Most hockey players run camps, get into landscaping or find a part-time job in business for their summer vocation. Komets rookie Keith Rodger went to Las Vegas to try earning some money as a professional poker player.
Rodger grew up in Arvada, Colo., with Mike Caruso, now one of the world's top 100 online poker players. Caruso had taken up poker when his hockey career ran out. The buddies had talked for several years about trying their skill in Las Vegas, and this summer they spent six weeks in Nevada.
“This was my job, and it was great because I learned a lot,” Rodger said. “These guys are unbelievable card players, to the point that they look at hands and analyze situations, stuff you never think of.”
Rodger compared the strategy to playing chess, setting up an opponent for a call several hands later. Caruso, he said, is a master of not just playing his own cards, but of figuring out everyone else's hands as well.
“He can put you on a range of hands, a real tight range, and he just abuses you,” Rodger said. “It's so much fun to watch him play from the other side and the ridiculous things he does to people. He'll have absolutely nothing and get to the final table in huge tournaments and just abuse people because he knows what they have.”
The experience, Rodger said, taught him as much about people as it did about poker, especially the way people use their money. Someone who is tight with money will be tight playing poker; if he is loose with money, he'll take more chances playing cards.
“You can really get into someone's thought process, psychologically,” he said. “If you make a play and you show it, how is that guy going to react? You learn to push buttons and stuff like that. It's fun to learn angles.
“It was more valuable learning to me than earning money because it wasn't so much about poker. It was a good summer to learn for both of us. It was kind of like growing up a little bit. It's hard to explain how it opens your eyes.”
Part of the trip, Rodger said, was because he's 24 and it sounded like fun and this was the time in his life to try something different. It also was a job, which took some of the fun out of it, turning “Wow, Las Vegas!” into simply “Vegas,” but it wasn't 8-to-5 sitting behind a desk, either. Even though he was his own boss, the routine became a little bit of a grind as well. If this had been his main source of income, Rodger said, it would not have been nearly so much fun.
“Everything you do at the table is a decision and parallels life,” Rodger said. “There's no way to describe the atmosphere in the room. When you get in there, all you heard are chips clacking. Some of these kids are 19 years old and they are making more money than their parents, and it changes their attitude and you see a lot of weird stuff. It's such a weird, different thing. I don't even know how to explain it.”
Part of the intrigue was watching professionals from another discipline work. Part of it was seeing other forms of focus and dedication in play. Rodger said he made some money in Las Vegas, but not enough to give up his day job with the Komets. He thinks he can translate some of what he has learned into his hockey.
“It's focus, which is something I've had a little trouble with in the past, I think,” he said. “One game. I'd be really on and focused, and the practice the next day I'm really out to lunch. I think that has helped, and definitely learning to read people has helped in all sorts of areas.
“It's the same thing as walking up to the stands and buying a hot dog. You can learn a lot about people and their personalities just by paying attention.”
