The shortest way to poker success

Everyone is looking for the shortest way to achieving success at the poker table. Of course, I needn’t even tell you that most every new player who signs up and hits an online poker table for the first time in his life, thinks (or at least secretly hopes) that he is some kind of outstanding poker genius, someone for whom the game and its intricacies will fall into place naturally. Legends and hearsay about people who make it big overnight at the online poker tables abound, but then again, one can’t really hit a poker forum where 99% of the posters are not highly successful players. How reliable is all that information though? Most probably, not very. You see, us humans have a way of creating legends about our overachievers. There are all sorts of clichés about scientists “happening” over their most significant discoveries at a moment’s notice, as if by chance. The same goes for poker players, and because poker is a game with a significant luck factor involved, it’s so much more believable. The problem is though, that the same way those scientists we like consider lucky albeit smarter than average bastards were everything but that, successful poker players don’t effortlessly spring out of anonymity either.

Most of the major scientific breakthroughs throughout the history of mankind have been the results of years and years of study, discipline, hard work and number crunching. Since the analogy I’m trying to draw here is quite obvious: the same is required for poker success.
Like it or not, there are no shortcuts to online poker success. I’m a poker player indeed, but I’m nowhere near the level some of my friends have managed to achieve at the virtual green felt. The reason I never managed to break out of the mold of the recreational player is that I firmly believe I can make money EASIER doing something else, rather than playing poker at the level it requires to reward efforts with success. I can tell you that being truly successful at poker takes time, tons and tons of energy, grit and the ability to take massive downswings in stride and to bounce back from bankruptcy time and time again.

When you look at a poker player like Daniel Negreanu, all you see is a mostly smiley face, always radiating a weird type of charisma, and beyond that as average a person as you can possibly imagine. The problem is you don’t see the real engine that keeps that system ticking: the thousands upon thousands of hours spent at the green felt, at the online and the live tables. The countless heartbreaks and above all, the ability to take a punch to the face, then ask for another one and keep going. You don’t see that, and that’s the real secret behind the scenes in the case of pretty much every “name” pro you so envy and aim to be like.

Poker is a game built on math and if you sport a superior IQ, you’re probably starting with an advantage, or are you? According to many of the experts, success and IQ are only loosely correlated in life in general and in poker in particular. What that means is that a superior IQ doesn’t guarantee you anything at the green felt. At the end of the day, what it comes down to is grit and determination. You have to be willing to turn poker into your second nature, otherwise you odds for success in today’s increasingly competitive poker world will remain close to nil.

A word on the WSOP final tables

This year, an interesting trend has surfaced at the WSOP. Unlike in past editions, instead of letting the field play down to the final table on Day 2 of most events, the organizers have decided for some reason to call off the action with several tablefuls of players remaining. The survivors would then return to action on day 3 and play down to a winner, which means that under these circumstances, the final table is barely recognized as a noteworthy milestone in the poker tournament. How exactly does that impact the overall show-value of the tournament? In years past, a select group of players would go to bed on Day 2 knowing that they’ve made a WSOP final table, an achievement the importance of which couldn’t possibly be downplayed. Making a final table at the World’s most prestigious poker series used to be reason to celebrate. People would make calls to friends, they would fly them in to assemble a noisy throng of supporters on the rail the following day. They would dress up, and generally instill a festive atmosphere on the final day of the event. All that is now gone…

How could one be expected to fly in relatives and friends with 20-30 players remaining in contention? It would be the ultimate cooler to leave the tourney in 30th place with all those people cheering on the rail. Looking sharper than usual at the final table is also a thing of the past. No longer will Gavin Smith show up wearing a suit and a hat to the final table. Worn-out jeans coupled with a T-shirt or a hoodie is all one will see at the final table these days. The moment has pretty much lost all significance as players are moved to the final table not even being able to give it a second thought.

