GPInterview: Neil Johnson | Part 1 – Get To Know Neil

We were able to interview PokerStars Live Poker Manager Neil Johnson. What was supposed to be a 20 minute interview ended up being a 90-minute conversation between two people passionate about the game … in fact, I had so much material, that we decided to split Neil’s interview into two parts – Get To Know Neil (which you will today) and in a few days, we will release the second part of the interview which focuses on some of the changes that PokerStars have made in anticipation of next week’s European Poker Tour’s 10th annual kickoff in Barcelona, Spain.

Neil’s story is a fascinating one. From working a regular job, to acting, to dealing cards to one of the key figures in the world of poker, all in ten years. We hope you enjoy Part 1 of Neil’s interview:

GETTING TO KNOW YOU

Neil, thank you so much for taking time for us, how did you get involved in the poker industry?

It’s a little bit weird. At the time my back was injured from my previous job (in labor and industries) and I was doing a lot of acting and between rehearsals, I stopped at a casino (in Washington State) called the Muckleshoot. I played for two weeks and while I was there I talked to some of the dealers and they were making a decent wage and I was in a tough spot because my back was all messed up so I looked around for a school – I already knew all the games and all the rules – so they had to teach me how to shuffle and how to strip for the deck.

A couple of weeks after that, I went on an audition with a small poker club and a couple weeks later I was working seven days a week at five different clubs because it was really difficult to get a full-time gig.

I got really lucky because Jan Fisher’s father Peter Fisher was a player in our big Omaha game at one of the clubs I worked at, he liked me, he thought I was a good dealer and that I was good at what I did so he connected me with Jan and Linda (Johnson) for Card Player Cruises and through them I met Thomas Kremser and Matt Savage, it just turned into a weird pinball of networking.

I tip my hat to Peter Fisher, essentially, without Peter pointing me towards Jan and Linda I’m not where I am in the poker industry today.

Talk about your accession towards your current role as Live Poker Manager for PokerStars?

In 2006, I accepted a position with Paradise Poker to be the Poker Room Manager for their online room. Everything was looking really good, I signed a two-year deal, sold my house, was ready to go and four days before my plane was supposed to take off, they passed the U.I.G.E.A. and that point and time every company had to make a decisions “do we stay in the US or are we going, and how does this impact our business” and Paradise decided to leave the US market, which meant they downsized instead of expanding so my job went away.

So I went back and talked to some of the people I knew and I ended up getting back into dealing –  I had always had an affiliation with Stars because I worked the European Poker Tour for Thomas Kremser as well as the PCA with Mike Ward and over the next two years, I started doing a lot of stuff with the PokerStars TV team.

In 2008, I started inquiring about certain positions that were open and at that time the fantastic Lee Jones was leaving PokerStars at the time so they had an opening for a poker guy, someone that they players knew, someone that knew the games, someone that knew the live poker.

We ended up negotiating over the summer and they brought me into the position at the time, which was essentially the EPT Event Host and Player Liaison which was a little bit of what Lee Jones would do a little bit of new stuff, really taking ownership of how the tours were designed. Jeffrey Haas was brought in right after that to head the Global tours and it kind of signaled a new direction for Stars, taking ownership of its tours, to really grow them.

“YOU NEVER KNOW WHO’S AT YOUR TABLE”

Would you have any advice for dealers who aspire to follow in your footsteps and take the next step in the business?

What’s funny is that I always use the (Peter Fisher) story when I train new dealers because you never know who’s in your game. Whether you’re having a bad day, it doesn’t matter.

I play a lot, I play when I’m Vegas for exampled and there are a couple of dealers who were invited to deal at the PCA and EPT Monte Carlo this year because I played in their game at the MGM (we were playing 3-2-1 Omaha, Razzdugi, Double Board Pineapple, the craziest home game stuff) and a couple of those dealers sat down in there and they were able to roll with the players, they were able to run the game, they were able to command the table and that’s what I look for, they can deal with the difficult customers, deal with the players hitting on them and they can run it very professionally. A couple of them did a brilliant job and I talked to the manager and the floor guy afterwards and said I want them to work for us.

You never know who’s at your table; you always want to give your best because you don’t know the opportunity that’s in front of you.

How is the American enjoying life in London?

It’s a little different, I’m not really a big city kid, I’m a suburbs kid from the States, I’m used to my Wal-Mart and Home Depot and McDonald’s, Taco Bell and In-N-Out Burger so being in London is different. It’s the first place I ever discovered “pedestrian” rage where people are like “get out of my way, I have to go”.

But it’s a tremendous opportunity, I think everyone gets frustrated with where they live sometimes but every once in a while I’ll be walking at night and look up and see Big Ben or the Thames and I realize of all the people I grew up with, how many of them are going to live in Europe and have the opportunity to go to Barcelona, Prague and Amsterdam and Rome and all those places and I freely admit, I have it pretty damn good, I work for the best company on the planet and I love my job. I am very much enjoying the experience for the experience!

Look for the second part of our interview with Neil in the coming days. The European Poker Tour opens its 10th season in Barcelona on Monday. The festival features ESPT and EPT Main Event, both of which are expected to draw over 1,000 players, as well as the return of the 50K Super High Roller event, which was won by Dan Smith last season.