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  If you are a poker fan and you don't know who Erica Schoenberg is, chances are you live in a remote cave - or quite possibly in Arkansas. She has been one of the freshest faces on the poker scene over the last few years, and this converted Blackjack player has made a lot of noise in some of the most high profile tournaments.



  Just before playing a tournament at the Bellagio, Erica kindly took the time to talk to us and share some of her insights about life, poker, meathead, and how calling somebody a donkey can bite you somewhere painful later on down the line.



  It is with great pleasure that LaunchPoker presents our interview with Erica Schoenberg.



LaunchPoker: I am sure you have heard this question a million times, but how did a nice young lady like you get involved in a game like this?


Erica Schoenberg: I started playing poker after getting into blackjack and playing with a team. That kind of led to a few TV shows for blackjack, and then they asked me to do a poker show for GSN's "Poker Royale" a couple of years ago. I always played all sorts of card games, but that really was what fired up my interest in poker. I also saw that there was much more money to be made, so you just kind of go where the money is. I also really enjoy it, and blackjack wasn't as profitable for me at that time. It was harder and harder to make money with the team. After they disbanded I just focused on poker full time, and here I am!



LP: You have been to the World Series of Poker the last couple of years and come away with three money finishes. What sort of pressure is there to playing at that level?


ES: You know, I don't really feel that much pressure at the World Series, honestly. You play so much, there are so many tournaments every day. This past World Series there were two tournaments a day, so it just kind of like you are grinding all day playing. I think it's just the same pressure you have all year long. You are putting up a lot of money, and you really want to get some back, and then some.



LP: There have been some controversy lately about the separation of genders at events like the WSOP. What are your views on this?


ES: I don't think there is really any reason to separate them. It's not like a physical sport, like boxing or wrestling, or something like that where men have a clear advantage. I think the ladies events are nice for women who just feel more comfortable just playing with other women. It can be kind of intimidating when you are the only women in the room. I understand where they are coming from in organizing these events. I personally don't see the need for it because I'm more than comfortable holding my own in a field of all men, but if it brings more women into the sport - all the better.



LP: More and more internet players are walking away with the big championships while the more recognizable players seem to be often left out in the cold. Why do you think this is?


ES: I think it's just the sheer number of hands that these kids play online, it's just crazy. So they learn that much quicker with the internet and all the other tools that are more available since poker has become more popular. For someone who really wants to throw themselves into poker and learn it's just easier to get that much better that much quicker.



LP: How do you think the presence of ESPN and other major networks at poker events has affected the game?


ES: Well you have a lot of people that won a satellite to get into a major tournament, and basically their knowledge of poker is what they have seen on TV. So a lot of people have this concept of what they think poker is, because of the way it's portrayed on TV. What they don't realize is that so many hands are cut out, so that they only see the really exciting ones. They think that they should be bluffing and playing deuce/seven and all sorts of the TV hands that obviously get shown because they are exciting. The fact of the matter is poker is really pretty boring in the long run. They don't show the boring parts where people fold, and fold, and fold. They show the giant bluff that they make.



LP: So how do you prepare for a tournament where you will be sitting down for 18 hours, yet still have to stay sharp?


ES: Well that's funny, because I took my dogs on a really long walk right before you called, just to kind of train. I'm not exercising as much as I should be. I'm going to try to motivate to go for a jog, but the glass of wine that I just poured is probably going to prevent me from doing that. I try and just relax the day before a tournament. I usually try to get a workout in or something, but I'm going to substitute the long dog walk for a workout today (laughs). So I'm just having a glass of wine, I'm going to make some dinner, and just try to get a good night's sleep, and feel ready, relaxed and ready to play.



LP: What is your best moment in the game of poker?


ES: It's close. I've had some really great moments, gosh, it's close but I think I'm probably going to have to say the tournament I won at Mandalay Bay. The heads up with another pretty great female poker player was just awesome. It was the first tournament that I had won so that would definitely have to be the best.



LP: Conversely, what was your most embarrassing moment?