Exactly what was it that made organizers introduce these changes? Could it be something linked to poker strategy? In years past, players could use the break before the final table to plot a strategy-approach. Over the course of the seconds day of action, and right before the final table was reached, players would develop a history with one another. Using that data, a skilled poker player could always make adjustments for the final stretch, that could mean quite a lot in the overall economy of the tournament.
Was it the organizers’ intention to disrupt such efforts and to deny skilled players the advantage they could grab this way? If that was indeed their intention, they’ve certainly overshot the mark on this one. Not only have they made it impossible for players to prepare for the final table, they’ve made it quite a bit tougher for them to play their regular A-game too. Day 3 usually kicks off at around 3 PM. That means the heads-up stage will usually commence at around 5-6 in the morning. Regardless of the number of breaks inserted in-between, this stretch is just way too much for a poker player to cope with. These guys need to focus on a level you and I may never have experienced. Imagine them doing that while overwhelmed with fatigue, dreaming about a cozy bed and pillow. That goes a long way towards explaining why there seem to be so many mistakes made by these otherwise more than capable players towards the final stages of tournaments.
Apparently though the explanation behind the weird shift in the schedule is a simple one: while the tournament structures have stayed the same as in past editions, the number of registrants has increased, thus the field is no longer able to slim down enough by the end of day 2.

WSOP Milestones

With the WSOP Main Event drawing near, it’s becoming more and more obvious which the most memorable moments of the series will be. Such “landmark” moments happen in high stakes poker tournaments all the time, but some of them are just a notch above the rest.
Take Men Nguyen’s bubble exit in the $5,000 PLO event. That’s definitely quite a moment, well worthy of the “most dramatic WSOP 2010 bubble” title. There were 46 players left in the game, and Nguyen had been feuding with Ryan D’Angelo for a while. He had a rather decent stack as he’d done pretty well up until that moment. After a preflop give and take, which cost Nguyen more than half his stack, the flop fell Qs,Jd,9s. Feeling pot-committed and trying to appear as menacing as possible, The Master shoved all-in. Holding As,Ah,9h,5h in his pocket, D’Angelo was faced with a really tough decision. After some time spent in the tank, he decided to make the call though and sure enough, it proved to be the right decision. The dealer spread The Master’s cards over the table, to reveal a stunning Ad,8d,4d,3c. Embarrassed as he was to be caught red handed on such an obvious bluff, Nguyen had nothing further to add.

As far as bad beats go, Danny Wong’s, in the $25k 6-max may not have been the most outstanding one, but it was certainly up there with the best of them. In less than an hour, Danny went from hero (chip leader) to zero (railbird), but it wasn’t like he could do anything about it. At dinner break, he was among those with large stacks, and less then an hour later, he was out, wondering how his top set could betray him in such an utterly unlikely manner. When Danny got all his chips into the middle, holding pocket 8s on a board of 8,7,3,9, everything looked perfect. Life was fine and the sun was shining as his opponent tabled pocket 3s for a dominated bottom set. The 3 on the river was like a nasty military-issue boot stomping onto a child’s sand-castle city. If that doesn’t hurt and make you want to cry foul, I don’t know what does.

Phil Hellmuth’s final table in the $1,500 PLO 8 or better event was certainly one of the milestones of this year’s Series too. It’s no secret that Hellmuth hasn’t really been at the forefront of the high stakes tournament (or cash game) action lately. The Ultimate Bet pro seemed to finally get things going in the above said event, but he eventually withered away, bounced in 8th place. His 12th poker bracelet once again drifting away in the mist of uncertainty, the poker world took little notice of the sorrow of a player whose fan-base is increasingly looking like a one-man operation.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, there’s Allan Kessler. The outspoken tournament structure critic has finished in the money in no fewer than 8 events this year, an achievement which turned him into one of the most successful WSOP 2010 players, and a serious candidate for the Player of the Year title. Kessler’s highest finish was 2nd place in the $10,000 7-Card Stud 8 or better World Championship event, which earned him a $276,000 reward. With all the trash talkers and the controversial personalities taking up most of the spotlight, it is sometimes refreshing to see one of the good-guys score a few for the home team too.

The Tournament of Champions is back on the WSOP schedule. After the first couple of days of action, Mike Matusow leads the field, and even though it would probably be a long-shot to include him in the “good guys” category mentioned above, I’d still like to see him walk away with the gold for some reason.