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2016 17
Global
pages of
Strategy
20 deep stack

poker
MTT mistakes
swing the
icm hammer

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how to play
in late position

are Liv Boerees

london royals
the team to beat
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WPT LAPC
2016 WSOP
felix stephensen
SUPER WEEKEND
TALLINN
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 3/16 CONTENTS
THis issue
quick user

Going global
guide

GET CONNECTED
Poker needs a shot in the arm. PokerStars Click on the icons at the bottom
provided a ray of hope for the future of each page for more content
when they launched real money games in New
Jersey on March 21. Its been almost five years
since Black Friday locked them out of the get around
States. Unfortunately, any positive PR they Tap these buttons to navigate around
hoped to get out of it evaporated when they the mag and access more content
announced hikes to their rake and their CEO,
David Baazov, was indicted for insider
trading. One step forwards...
Enter, stage left, Alex Dreyfus. Dreyfus
has been working tirelessly to create new more close go to
markets for poker, and his latest effort could content content content
be his best yet. The inaugural Global Poker
League is set for launch in April and it just
held its first live draft. It needed stars and other media
they obliged. With Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Tap these icons to watch video content
Negreanu providing the analysis, and or to access more content online
names of the calibre of Mustapha Kanit,
Chris Moorman, Vanessa Selbst, Jake Cody, Mike McDonald, Martin
Jacobson, Phil Galfond and Jason Mercier being
first eve r GPL drafted, the GPL has got a great chance of
The video buy
draft was a success pushing poker back into the mainstream. content online
Liv Boeree is heading up the London Royals
and she arguably came out on top of the draft,
picking her boyfriend first before selecting a
team that will strike fear into anyone who faces see more
Swipe the arrows in that direction to see
it in the dome. more content
The first matches are due to take place online
in April and rumours are that the first live
SWIPE DOWN
encounters will be in Vegas at the WSOP. Heres
hoping it goes off with a bang.
SWIPE UP

dave woods
editor

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contents
6 GLOBAL POKER
LEAGUE
The teams are set for the
start of Season 1
8 the nuts
News from the WPT and
the $300k 2016 Super
High Roller Bowl sells out
10 best of the web
Tweets, pics and strategy
12 try this at home:
the five-bet bluff
It's the sexiest move in
poker add it to your game
13 frozen in time
Jamie Gold wins the
biggest WSOP Main Event
of all time
14 2016 WSOP
The full 69-event schedule
for the greatest poker
festival on earth
16 felix stephensen
The Betsafe pro and 2014
Main Event runner-up talks
about going one better
19 wsop satellites
Qualify online for the Main
Event from as little as $0.01
20 poker in paradise
We take one for the team
and jet off to Morocco to
the stunning five-star
Mazagan resort
FOLLOW
Twitter: Follow us @PokerPlayer365
Website: Check PokerPlayer365.com
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PokerPlayerMagazine
3/16 CONTENTS
Strategy
6
Phil Hellmuth and
Daniel Negreanu
discuss the draft 26 20 biggest mtt
mistakes
Cut these common
mistakes from your game
and cruise to the final table
32 under the gun
Dan O'Callaghan is living
proof that the ICM
hammer can help win you
some serious money
34 positional sense:
late position
It's the most profitable
spot on the poker table
make sure you make the
most of it
38 grinderschool
strategy video
Grinderschool pro Gazellig
VPIPs just 29 hands on his
way to a final table finish
in a small-field $25 MTT
on Full Tilt Poker
26 39 cardrunners
strategy video
Boss bounty tournaments
with this exclusive video
from CardRunners pro
Chuck Bass
40 GPI rankings
The official rankings of the
best tournament players in
the world this month
Get more strategy from
PokerPlayer's back issues
Felix Stephensen
is gunning for gold 16 Perfect the art of
the deep stack MTT
free in your app now!
ONLINE
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more content
on our
website
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 SHUFFLE
NEWS VIEWS GOSSIP
Phil Hellmuth and Daniel
Negreanu provided the
expert analysis on the day

draft day
all 12 teams set for the inaugural global poker
league after live draft day is a huge success

