Poker News / Short-Stacked Shamus / 23 April 2010 / Leave a Comment

Anyone who has watched poker on television over the last few years -- or happened to have been at the Rio during the World Series of Poker Main Event in either 2008 or 2009 -- is surely familiar with Kara Scott. Scott has hosted several different poker shows, including "Poker Night Live" and the "European Poker Tour," and can currently be found on the popular cash game show "High Stakes Poker."

Scott has also enjoyed considerable success at the tables, especially at the WSOP ME where she has survived to Day 5 each of the last two years. Add to that a runner-up finish at the 2009 Irish Open (worth a handy €312,600), and Scott is quickly building an impressive resume as a player to go along with those TV credits.

I had the chance to talk with Scott recently about various topics, including "High Stakes Poker," the recent PartyPoker Big Game and her having joined the PartyPoker team, and her WSOP experience.

Short-Stacked Shamus: You were born in Canada, lived for several years in England, and now reside in California. How is life in the U.S. treating you?

Kara Scott: Well, the sunshine is amazing. I miss the U.K. a lot, but it's been great being here, too.

SSS: So, growing up -- you didn't plan to be a poker player or host poker shows, did you?

KS: No, I never really had any kind of show biz dreams. That was never really my thing. I actually went to university to be a teacher, because I wanted to work overseas and travel and teaching is a great profession for that.

SSS: What did you teach?

KS: I taught geography and history. And [later] I was teaching in schools for kids with quite severe language and learning disabilities or physical disabilities. And that was awesome -- I really enjoyed it. But after awhile... I felt like the bureaucracy really got in the way, and it could get a little soul destroying. So I ended up stopping teaching, and I just fell into TV, actually, quite by accident. I was going to a gym a lot because I was training as a Thai boxer in Canada before I moved to England...

SSS: Really?

KS: Yes! So my trainer said that there was a TV channel who was looking for a TV presenter for a martial arts show. They wanted someone who could talk -- and because I was a teacher I could talk -- and they wanted someone who knew about [martial arts], so that's how I got into TV. Really quite bizarre.

SSS: You went on to host several shows, and now find yourself on "High Stakes Poker." How has that experience been thus far?

KS: It's been great. Working with POKER PROductions was something that I wanted to do very badly. Mori Eskandani is a legend in poker TV and I really wanted to work with him. So it was kind of a dream come true.

SSS: We have a lot to choose from when it comes to poker shows, and for a variety of reasons "HSP" really stands out as a "must see" show. Gabe Kaplan's commentary is one... how have you liked working with him?

KS: It is awesome. I was a huge fan already, so the idea of working with him was pretty -- I don't know if starstruck is the right word, but I was nervous, definitely. I mean I didn't want to get in his way, so when they said I'd be coming in and doing things kind of apart from him -- I wasn't going to be in the booth -- I was a bit relieved because I didn't want to be stepping on his jokes and getting in the way of what he does which is so great on the show. And working with him has been such a pleasure.

SSS: You are on set there as they are playing, and then interviewing players during breaks. You've interviewed players before, of course...

KS: Yes, but it is definitely different [on "HSP"]. Because it is a cash game, you're not grabbing people when they bust out [as in tournaments]. So it was a matter of talking to people as they came on or off the table. We weren't pulling people off the table after a big hand -- that would get in the way of the flow of the game.

SSS: In the interviews you get into strategy and the players' thinking during hands...

KS: Yes, obviously I'm not there just to ask "How do you feel?" I'm not there to ask really basic questions. So I would sit down with the players and go through hands with them and talk to them about fairly detailed stuff, and then do a kind of summary question -- and it's the summary question that makes it into the show. So my job before you actually see the interview is to talk to them in as much depth as I can and draw them out on different points, and then we can cut it together [later].

SSS: It works well. I'll go on the forums and read responses to the show, and it is interesting how posters will react to the hands, then they'll react to the players' comments on the hands in your interviews with them, and then to Gabe's comments on the players' comments... it adds a richness to watching and thinking about the play. It looks like the season is going well.

KS: It seems to be, and the viewing figures have been really good. I've got to admit, that was a relief. I know that they changed the format -- they obviously didn't change it to bring me in, I'm just an addition -- but I know that I certainly didn't want to see the viewing figures go down. And they're up from last season, so I know that everyone's really happy about that at the show. May that continue!

SSS: You were recently at the PartyPoker Big Game IV in London. It sounded like kind of a wild time.

