QUALIFIERS - Johan  Kretz

What's your home town?
Västerås Västmanland, Sweden.

How about your education?
In Göteborg, Sweden.

What's your marital status?
I've been living with my fiancée since ten years, Pernilla Andersson.

What do you do for a living?
I'm a journalist on a local newspaper in Västerås.

How long have you been playing poker?
Since the early '90s.

What or who inspired you to start playing?
I was a chess player (won the Göteborg championship twice) and one of my chess friends came across Texas Holdem. Soon after we began to arrange home games in my kitchen. You could win or lose like $1,000, which was huge for us students.

How long have you been playing at Bodog?
I think I started playing there in 2005.

Tell us about your best poker win...
My biggest cashes so far have been around $15K, one of them in the WSOP* main event in 2006 and the rest of them in online tourneys. That is, if you don't count my satellite win into the 2005 Monte Carlo Millions (buy-in $25K).

How did you win your seat?
I bought in directly to the semifinal ($270). I think it was my seventh try. I had reached the final table five times but never got all the way so it was pretty frustrating. When I finally won I had a pretty big chip lead for most of the final table (over 50% average chips with five players left).

Finally we got it all in with Q-Q for him and A-9 for me. I felt fine about it, as I would still be in the lead if I lost. But the flop came with an ace and the turn with yet another, and he didn't hit his two-outer on the river. I felt good about it, but not quite as excited as I was the first time I qualified for a big event.

What do you think your chances are of winning the WSOP*?
Slim of course, due to the number of opponents. With about 6K players I might be about 2,000-to-1 against, as I consider myself clearly better than average.

Who is your favorite poker player?
I have no favorite (or several, depends on how you see it). Players I respect very much are the SNG genius Eric “Sheets” Haber (because of his deep mathematical knowledge of the game), Johnny Lodden (for his relentless aggression and good reads) and Andy Black (because of his nice personality and attitude towards life). In general I like players that are analytical, generous and willing to share their knowledge with others.

What would you do if you won?
Sleep for two days, I guess. If you mean what I would “do with the money” I guess I would quit my job. I would probably buy my fiancée a nice car and maybe we would move to Göteborg (where houses are more expensive than in Västerås).

What would your tagline be if you turned pro?
I'm known as “Indiscreet” so I guess it has to be Johan “Indiscreet” Kretz, though it's not much of a tag line. I took my name from an album with my favorite artists – the Los Angeles duo Sparks. I actually wanted to name myself after another album of theirs – Propaganda – but that was already taken on most poker sites.

What single story best defines you and your life?
Hmm, maybe when I was 18 and about to visit a friend of mine in Göteborg. I exited the elevator on the wrong floor and went into the wrong apartment (door was unlocked). I was really in need and went ahead to their toilet before saying hello to anyone in the family. It wasn't until I was about to flush the toilet that the bathroom looked pretty unfamiliar.

I heard upset voices from the living room and someone asking, “Who the hell was that?”

Wasn't much to do except walk right out of the apartment trying to look as cool as possible. Without a word, of course.

That's pretty much me in a nutshell.

How will you spend your time off in Vegas?
I'm so boring, I would probably play minor events. I really don't like Vegas, except for the poker. Maybe some bar-hopping and some time by the pool...

What type of player are you?
I’m pretty tight/aggressive on a good day. On a bad I’m tight/passive and become very short-stacked. Luckily I’m an excellent short stack player.

Have you ever been to Vegas before? If so, any good stories?
As mentioned, I played the World Series in 2006. That time I stayed for about a month. I really don't like staying in a hotel for that long, and if I am going to spend that much time in Vegas again in the future I will definitely rent a house.

I expect Vegas to be the same as last time – completely crazy, much too hot and all about the money.