T
remarkably healthy. Despite some concern Sunset, with Fedor Holz, Olivier Busquet,
he 12 team managers for the
over the contracts, a slew of world-class Eugene Katchalov and Chance Kornuth.
first season of the Global
players put their names forward and the One manager who didnt have to resort to
Poker League completed the
teams that have been compiled are pretty her reserve list was Celina Lin. She drafted
live draft, with Max Pescatori
spectacular. The only glaring omission is Weiyi Zhang, Raiden Kan, Dong Guo and
of the Rome Emperors getting
Antonio Esfandiari, who declared himself a Bryan Huang for the Hong Kong Stars.
first pick. It was no surprise to see him
non-runner just before the draft began. Zhang hasnt cashed outside of Asia and
plump for man of the moment Mustapha
none of her picks have $1m in tournament
Kanit, who recently added a Sunday Million
win to take his online earnings to over $4m.
End boss winnings, so it will be interesting how they
Surprise first round picks included Phil fare in the dome and as a marketable team.
Add that to over $6m in live winnings and
Galfond for San Francisco Rush and Darren Its great to see a manager using the format
youve got 10 reasons why hes a great
Elias for the Sao Paulo Mets. Galfond is one to give a break to smaller players though
all-round pick.
of the worlds best cash players but doesnt and we hope they do well.
Liv Boeree picked boyfriend Igor
play many tournaments and may not fit the There are two spots left on every team.
Kurganov and assembled a formidable
new eSports model. Elias was a surprise for With the managers expected to pick
team to compliment pokers power couple,
the order he was picked and also the team themselves that leaves one space open for a
with Vanessa Selbst, Chris Moorman and
he was selected by. So much for building a wildcard. Unlike the main draftees, wildcards
Justin Bonomo making up the London
hometown team. can be anyone in the poker world, which
Royals. Its solid throughout but Moorman
If youre looking for star power, then opens the door to some big, interesting
onlines biggest winner gives the team
beyond the London Royals, the Las Vegas characters. Turn the page for the full line-ups
the necessary local feel. Boeree was
Moneymakers stand out, with Anthony and to watch a re-run of the draft show.
understandably delighted and surprised to
Zinno, Jonathan Duhamel, Jake Cody and The first GPL fixtures are set to play out in
pick up Selbst as a second round pick.
Jonathan Little making up a solid MTT unit. April online. Well bring you a full schedule
On the evidence of the draft, the outlook
We also like the look of Maria Hos LA as soon as its released.
for the Global Poker League looks

www.PokerPlayer365.com
GPL Draft show

Maria Ho with her first

round pick, Fedor Holz

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The
NUTS

WPT LAPC and bay

101 shooting stars
Germans dominate in the US

The 2016 LA Poker Classic

1 attracted as tough a field as ever
but the star power was missing
at the end. John Hennigan in seventh
was the last recognisable name, but
German pro Dietrich Fast [above] added
a WPT title and $1m to the bracelet he
won at WSOP Oktoberfest last year.
Maria Ho made the TV final table of
six at WPT Bay 101 in March, and was
looking for her first major title and the
bragging rights of being the first
bounty to win the event. She was
knocked out first though, leaving chip
leader Stefan Schillhabel [right with
Ho] a German student, on top. He had
Dietrich Fast on his rail and the magic
rubbed off on him he secured his
career best win of $1,298,000.

www.PokerPlayer365.com
american
poker awards
kara scott presents and wins, plus a
consolation prize for daniel negreanu
The second running of the American Poker Awards rewarded
2 the great and the good at the SLS Hotel in Los Angeles. Byron
Kaverman and Kelly Minkin won the two GPI Players of the
Year, before host Kara Scott picked up the Presenter of the Year. The
moment of last year was undoubtedly Daniel Negreanus dramatic exit
from the WSOP Main Event, although the trophy here will be scant
consolation for missing out on the biggest final table of his life.
November Niner Josh Beckley won Breakout Player of the Year and
Anthony Zinno won Performance of the Year for his win in the 2015 Anthony Zinno won for
LAPC, where he defeated 537 of pokers best for $1,015,860. performance of the year

LEEDS, LEEDS, LEEDS!

2016 SHRB sold out
GRAND PRIX POKER TOUR HITS ELLAND ROAD

The Grand Prix Poker Tour heads to Elland Road

3 April 9-10 for the next leg of the massive
Grand Prix Poker Tour. Its a dip down to the
Championship after stops at Chelsea, Manchester
and Newcastle, but dont expect a second-tier event.
The GPPT has been inching towards its monster
guarantee and this could be the one that hits it. The
$109 buy-in sees you playing for a $250k prize pool.
Get all the details, including online satellites, here.
unibet in the uk
low-stakes tour heads to Nottingham
Unibets UK Poker Tour moves to Nottinghams
4 Alea Casino in April after a successful first
stop in Brighton. The 200+20 (40,000
guaranteed) event takes place April 15-17 with two
Day 1s offering a single re-entry each. You can
also play both Day 1s and take your biggest stack
through to Day 2. Starting stacks are 25,000 with
a 40-minute clock. Online satellites are running on
Unibet now, where you can win a 500 package
(buy-in plus 130 expenses) from as little as 1.
all 49 seats snapped up for the
$300k buy-in event this summer
The Super High Roller Bowl came out of nowhere
6 last year, was met with a dose of scepticism,
but delivered when 43 players stumped up the
$500k buy-in. It created a monster $7,525,000 first
prize, which was pocketed by Brian Rast after he beat
Scott Seiver heads-up (see the final hand below).
Its back again this year and the buy-in has been
reduced to a mere $300k with $300k added by the
organisers, creating a reverse-rake tourney. That was
enough for all 49 seats to be snapped up immediately.
You can see the full roster which includes names
such as Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Antonio
Esfandiari, Scott Seiver, and Erik Seidel here.
The tournament is set to play out from May 29,
directly before the WSOP opens its doors to the
masses. Just two players are yet to be named and
theres one glaring omission. Surely the tournament
cant go off without Phil Ivey?

