How important is it to know the players at your table

[M POWER]

I have just been watching the WPT on Sky (Boring the wife to death) there is the Aruba WPT final
being played, sitting there is a guy called Erick Brenes does not mean alot I know. Well this is the chap who
sat on my left in the WSOP Main Event and by then had already won a WPT event in  2004. I was sitting there
thinking he was dead money. >:? . So how far do  pro's playing around the world try and suss out players at the
same table.

Regards

M

     

[snoopy1239]

Well, I guess now you've really that labelling someone dead money at such an early stage can be catastrophic.

It IS difficult though. We automatically box people and make assumptions about how they play, but, to quote an old cliche, 'never judge a book by it's cover.'

Except me. Looks crap and plays crap. 


Seriously though, I think it's a massive advantage to know the basic plays of your opposition. If you think about how tight some of these wsop tables can be, you may not see much of your opponents play to be able to make any decutions. Therefore, when you do come to play a hand with them, you're not going to know too much about them.

It takes longer than 5 minutes to separate the sharks from the fish.

[M POWER]

I know now when this guy sat down I thought great he smelt of JD and was dribbleing.
Little did  I know it was a trap and he was the best player Costa Rica ever produced
Pro Poker update man at the RIO "Tikay" never warned me. If I only knew I could of finished
2500 out of the Money

Regards

M
 

[tikay]

The key to cashing in any WSOP Event MPower is to be railbirded by a good geezer, who spots tell by player such as Marcel Luske.

PS - I have not forgotten those pics John - my PC is working again (whisper it) & I'll search again tonight. I KNOW I have them somewhere). And apologies if you have sent me an e-mail in the last week to which you have yet to get a reply - I am 10 days behind with my e-mails.

[byronkincaid]

I think it's a massive advantage to know the basic plays of your opposition

Anyone know how Darren Bloom (Tony Bloom’s brother) plays?

[M POWER]

Cheers Tikay

Your a good guy and I must say you did make Marcel look pretty average

It was funny.

Regards

M

Who has never cashed in a WSOP unlike Tikay because he's a great player 

[tikay]

Most of you must be thinking what this "private" conversation" between MPower & I is all about.

2005 World Series, William Hill have sponsored me in the $1,500 NLH. 870 runners, & John (MPower) sweated me for all except the first hour. (Karabiner was there a goodly while, too).Down to 5 or 6 tables, & I get moved to a table in which Marcel Luske is absolutely dominating, bossing, bullying, his full reportoire. I have plenty of chips, Marcel has a wheelbarrow full, & he's giving it the "don't do it" speech to all & sundry, & getting away with murder.

John spotted a tell on Marcel, told me, & we decided to test it. Marcel moves in on my BB for the umpteenth time, all pass to me, I got a big Q I think. His tell is showing. "All-IN" I say, for the first time in the entire comp. Marcel is pot-stuck, & calls. He shows Q-7, & I double through.

I may well have finalled but for a brutal outdraw 3 or 4 tables from home, but that's poker.

And the prelude to this story is that MPower qualified for the WSOP Main Event on a Wm Hill Qualifier. About 20 blondeites all railbirded him the whole way, & it was one of he most memorable nights poker in my life, seeing John win his seat. Sadly, in the event itself, he enjoyed no luck at all.

Buit the moral of the story is that railbirding your mates helps more than you will ever realise, & is why we have so much fun on this site - we all sweat each other at every opportunity. The blondeites who have been here a while know this, but we have many new Members, & it's worth repeating the tale for their benefit.

[smithy69]

I  have not been able to win my first MTT yet - have reached 5 final tables from 9 now so am doing ok.

The support you get is brilliant, and I have even got support in a £10 MTT from fellow blondies

I hope to bring one home for the forum soon.

Totally agree with Mr Tikay's comments

[Heid]

Really interesting thread as ususal! Loved the John and Tikay story! I think my News Year's res for next year is to qualify online for the wsop - even if it is to get a jollybob to Vegas, but that's a thread for nearer the time.

