Speedyfold Poker Blog

You dont need to know the game to win a tournament

JohnnyBax is a poor PL Omaha Hi-Lo player, that is certain. He lacks experience, and his game needs huge amounts of refinement and work. I am one of the few actually qualified to make this statement. Slightly arrogant I know, but nevertheless it is a fact.

However JohnnyBax is a great poker player. One of the best no quesion about it. A legend in his own time.

His recent win in the FTOPS PL Omaha Hi-Lo is testiment to the fact that you dont really need to know a game that well to win. And I am not saying JohnnyBax was lucky either. What I am saying is that his poker instincts are so good that the actual ability or experience in the specific game didnt really matter.

Recently in the 2008 WSOP we also saw a similar case. Mike Matusow freely admitted he had no clue how to play 2-7 Triple Draw. But what the man knew was how to play No Limit. His ability in terms of reads/timing, and piling on the pressure against selected opponents at the right stages of the tournament (etc) was enough to win the bracelet. A refined ability and understanding in the game was not important.

Breakthrough wins are really crucial to the success of nearly all poker players. They are wins that suddenly roll you fully to play at a much higher level than previously, and more importantly be very comfortable in doing so.

Really it is a combination of two factors: firstly the ability to play whatever buy-in you wish, as frequently as you wish. And secondly the general increase in confidence it gives a player.

To highlight the concept I thought I would discuss the breakthrough win of Hevad Khan in July 2007 where he finished 6th in the WSOP Main Event (a score worth $956,243)

Prior to July 2007 his biggest online win was $28,305, which of course is great. But it isnt high enough to suddenly start playing all the big poker tournaments around the world.

Post July 2007 his biggest online wins suddenly shoot up to a new level:

$97,856 (March 08)
$58,410 (June 08)
$125,000 (Sept 08)

Prior to July 2007 his biggest live win was $14,708

Post July 2007 his live wins have now consisted of:

1st in a Foxwoods event in March 2008 winning $108,187
1st in the Caesars Palace Classic, winning $1,000,000

As we said, it partly can be attributed to the freedom of the bankroll, and partly due to the overall confidence of the player, not losing sight of the fact that the two factors are both very much inter-twined

He is now firmly a respected pro on the circuit and a feared force in the majors online, with an endorsement deal with the site PokerStars to top it all off.

The seed of a high profile and establishment on the circuit can happen effectively in an instant, so maintain your faith, as one day it could well be you. Good luck.

Well the little challenge I set myself with this new Sun Poker account has finally been completely. It took quite a bit longer than anticipated in the time sense, mainly due to getting tied up with the WCOOP and the FTOPS and my cash games on Stars and Full Tilt

I set myself a “double my money” goal over the span of 20,000 hands. I am glad to say I was successful within 10,000 hands, so I guess you could say I was a long way ahead of schedule. Cash games are a funny beast though, and it could quite as easily of taken the full 20,000 or more with some very bad negative swings

Closing Balance = $404.86. Total Challenge Profit = $205.86. Total hands played = 9530

I dont know what I’ll do with the money there, donk it off at some MTTs maybe

I may do some more cash challenges at one of my regular accounts, so watch this space.