'Team 10Kings' in Blackpool - Player 5 : Leiv Kåre Johannessen

Name: Leiv Kåre Johannessen

Poker alias: LK

Age: 38

Favourite club: Nottingham Forest

Your biggest strength as a poker player?
The capability to adapt my game to other players and different situations.

You have played poker all over the world. Your favourite place/casino?
In Europe: The casino in Barcelona because of the 20-40 euro limit game. A lot of old spanish guys with too mutch money, and little knowlege about poker.
In US: Commerce in LA, - the biggest poker room in the world. You play against players that have done this on a weekly basis for decades. They have read Sklansky and a couple of other books, making them very predictable.
In Las Vegas: Mirage. Not many places in Vegas can offer a $20-40 limit game. This is the game in Vegas I have made most money from. Not as good as Barcelona and LA, but a friendly card room placed in the centre of the Strip.

What's your best placing in a LIVE tournament?
I have won a few live tournaments, the first one at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas some years ago.

What do you think of the UK Grovenor Poker Tour?
I have not played it before, but it looks good. I really look forward to play as part of the 'Team 10Kings' in Blackpool.

Is it true that you were once banned from gambling in the state of Nevada?

Yep. I was banned from the Black Jack tables. They kicked me out off casinos in four different cities/towns in Nevada: Laughlin, Henderson, Las Vegas and Mesquite. In Mesquite I caused an alarm at the same second I entered the casino. They had my picture, and I could just forget about playing. Some how they didnt like players that count cards ha-ha. It was a problem I had experienced several times before. This time I came to Nevada with three disguises. After Mesquite I went back to Las Vegas, removed my beard and my Barcelona costume, and put on some new glasses and a gold chain. This way I could start over again - playing 30 - 40 minutes at each casino - moving around - playing in maybe 10 different places a day. The new disguise lasted for 4-5 days before they spotted me again. I never used my last disguse. I was really sick of Black Jack at that time, and it was one more week to go before my flight back home to Norway. I went to the poker room at Mandalay Bay, watched the guys in action for about 40 minutes, before I sat down in the $4-8 game. This was how I started playing poker.