Andreas "Skjervøy" Torbergsen Joins CardRunners

Andreas "Skjervøy" Torbergsen is one of the best PLO players in the world, with winnings in the seven figures on both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. He's the newest Red Pro on Full Tilt Poker, and is now a member of Team CardRunners.  His first CardRunners video will debut Friday.

He is currently balancing poker with University in Norway, where he is finishing up a degree in marketing.  In anticipation of his first video, a high-stakes PLO offering, Andreas answered some questions for CR members. He will also be participating in a "well" Q&A in the CardRunners Forums.  Ask him your own questions here.

Where are you from?

I'm from Skjervøy, a small town in Norway with 2500 people, 70 degrees north. I moved out from home at 17 to go to high school in Tromsø. A lot of poker players with success are from there, especially the old Prima crew (riise, terken, ulle etc.).

How did you get into poker?

My very first poker experience was with my father playing 5 card draw for nickels and dimes.  I was about twelve years old. What really got me into poker was the weekly game we had when I shared/rented a house with two friends when I was 19. There were 5-8 of us buddies playing for hours, having a lot of fun and learning a lot.

What about PLO specifically?
 
I played it on my first trip to Vegas in 2005. There was a group of us from Norway that convinced Bally's to open a 1-2 PLO table that we spent some hours playing and drinking on. I was a (dead tight) .50-$1 full-ring grinder before that, playing mostly on the Ongame network. I was out there because I'd won a WSOP package.

When I returned from Vegas I gave myself a PLO roll (kept separately from NLHE) on Party Poker and I grinded it up until I started playing 10-20 PLO there in late 2006. Then I basically spent my roll traveling the world for 5 months in early 2007 before starting back up from 2-4 being staked.

I still play (mostly) NLHE and some HORSE MTTs, live but also on Sundays. The highest NLHE I played online is 5-10 six-max on Party when I had a break from PLO in late 2007/early 2008. It got too boring with 2 cards, so I had to go back to PLO.

Do you prefer to play live or online?

I prefer online. It's much faster and a lot easier to do since I live in a country where casinos are illegal.

How would you describe your approach to poker?

I'm a feel player. ;) I like to believe my instincts are good, and I love trying out stuff, but I've learned to use the math behind along the way.

Do you tilt?

I've seen it all I think for PLO, so I rarely tilt in a way that impacts my play. If I get too steamed I'll take a 5-10 minute break/walk or just quit for the day.

Why have you been such a successful PLO player?

I've been lucky to have some good friends to talk poker with along the way and learned a lot from the 2+2 forums in the beginning.

What's your biggest achievement in poker?
 
Gotta be Supernova Elite. 900.000+ hands of PLO in a calender year at my stakes was tough. Especially in the beginning of the chase with so many tables and no experience with long sessions day out and in.

How do you spend your time when not playing?

I love traveling. Besides the trips with poker in them like PCA and Monte Carlo, I spent a month last summer in Southeast Asia with my girlfriend, and we went to Hawaii for 2.5 weeks before WSOP. I also do standard stuff as going out, watching movies/tv series and exercising.

What's the next trip you have planned?

First match in Premier League (soccer) in mid-August, to London or Manchester, England.

Off the tables, what are you doing to improve your game?

I work out to have stamina for long sessions, and I often randomly think of hand lines vs some villains. After a session I can suddenly understand why I should stop donking into a specific villain or start bluffing the river more vs another.

How was Las Vegas this summer?

Vegas was great fun.  I saw a few shows, finally managed to see Grand Canyon with my girlfriend, drank too much and played a bit of poker.

In the Main Event I got a nice stack off of an older guy early at 150/300 blinds, he limps cut-off, button limps,I complete QTo in SB and BB checks. Flop AKJr check, check, he bets 1100, button folds, I make it 3000, he makes it 10500 and I just shove 30k more since he clearly thinks he has the nuts and he snaps AJ. In the end I lasted 3 1/4 day in the Main Event without cashing, though. :)

I also played the 10k PLO. I busted vs a French guy with AAxx vs QTs9s2 after he cold called my pot raise behind an ep limper. He check called pot on J42r, then put me in for about 60% of pot on a Q turn and I shrug-called and went out.

I didn't play any cash games, as I wanted as much time off as possible

What's your next challenge (in poker or outside)?

Beating Anette, my girlfriend, in Chinese Poker.

Favorite:

Book? Im gonna change that to author and answer: J. London, JRR Tolkien (long before the movies) and C. Iggulden

Movie? Matrix

TV show? Battlestar Galactica

City? Barcelona

Color? Black

Food? A good steak is the nuts