Curtis Knight Prepares for Triton: Exclusive Interview Ahead of His Debut

Team Pokercode are no strangers when it comes to the Triton Series, with multiple titles stored in our trophy cabinet from the last few years. However, with the Monte Carlo stop just around the corner in November, we have a new name entering the arena, Curtis Knight.

Curtis has been a coach at Pokercode almost since we launched back in 2019 and is one of the most respected names in the community. Not only is he an incredible coach, but he’s also a high-stakes crusher in the s00n group who has an EPT Main Event Final Table on his resume and stacks of online success stories. I sat down with Curtis earlier in the week to discuss his preparation heading into the Triton Series and why now was the right time for him to take the next step.

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First off, it's great to sit down and speak with you Curtis. How are you feeling ahead of attending your first Triton series?

"It's great to sit down with you as well, Adam.  I'm feeling pretty good ahead of my first Triton series. I would say there's some nerves, but mostly it's excitement. Of course the calibre of player is very high at these tournaments so I feel pressure to perform, but luckily I've also played against many of the players online, so there's at least some familiarity there."

For sure, it definitely helps that you've battled against a lot of the players before. How have you been preparing for it? Is there anything you work on specifically for live poker compared to online?

"To be honest, the preparation doesn't change too much for me. I pretty consistently work on my game and just have my routines throughout the week where I study. I think the biggest difference is I will spend more time in the month of October reviewing Triton footage to become more familiar with players I've never played with.

I will also talk with some players in my circle who are more experienced with live poker to make sure I'm more prepared in that regard too. And of course I'm lucky to work closely with people like Fedor and Mario who have a ton of Triton experience already."

It's a big plus to have those guys in your corner, that's for sure. You mentioned your circle there and I know some of those guys have attended Triton in the past. Did you have the opportunity to go previously? If so, what made you decide on attending the next stop in Monte Carlo?

"Yes, Fedor has invited me in the past, I think specifically he asked me to join him in Jeju with some of the other guys in our study circle. The main reason I couldn't join was due to a scheduling conflict. I still play professional lacrosse and the Jeju stop fell during my season. So, when he asked about joining in Monte Carlo, I was sure to plan ahead and make it happen as it's something I've wanted to do for a while."

That makes sense and It's great that you can finally attend one of the stops. You mentioned it there and I was going to ask you about it, but not everyone in our Community will know that you play professional Lacrosse. Doing that and competing at the highest stakes in poker is impressive. Do you find that it helps give you a healthy balance in life or can it be tough to manage both?

"It's not that impressive! Lacrosse is just something I've always done and has been a big part of my life since I was very young. But, yeah I think it gives me quite a healthy balance and because it's not a mainstream sport, the season is quite short and the time commitment isn't too big. The season runs from December-May and we only play games on weekends (almost always Friday or Saturday), so it allows for me to spend a lot of time on poker as well.

"I think the biggest benefit it gives me is that since I've played for so long and it's been a part of my life, I've picked up some healthy habits, such as managing my sleep and working out consistently. Luckily, these things come fairly easy to me as it's just something I've always done or thought about and it translates to helping in poker I believe."

I understand. It sounds like you've built the perfect foundation for jumping into poker, which I imagine you didn't necessarily realize in the early stages of your poker career. With Lacrosse being a team sport and Poker being majority solo based, which do you think suits you best?

"That's a good question, but I think I would also argue that poker can be considered a team sport as well. Of course, when you are playing and executing your strategy it's very solo. But when you are studying or working on your game, I think working with a group of players is very beneficial. So, I guess in a way it's a team or community-based game. I'm sure some players are complete lone wolves in poker, but I'd argue it's easy to be successful in the game with a good group of players around you.

"But to actually answer your question lol, I think poker suits my personality best. It's probably no surprise, but I'm definitely a more introverted person who really enjoys working on my own as well. I can't deny sports has always been a huge part of my life and something I've really enjoyed, but I still think poker was kind of "meant" for me."

For sure, I can relate to a lot of that and the two environments can be very similar. As you mentioned, poker felt like it was "meant" for you. Last year you competed on the big stage and had the experience of the EPT Main Event Final Table in Barcelona and I imagine there'll be a lot more of those experiences to come for you. What did you learn from that to take into the Triton series?

"I hope there's more of these experiences to come. I think I learned quite a lot, firstly the importance of being able to adjust versus different players at various stages in the tournament. Triton will certainly be different though as most players are very experienced already.

"Another learning was just being able to manage multi-day live tournaments. Learning to get into a routine of playing, eating, recovering, etc. I think just getting many days of live experience, playing when money is on the line, will just lead me to being a little more comfortable in the live arena."

Absolutely. Getting that experience will set you up well for the future. Thank you very much for sitting down with me today Curtis, best of luck in Monte Carlo, we'll be rooting for you!

Thanks for your time, Adam and I appreciate the good luck!

Join the Home of the Champions

One day, you too can get to where Curtis is by being a part of the Pokercode community and learning from him and the rest of our incredible coaches. We can help you every step of the way and will put the foundations in place for you to propel your poker career into the stratosphere. We hope to see you in our community, s00n.

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