Spin & go to the EPT final

10 games running now on pokerstars

Satellites are running to the EPT Grand Final in

5 Monte Carlo now but if you want a quicker route,
the new 10 Spin & Gos on PokerStars award a
full 9k package in a few minutes if you hit the jackpot. The
package includes your 5,300 buy-in, eight nights
accommodation at the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort and
1k in expenses. The odds? Around 2,000/1.

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SHUFFLE THE MONTH ONLINE
Best of the web
All the latest poker highlights from the online world
$10 to $1,000 challenge
PokerStars pro Andre Coimbra shows you how to build
a mighty oak from an acorn live on Twitch
Andre Coimbra is no stranger to
bankroll challenges. In 2013 he set
out to turn $100 into $100,000, playing
MTTs online. He didnt make it but he
did manage to spin his starting stack up
to $70k, which all went to charity. Now
hes back, with another challenge which
is perfect for low-stakes grinders. He
wants to run $10 into $1,000 and is
streaming his progress live on Twitch.
If he fails this one it will be because
he goes bust. This time there is no
deadline, says Coimbra, because I
think that the process is more
important than the goal. I just want to
have a good time with my Twitch
followers playing a fun game. We can
learn together and if possible make
some money!
Coimbra, who was the first
Portuguese player to make SuperNova
Elite on PokerStars, started the
challenge in January and has recorded
32 sessions so far, which you can watch
on his YouTube channel.
The $10 to $1k Challenge streams live
Bankroll challenges
are more interactive
thanks to Twitch
on his Twitch channel, where youll find
fantastic low-stakes strategy like this.
I started by playing the $0.25
45-player sit-n-gos. The structure is
pretty good and there is enough time to
find good spots quite often. After a few
days, I realized that the 90-players
$0.25 had an even better structure (15
minutes blinds!) and that the players
there were making more mistakes, so
that became my main target...
Later on I started opening some $0.10
360-player turbos and these were quite
different! The players usually wanted to
gamble early and get it in with weak
hands. However, the bubble was serious
business and players with some short
stacks would just try to make it into the
money as if their lives depended on it!
Dont believe me? Watch this bubble.
Im guessing that a lot of people make a
few cents in the freerolls and then try to
build it up from there in these tourneys.
CLICK TO WATCH ANDRE
COIMBRAS TWITCH CHANNEL
www.PokerPlayer365.com
online
railbird
Mustapha
lasagnaaammm Kanit
Live or online, theres no stopping Kanit at
the moment. Hes just added a Sunday
Million win worth $177,229 to his
online portfolio which totals over
$4.4m and includes the 2015
SCOOP Main Event for $1.3m.
In the real world hes won over
$6m and smashed the EPT
Dublin 25k High Roller event
for 500k in February. No wonder
then that he was the first pick in the
Global Poker League draft. Max Pescatori
nabbed him for the Rome Emperors.
super sunday
The Sunday Million on PokerStars
has been the focal point for online
pros for ten years now. To celebrate,
PokerStars ran a Tenth Anniversary
special on March 20, guaranteeing an
incredible $10m, with $1m for first
spot. The $215 buy-in stayed the same
but it was played as a re-entry.
It meant they needed 50,000 entries
just to hit the guarantee and when the
first cards were dealt there were
already 22,000 players in. When late
reg ended that number had swollen to
an impressive 55,059, which added up
to a $11,011,800 prize pool the
third-largest prize pool ever for a
Sunday Million.
After 15.5 hours of play it was a
Canadian who ended up on top after a
four-handed chop. a.urli claimed the
most cash in the deal and won the
$100k extra for a $970k payday.
a.urli won the biggest
final table of his life
 www.pokerplayer365.com

small
screen
The best poker
videos this month

Aria player: I havent seen Sammy Get lucky

Farha in a while. Dealer: Hes always here.
Not here in the poker room, out there.
(Indicates pit)
zach @apokerplayer elwood
Why would anyone, in their rational
mind, be angry with someone for not being
good at something. Really, theyre just angry
at themselves
kristy @KristyArnett arnett
Tourneys can be brutal and
sometimes a spot comes
along that you cant do
anything about. As Curtis
Lambert found out in a crazy
three-way pot at the recent
Unibet Open London.
CLICK TO WATCH

Technology is taking over poker, so

much for guts and instinct... Sims are the
future! #SIMS
daniel @junglemandan cates

