Talking the Talk in Poker

Brash and cocky at the tables, perennial trash-talker Antanas "Tony G" Guoga is a stark contrast away from the felt, displaying a surprisingly humble and amiable demeanor. A Lithuanian-born player now residing in Melbourne, Australia, Tony Burst on the scene at the Aviation Club during the World Poker Tour's inaugural season and is now considered one of Europe's brightest players. He has proven that he is more than just talk in North America as well, with success at premier tournaments. With the game of poker ever-evolving as droves of aspiring pros hit the tables, one of the most interesting psychological tactics that has emerged is table talk, a skill Tony G has mastered and used exceptionally to his advantage. You'd be hardpressed to find a looser-lipped player than Tony G during a game. Tony provided some interesting insight into some of the strategy behind what often appears to be frivolous chatter.

Question: When you're talking at the table, is that an extension of your personality in that you just naturally get excited?

Answer: It's an extension of my personality during the game, but it's also to destabilize my opponents so they lose their chips to me. It's a bit of both, and it's obviously also a strategy to get an advantage if I see there could be one.

Question: With your table-talk strategy, what is your main objective?

Answer: The main objective is to win all the chips, that's the main objective I have. Obviously, also I want to be entertaining, I'm on TV, and I enjoy it. I want it to be a good show, and I feel I have an obligation to make it interesting. And I enjoy it myself, it's my natural personality in extension and it's a lot of fun, I really do enjoy it.

Question: By irritating opponents do you feel you've made them make poor decisions?

Answer: Sometimes. Not all of them get irritated. In certain situations they have, but sometimes they also have a lot of fun. I'm just playing my game and sometimes people get the wrong impression, but I'm out there to have fun. At the end of the day I want to have fun and I want to win the chips. Sometimes people get irritated because they are under a lot of stress and there's a lot of money. It might be a $10,000 tournament and they've never seen $10,000 in their lives and they're under a lot of pressure and a lot of stress and I have to try to use that to my advantage to put them in a position to win their chips.

Question: Has anyone confronted you after a game?

Answer: I haven't had any problems afterward. Sometimes I've had problems during a game where people have become threatening and that's a shame, but I've never had any problems after. I had a few altercations with "The Devilfish" (David Ulliott), but that was a few years ago and I had the edge on the Devilfish in poker and knocked him out of a lot of tournaments. I won the World Omaha Pot-Limit Heads-Up Championship and I beat "The Devilfish" on my way there, but that was quite a long time ago, five years ago. Ever since then we've had some conflict with each other, but now I like him and I respect him. He's not my best friend or anything, but I tend to smooth things over with people and talk to them afterward. Like with Ralph Perry, we talked and we know whatever goes on at the table it's just a game, it's just on the spot, and I want to maintain the edge.