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Greg Den Haese, aka Carnagex
What do Carnagex and Chris Moneymaker have in common? They used to play pickup games together

Name Greg Den Haese

Age 35

Where are you from? Syracuse, New York

Are you married? Children?
Yes I am married, I have a 4 year old daughter and my wife is pregnant with a son

What do you do for a living?
I am a Gynecologist

How long have you been playing Internet poker?
I have been playing "pickup poker for 25 years, I have played Texas holdem seriously for 5 years, I have played internet poker for 1 year

What limits do you play?
The limits I play vary but mostly I play 10-30 SNGs, Micro NL ring games

What is your favorite site and why?
I play SNGs at Poker stars and Paradise poker, I play my micro NL ring games at the tournament network. I dont try out many sites because I take ALOT of notes on other players. The more I play at one site, the more notes I have and I feel this leads to an advantage in your favor. By playing at different sites you lose this advantage. I basically played at these sites because I had friends who told me about them and have been hesitant to try other sites because I can not take my notes with me. I have entertained starting an account on Party poker since it has received some good reviews from people I have met on this site.

What has been your biggest poker thrill or achievement up to now?
I finished 1st in my first omaha mutli tourney I ever played. The tournament had over 500 people in it. The reason why I am so pleased with this result is that I do not play much omaha and the fact that I could step in and do so well against more experienced players was encouraging to me. This result was not a fluke either as I have since had 5 or 6 top ten finishes in omaha HI multi tourney games.

What area of your game are you currently focusing on?
I am focusing on NL games. I find that NL games are the most challenging because 1 mistake by you or your opponent can mean the end. By focusing on NL games I feel this really sharpens my ability to read cards and to "listen" to the betting. Sure I have been on the wrong end of many all-in calls but my ability to read cards of my opponents has really improved drastically over the last year. It also allows me to pick up opponent strengths and weakneses much more quickly.

If you could go back in time and start all over again on the Internet, what would you do differently?
When I first started playing Texas Holdem about 5 years ago I was naive and did not understand the fact that luck has nothing(or very little) to do with poker. I had some tremendous losses when I first started playing holdem. In my first year it was not uncommon for me to lose 200-300 dollars at a table. I since have done alot of reading and observing other players to try to teach myself how to have the same advantage that they had when I was always losing. Now, I often laugh when I see somone say,"you win because you are lucky" Luck has very little to do with poker in my humble opinion and people that think that luck plays a large role in poker are people that you want at your table.

What’s your favorite poker saying or phrase?
There is a quote by David Sklansky that I find EXTREMELY important in poker and it all revolves around deception, "every time opponents play a hand differently from the way they would have if they could see all your cards, you gain; and every time they play a hand the same way they would have if they could see all of your cards, you lose." This quote to me is the essence of poker.

Who is your favorite poker player (if you have one)?
I have two favorite poker players. The first is Chris Moneymaker, When I was in medical school at Vanderbilt, Chris and I played alot of "pick-up" poker together. So to me, it is very surreal seeing him win the WSOP. The second is Howard Lederer and the reason why is because I feel that he and I have the same strategy when it comes to NL games. The strategy all centers around SURVIVAL. I have seen Howard Lederer drop some VERY nice hands against inferior opponents with inferior hands because of the tenant of survival.

What are your other interests outside of poker?
I like to watch sports. I was an all-American soccer player coming out of high school and played soccer with and against players like Tony Meola, Tab Ramos, Tom Tanner. Tom Tanner and I were long time high school rivals and it was nice to see him make the national team and play at NC State with Tab Ramos.

Feel free to add anything else you would like to say.
I feel that I still have a lot to learn about poker and I also feel that I have alot of knowledge to share with others. My goal is to continue to improve to the point where people sit down at a table with me and think,"I need to watch out for Carn, he is a very good player"
Look Greg up in the Poker Forum!