You know how you always look back

at your cards after they push you the pot?
If youre trying to wind me up, well done.
Its working
barny @barnyboatman boatman Guess what
happens next?
I have always been too self conscious to
do karaoke, but Ive been rapping my ass off
in this empty Tbilisi karaoke bar #biggie Good old days
#mobbdeep
Alec Torelli looks back at a
Steve @steveodwyer ODwyer
hand from 2009 against
When I gave up the drink I forgot about Tom durrrr Dwan and Patrik
Kristy Arnett definitely
St Patricks Day. What a fucking idiot. Me I Antonius. He won $200k but
not angry with herself
mean. Not St Patrick says he would have played it
padraig padraigpoker parkinson
differently today.
Tweetin Out! CLICK TO WATCH

The craziest pics tweeted by the poker world Back in 2009 when
games were good

Jennifer
@Jtillathekilla2
Tilly
Penguins on the
beach

Bluff fail
Youre heads-up at EPT
Dublin against the mighty
Dzmitry Urbanovich. Its
Brian been a long slog to get there
@tsarrast so now its time to pull out
Sofia
@Sofia_Lovgren Rast your A-game. Or an absolute
monster bluff at completely
Lovgren Got dragged out by wifey to
the club but at least we the wrong time.
When we dont play
have good seats... CLICK TO WATCH
poker... yoga
@steveaoki is killing it
#nosurprises

Dont forget to follow us on Twitter @PokerPlayer365

CLICK HERE for the latest news and exclusive freerolls How not to play
4-2 at an EPT

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SHUFFLE tips

T R Y T H I S A T H O M E : The five-bet bluff

one of the sexiest moves in poker use it with caution!

Five-bet bluff: A preflop bluff made after a four-bet.

Five bet bluffing is about as sexy as it gets in poker. You wont see a The set-up
lot of this in tournaments, but its increasingly common in aggressive
l An aggressive opponent
cash games online. The first requirement is a deep-stacked game where
l An opponent who is
players have more than 100 big blinds. This will either be in the early stages
capable of bluffing
of a good structured tournament or a deep-stacked cash game.
l A player who has seen you
This is not a frequently used move as its essentially a very high-risk bluff.
three-bet light
Its a response to increasing aggression where players will often three-bet
l A stack of more than 100
light from the blinds in response to a raise from the small blind or button.
big blinds
You are looking for an opponent who has seen you make a light three-bet
l An Ace or a King in your
from the blinds. You also need your opponent to be an aggressive player who
hand
has made a number of three and four bets preflop and who is good enough to
fold a marginal hand. The move is fraught with danger, but when it comes off
its one of the best feelings in poker. Your opponent is not four-betting you for In action
value, he is trying to get you to fold what he assumes is a marginal or weak
hand. In return you are getting him to fold his marginal hand as he doesnt l When you are in the big
want to get it all in with 10-J. Just make sure you dont price him in. blind an aggressive player
raises from the button or
the small blind
Five-bet bluff on the biggest stage of them all l You three-bet and the
player responds by four-
Martin Staszko makes a five-bet bluff in the biggest tournament betting you to an amount
of his life at the WSOP Main Event less than 50% of his stack
l You five-bet an amount
that means the player has
to move all-in or fold
l Your hand is somewhat
irrelevant, but holding an
Ace or a King makes it less
likely your opponent holds
A-A or K-K

www.PokerPlayer365.com
 FROZEN IN TIME

2006 WSOP
Jamie Gold didnt know how to go
about getting it quietly. He built
up a huge stack in the 2006 WSOP
Main Event and rode it all the way to
the final table. Before he won he was
spotted in the Rio toilets flanked by
burly bodyguards and he was
accompanied at the table by poker
legend Johnny Chan. Even after he won
the biggest Main Event first prize yet
a cool $12m the drama wasnt over.
He got embroiled in a legal battle with
friend Crispin Leyser and had to hand
over 50% of his winnings. Click the
video on the right for final table
commentary from the man himself.

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 2016 WSOP

2016
world
series
of
poker
The greatest show in the world is back, with
69 bracelets up for grabs 68 at the Rio
and one which will be contested fully online
for the first time. The 2016 WSOP sees the
return of team poker, promises to pay more
players than ever and, of course, crown a
new world champion

