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It wasn’t long after I busted out of the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event that a member of the media approached me and asked whether I thought my performances in 2004 and 2005 were of historical proportion. Modestly, I was unsure. These were the two biggest fields in the history of the WSOP at that time and although I made it deep in 2005, winning it would’ve cemented the feat in history.
So how did I do it? What do I do differently in large-field tournaments that repeatedly propels me to the later stages and allows me a run at the title? The truth is that there’s nothing different, no single secret to the accomplishment only strategies that if utilized correctly can pay off in a big way. The only thing you have to remember is if you want to go deep, you simply have to play good poker.
As I taught among other WSOP Main Event champions such as Phil Hellmuth and Joseph Hachem at the WSOP Academy’s Main Event primer in July, I noticed that although the three of us all managed to earn our Main Event bracelets, our methods of achieving that result were very different.
In any game, the best players have different strategies to allow them to succeed. In tennis there are players who live at the baseline versus those who serve and volley. In golf are the big drivers versus the short game specialists. In poker, there are those who take risks where they have any advantage and those who don’t if the advantage isn’t big enough. Quite simply, I am more willing to take risks with a small statistical edge than Hellmuth and Hachem.
To go deep in any large field, you cannot avoid taking chances at appropriate times. I often hear TV commentators ask each other, “Should he risk his tournament life in this situation? If he lets it go he’ll have plenty of chips left.” In my mind, of course he should take the shot…if he feels playing the hand results in a positive expectation. When it comes to tournaments, just like cash games, avoiding risk is a mistake if you have enough of an edge.
The age-old question found on every forum asks: If everyone at your table moves all in on the first hand of the WSOP, and you have aces, do you call? I’d call in a heartbeat! If you win that pot, you now have ten times the starting stack, on the second hand no less, and can be a force from that point forward. To extend this example even further, if it’s the first hand of a tournament and I know I’m a 60:40 favorite when one player pushes in, I’ll gladly call. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity. You are going to have to accumulate so many chips just to make the money that you cannot pass up the chances to start building your stack. A lot of people don’t like taking these types of risks early, but if your hand holds up you’ve taken a giant step forward towards your ultimate goal of winning the tournament.
Try to win chips from the very first hand. When Phil Hellmuth shows up late to a tournament, he’s missing out on numerous opportunities to pick on the weak players who are likely to give away all their chips quickly. Take the massive fi eld at the WSOP as an example. Many players satellite in for a couple hundred or freeroll their way to a seat. These players know that their trip to Vegas was their true prize and playing in the tournament against players who are above their skill level is just for the experience. They don’t expect to win. Many of these players bust out early and you need to be there to take advantage of their mistakes.
By showing up late, Hellmuth misses out on what I consider the first key period of a tournament. There’s a different way to play poker when you have 200 big blinds instead of 20. I’m limping in with all kinds of hands during the first level or two to try and catch the guy who will put in too much money with top pair. One of the most common ways that good players accumulate a big stack on Day 1 of the Main Event is by flopping a set against a weak player’s top pair. You know he will overbet and overplay his hand and you can wait for his chips to head your way. As weaker players are eliminated, your edge against the field becomes smaller, and it becomes tougher to grow your stack.
Remember, you need to go after every edge that is there. Don’t make negative expectation plays where you need to get lucky to get a big stack. But if you do have an edge, you need to pursue it, even at the risk of going broke.
If you avoid the opportunities to double up, yes, you are more likely to survive in the near term, but you have fewer chips moving forward. If you take that early 60:40 risk and your hand holds up, you’ll then have enough chips to survive the next big pot if it goes against you. Plus, if you can build up a really huge stack, you can survive several unfortunate hands, and still be a factor in the tournament.
Becoming aware of the opportunities you are given early is part of the development of a poker player. Capitalizing on these opportunities will make you a better player. If you look at all the tournaments across the board, the players who make it deep frequently had one of the bigger stacks early. Now I know that sounds remedial, but think about it. Once you have the chips, you have the ability to bully and the flexibility to make plays that others can’t afford to try. Players don’t like to get involved with the table chip leader because he is capable of busting them at any time. Use the big stack to solidify your position in the tournament by continuing to apply pressure on the players who most fear going broke.
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