Josh Arieh Interview With winnings of over 3 million dollars — 29 year old tournament poker player Josh Arieh has been featured on ESPN, Fox Sports, The Discovery Channel, The Travel Channel, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution and Atlanta Magazine. Josh's style embodies the "new breed" of poker professional - combining intuition, relentless aggression and subtle gear changes to keep his opponent guessing and maximizing profit potential.

Josh recently finished 3rd in the 2004 World Series of Poker on ESPN and has a World Series of Poker title in Limit Holdem in 1999 and a 2nd place finish in the 2000 World Series of Poker Pot Limit Omaha event to Johnny Chan. He has numerous other tournament victories and final table television appearances. Josh has played for over 12 years in the Atlanta area and has garnered a reputation as a tough high limit player specializing in all games (No limit and limit holdem, pot limit omaha, omaha 8 or better and 7 card stud). Josh has played in over 20 big buy-in poker tournaments ($10,000.00 or higher buy-in) and has earned the respect and friendship of fellow touring poker pros. Josh now has his website up and going and can be viewed at www.josharieh.com.

1. Josh Was 3rd in the 2004 WSOP and another good showing on a WPT event your earnings at the tables have seen a nice padding. How has the popularity of poker helped you off the tables?

Josh Arieh: The public response has been amazing. I never dreamed that i would be making money for showing up somewhere!!! Who the hell wants to pay me to go somewhere??? I am having a ton of fun with the new popularity of poker and am extremely thankful for my timing in doing well. I am currently working with bodog.com as a professional poker player and endorsing the site. I am part of the inaugural poker card set to be released soon by Upper Deck playing cards. There are so many things going on right now and if i am lucky enough to be part of a small percentage of them then i am one lucky man!!!!!

2. Many people might not know but you’re no over night success story, you’ve been playing for quite some time. What has been your road to success?

JA: Man, what a long road its been, ive been pumped up, broke, pumped up and broke again. Ive gotten to the top, hit the bottom, then almost gotten to the top again and saw my dream slip thru my fingers.... I can honestly say that i am one of the luckiest people on the face of the earth. I have a beautiful loving wife. Two AMAZING children and a I play a game for a living. Even before the WSOP i was doing well in live games and coming very close in the major tournaments. My life was great and I could honestly feel that success was just over the horizon... sorry for rambling..... i would say my success basically comes from being very motivated, always staying focused, and remembering that no matter how bad times get at the tables, it will always turn around... and believe me... they do

3. What would be your suggestion for a player just starting out in poker? Where would you focus your efforts: Limit vs. No Limit, Ring vs. Tournaments?

JA: Definitely no limit holdem tournaments... they are eveyrwhere and thats where the big scores are... wins are few and far between, but the experience you gain in all the tournaments is priceless.... say 5 years down the road you are in a pot in a high pressure situation and you remember a pot that you played many years ago???? the experience you gain is pricelss... i cant express it enough

4. You’re out of Atlanta, do you find it harder to be a top pro and not be based out of Las Vegas or California?

JA: The flights wear on me sometimes... but being out of atlanta i am 4 hrs away from anywhere.(direct on delta)... i dont like playing live because its too slow, so i am not missing out on any action in the cardrooms... I love Atlanta, i grew up there.... i wont be leaving there for a long long time... i just bought a new house there and plan on raising my family in the south

5. Do you have any big wins with the power hand 72os?

JA: LOL!!! man, i play lots of hands and hate folding, but 7-2os??? i gotta draw the line somewhere.... my rule is this... if i can make a straight or a flush... im usually in there :)

6. Given your sometimes-questionable behavior shown in the WSOP coverage, I would like you to ask if you are doing anything specific in order to act more appropriately at the tables? (Sometimes temper issues, etc., are not easily corrected.) Related to that, I would like to ask your opinion of Greg Raymer. - Poker Elmo

JA: LOL... new this was coming... ummmm... emotions are part of competition and i am a very emotional person.. i do my best not to be an ass, but sometimes i cant help it... i love winning and also cant stand losing. I cant promise anything, but i will make a conscience effort at being a "nicer" person at the table.

7. Do you feel like you were fairly portrayed by the ESPN WSOP producers? If no, then why not? Pwtjax

JA: First off i want to thank Norman Chad for being such an ass:)... but to answer your question, yes and no.... i have never been looked at like an ass, but i did it and they rolled the tape... yes they editted it quite a bit... but i gave them the footage to work with.... but i promise u one thing... as you guys get to know me better, you will go back and watch it and say... hmmm.. he wasnt THAT bad... or maybe you will hate me more... who knows...

