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In a recent (and extremely lengthy) radio interview with poker news radio show PokerStatic, high stakes online poker pro Kagome Kagome gave some insight into the online high stakes lifestyle.

Although Kagome, who is a resident of Germany, did not reveal his actual identity and refused to go into detail about his personal life, he did explain the background behind some of his online poker handles. He also revealed his age: 21. Before playing as IHateJuice, Kagome played as “Hasu,” a reference to his former days as a competitive player of the online real time strategy game Warcraft 3. As he became more successful, he adopted the name IHateJuice. Kagome said that he was aware of the double entendre involved with the name, but noted that he’d never received complaints from the European community regarding it.

Full Tilt Poker saw otherwise, and requested that he change his name. Interestingly, IHateJuice initially complied until receiving a followup email from Full Tilt stating that he wasn’t allowed to change his name. Full Tilt flip-flopped again, ultimately forcing the name change. IHateJuice then adopted the name Kagome Kagome, a reference to an obscure side-scrolling shooter video game.

Kagome went on to describe exactly what it’s like to be a professional online poker player. He said that much of his time is spent alone at the $3,000 / $6,000 PLO tables at Full Tilt, where he waits patiently for an opponent to join the table. According to Kagome, it can sometimes take up to a week of waiting before he sees any action. Meanwhile, Kagome simply hangs out around his house, watches TV, and plays computer games until he hears the familiar “beep” sound that indicates a player has joined the table.

His most frequent opponents include Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius – but neither of those players are remotely reliable, said Kagome. Kagome said that it’s typical for Antonius to schedule a match 30 minutes in advance before disappearing for the day. Ivey, meanwhile, is often impossible to schedule a session with because he apparently doesn’t use any instant messaging services.

Kagome also described the difficulty of playing any sort of volume against non-pros at Full Tilt. In most cases, average opponents only last for five to ten hands before realizing that they’re dealing with a pro. The players that do stick around often refuse to compete with one another, and instead target Kagome exclusively.