The 2016 World Series of Poker
opens its doors on May 31, with
cash games, single table satellites
and four levels of Daily Deepstacks from
$185 to $365. If youre after a bracelet the
first open event starts on June 2 and it will
be the biggest of the whole series. The
Colossus is back with a $7m guarantee,
two million up from last year, and a
guaranteed $1m for first place. The
Colossus comes with six starting flights
each of which will play into the money.
Players can surrender stacks and try again
the next flight, which means that players
could cash in the event more than once.
Action begins earlier this year, with start
times at the ungodly hour of 11am and 3pm,
and the majority of events will pay 15% of
the field. That could see a lot of events
hitting the money on Day 1. All $10k events,
including the Main Event, will start with 50k
stacks, up from 30k last year.
There are eight new events (see next
page), with a $565 PLO complementing the
$565 NLHE and a tag team event. Theres
also a weird Top Up Turbo event that plays
with 20-minute levels and lets you start
with double the chips by playing a $55 SNG
on WSOP.com or live at the Rio. Thats the
only change were not too sure of.
If you cant see the $1m buy-in Big One
for ONE DROP on the schedule, dont panic.
The WSOP has announced that this will be
taking place in 2016 in grand fashion. It
wont be in Vegas though, which has led to
rumours that it could be run in Macau
where it would attract a lot of interest
from the high stakes cash players and
businessmen. Well bring you news as soon
as we get it.
There are 69 events in total, the largest
yet for any WSOP. The final event is
traditionally the Main Event, but this year
its the $1,000 Little One for ONE DROP.
That kicks off after the three starting day
flights for the Main Event and should
ensure a huge field.
The only questions that remain are how
many bracelets will Phil Hellmuth win? And
will Phil Ivey turn up before the $111,111 BIG
ONE High Roller?

