Player Interview: MrRain

By James Hipwell

5 October 2007

Jeff Banghart came to prominence in this year's WSOP main event but what many people don't know is that he is also one of PokerStars' most successful players...

Name/Age/Location/Poker ID and why you chose it?

Jeff Banghart, 45, Old Bennington, Nebraska USA. My screen name is “mrrain”. I have an underground lawn sprinkler company called “Controlled Rain” so I came up with Mr Rain.

What sites do you currently play?

PokerStars 98% of the time, and a small amount on Full Tilt (screen name: Biggest Donkey).

When or what started you off in playing poker? How were your early experiences in learning how to play?

Started playing at age 13 in a weekly home game (0.50-$1 limit game). We played holdem and other games for about the next 10 years (stakes increased as we got older). Then after college and getting married and having kids the game broke up and I didn’t play for about 20 years or so. Started playing online in late 2004 and have been playing ever since.

How did you start off your online bankroll?

I deposited money on Stars. Obviously I have another job so bankroll was never an issue.

So what factors/skills /attributes got you to that level?

I seem to have a knack for knowing where I am at in a hand. I am aware at all times of the pot odds but focus more on what my opponent may have and what he thinks I have. I am a hard guy to “float” against because I can be playing any two cards from any position and it’s hard to put me on a hand. I am not a typical internet “sicko” but I am far from a “pushbot”.

What are your biggest cashes playing online poker in the last two years?

All on PokerStars:

09/04/05 WCOOP $500 NLHE, 3rd place, $114,825
04/02/06 Sunday Million, 5th place, $32,506
04/03/06 Nightly $150,000 Guarantee, 2nd place, $13,102
09/26/06 WCOOP PLO8, 6th place, $15,088
12/10/06 Sunday Million, 1st place, $136,000 (we did a deal but I went on to win it)
04/26/07 $109 Rebuy, 1st place, $17,730 (deal)
06/24/07 $1,050 Quarterly Event, 3rd Place, $111,150

On PokerStars I have won at least 2 WSOP Main Event seats per year, and a 2006 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure seat also.

Do you play Sit ‘n’ Gos and, if so, which ones are your favourites?

I play some heads-up SNGs anywhere from $220 to $2,200 but I prefer MTTs.

What are your golden rules for MTT play?

I really don’t have a golden rule. Obviously I like to chip up fast but that doesn’t always happen. I tend to play poker like Dave Kingman played baseball ie home run or strike out. I am not a nit that likes to grind out a small cash. I adapt to my table and do what I need to do to stockpile chips. For whatever reason I tend to make big scores. I play a very low volume compared to the young guns. I just play the major events on Stars and some of them on Full Tilt, although I suck on Full Tilt! I have had NO LUCK on Full Tilt and I have no clue why.

Do you play offline, and if so, where/when did you play?

I like to play some WSOP events and the Bellagio 5 Diamond events and 2-3 WPT Events per year. I usually don’t have to buy in for $10k as I try to win a seat whenever I can. I had a nice cash in the main event ($5,000 buy in) at a WSOP Circuit Event in Iowa this year where I finished 4th for $55,000 when I got “coolered” with a smaller flush. I also finished 41st in the WSOP Main Event this year for $237,861.

Has there ever been a time when things just weren't going right for you while playing poker? What was your worst run ever and what did you do to get through these times?

I always seem to win big when I am running my worst. I was zero from nine events in the prelim events at the WSOP this year then cashed big in the Big One. Thank God for the juicy $75-$150 Omaha/8 cash games at the Rio. I financed all my prelim entry fees from that game. In Iowa this year I was running really bad when I got 4th in the Circuit event. Online I seem to run bad before I win a big one too. Maybe running bad makes me try harder and I play better when I have to.

Who is your favorite professional poker player and why?

I don’t really idolize anybody. I have a lot of respect for certain players and very little for others, but I treat everyone the same and never make a scene at the table. I think Scotty Ngyuen plays really good, and is a really good guy, and Bill Edler is a great guy and great player. Erick Lindgren is tough to play against too. Chris Ferguson, Daniel Alaei, Roy Winston and Greg Raymer are all great players and nice guys. All the top guys are “top guys” for a reason. A really good friend of mine from Nebraska, Bob Slezak (who nobody has ever heard of) had five straight WPT cashes, won a bracelet in 2001 and got 15th in this year’s WSOP Main Event. We discuss strategy all the time and travel together to some WPT events.

I have played with most of the top pros at one time or another and they are all good. Some of the younger guns like Jared “TheWacoKidd” Hamby and Scott “SCTrojans” Freeman play really good and have amazing results. I think Isaac “WestmenloAA” Baron plays as good as anybody online. Also Rizen, Roothlus, JohhnyBax , BRSavage, Rabscuttle and Sooners are other players that I respect online. I think if Raymer played more tourneys online he would win huge.

Which five adjectives best describe you?

Aggressive, nice, dedicated, fearless, loyal

What proportion of poker is luck and what proportion skill?

75% skill 25% luck

What do you consider is your biggest accomplishment in poker?

The main event cash this year for $237k is huge and the most fun I have ever had, and may be hard to top but…I think my three cashes on Stars for over $110k each and another final table in the Sunday Million are pretty good. Has anyone ever cashed for $110k three different times online? Has anyone ever final tabled the Sunday Million four times like I have? [We’ll ask PokerStars and find out – Ed]

Do you have one memorable hand you would like to share?

In the 2005 WCOOP down to the final three we never even discussed a chop. I entered my final hand third in chips (barely) and raised with Kh-Qh, the chip leader folded and the BB shoved all-in for the fourth hand in a row…I was sick of it and called all-in. He had two black 3s and we are off to the races. The flop came Jh-9h-7s so I had any 10, K, Q or heart to win and it bricked out. The chip leader, “Snowleopard”, later told me he would have chopped it up if we had talked about a deal. He won $309k and 2nd was $188k so I feel that I took a bad hit on that one. But $114k doesn’t suck.

Which online poker players do you consider to be the best? And why?

If I had to pick a guy to get deep in a huge online event it would be WestmenloAA or SCTrojans. Rizen and Roothlus are contenders for that too but right now Scott Freeman is a sicko and Isaac Baron just plays THAT good. Raymer too if he played more. People don’t give enough credit to Raymer. He is flat out good.

What are some tips and tricks you can give out to the readers that might improve their games/build a bankroll? What do you suggest is the best ways to improve?

I am certainly no expert on bankroll because I have always had money and my own business and these young kids have crushed the cash games for huge dollars without my advice. They are all smarter than I am.

Which one poker book/video, if any, revolutionised the way you play poker?

I have read a few books but none have really taught me to play. You can pick up little things from books but have to play to learn. There is “book smart” and practical experience smart and experience usually wins.

Do you want to say ‘Hi’ to anyone?

Nah…nobody knows me anyway…