Tony Guoga, known to the poker world as “Tony G,” has won about $3 million in tournaments around the world, but is probably better known for his trash talking at the poker table.

  He is behind some of the most scathing table banter ever seen on TV, so it is hard to believe that Tony’s first claim to fame was as the Lithuanian Rubik’s Cube champion, a title he won before moving to Australia at age 11. He finished fifth at the WPT’s Grand Prix de Paris in 2003, the event where his trash talk became so offensive that Howard Lederer refused to shake his hand.

  He finished second in the same event a year later. Since then he’s won the European Championships, Moscow Millions, an Asian Poker Tour main event, among others, and also took third in the WSOPE PLO event two years ago. Gabe Kaplan once said of Tony:

  “He could single-handedly reignite the Cold War.”  

With so many players becoming proficient at no-limit hold’em these days, would it be better for new players to try to specialize in another form of poker?

I think that PLO (pot-limit Omaha) is the future. I love the game and bad players feel there is much more gamble in the game, but in fact there is less. PLO is also much more fun and the pots are bigger more often, so you get your turnover up. 

Do players who trash talk at the table do it because that is their nature, or are they really trying to get some kind of edge? 

I do it as it’s my nature. I don’t think that people do it to get an edge and I don’t recommend it. 

I have A-K and make a standard preflop raise and get called by one player on the button. It is a cash game and we are both pretty deep-stacked. I make a pot-size bet after the flop comes K-8-6 rainbow, and my opponent pushes all-in for about five or six times my bet. What should I do? Does his overbet mean a bluff? 

You have to go with your feel here. It’s always close; many times in this situation your opponent will have a set. It’s all down to how well you know your opponent and what you think he is trying to achieve by pushing. 

I am under the gun with a middle pocket pair in a cash game. Should I limp in or raise or fold? 

LIMP. 

How should a player adjust strategy when moving from live to online play? 

There is not much difference at all, just play your best. Maybe use all the tools you can to help you and play to a bigger bankroll as the swings are bigger. 

Pot-limit Omaha is becoming very popular. What tips can you give a new player? 

Study the game, and also it is very important to enjoy the game and not play too high to start with. It’s a very fine strategy game; that is, you can work out you are going to be rich. 

I am looking for fish, as the games are getting tougher. Where is the next big market for poker where there will be lots of new players? 

MACAU. 

It is the middle stages of a tournament and I have an average stack. A middle position player makes a standard raise and guy with an average stack pushes all-in. I have A-Q on the button. What should I do? 

PASS. 

What works better in today’s tournaments, a loose style or a tight style? Tight style much better. I like to see a lot of flops early in a tournament when the blinds are low. Is this a good strategy? 

Yes, very good early on to see as many as possible. 

I have started being nasty to my fellow players in an attempt to put them off their games, but all that has happened so far is that I am becoming distracted. How do I avoid this? 

Don’t do it – focus on your game first. When you have control, then you can try it, but I don’t recommend it unless you make a big final table.