www.PokerPlayer365.com

the n00bs
There are 8 new events
this year these are the
best of them
July 6-8
Tag Team No-Limit
Holdem
You might not know this but one of
Doyle Brunsons ten bracelets was in a
tag-team format back in 1979. In this,
teams of 2-4 can play and you can
swap players any time youre not in an
active hand.
June 9-11
Pot Limit Omaha
With a buy-in of $565 and unlimited
re-entries, we guarantee this tourney
is going to get crazy. Its the lowest
price point for a WSOP Omaha event
and matches the $565 NLHE buy-in
some of the pros were so disapproving
of last year.
July 8
WSOP.com online NLHE
This was played last year but the final
table was at the Rio. This year its
fully online so you can win a bracelet
without leaving your hotel room.
July 1
crazy eights 8-handed
888poker is the online sponsor of the
WSOP and this is a nod to them an
$888 buy-in, 8-handed action and an
$888,888 first prize.
The WSOP has yet to announce
details of the live streaming but
you can expect to be able to
watch all of the final tables live,
most with hole cards and
commentary from David
Tuchman. Everyone in the poker
world wants the Main Event to be
streamed, but dont hold out too
much hope. ESPN will be filming
for their awesome highlights
package but we want a stream
on top. Please.
www.pokerplayer365.com
The schedule
June 1 #1 Casino Employees $565 2-day event
June 2 #2 Colossus II NLHE (re-entry) $565 6-day event
June 4 #3 7-Card Stud Championship $10k 3-day event
June 5 #4 Top Up Turbo NLHE $1k 2-day event
June 5 #5 Dealers Choice 6-Handed $1,500 3-day event
June 6 #6 No-limit Holdem $1,500 3-day event
June 6 #7 2-7 Draw Lowball (one re-entry) (no-limit) $1,500 3-day event
June 7 #8 H.O.R.S.E. $1,500 3-day event
June 7 #9 Heads Up NLH Championship $10k 3-day event
June 8 #10 6-Handed NLHE $1,500 3-day event
June 8 #11 Dealers Choice 6-Handed Championship $10k 3-day event
June 9 #12 Pot Limit Omaha (unlimited re-entry) $565 3-day event
June 9 #13 Seven Card Razz $1,500 3-day event
June 10 #14 Millionaire Maker No-Limit Holdem $1,500 5-day event
June 10 #15 Eight Game Mix (6-Handed) $1,500 3-day event
June 11 #16 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship (one re-entry) $10k 3-day event
June 12 #17 No-Limit Holdem $1k 3-day event
June 12 #18 H.O.R.S.E. $3k 3-day event
June 13 #19 Pot Limit Omaha $1k 3-day event
June 13 #20 Seven Card Razz Championship $10k 3-day event
June 14 #21 6-Handed No-Limit Holdem $3k 3-day event
June 14 #22 Limit Holdem $1,500 3-day event
June 15 #23 No-Limit Holdem $2,000 3-day event
June 15 #24 H.O.R.S.E. Championship $10k 3-day event
June 16 #25 No-Limit Holdem $2,500 3-day event
June 16 #26 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better $1,500 3-day event
June 17 #27 Seniors No-Limit Holdem Championship $1k 3-day event
June 17 #28 Limit Holdem Championship $10k 3-day event
June 18 #29 No-Limit Holdem $1,500 3-day event
June 18 #30 Six-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha $3,000 3-day event
June 19 #31 Super Seniors No-Limit Holdem (age 65+) $1,000 3-day event
June 19 #32 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Championship $10k 3-day event
June 20 #33 Summer Solstice NLHE (90-min levels) $1,500 5-day event
June 20 #34 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball (Limit) $1,500 3-day event
June 21 #35 Six-Handed No-Limit Holdem $5,000 3-day event
June 21 #36 Mixed Omaha/7-Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better $2,500 3-day event
June 22 #37 Pot Limit Omaha $1,500 3-day event
June 22 #38 6-Handed Limit Holdem $3k 3-day event
June 23 #39 6-Handed No-Limit Holdem Championship $10k 3-day event
June 23 #40 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball (Limit) $2,500 3-day event
June 24 #41 MONSTER Stack NLHE (no re-entry) $1,500 4-day event
June 24 #42 Shootout No-Limit Holdem $3k 3-day event
June 25 #43 7-Card Stud Hi-Lo Split-8 or Better Champ $10k 3-day event
June 26 #44 No-Limit Holdem $1k 3-day event
June 26 #45 Mixed No-Limit Holdem/Pot-Limit Omaha $1,500 3-day event
June 27 #46 Bounty No-Limit Holdem $1,500 3-day event
June 27 #47 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball (Limit) Championship $10k 3-day event
June 28 #48 No-Limit Holdem (30-minute levels) $5k 2-day event
June 28 #49 7-Card Stud $1,500 3-day event
June 29 #50 Shootout No-Limit $1,500 3-day event
June 29 #51 8-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha Championship $10k 3-day event
June 30 #52 No-Limit Holdem $3k 3-day event
June 30 #53 Mixed PLO/8; Omaha 8/8; and Big O $1,500 3-day event
July 1 #54 Crazy Eights 8-Handed No-Limit Holdem $888 4-day event
July 2 #55 Poker Players Championship (6-handed) $50k 5-day event
July 3 #56 No-Limit Holdem $1,500 3-day event
July 3 #57 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Split-8 or Better $1,500 3-day event
July 4 #58 No-Limit Holdem (30-minute levels) $1,000 2-day event
July 5 #59 No-Limit Holdem $5k 4-day event
July 5 #60 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better $1,500 3-day event
July 6 #61 Tag Team NLHE (2-4 person teams) $1k 3-day event
July 6 #62 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha (8-handed) $25k 4-day event
July 7 #63 No-Limit Holdem $1k 3-day event
July 7 #64 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Split 8 or Better $3k 3-day event
July 8 #65 Ladies No-Limit Holdem Championship $1k 3-day event
July 8 #66 WSOP.com ONLINE NLHE (re-entry) $1k 1-day event
July 8 #67 High Roller for One Drop No-Limit Holdem $111,111 3-day event
July 9 #68 Main Event $10k 117-day event
July 12 #69 Little One for One Drop NLHE $1K 3-day event
PP
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2016 WSOP
Q&A: felix
stephensen
He finished second in the biggest tourney in the
world in only his third cash ever. We ask the Betsafe
pro how he's going to follow that up in 2016
L
uck can strike at any time
you just have to ensure you
make the most of it. Felix
Stephensen was primarily an
online PLO cash game player
when he bet $1,000 on the Netherlands
beating Australia 3-2 in the 2014 World
Cup at 60/1. Memphis Depay scored
the winning goal in the 68th minute,
leaving Stephensen with a long sweat
for his $60k. Stephensen then made
the best decision of his life to 'have
some fun in Vegas', which culminated
with him buying into the Main Event.
Five months on from his original bet, he
finished second, netting him $5,147,911
in only his third ever cash. Stephensen
is now a member of Team Betsafe Pro
and travels the live tournament circuit.
PokerPlayer: You play a lot of
tournaments around the world, is the
deep
Felix Stephensen went
Final
in last year's EPT Grand
WSOP still the festival you
look forward to the most?
Felix Stephensen: The WSOP is
without question the highlight of
the year. The prestige, the
excitement and the sheer volume
of tournaments is like nothing
else in the world.
How long are you planning on being
there this year and what events are
you playing?
I'll get there late May and stay for the
Main Event, so probably a couple of
months in total. I'll play all the Pot Limit
Omaha events, most of the no-limit
events and probably a few mixed events
for practise. In all, I'm probably going to
play 30 tournaments at the Rio. I'll
probably play a few cash sessions as
well, but the main focus is on winning
my first bracelet.
www.PokerPlayer365.com
What are you looking forward to
outside of the Main Event?
I love the Omaha events. They're a lot of
fun and you get way more action than in
no-limit hold'em. It helps that I'm really
experienced at the game. Highlights for
me will be the $25k and $10k PLO, plus
the $10k six-max.
How do you cope with Vegas in
between tournaments?
Keeping your head straight is always a
challenge in Las Vegas. This year I'm
renting a house with friends off-Strip
and that should help a lot. We're all of
the same mindset in that we're there to
perform, not to go wild and party. I'm
sure there will be a late night or two,
though. We'll also play lots of golf and
tennis whenever the weather lets us.
Have you got any tips for readers
going for the first time?
CUT is one of my favourite restaurants,
with great food and good service, but
it's pretty pricey. Yellowtail Japanese
restaurant is also a winner. All
American Dave is a good healthy option
when you're grinding at the Rio. If
you're playing cash, try Aria or Bellagio.
I prefer Aria, it feels really slick.
You finished second in the 2014
Main Event did you have a big
stack right from the start?

