Despite his relative youth, 25-year-old Jared "RikaKazak" Bartlett seems like a senior citizen among online pros. He's married, he runs his own real estate business, he's been playing poker since 2002.
Bored one summer, watching the game on television, Jared deposited $50 on Empire Poker. He fully expected to lose every penny, but considered such a loss simply an entertainment expense. Like a movie ticket.
He bought a book for $14.95 - The Winner's Guide to Limit Hold'em by Ken Warren -and sat down at a $0.50/$1.00 Limit table. He won $9 that first night and, as the saying goes, never looked back. He has also never had to deposit again. Obviously, Jared ran good in the beginning and running good paid most of the bills for his sophomore year in college. Also known as his last year of college.
Turning pro is '04 was the toughest decision of his poker career.
"I had a full ride scholarship to Gonzaga," Jared recalls. "When I told my parents I was going to drop out and leave my scholarship, they were kind of 'ZOMG, OH NOES!' They ultimately supported me because they've always been supportive throughout my life, but I could tell they were scared."
At the time Jared's bankroll was $80,000. Not bad for a couple years work. Displaying some prescient BR management, he put $30K to the side. "That way," he explains, "if poker did fail, and I lost my $50K, I could always go back to school with that other $30K.
Failure, apparently, was not an option. Jared has never had less than a $200K year since turning pro.
Back in the day, Jared was a 6-max specialist, 8-tabling 5/10 NLHE, on Party Poker. When Party shut down to USA players, he switched to full-ring games , where he remains to this day.
"I have no idea why I switched to full-ring," he admits. "People ask me that all the time and, to be honest, I do not have a good answer."
Unable to find enough juicy 10/20 games online, RikaKazak can currently be found mixing it up at 1/2 - 5/10 FR on all the major sites. When in Las Vegas, he can be found playing 10/20 or 25/50 at the Bellagio because "live poker is sick soft." He will occasionally play an MTT, with a maximum buy-in of $5,000.
Jared's game has been most greatly impacted with input from Bugman68 and Reza. "When I was moving up and wanted to go from .5/1 limit to 1/2," Jared remembers, "I accidentally clicked on a NL table instead of a limit table. I was like WTFBBQ. I thought ALL .5/1 level was limit, and ALL 1/2 was NL. Shows you I didn't even understand poker that well and I was +EV.
"So, I started playing NL..." he continues, "not because I wanted to, but I thought I had to in order to move up, LOL. Bugman68 taught me the difference between limit and NL, as there were no good NL books at the time." Bugman68 basically kept Jared from going bust, as he made the transition to NLH.
In stepped Reza who helped Jared "a TON" by teaching him a number of other concepts. Like bluffing, set mining, etc. etc. Shortly thereafter, Jared moved from being a slight winner to one of the biggest winners at 1/2 NL.
In the process, Jared "RikaKazak" Bartlett learned the importance of community and coaching and is eager to help others make the same progress.
Coaching
Currently, Jared charges $150 a hour. Most of his students are 1/2 and 2/4 Full Ring specialists. If you play micro stakes a possible discount can be arranged. To contact Jared please use the contact button on the right and send him a PM.
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Name |
Jared Bartlett |