ES: I have so many embarrassing moments, oh my gosh. The thing is that you're just going to do some things like bluffs that don't work or plays that wind up being totally wrong. More so when I first started playing. You can't be embarrassed because you're just going to make some plays at times that just look really bad, because they are really bad, or you're going to look like a donkey. We all make mistakes. Mine was on that first TV show that got me kind of hooked. It was making such an ass of myself on GSN's "Poker Royale" because I thought just because I was on a blackjack team, I had grown up playing cards, playing bridge, playing euchre, and playing poker with my family, and felt because I had a really good card sense that I was going to go on this show and do really well. Oh my gosh. I went on this show with the Grinder, David Williams, Scott Fishman, and it was awful, I played so bad. That was like three or four years ago, and that embarrassing performance kind of propelled me to realize what I need to figure out to play this game properly, which I'm still trying to figure out. That was probably one of the most embarrassing, I would have to say.



LP: Have you ever been called a donkey by Phil Hellmuth?


ES: Not by Phil, but I have. Just recently I was talking about it with Johnny Becks, he's an online kind of legend, if you will. His real name is Cliff Josephy, I think it is? When I first started playing on PokerStars years and years ago, when I was still just learning, he typed to me "Hee Haw". We were just talking about that the other day because then we were seated next to each other in the first WPT tournament that I did really well in. It was the $25,000 in the World Championship, when I got 16th. I think I took him out actually. I either crippled him or took him out of the tournament. That's when I told him, "You know you called me a donkey way back when". I told him that right after I took him out, so that was pretty funny. I think everyone ends up being called a donkey, or makes a donkey play at some point. If you are not making donkey plays, you are not trying new things, and it's just going to happen.



LP: How does your fianc?, David Benyamine, react when you beat him at poker?


ES: We haven't really ended up facing each other in a heads up match. We have been at the same table more than once. If you mean who lasts longer in tournaments, because that is the thing that has happened the most. I am definitely more of a tournament player. David, I think, his stronger suit is cash games. Don't get me wrong, he is a phenomenal tournament player. Since I don't really play cash games I focus totally on tournament strategy. I've outlasted him in a lot of tournaments. I think that can be kind of hard for him, but it's not that hard because, let's face it, David is just a world class player. I think maybe his pride gets just a teensy bit stung for a second, but that's about it.



LP: Are there any players who you take an extra bit of pleasure in beating at the table?


ES: I love beating everyone. There are no friends in poker, but I have some close friends that I wouldn't take the same pleasure in beating. For me anyway, I just love taking out that meathead at the table. The guy who is sitting there, that you know by his actions or by things that he's said that he is just this big dumb meathead who thinks that girls can't play poker. I always enjoy giving them a schooling.



LP: Like any other player, I have seen you get eliminated before. You always deal with the elimination in a very adult and classy way. What do you think of some of the near rampant poor sportsmanship that other players seem to display?


ES: It's just kind of how you are as a person. For me, I might be absolutely fuming on the inside, or just ready to scream and I want to throw my chair over and throw a total hissy fit. It's just not the way I think is a cool way to act. I don't do that. On the other hand when I win a big pot or anything I think the most excitement you might see out of me is I might pump my fist or something, but I don't do any crazy antics because I don't need to rub it in somebody else's face cause I know I don't like it when someone does that to me. I think it just ends up making you look like kind of an ass.



LP: Tell us something that nobody else knows about you.


ES: I would tell you that I'm a big dork, but I think actually a lot of people know that. These are the questons that always stump me because I am trying to figure out how much I want to divulge about myself. I guess the thing that most people don't know about me is that I'm extremely kind of a homebody, and I'm kind of shy. I think people sometimes think that I'm this party girl who is out partying, and stuff and having a good time; don't get me wrong, I do like to have a good time, but I'm a big time homebody. A good night for me is just what I'm doing right now. I just got done walking the dogs, having a glass of wine, watching the food network, and trying to figure out what I'm going to make for dinner. Then I'm going to cook something, watch a little TV and go to bed. So I guess I'm kind of a boring girl.