On the Verge: Amit Makhija Speaks

By Martin Derbyshire Aug 27, 2008 | 3 months ago

Amit Makhija on Day 4 of the EPT4 Monte Carlo Grand Final

Amit Makhija sits on the verge of World Poker Tour glory tonight. The 23-year-old finance and economics graduate from Wisconsin finds himself in the lead and in prime position to take down his first WPT title here at the Legends of Poker main event at The Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California.

The man they call amak316 has been killing it for years online and made the successful transition to the live game in just this past year, making a final table at the 2008 World Series of Poker $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold 'em World Championship.

PL.com caught up with Amit during the redraw for seats in the final nine here at Legends to discuss his past and all the excitement about his immediate future.

So Amit, you are having quite a big day huh?

Man it's been smooth, nothing really interesting. I've won a lot of big pots and it's gone really well. I lost one big coin flip, but other than that it's been really smooth. Pretty much up and up.

Is that how this whole tournament has been for you so far?

No, not at all. Day 1 I could not get anything going. It was just a terrible day. I thought I played really well; made some big lay-downs, and I came into Day 2 with only $11,000 in chips. I decided I was just going to be really patient and play the short stack well.

I was really short-stacked and I picked up two kings right away and doubled and I built up all the way to $200,000 from $11k. That was pretty sick. Definitely a good day. Since then it's been going really smooth. I've been going up and up and never really had too many huge declines. It's been pretty steady.

Big pots all day.

A lot of people know you as amak316 online. Is online poker where you got started?

I play a lot online. I'm fairly well-known online. I've done well. I've been playing the circuit for like five months now. I just started after I graduated from college and that's been going pretty good so far.

Yeah, I'd say a final table at the 2008 WSOP is pretty good ...

Yeah, I made the final table of the $10k Pot-Limit at the World Series and took fifth in that. I'm trying to take this one down because it's kind of bittersweet when you make it to a final table and don't scoop. But I'm feeling real good about this one. I think I'm in real good shape and the table is set up well with positions and stuff.

For you, what is the biggest difference between online poker and the live game?

There's a ton of subtle differences. But I think the biggest difference is that the average player plays a lot differently live versus online. Online people are more in a gambling mode. First of all the structure is a lot different online; it's a lot more shallow and people are gambling a lot lighter. In live tournaments you just have to adjust your calling ranges big time. People aren't shipping it in too light.

So sick son!

They've got 10 big blinds and they are waiting for ace-jack plus to shove. It's very different, but once you make those adjustments I feel like live is a little bit softer than online. Once you make the adjustments, I think online players can do very well in the live setting.

It sounds like patience is really the key live?

Yeah, patience is very key live. You need to be a lot more patient.

Well, here in the final nine it looks like you are a lock to make the TV final table ...

There's almost never a lock in poker.

Right, but I was wondering if being in this position changes your strategy a little. Do you try to avoid butting heads with bigger stacks?

Multi-level thinking in Monaco.

That's not at all part of my strategy. I'm just trying to find good spots and play great situational poker. I'm not looking to avoid people and if I bust out ninth, I bust out ninth. It's not the end of the world. I want to win it and I'm going to do everything I can to do so.

And at the final table, do the same rules apply?

Yes, I'm not looking to move up in the pay jumps. It's just not important to me. I know it's important to some people, and maybe I'll look to exploit that. We'll see how it works. I'm just trying to play for first place. I want the title. I want the win. It will be a real big accomplishment for me.

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People say online players are the future of poker. Well, if that's true, just take one look at Amit Makhija, and it's easy to tell the future is now.