Luke Schwartz - Interview with Luke 'Fullflush' Schwartz

Some of you may have already heard rumblings on the online poker forums about '_FullFlush1_' and fans of the Poker Show with Jesse May will have heard from the man himself. Seemingly appearing out of nowhere, he just showed up one day on Full Tilt at the $100/$200 and $200/$400 NLHE games and proceeded to beat players like Tom 'Durrrr' Dwan, David 'Raptor' Benefield and Phil 'OMGClayAiken' Galfond for not inconsiderable sums of money. Then he kept on doing it consistently and people began to sit up and take notice. But just who is he?

The man behind the '_FullFlush1_' handle is one Luke Schwartz, a 25-year-old London-based online professional. To a lot of players it seemed like he appeared out of the internet ether, but he actually built up his online roll playing short-handed and Heads-up cash on the CryptoLogic, iPoker and BetFair poker networks. Originally a low to mid stakes grinder, Luke has been playing poker for around four years now as a professional. His success however, seemed to happen overnight:

'A couple of people showed me that I was playing way too passively before when I used to grind… then the game developed… and I realised that I had to change up my style if I wanted to survive in the poker world – which I did,' confirms Luke.

'It did actually happen overnight – one time I was chilling with my friend Mafews [Online high stakes PLO player Rory Mathews]. I never ever used to three-bet anyone and he was like 'listen, you're never gonna get paid if you only three-bet people with Aces, you need to three-bet people more,' He told me 'pre-flop if you're ever going to call don't, just re-raise.' and I realised that 'yeah, this makes sense,' Luke states confidently.

'So I changed and turned from being a super nit to a super aggressive player and I think that was really it. I already knew how to read boards and stuff like that so it was just my mental state and my frame of mind that changed, I had the technical ability but I didn't have the heart. Before I used to care about the money way too much but now I just care about the game.'

It's not just his aggression and poker game he has been working on though, after going broke several times on the way up the stakes he has now worked on his bankroll management skills as well:

'I used to go broke all the time; I used to be just a tilty nit I was so bad. I went broke so many times up until 18 months ago but then like I said I changed up my game and style. I think I definitely manage my money better now and I think that's one of the things that I'm really good with these days. Like I never tilt and if I feel like I'm going on tilt and I need to win back my money then I just quit.'

As this year's second biggest winner at NLHE on Full Tilt (up over $1 million at the time of writing) he must be doing something right, especially when you consider the quality of the opposition he has been playing regularly, most notably Tom Dwan . He's not shy about letting folks know it either, and feels that anything goes at the poker tables; he's already gone on record as calling 'Durrrr' gay, and is more than happy to berate any and all who cross his .

'I like to beat anyone who thinks they're good but I know is not good. So I like beating nits a lot, beating people who think that they are so professional and good but just can't stand the heat when it's turned up on them – they just crumble and I like those type of games. I like beating them but I like beating 'Durrrr'. I like beating 'Durrrr' the most probably.'

Those wanting to see him take on the 'Durrrrr' challenge may have to be patient though; since cashing out his online winnings from Full Tilt Luke has struggled to rebuild a roll on the site as there seems to be a shortage of opponents willing to play him.

'When I get a roll back up on Full Tilt again I'll definitely do the Durrrr challenge I probably need at least a mill in there do you know what I mean? So I've just got to wait to go on a little rush again on Full Tilt but it's tough because no one plays me at No Limit so I've got to get lucky and play Omaha and that's just such a bingo game.'

While he openly admits that PLO is not his strongest game he has been working with Rory 'Mafews' Mathews on improving it.

'I just need to rush on the Omaha, get a big roll up on Full Tilt and then I'll just start breaking Dwan down session by session I suppose, and then once I've done that I'll have a lot of money and will stake all my friends at $500/$1000 PLO and send everyone broke.'

Whether he plays Mr Dwan at NLHE or PLO remains to be seen but obviously he'll be using the power of the Schwartz to prove he is Full Tilt's lone star and send 'Durrrrballs' bust…

'I think I've most definitely got an edge, I mean heads-up I feel like whoever I'm playing when I come to the table I'm always thinking that I'm +EV and I'm always thinking that I'm going to win at Heads-up No Limit so it doesn't matter if it's 5,000 or 50,000. He could easily say 'oh after 50,000 I'm going to figure him out' but I've already got him figured out after the amount of hands we've played – I know how his brain thinks, it's easy. It'll be easy. It definitely will happen.'

While there have been more than a few naysayers who think he is just on a bit of a heater, Luke seems more than confident in his abilities and his results seem to speak for themselves.

'I think that it's definitely fair to say that I am one of the top No Limit Heads-Up players. I think that I am definitely the best No Limit Heads-Up cash player. But as I said, it's like no one really plays so much NL Heads-Up anymore and there's no ring NL anymore, it's all moved over to PLO so I can't really call myself one of the best in the World because the game has changed.'

With his aggressive play and anything goes trash talk attitude he could be likened to marmite; you either love or hate him – but most in the poker world have already formed some sort of opinion. It seems Luke is keenly aware of his abilities and his limitations and behind all the bravado and bluster there looks to be a keen poker mind. Whether you love him or hate him it looks like he will be a fixture in the online poker world for the foreseeable future.

Ed Note: We have just heard on the grapevine that Luke Schwartz has been drawn in the same heat as his arch Nemesis Andrew Feldman in Late Night Poker, to be played this week and televised later this year. Must see TV is the understatement of the year

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