KS: It really was. It's funny because "High Stakes Poker" and the Big Game are both cash shows, and they're very different. You've got this very European flavor for the Big Game. Also, they played 48 hours straight. David "Viffer" Peat played the entire time from the first hand to last hand!

SSS: That's pretty hardcore.

KS: Right! I was talking to him afterwards and he looked so spaced out. There was some great poker. I didn't get a chance to watch all of the hands the way I did on "High Stakes Poker" because I was sort of running around doing interviews and sorting things out. But just the reactions from the crowd and the players themselves was pretty damned good stuff, I think.

SSS: So will that air in the U.K. soon?

KS: Yes, as far as I know it doesn't usually take them that long to turn around a TV show, so hopefully it will be in the next couple of months that it will start airing. And then I would guess it's going to sell internationally as well.

SSS: I suppose there was a lot of talk about Isildur1 being a no-show?

KS: Definitely, people were certainly disappointed when he didn't show up, but it was still a fantastic game.

SSS: You were there as part of your affiliation with PartyPoker with whom you joined earlier this year. How has that been?

KS: It's been great. I was really surprised when they approached me. For me, for my job, I'm a TV presenter first. I'm not a poker pro by any means -- I don't try to pretend that I am. I think that's quite dangerous! So it would really be hard for me to take a sponsorship with a company if I'm not really going to be able to work for them, you know? [But] PartyPoker... had a lot of TV work that I could actually do for them and I could play for them as well. So it really is the perfect marriage for me, I think.

SSS: I did want to ask you a bit about your own play. I remember first seeing you at the 2008 WSOP Main Event when you made that deep run to finish 104th. That had to have been exciting.

KS: It was pretty surreal, really. I think for anyone, when you play your first Main Event, that's exciting in and of itself.

SSS:: That was your first Main Event!

KS: Yes, it was my first ever World Series event at all. I'd only been at the WSOP once before -- the year before -- and watched a little bit of it and had just been captivated by the noise and the atmosphere. And then to sit down and hear the "Shuffle up and deal!" and sit behind a stack of chips -- it was a really big deal for me. And then to keep playing! To finish a day, and play the next one, and finish a day, and play the next one... I played well out of my league, definitely.

I was really happy with how I played, and it accelerated my learning process, just being in that situation. But it became really clear to me there were some big gaps in my knowledge, too. And also in my stamina! By the end, on day 5, I was beat. I was so tired. My friend Nick taught me how to play poker years before, and he was kind of my mentor and was there during the breaks making sure I was okay. And I'd come off the feature table and he'd say "What did you have in that hand?" And I'd say I literally couldn't remember. I thought my brain was liquified and was about to come out my ears!

So when I busted and was asked if I was disappointed, I said no. I mean, I played way above my level, and even though I misplayed a hand badly when I busted out, [by then I was thinking] I'm so done, I'm so cooked! And that I'm just going to go sit in a corner and smile for like four days, because I can't believe just managed to do this.

SSS: It does get kind of surreal in various ways, such as when the field gets smaller and they start moving the tables out of there.

KS:: Yes, it's crazy! But it was an awesome experience. I learned a hell of a lot. It made me desperately want to play more big events. There's nothing more fun that playing all day, then sleeping a few hours, then playing all day again. It just made me want to do it over and over and over.

SSS: It sounds like the sort of experience that is hard to compare with anything else. And probably one that if you haven't been there it is hard to imagine what it's like.

KS: It did give me a better appreciation talking to people who have busted out deep in a multi-day event. It really helped my job in that way, because I guess hadn't realized how hard it was -- what they do and how they do have that edge. Because they have that stamina and for people who are new to it, [it is hard for them to see] what a toll it takes, I think.

SSS: Then you turned around and made another impressive run in the Main Event last year (finishing 238th). What's the plan for the 2010 WSOP?

KS: I'd love to do well [in the Main Event] again, but obviously, the odds are against it. I'll do my best. I'm really lucky because PartyPoker is going to sponsor me into the Main Event, the Ante Up for Africa event, and a couple of the smaller bracelet events, and I'll hopefully play a couple more on my own, too. I'll be there all summer playing and I've got a lot of shots, which is great.

Much thanks to Kara Scott for taking the time. You can follow Scott's various adventures -- including her efforts at this summer's WSOP -- at her PartyPoker blog.

Post a comment

Name:

Email Address:

URL:

Remember personal info?

Comment: