John Kabbaj might not be a household name, but to people in the know, he’s certainly one of the most respected in the game. His under-the-radar status has made him a truly underrated entity, yet despite his lack of fame, he is one of the few figures from the Late Night Poker era who have not only managed to survive the poker boom and influx of young, Internet whizzes, but also develop and rework his game to the point where he can continue to earn a living from a game he’s been playing full-time for the last 15 years.
It’s also this dogged attitude that has helped him weather the storm of the last two years, in which he’s suffered from close-but-no-cigar syndrome and never quite reaped the rewards that his talent deserves. However, this year in Vegas, John Kabbaj finally netted that winning goal when he won the $10,000 Pot Limit World Championship, one of the toughest pound for pound fields the Series has seen thus far. For John, victory not only brought a financial boost, but also affirmation that his game was good enough to warrant bracelet gold.
Following a controversial awards ceremony in which Harrah’s played the Sex Pistol’s less amicable version of ‘God Save the Queen’, I caught up with a triumphant Kabbaj as he braced himself for another torrid battle in the $50,000 HORSE event.
Snoopy: Not too long ago you said to me that you kept “hitting the crossbar”. How frustrated were you becoming with tournament poker?
John Kabbaj: It’s part of the make-up really where you do have those spells. It had been going on for two years where I kept hitting the crossbar, but I just kept plugging away, and that’s always been my style. Obviously I don’t play as many tournaments as I used to, but when I do hit the crossbar, I like to take some time out because it does frustrate me. But they say time is a healer, and as time goes by, I get back into it.
I was determined to do well in this Pot Limit tournament. I threw it away in 2004; I basically gave the bracelet to the guy, and it took a long time to get over that. Then last year, I specifically came to play the Pot Limit again, and I final table bubbled. I came 10th and I had aces against queens, so that hurt. Again, I was so close. It was weird, that was my first event and it ruined the rest of my Series. I never really got into it after that.
Snoopy: Why do you target this event?
JK: It’s my specialty; I’m a Pot Limit player and I’ve always done well in that format. I’ve made four or five finals at the World Series, and it’s always been in Pot Limit. It’s not a coincidence.
Snoopy: What was the standard like in this event?
JK: This was very, very tough. Normally I like to play the Pot Limit events because the standard is weak, but the field was small, but strong, and there were a lot of talented, young Internet players. The final table was very hard. I went in there as chip leader, which is not really my style. It’s unusual for me to be big chip leader in the final.
Snoopy: Did you have a plan going into the final?
JK: No, I don’t like to think, I just like to sit down and play. I never like to think about what I’m going to do. People like to prepare, but I never prepare, I wake up, get in the shower and just get on with it. When you’re playing every day like I do, it’s just like riding a bicycle.
Snoopy: How did you feel when you lost that chip lead you’d held for so long?
JK: It was a relief actually and I started to play a bit better. I could relax because I didn’t have that pressure on me anymore. To be honest, it looked like it was my tournament from before the final. I had such a rush when we were down to three tables, and the signs were there. I’ve played a lot of tournaments, and I can usually tell when I’m going to win and when I’m not going to win. It’s a sick feeling. I had such good feelings during this tournament, I won every race I was in too.
Snoopy: Who were the dangermen on the final table?
JK: They were all good players on the final. I’d heard a lot about Isaac Haxton before I got here, and he played really well. He terrorised me for two days. It was good fun, but I never really clashed with him in a big pot because I kept folding hands that I wouldn’t fold against a lot of people. Sometimes I knew I was folding the best hand, but I just didn’t want to get involved with it. The way the final table was going, everybody was staying out of each other’s way, it became somewhat of a cat and mouse game, which, for me, is fine, it suits me down to the ground. Then when it got to the later stages, I started to play my game.
Snoopy: Is it true that you taught Kirill how to play?
JK: Yeah, a little bit. I used to go to Moscow quite a lot because my wife was a tournament director in Russia and I did very well in the tournaments there. The first year I went I won three events, including the main event of a festival. So, obviously, when you do well somewhere you’re going to like the place. When I first met Kirill in 2001, he would ask me a lot of questions about the game. He was a poker beginner at the time and so he learned a lot from me in those days.
Snoopy: What was your thinking on the final hand when you looked down at aces?
JK: I’d just won a big pot off him the hand previous when he took 10 minutes to fold, and so I thought I should reraise when he raised preflop the next hand because he might be a little hot. However, I decided to call instead and then lead out on the flop whatever it was and hope that he caught something. As it happened, he had kings, so there was never going to be any other result apart from all-in. The hand played itself. If I’d have reraised preflop, the same thing would have happened.