Not at all. It took me five days to even
get to an average stack. In massive
tournaments like this patience is the
key. Lots of people try to push things
too much from the start.
Was there a specific hand that
you look back on as being critical
to your run?
There were quite a few big, important
hands. On Day 7 I had two massive
double ups, both with A-K. One was
early on against Mark Newhouse when
he had A-9, and then the biggest pot of
the tournament before the November
Nine when I got it in preflop against K-Q
and was lucky enough for it to hold up
(see the video below). The most
memorable hand was on Day 3 when I
was all-in for my tournament life with
K-J against A-K and managed to hit
my Jack. Looking back at it,
that was a huge moment.
As you play It was a lot
through the days
to take in at the
and you start
getting closer to time and it was
the November
Nine, how did
good to get out
you cope with of Vegas after
the pressure and
the cameras?
such an intense
Experience plays a week
big part. At that point I
didn't have a lot of it, but I
think it will hold me in good
stead this summer. Back in 2014 I tried
to stay focused, play one hand at a time
and play it the best I possibly could.
Don't over think it. You don't want to
put too much pressure on yourself. Try
and have fun, it's still the same game no
matter where you play it. Enjoy the ride.
Felix Stephensen: 2014 Main Event highlights
How do you approach a massive
tournament like the Main Event?
Does it take a different approach to
a standard MTT?
You have to prepare yourself for a
full week of playing poker. That means
you have to sleep well, eat well and
stay focused all the time. Try to keep
some sort of routine, and clear your
head of all the noise and focus on what
you're there to do.
What did you do when you finished
as the runner-up? Party or sleep for
a week?
I had a few drinks that night but then I
headed off to Los Angeles and rented a
house with some friends. It was a lot to
take in at the time and it was good to
get out of Vegas after what had been a
really intense week.
Have you watched all the
highlights back since?
Are you happy with
the way you played?
From what I know
about the
competition and
poker at the time I'm
really happy with my
performance. My
poker game is always
changing and
developing though so I
think I would have played
better now and done some
things slightly differently.
Felix Stephensen is a member of
Team Betsafe. The $10k buy-in
2016 WSOP Main Event starts July
10 with three Day 1s. The final table
will be contested in November. PP
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www.pokerplayer365.com
the betsafe
challenge
Betsafe poker pro Felix Stephensen has
proved himself at the very top level but he
started playing online. Are you ready to
follow in his footsteps? Sign up for a new
Betsafe Poker Black account today and put
your skills to the test by completing 10
poker challenges in 10 days.
1 Register an account
Click here to register a new account
with Betsafe Poker Black. Then download
the poker client, set-up your alias and find
the 10 challenges under My Account>View
My Achievements. You have 10 days to
complete all the challenges and your time
starts from the moment your register your
alias. As well as access to the challenges,
you'll get a welcome bonus (up to 1,000),
entry into 12 new player freerolls and a
loyalty programme that rewards all levels
of player.
2 the challenges
The 10 challenges are designed to test
your skills across a variety of games. Cash
in a freeroll, win 25 hands of Blaze Poker,
get dealt pocket Aces five times... You can
complete the 10 challenges in any order
just make sure you finish them all before
your time limit runs out.
3 the rewards
Complete the Betsafe poker
challenges and you'll get achievement
badges to display at the table, cash
rewards, tournament tickets and free
spins for some of Betsafe's most popular
slots. Let us know how you get on and if
you complete all 10 challenges email us at
pokerplayer@plyp.co.uk. Good luck!
Sign up for a new Betsafe Poker
Black account and start your
challenges today!
 www.pokerplayer365.com

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DEAL feature

Poker If youre planning a

poker holiday theres
a new destination on

in paradise
the map that offers
everything you could
want, and then some.
Dave Woods goes
deep at the Mazagan

www.PokerPlayer365.com
 pokerplayer365.com

The poker action

was fast and loose

And would you like fries

with that, sir? You cant
get the staff these days

After a bit of digging I

heard rumours that some
serious names were going
Teddy Sherringham
contemplates a call to be out there too

