Exclusive Interview: Meet Eric Reinking Who Recently Hit His First WSOP Circuit

The Interview: Eric Reinking

PokerListings: What were you doing before you decided to become a professional poker player?

Eric Reinking: “I had been a Freight Broker for C.H Robinson before opening my own company with a business partner of mine. Unfortunately we got in at a bad time and couldn’t make it happen. Since we closed shop last year I briefly re-entered sales but was making more in my cash games and felt I should give all of my time and energy to poker.”

PokerListings: How did you learn about poker and why did you choose it?

Eric Reinking: “I am for sure a “Rounders kid”. I was in my senior or junior year of high school and watched that movie and thought it looked like tons of fun. I started playing and found out that it was! I think poker chose me to be honest. I have loved the game like crazy for over 10 years now.”

PokerListings: Do you have any hobbies? Tell us about them — how do they help you, why and how did you start doing them, do they help in any way in poker?

Eric Reinking: “Yes! I am a big video gamer and always seem to choose grand strategy titles. Just recently I started playing Chess and couldn’t believe I’d been missing out.

Learning chess will improve any new poker player’s game considerably. I’m always shocked at how similar the two games are. I think chess is just such a healthy mind activity and should be on the warm-up list for any poker player, play a match before you open GTOWizard!”

PokerListings: Do you play online and if so, what do you like more — live poker or online, and why?

Eric Reinking: “Yup, I play lots of online poker. I think online poker is an important testing ground and the volume you can put in is invaluable- but generally I’ve made my profits from bigger live games. Online is more like the training arena. I’d say I prefer playing online more nowadays just due to the convenience but that definitely wasn’t always my answer. I suspect I’ll change my mind on this in the future also!”

PokerListings: What in tournament poker can attract new players and what prevents poker from winning the hearts of the masses?

Eric Reinking: “Hard to say! I think watching people have fun on big stages always attracts new players. There was something about the showmanship of the early 2000’s that really made poker sensational.

If anything is preventing poker from reaching a greater audience it’s things like solvers making it feel like a waste of time to get into. Then things like Tamayo winning the Main with a laptop in hand is just ridiculous. We’re a long way off from the Darvin Moon and Chris Moneymaker era.”

PokerListings: Solvers vs gut feeling: which studying “method” is closer to your heart and why?

Eric Reinking: “That gut feeling that your opponent is way out of line and that you are about to crush his dusty range has to be the best. Gonna have to go with the gut on this. But I don’t want to mislead anyone, we are definitely in the solver era and not studying their outputs isn’t going to work anymore.”

PokerListings: What do you think is the main drawback of poker as a career?

Eric Reinking: “The biggest one is that you don’t create much! I believe if you make your living from gambling, even if you are doing so very ethically, it’s important to have a positive impact on your community and be a healthy influence in the lives of those around you. It’s important to leave things better than you found them and not take anything for granted.”

PokerListings: We saw on The Hendon Mob that you cashed in the Minnesota and Ohio local series in 2014, 2015-2018, 2021-2023. It looks like WSOPC Illinois is your first WSOPC where you hit ITM. Was this your first WSOPC ever? Why did you decide to play this series and event?

Eric Reinking: “Oh gosh! I graduated from high school in 2014, it’s surreal I’ve been playing that long. Yes this was my first circuit and only the second event I played behind the mini main. I had gone pro at the start of February and was playing a lot of 2/5 cash at Rivers here in Chicagoland.

I woke up one morning and thought I would see if any circuits were going to be near me and planned on going out to Elgin for some fun. I definitely do not grind the circuit, although that may change in the future.”

PokerListings: What is your most memorable experience playing at this WSOPC?

Eric Reinking: “It was definitely having my fiancée arrive on the rail with 4 left in the tournament. I was so locked in that I just sort of processed that she had arrived and kept my mind on the final table, but the moment I won I ran over to her and picked her up. I was so happy she could be there to see me win. I’m a very lucky guy!”

How is WSOPC different from other series you’ve attended?

Eric Reinking: “I wouldn’t be an authority here but I really liked how we cashed on Day 1 of this event, it’s stressful to play to Day 2 and risk bubbling. To be honest though, I haven’t played that many live tournaments in my lifetime and can’t compare it to much. I really appreciated the WSOP staff, dealers and tournament director. Everyone was very professional and the circuit ran very smoothly.”