Snoopy: How important was the money compared to the bracelet?
JK: The money’s always important, but I was bracelet hungry, I’d been trying for a long time and I finally did it, so now hopefully more will come. If I had to choose between the two, I’d take the money.
Snoopy: Should we expect you to be taking that money onto the craps table tonight? Are you a sick gambler?
JK: No, I quit all that two or three years ago.
Snoopy: How did you celebrate?
JK: We went to the bar, it was late, and I was on a high still. I had a few beers, answered a load of text messages, and then got myself to sleep.
Snoopy: Do you think you’re an underrated player?
JK: All the players that are getting the limelight are the people with big egos who put themselves out there. Even if they’re not good players, they can still get the recognition. I know when I get back to England that there’s going to be TV people who’ve ignored me for a number of years wanting me, and I’m going to tell them where to go. I got a text from someone who wanted me to go on the radio - all of sudden they’re interested, but they’re not going to get anything from me. Celebrity and fame isn’t my thing. I’m a better player than most of those guys, I know it, and as long as I know it, the rest doesn’t matter.
Snoopy: What are your thoughts on sponsorship?
JK: Well, I had sponsorship for four years, and that stopped three years ago. To be honest, one of the reasons why I stopped was because I wasn’t looking for publicity, I was in it for the money. People who tell you that they’re not looking for the money are liars - they’re all broke and they’re all struggling to get into tournaments. The money is important; I have a family to feed and a big mortgage to pay. I say what I think, I don’t beat around the bush, and some people don’t like it.
Snoopy: Why are you the “unofficial fifth member of the Hendon Mob” ?
In the poker world, we grew up together. Me and Ross [Boatman] are good friends, and when they started the group, they asked me if I wanted to be in it, and I told them that I was a one-man band, that’s how I like it.
Snoopy: How did you first get into poker?
JK: I used to play in pubs, but then I went to the Vic to play blackjack. I was always a card lover, and so found poker and played the European Championships in 1995. I saw the game and thought I’d give it a go, and started off playing four £10 tournaments before playing the £500 main event. I won it, and then resigned from my job the next day?
Snoopy: What was your job at that point?
JK: I was an export clerk at Heathrow airport. I worked as a YTS kid for two years, and then they gave me a job doing import and export. I had a job in an office. I was 21 at this point.
Snoopy: Did you have any poker influences back in those days?
JK: Not really. I was influenced by Stu Ungar I guess. At the time, he was the big name. I came to watch him when he won the World Series in ‘99, and I was really impressed with him. I realised then that he was in a different league to everyone else.
Snoopy: What are your strengths as a player?
JK: Patience. I can sit there for days. I’ve also got a very good sense of when people are bluffing.
Snoopy: Is there any part of your game that you feel you need to develop?
JK: There are always things in your game that need strengthening. If I don’t improve every year, then I don’t have a job. It’s very important, particularly in the last five years, that you continue to develop. I think the Scandinavians have changed poker. They’ve really moved it on and I think there a lot of guys who have been around as long as me but are still playing the same way, which, for me, is why they can’t win. You have to step it up. Poker is like a sport, it’s like golf, you have to keep working on your game all the time, and when you watch good players, you need to get your ego out the way, realise they are good players and try and learn something from them instead of just thinking, ‘I’m the best player, why do I want to learn from him?’ Ego ruins people. If people think poker’s easy, then they’re living in the wrong era.
Snoopy: Have there been many low points in your career?
JK: I’ve had the highs and the lows many times, but the lows can be really low, and you start to doubt yourself when you go broke, and you start looking at players who you’re better than, yet they’re making money and you’re not. So, you have to be really strong-minded. It’s like falling off a horse; you’ve just got to keep getting back on.
Snoopy: Are you a poker obsessive?
JK: No, I used to play poker non-stop. Now I have a wife, my son is 14, and since I’ve been married my life has changed, and I’ve been doing better because before I was stuck in the casinos every day, 12 hours, living my life in there. I was like a vampire at one stage; I never saw daylight for years. But I was only young, and you change with age, and you get to 30, get married, and realise that there’s more to life than poker. I’ll go home after this, won’t do anything for a few weeks and will just take time out with my family.
Snoopy: Does this win change much in terms of your bankroll and what you’re going to play?
JK: It won’t change much. I’ll keep plugging away and see what happens.