I was in an STT last night, and quite early on I trapped a guy with some nifty checks raises etc, with a full house - he made quite a big thing of it - not in a bad way, but just in a wow you got me kinda way. The thing is, quite late on - 4 of us left, I did exactly the same thing, and he still didn't catch onto it, even though from the first trap I did I had a fair bit of respect to me at the table with regard to flat calling and checks, to the point of if I raised  then I'd usually get folds round to me.

As well as getting the feel of players you don't know, it's also a matter of storing it away and looking for it again, and I think some people don't necessarily master that - and it's those people you have to capitalise on.

I am probably preaching to the converted here, and teaching you to suck eggs at the same time, btu I thought it was interesting, and was an add on to the topic - I am also a bit pleased with meself that I can add something poker related to a thread - I don't do it often!

Heid
xx

[The Baron]

I had a conversation with Jon Backman in Vegas after we chopped a satellite and several beers later it turned to reads on people/categorising people. Jon had some really refreshing ideas about categorising which I think comes from his entire mentality on poker.

He is not egotistical and being Scandinavian knows that appearances (of younger players especially) can be very deceiving. We then got talking about online poker (where he has been EXTREMELY successful) I found out Jon is as much a notes freak as I am. However, he continually reassess his notes and is never afraid to change his original notes on someone. Basically he was saying some people he used to consider fish might not be anymore. Maybe this applies to the people at WSOP's if you go back year after year? Also, maybe in this country we have a tendancy to have egos at the table? If we do does it affect the way we categorise?

He went on to tell me that as I was English he had me down as "probably boring, tight aggressive" when the satellite started but quickly had to change his views on me as the blinds went up. He went on further to say no matter how much you think someone is dead money always be prepared to reassess when you are at the live table as many players probably fall into the section "mixer" - or have to mix it up when their stack size dramatically changes. Some are just downright devious. (I've played what I thought was a total fish in Luton before, he acted like he didn't know what chips were what, only to get to heads up with him later and see him riffling chips with both hands!!!)

I think there is more potential for these type players at a WSOP event than anywhere else. In short, very discombobulated, we came to the conclusion that there is a larger proportion of players, now more than ever, that you simply cannot categorise immediately at a table. The internet players, and sheer size of the fields means that you simply will not see all of someones game until a tourney gets to different stages and it can be dangerous to categorise so early on.

I know it was just two people having a drink and a chat but I for one consider Jon's advice as expert as I've never met someone that successful online.

[booder]

nice post baron........i met jon on the ladbrokes poker cruise last year and spent the majority of the week in his company...........what a true gentleman he is , and always willing to spend time imparting his knowledge........so much so that we still keep in contact by email and telephone , discussing various plays and strategys.indeed he was the first person i spoke to when i made the big decision to give up work and play poker full time , and thanks to his help my game has improved immensely

[AdamM]

I enjoyad watching jon in his TV appearances. what's his handle on Laddies, I'd like to say hello if I ever come across him

[booder]

I enjoyad watching jon in his TV appearances. what's his handle on Laddies, I'd like to say hello if I ever come across him

his handle on laddies is JOHNNIE , but he doesnt play there much .............you can usually find him on will hill as beatkebab

[The Baron]

nice post baron........i met jon on the ladbrokes poker cruise last year and spent the majority of the week in his company...........what a true gentleman he is , and always willing to spend time imparting his knowledge........so much so that we still keep in contact by email and telephone , discussing various plays and strategys.indeed he was the first person i spoke to when i made the big decision to give up work and play poker full time , and thanks to his help my game has improved immensely

Yes he is. A genuine good guy.

He gave me his email for Holdem.Se, is this the best place to catch up with him?

[booder]

yes...also there are some good articles written by jon on  holdem.se although a lot of them are in swedish