8. I'd like to hear your assessment of Greg Raymer and David Williams and their plays at the final table in the 2004 WSOP - given that Raymer declared that Arieh was his toughest opponent and you were much less complimentary when he was knocked out. Raymer's assessment of the hands was very interesting - would be good to hear your view. evil_roy

JA: Raymer played great... he was the only other player at the table that i felt was not afraid of losing... i knew it would be me or greg crowned champion... he played the best, therefore he is world champion... David was very inexperienced at the time and showed amazing heart that not many amatuers could do... since then david has become a great player himself and is constantly working on his game.... they are definitely two guys that i dont want to have to sit at the table with...

9. Have you ever been in a fight over a poker game? SRH

JA: LOL... um kinda... well i didnt have much of a say so of the matter... i was 19 and playing in a 5-10 game... a freind of mine was playing on his case money and it was his sons birthday the next day.... we got involved in a big pot and i told him to fold on the river.... i got called in another spot and asked the guy to chop... my friend picked my cards up and before i knew it i was laid out on the floor with a broken nose.... i learned a valuable lesson that day.... the lesson i learned really saved my ass one time in a home game robbery... a guy in the game was losing his ass and throughout the evening everytime i won a pot i would throw him a $5 chip.... when it was time to cash out he went into the bathroom and came out with a 9 mm handgun that looked like a shotgun... he said "all i want is what i have lost over the last month"...(about $7k)... the gun was to my back and i was in the middle of cashing out... i had $600 in cash on the table and he asked me "josh, how much did you win", i replied "fa fa fa four hundreeeeed" , he said "kid, you deserve it, pick your money up"...WHAT???? we just got robbed and i didnt lose a penny... he proceeded to take every penny from the house man and got out of dodge.... so the lesson i learned was to not always think about myself at the table.... sometimes people are in extremely weak states of mind and there is no telling what they will try... making friends with this guy throughout the evening may not have only saved me $600, it may have saved my life.

10. In regards to final table play in a large multi table tournament, what are the top 3 pieces of advice/strategies you would use to attempt to finish 1st? J Mega

JA: Ummm??? get lucky??? no... i would say dont be afraid to take a gamble... its very hard to go wire to wire in a tournament taking huge edges, when you build up chips and can afford to take a risk, do it... dont sit on chips and try to move up in money... go for the gusto, be the bully

11. IS THERE ANY PROPER OR IDEALISTIC PLAY RATIOS IN POKER WINNING PROCESS, SUCH AS RAISE VS. CALL, CALL VS HOLD, AND BET VS CHECK? -

JA: There are very few absolutes in poker... every different table requires a different game plan... raising vs some opponents may work, when the exact same hand may come up and calling is the correct thing to do... always evaluate your opponents and force them to do things they are uncomfortable with doing... if they like seeing flops cheap... raise it up... if they like raising and taking it preflop, call em and make em see flops.... a lot of pros have a hard time adjusting to certain situations because they are one dimentional players... always try to mix it up and learn how to get comfortable in every aspect of the game.


12. #1 want to play a heads up for 10k? KSapp79

JA: ummm.. ok

13. What are, in your opinion, the three "must have" skills to have success as a pro poker player?

JA: Heart, money management, and self discipline( with you being your own boss, you have to get up and work on days that you really dont want to... there is no one to answer to, but when the bills get to rolling in, its you that suffers..

14. Has internet pokers popularity changed the way you play poker in any way? 4Flush

JA: Its definitely improved my game... i got hours and hours of experience i would never have been able to get

15. Thanks for your time, my question is what you think about ESPN's Tilt and it's portrayal of the world of professional poker? Also, how do you think "Tilt" will ultimately be viewed by the public, as a true view into poker or an over-sensationalized "worst-case scenario"? evilcheeba

JA: Tilt is what poker would be if hte Sopranos ruled the poker world... i couldnt believe that ESPN showed the show. ESPN is putting a big stake in poker and Tilt definitely set poker back a few years... Professional poker is nothing like that and i sure hope that there wont be a season 2

16. What advice would you give to someone with a bank roll of $100? whitley69

JA: KEEP YOUR DAY JOB!!!!! no... it depends what you are trying to accomplish... if you want entertainment.. play a $5 tournament every night...if you want to try to start your poker career off $100, play some .25c-.50c limit and gradually move up... i would honestly say wait until you can afford a bigger poker bankroll before you try to start your poker career

Thanks for reading and sorry if i seem a bit bitter, its the night before day 4 of the WPT championship and at the end of the 4th level today i had 250k and now i have 22k :(


Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions and best ouf luck at the tables!  ¶ 9:44 PM