poker training

A True Sports Fanatic Also Loves Playing Poker

Dr. Jerry Buss Talks about Poker and the Lakers

Question: How did you get started playing poker?

Answer: I used to play cards with my mother. It was a long, long time ago, and we played for candy bars.

Question: What drew you to poker? What did you like about it?

Answer: Most people know how to play poker. I used to like pinochle and other games, but poker's much more popular, so I started playing poker. You know… just games in the kitchen with everybody else… and I like it, so eventually I went to a casino and started playing there.

Question: How often do you play?

Answer: It varies, because sometimes I'm busy, and sometimes I'm not busy. When I'm busy, I sometimes don't play for three months, and when I'm not busy, I play maybe three or four times a week.

Question: Which do you prefer, cash games or tournaments?

Answer: I like them both. I really do. I play a lot of cash games, and I play a lot of tournaments. I like both of them.

Question: What tournaments do you like to play? Do you travel to the ones in Atlantic City and Aruba?

Answer: No, no, no. Almost exclusively Los Angeles, but occasionally Vegas. Question: Do you play the big game?

Answer: The biggest cash game I have ever played in was $1,000/2,000. I think they play $2,000/4,000 and sometimes $10,0000 and $20,000.

Question: Playing style: aggressive or conservative?

Answer: In tournaments I would say I'm pretty conservative, and in cash games I tend to be pretty aggressive. I can buy more chips in a cash game. I don't like to run out in tournaments.

Question: Tell us about finishing third in the World Series in '91.

Answer: Wow, that's a long time ago. It was the first World Series event that I played in, and I really enjoy 7-Card Stud. I had done well in a couple of local tournaments at the Bike and Commerce, so I thought I would play in the World Series. Lo and behold, I came in third.

Question: Were you surprised?

Answer: I kind of liked and didn't think it was so unusual, but all my friends were watching, and they said, "I can't believe this!" They were more surprised than I was.

Question: What is your greatest poker accomplishment?

Answer: I won a tournament with 550 people. I think that was probably the best. But when I play cash games, I play against all the famous players. I seem to be able to hold my own, so I guess that to me is one of my best accomplishments, to be able to play Johnny Chan and Barry Greenstein, Joe Cassidy, Yoch Nakano, etc., etc., and hold my own.

Question: Who is the toughest player you have ever played and why is he or she the toughest?

Answer: The toughest…? Ted Forrest is really, really good. Huck Seed is very good. Johnny Chan… They don't have a single style. They seem to have a lot of different styles, and you never know which one they are using at a particular time.

Question: You host a charity tournament at the Bicycle every year. Tell us about that.

Answer: A few years ago, this year is the fifth or sixth one, they said they would be willing to donate some money to charity, and we would hold a charity tournament. Frank Mariani is a very, very well-known poker player, everybody enjoys playing with him, and most of the people know me, so it's a chance for us to play poker with a lot of friends, and at the same time raise some money for Lakers charities.

Question: I know you were involved in real estate. How did you get into the Lakers ownership?

Answer: Well, originally I was a professor of Chemistry, and I wasn't making enough money, so I started in real estate, and I made a lot of money. I was going to go back and teach, but, selling off all the property took a long time, and I got bored. I started promoting tennis matches, boxing matches. I had a minor league tennis team, and the next thing I knew, I got involved in sports and bought the Lakers, and that was that.

Question: How long have you owned the Lakers?

Answer: Oh, boy… 26 years.

Question: What are your future plans for staying involved in poker?

Answer: Just to play tournaments whenever I get a chance. When there are no tournaments, I will just call someone and tell them I am ready for a cash game.

Dr. Buss is always only one phone call away from another big game. From teaching to real estate, and now to the Lakers and poker, this man has done it all and done it very well.

Though Dr. Jerry Buss may be best known for owning the Lakers, he is an accomplished poker player as well. He has racked up many hours playing at the Bicycle and also managed to finish third at the World Series of Poker 7-Card Stud event in 1991, and second at the 2003 World Poker Tour invitational. His game has come a long way, from playing with his mother to now playing with the best players in the world.