In the crazy world of competitive poker, any night can yield huge winners and losers. There are pros and amateurs, those who win most of the time and those who, well, don’t.

Then there’s Weinberg junior Mike Cohen, who has played so many games of high-stakes poker he can’t even estimate the number. His total earnings? Cohen puts the figure at more than $100,000 — and this from playing only a little over a year.

PLAY caught up with Cohen to ask about rules, strategies, the upcoming World Series of Poker and tips on how to turn a profit from a friendly game of cards.

PLAY: How did you get into poker?

Mike Cohen: I was bored one day so I just started playing… (Texas) Hold’em, mainly.

PLAY: In 50 words or less, what are the basic rules of Hold’em (a popular poker game featured in the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour)?

MC: You get two cards, there are five communal cards, and best poker hand wins.

PLAY: How’d you get so good so fast?

MC: Basically, I just learn from my mistakes. I learned that poker is just as much about pure table skills as it is about finding the right game. And not just finding bad players, but knowing what game you’re best at.

PLAY: What’s the biggest pot you’ve won?

MC: Down at the boats I think I won about $4,500.

PLAY: What’s the most you’ve lost in a hand?

MC: Probably like $1,500.

PLAY: How would you describe yourself as a poker player?

MC: Basically, all good players are selectively aggressive, and that’s what I am. I’m very good at making bets when I need to make them. That’s what separates the good poker players from the bad ones.

PLAY: What advice would you give someone who was looking to get into poker?

MC: Play low stakes and don’t take it too seriously, because poker’s really one of those things where it’s easy to have fun but really tough to get really, really good at.

PLAY: As I’m sure you know, the (35th annual) World Series of Poker is coming up (the five-day event begins on Saturday and will be aired on ESPN starting June 8). Can I get your expert analysis?

MC: Well, poker is not like basketball or football — it’s more like the stock market, something where you make money in the long run. People enjoy watching these tournaments because it’s like a competition and there’s a big payoff, but that’s not the true way poker works.

PLAY: Do you plan on playing in that event someday?

MC: Maybe next year if I win a satellite (tournament). But if I’m going to spend $10,000 on a tournament, it probably wouldn’t be the World Series of Poker because there are too many people. It makes it more of a crapshoot.

PLAY: But the attention, the ESPN cameras?

MC: I mean, whatever, I don’t really care. They have cameras at all those tournaments nowadays.

PLAY: Would you cream the average Northwestern poker player?

MC: You know, (poker)’s the type of thing where anyone can win on any night. One night, one week, one month, it really means nothing. It’s like a marathon that lasts many months, and the only thing you can say at the end is, this is how much money I’ve made. 

— Anthony Tao