high hourly rate that can be achieved when stacks of Benjamins are on the table. While Fischman has a disdain for cash play, he lives by this game's economic model. "When I do make big money in a tournament, I don't celebrate," he said. "I pay myself a salary for the hours I put in and for the hours I will go without making money."

Participants in the WPT Young Guns event (left to right): David Williams, Scott Fischman, Pete Lawson, John D'Agostino, and Thomas Keller Photography by Hew Burney

Sizing Up the Competition

There is a buzz about Fischman among poker notables. He has the respect of the young and old, the new-school and old-school, the maniac and rock. "He is the best up-and-coming young player today," stated Chris Ferguson. "He learns very well at the table and can adjust his game to any player." Michael Mizrachi, another Internet hustler turned tournament poker wrecking ball, said, "His results are so consistent. He is always there until the end. If I had to put someone in a tournament, I would pick him. He is awesome, a machine."

Scott gives props to many of his opponents. He thinks John Phan is unreadable and fearless. "Any pot you play with him, you could be playing an all-in pot," he said. Carlos Mortensen is another player he says can eat up a chip stack in a second. If he has a nemesis, it would be Alan Goehring. "I've been at his table four times, and all four times he drilled the entire table, including myself. I still cannot figure him out." He thinks Darrell Dicken is a genius. "Darrell, aka "Gigabet,' is without a doubt poker's genius! He is the one I am pointing my finger at to thank for my recent success and improvements to my game and mind."

Scott says Daniel Alaei, who made multiple final tables at the third-annual Bellagio Five-Star World Poker Classic and made the money deep into the main event at the 2004 World Series, is an up-and-coming player we all should be watching. "We started playing online a lot, and I knew right away that he had it," Scott said. "I talked him into going to some live tournaments and he is now drilling them like he was the cash games."

The Crew

If you know anything about poker, it is hard not to think about "The Crew," a group of players born after 1980 - Russell "Dutch" Boyd, his brother Bobby, Bret Jungblut, David "Dorf" Smyth, Joe Bartholdi, Tony Lazar, and Fischman - who came into the 2004 World Series with guns ablaze, taking down three bracelets and close to a million bucks.

While most reports on The Crew talk about communal bankrolls and flophouse living, Fischman says that by the time he joined the network, it was just for friendship and honing his poker skills. "We were just a group of guys who played together," he said. "For me, it is important to have running mates to be successful in poker. You need friends with whom you can talk things through and analyze your play." With everyone in The Crew adopting such different playing strategies, Scott says this experience offered a close-up view of a variety of playing styles, and this helped in training himself to be an adaptable player.

He says not to believe the hype and drama that some media outlets are spouting about The Crew's implosion. "There are still friendships between us and we are still learning from one another," he stated. However, his strongest "crew" is his family: mother, Ellen; father, Joel; and two sisters, Beth and Amy. "My parents have always supported me 100 percent, and because of this, I have been and will continue to be able to devote myself to poker and be successful." Since being focused is so important to being successful, he enlisted his sister Beth as his personal manager. "I take care of all the things away from the poker table so that Scott doesn't have to think about anything but his game," she says. Scott says he couldn't live without her and wouldn't be as good a player without her.

In for the Long Haul

If we are in the middle of poker's Gilded Age, Scott might have the largest grin of all. "If this last year is any indication of what is to come, I am all smiles," he said. "People are getting the opportunity to change their lives, and poker enables people to fulfill dreams. I remember always wanting to be a professional athlete, but it was always impossible to get there. Poker is completely different. You can be the best on any given day."

Scott wants to play poker for the rest of his life. "I want to be like Billy Duarte and Doyle Brunson. What better way is there to remain mentally stable and enjoy life?" He admires anyone who has been playing successfully for five years. "I remember when I started playing, lots of people said, 'Let's see if he will be here in two months.' Well, I'm still around, and don't plan on going anywhere."