See you on PokerIsland 2009!

Personal Details Where do you come from? Which city?
My name is Ryan Hurst and I live in Toronto, Canada. Who old are you?
I’m 32 years old and I’ve been playing poker professionally for a few years now. What is your current occupation? I think you’ve mentioned that you are fulltime player at the moment – what have you done before?
The online poker scene suits me quite well since all of my jobs previous to poker were computer related, either multimedia development or technical support. ...PokerIsland... Where did you get in contact with the PokerIsland promotion? Why did you qualify?
I first heard about the PokerIsland promotion while playing on bwin. I saw a picture of the infinity pool from the villa and set it as the picture for my desktop background to use as motivation to play well and make money. By chance I saw a $1.10 qualifier for PokerIsland on bwin and decided to play it while I was playing my regular scheduled tournaments. I was lucky enough to qualify for the weekly final tournament through that and by winning the weekly final I got a spot on the island.  Did you aspect to stay for 7 weeks in island’s paradise?
Although I felt my chances were good against the competition I definitely didn’t expect to stay for 7 weeks, I was lucky to do so.  This question should interest all fans of PokerIsland – what is the life in almost decadent luxury like?
The daily adventures to wonderful nightlife and the most beautiful locations, the in-house chef and that absolutely gorgeous villa would be enough to impress anyone. But it was the people that really made the experience. Over 7 weeks I met players from around the world, got to know the crew and some of the local islanders and I can’t overstate what a bunch of amazing people my new friends are. The special deals on PokerIsland were the “luxury experiencesâ€Â�. Which one did you like most?
I was there for 7 weeks and I don’t know if I could pick just one favourite luxury experience, not sure if I could pick one per week, never mind the fact that the people made everything from archery to sitting by the pool a memorable time. One that comes to mind is a beach on a neighbouring island that we took a few different boats to over my 7 weeks. Some of us would swim in from the boats through the greenish blue water to a beach side restaurant where we’d have lunch and drinks. I’ve never seen such a beautiful beach in my life, with anchored boats just off the shore and amazing mountain ranges in the background. With great new friends from around the world and settings like those the word luxury doesn†™t come close to describing the experiences we had.  A very difficult question – which week did you enjoy most?
Like all the players the first week there was something truly special for me. There were two players, a Frenchman and a Russian, who welcomed me to the island and really started the trip on the right note for me. Although we didn’t get to know each other that well the first week it’s also when I met Kyle Clark, the New Zealander, who became a good friend over the following weeks. For all future PokerIsland- players: What about your poker-tactics at the breakfast poker table? How did you win so many tables?
The reason why I had success with the breakfast poker matches was probably a combination of having more experience with live play than my competition and my level of aggression. The matches were only one hour long and the person with the most chips after the hour was the winner. Being ultra aggressive usually resulted in me having a chip lead early in the match, which obviously gives a big advantage later in the game. ...Poker-History... When did you start playing poker?
My Godfather taught me how to play poker when I was very young, but I started reading about strategy and taking the game seriously about 10 years ago. By now (in the post-PokerIsland†“era), how many hours do you play poker per day?
I took a couple of weeks off when I first got back from PokerIsland, but for the past few days I’ve been back on my regular schedule playing maybe 10 to 12 hours per day. What was your biggest hit (except PokerIsland)?
I’m not really sure of my biggest win, but the same month I won the trip to PokerIsland I finished 11th in the Grand Tournament on bwin which I would consider a good win for me and it paid $15,000 USD. What was your favourite hand on PokerIsland?
My favourite hand on PokerIsland was the one I always say is the only guaranteed winner. It was the uncontested hand, the one they fold to and I win without showing. ...bwin Poker team... What are your expectations as a member of the bwin Poker team?
My expectations for the coming year as a bwin Poker team member are to have a good time on the trips. To meet some more great people from around the world and hopefully make some decent money while doing so. Do you know any other bwin poker players?
I know a few players that have been on trips with bwin from playing online as well as the ones I’ve met at PokerIsland, some of which I’d call good friends. To name a few: DJ_Stiff, Billybillard, TheSheep63 and Nuts. To which “bigâ€Â� tournament (WSOP, WPT) are you looking forward? Is next year’s WSOP-winner our Ryan Hurst? Why not?
I’m assuming Eastgate is the winner of the 2008 WSOP Main Event, I don’t watch much poker on television most of the productions seem like circus acts to me. When I first started playing poker to be the world champion was my dream, like anyone who took the game seriously. Now that the fields are so large most people say you’re lucky if you make the final table of the Main Event in your lifetime. For the PokerIsland fans – what is the main reason to try everything to get on PokerIsland 2009?
The main reason for other people to try to get on PokerIsland for 2009 is that it’s the only way I know to turn $1.10 into a $100,000.00 sponsorship while you have an unforgettably amazing time with a bunch of great people.