» Christian Kruel Interview
Christian Kruel, 29, is the top Brazilian all time online money list leader for poker with over $1 million in career tournament earnings. He has been playing extensively since a fateful 1999 trip to Las Vegas to compete in a backgammon tournament. He found himself drawn to the poker tables and by the end of the week he was hooked. Christian worked hard for two years, in the pre-poker boom era, to perfect his game without the resources available today. 2005 was a breakout year for him with three WPT live final tables under his belt. Combine that with his consistently strong online resume and it is easy to understand why he has become one of the best known and most respected players from Brazil over recent years. CK continues to dominate poker in 2010 having already performed well at the PCA Caribbean and winning multiple online tournaments! We sat down with CK recently to learn more about his poker and life success.
Thanks for taking the time to speak with us here at Poker Curious. We have a large contingent of Latin American members, as well as many others from all over the world, who I am sure are interested to hear more about you and your rise within the poker world.
Could you tell us a little about yourself? Who is Christian Kruel?
I was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It's a paradise city, in my opinion, and for that reason I'll live here all my life. I like the beauty of the place, the people and the atmosphere, which is something you won't find in another place in the world. I always had a lot of determination and ambition in my life, since playing soccer in school, volleyball at the beach, professional backgammon and nowadays POKER! My objectives were always very clear in my mind, I've been totally independent since 18 years old, so I love the freedom and lifestyle you can have playing professional poker.
Tell us about your journey in the poker world? 
I heard about the WSOP while I was playing a backgammon tournament. When I flew to Vegas for a World Backgammon Cup I couldn't focus anymore on this game cause the 2-4 limit poker games at the Bellagio caught my eye right away and I never came back :)
I began losing for a while, mostly my backgammon profits. I used to be a pro backgammon player. I was very good and at that time wanted to be a world champion. I used to make tough money grinding online on backgammon, since the liquidity wasn't very large. In 2000, I started right away with $33 SNG's, so I was part of the poker boom from the very beginning. When I began playing not even 1000 players would be logged into a poker site at one time!
How long did it take you to build to a point where you could play the highest buy-in tournaments online and live, as well as high stakes cash games too?
It took about 6 months for me to see I could win and that there was really a solution to the game. There were no materials, tutorials or other learning tools online so that's why it took so much time. It was a hard time, as my backgammon winnings made up a significant part of my bankroll. After 1 - 2 years I found my place in the tournaments, SNG's and MTT's, and built a bankroll. For a while I was a regular high stakes cash game limit hold'em player, playing up to 300-600 on different sites.
Which arena do you prefer, playing live or online, cash games or MTT's?
More online, because of the living here in Rio, but this is something that is in transition. I want to stabilize myself live this year. My big breakthrough happened live in 2005 with three important final tables in the WPT circuit and I think after that because of focusing on cash games for two years I lost the focus for MTT's, which I regained in 2008, realizing that it is a better way for me to make money.
Do you think there are a lot of similar skill sets and personal traits between playing backgammon and poker for a living?
Oh yea for sure, you kinda need the same skill sets, like patience, discipline and aggressiveness.
We've noticed a big increase over the past year or so in the amount of talented players coming out of Brazil. Does this help drive you and increase your motivation to stay at the top of that pool? Are you friendly with the other top players, do you help each other evolve as players, travel together to live events, that kind of thing?
Yeah I'm very proud of this growth. Myself and my friend Raul built clubedopoker.com. That was the first Brazilian site about poker. It helped a lot of players, all those tops Brazilians used to read my blogs and my tips. I'm very close to all of them and have a lot of respect and admiration for them. I'm also learning tons of thing from the ones I consider top top players.
What is the poker scene like nowadays in Brazil?
I play the tournaments that are happening here in Brazil more and more often, since it's becoming a legal situation. Cash games are a little different though so I don't get involved at all, also because of legal issues.
Can you tell us which of your poker accomplishments you are most proud of? We know you have had phenomenal success online and live.
Well, live I don't have any phenomenal success, despite the 8th place Bahamas, 4th place LA and 4th place Bellagio 2005. Then in 2008 I almost won the biggest Latin American tournament taking 3rd place. There are some nice in-the-money placings in between those results, but like I said I played live in 2005, stopped then to focus online and since 2008 I re-focused on MTT´s so I'm still waiting my best days :)
Online I would say I have very nice results. I have final tables in almost all the big tournaments you can name. I used to crush big sites that today are very small, like Paradise, Party, Ladbrokes, I really always did very well in MTT's online. My special year was 2008 online with a lot of winnings on Pokerstars, taking 4th place on a deal during WCOOP for more than $240K was really nice, big $100 rebuy Sunday win, 2nd in Sunday $500 and lots of others.
Actually this last month has also been very special for me where I won the $1k on stars, $100 rebuy on UltimateBet and been making tons of final tables. The mini FTOPS with 17k players 6 max was also very cool for my confidence
Congratulations on an awesome ending to the year. We noticed you took down the Super Tuesday $1K tournament for a cool $61,145.50! That must have been a fantastic way to close out 2010, nailing what is considered by most players to be the single toughest tournament online? Can you tell us a little about it?
Yeah and it didn't happen for no reason. I wasn't really satisfied with my results in 2009 so in December I was like " I need to close this year with a Gold key", so I focused hard on it, and in 3 weeks I made an unbelievable number of final tables for good prizes and also won some nice tournaments. I'm happy as its continuing for 2010 where I've already had some nice results, even live at the PCA :)
What tips would you give to new players looking to become poker pros? What do you think are the biggest and most important area to focus on and learn if you wish to succeed at the top of the game?
Firstly, nowadays I wouldn't suggest for anyone to become a poker pro unless I was really sure about their talent, because the scenario is tough and could get even tougher. You'll need a lot of stamina, determination and huuuugee bankroll management, which today is for me the key to success. I see many good players going broke due to lack of discipline. I've been there also, but I learned my lesson.
When did you start feeling really confident about your game, that you could become a success?
I guess it was when I felt that I was one of the best SnG players on Party Poker , playing 4 tables of $33 and getting ITM on every single SnG, that gave me the confidence to be here today.
What was the biggest mistake you ever made in your poker career?
In 2006-2007 I lost my bankroll management going way too far on the limit games I even played 400-800 pounds on InterPoker and my bankroll suffered a lot. I also lost confidence and it took time for me to rebuild. That's why I say that bankroll management is one important key to success.
How do you balance outside interests and living with your poker playing?
I balance with my live trips that I enjoy a lot and I also party a lot here in Rio with my friends and girlfriend. I like good restaurants, movies, and good shows. I;m usually doing that kind of thing on Thursday, Friday or Saturday. 2 of these 3 days are usually for relaxing, which is really necessary. I also run a lot, at least try to most of the time to balance my health and weight. I think poker players get way too lazy.
What is the best thing you have bought with the money you have earned from poker?
My freedom and lifestyle has no price. After that maybe my car :)
What is it like to be a poker phenom within Brazil? Are your friends and family aware of the success you have had?
I really don't get treated or feel like a phenom. Phenom for me is Alexandre Gomes and even other Brazilians online and live. I think I'm good and capable of being one of those. I feel happy to be friends with the best players in my town and feel the respect they have for me, because its hard to say one player in Brazil that didn't have at least one tip reading my blogs and stuff. My family and friends are surely aware and my friends will always like I am a phenom :) But for my family it took time and showing results, though nowadays they are my big fans also!
How did your sponsorship with Full Tilt come about and how has it affected your game and life?
They came to me in Vienna during a live tournament and it's something I'm really proud of since I'm one of the players they picked up for the huge market in Latin America. It gave me even more confidence to play and of course you feel somehow more comfortable in terms of variance in your life. Also I think FTP has everything going for it to become the biggest of the sites in a few years, so being part of them is an honor for me!
Where do you see yourself in the next few years? Would you like to see yourself sitting at the highest stakes cash games? We know you play $100/200 from time to time. Do you think you will continue to focus on tournaments or will there be a shift to the high stakes cash games?
Nah, I don't think I'm going up and up in terms of stakes. Like I said, I learned a huge lesson and I'm not a top limit player anymore, I don't think. I would need to improve a lot to be there everyday. Nowadays, I invest a lot in the stock market, since I studied economics and have good friends doing well in the market. This is a place where I see myself relaxing with my money over the next years, but you never know what is coming for bad and for good, so what I do is protect myself so as not to depend that much off poker as I get older.
If you could offer one piece of advice to all the Brazilian players (and others around the world too) looking to emulate your success what would it be?
Never loose your discipline!!! Learn to exercise during the days of playing. Learn to see clearly the real level of poker you are on at the moment and study EVERY DAY, MAN cause there are a lot of smart people around you!
Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, Christian. Before you go, we have several fun questions inspired by Bravo's Inside the Actors Studio.
What is your favorite fun poker phrase/slang/acronym?
My favorite is the VAMOOOOS from Brazilian rail, it really shows the heart of Brazilians as people are really like this in real life :)
If the poker industry disappeared completely, what other career would you most like to attempt?
I would work with my friends in the stock market 100%, for sure
If you were on death row, what would be your last meal?
Anything with a lot of rice!!!
When your poker career is over, what would you most like to be remembered for?
For my tough life history. To have had success and determination and for helping Texas Hold'em to be become huge and good in Brazil!
Read the Poker Curious interview with fellow Brazilian Joao Mathias Baumgarten