C
overing poker tournaments
can be a thankless task. One
assignment could see you
dispatched to a grey casino,
just off the motorway in the UK, with
only a Frankie and Bennys for
company. Once the tournament has
packed up for the night you can retire
there for a burger or stay in the casino
bar and listen to the bad beat stories.
However, covering poker tournaments
can also be one of the most wonderful jobs
ever. Ive been lucky enough to have
witnessed the best players play in the
most salubrious locations around the
world the Crown Casino in Melbourne,
Atlantis in the Bahamas, Monte Carlo and
Las Vegas are right up at the top. Poker
might be poker wherever you play it, but
the extras make these places shine.
Theyve now been joined by the
Mazagan Beach & Golf resort in Morocco.
The huge 5-star hotel in El Jadida is home
to the biggest casino in Africa, which plays
host to regular tournaments and the
quarterly deep stack the 3k buy-in
event that I was coming out to watch.
After a bit of digging I heard rumours
that some serious names were going to be
out there too. Roland de Wolfe (possibly
the prime candidate for pokers Where
are they now? treatment), James Bord
and assorted high stakes cash game
players, along with footballing legends
Tony Cascarino and Teddy Sherringham,
and snooker world champ Ken Doherty.
Bring it on.
Plane sailing
I was sat on the plane waiting for takeoff
when an email pinged through from the
Mazagan. Youre getting a car to the hotel
with Tony Cascarino, Teddy Sherringham
and Ken Doherty look out for them,
theyre on the same flight as you.
Sure enough, about five minutes later
they appeared and settled straight in
business class where they played Kalookie
for the entire flight, leaving me back in
economy with my Kindle.
I hooked up with them after the flight
and in a blur of anecdotes from the
football and snooker worlds, we arrived at
the Mazagan Resort where we were all
blown away by the scale and grandeur.
It was already 10pm and with the
tournament due to start the next day we
spent a couple of hours in the fantastic
fish and seafood restaurant, had a couple
of beers and retired to our rooms (after a
quick stroll round the casino, of course
just to get the lay of the land!).
Special guests
Coming down to the restaurant for
breakfast the next day, literally the first
person I bump into is Roland de Wolfe. De
Wolfe who coincidentally used to work
on a sister magazine Inside Poker in the
same office as PokerPlayer had a
meteoric rise to fame in the poker world,
winning the WPT Grand Prix de Paris in
July 2005 for 479,680 before coming
third in the WPT Championship the
following year for $1,025,205.
He went on to complete pokers triple
crown only the second person to do this,
after Gavin Griffin in 2008 after winning

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DEAL feature

Come the start time though,

Bord wasnt at the table and his
short stack was getting shorter
EPT Dublin in October
2006 and the $5k PLO
WSOP event in June
2009. Not much more
than a year later de
Wolfe had disappeared
from the poker world.
Actually, thats not
strictly true. De Wolfe
stopped playing
tournaments but you
could still find him in
some of the biggest
cash games in the UK,
at Les Ambassadeurs
casino in London.
I asked him if this
marked a return to the
tournament world? Im
not playing the tournament, he replied.
Further grilling confirmed that he was
out here for a big cash game but probably
wouldnt be playing tournaments again. De
Wolfe has no interest in headlines or
recognition, preferring instead to get it
extremely quietly through a mix of cash
games and sports betting.
Hes doing well for himself too. De Wolfe
and his entourage arrived by private jet and
whenever I saw him he was gambling,
whether round the poker table or the
breakfast table, where he made money
throwing sugar packets into a bowl.
A friend tried to get him interested in
the tournament and we almost had a
breakthrough. What sort of last longer
would make you play the tourney? his
friend said. 100k, de Wolfe replied. Id tournament was another young UK star,
Roland de Wolfe flew
in for the cash games
The pool is perfect for
extra curricular prop bets
want odds, said his friend. 6/5, came the
snap reply. Get lost. And that was that.
Playing poker isnt a requisite at the
Mazagan though. The huge resort caters
for everyone, with an 18-hole links golf
course designed by Gary Player the jewel in
the crown. Im still a golfing beginner so,
while the gamblers headed out onto the
course, I holed up at the Nike Golf
Academy, where I was treated to a hi-tech
examination of the limitations of my swing.
After that I took a quad bike out onto the
beach and then made the mistake of trying
to ride a horse. Thats one thing I wont be
doing again when I come back.
One out, one in
One player who did sit down for the
James Bord. Like de Wolfe, Bord had
slipped off the face of the poker world after
making a big splash when he won the
WSOPE Main Event in London in 2010 for
830,401. He went on to stake a lot of
players and cashed pretty consistently in
2011 before calling it quits, bar the odd
WSOP appearance.
Bord now splits his time between Vegas,
where he plays cash games, and London,
where hes hoping his beloved Spurs can
win the premier League for the first time
since 1960/61. If theyre still in contention
come the run-in, Im hiring a box, he said.
Bord, Sherringham, Cascarino and
Doherty were all still in contention come
the final day of the Deep Stack event too,
which was a massive success. Helped by
the half-price re-entry, it attracted 54
runners and 64 rebuys, creating a total
prize pool of 2,270,400 Dhs (around
$230k), smashing the 1.5m Dhs guarantee.
With 22 players returning to play to the
money at 15, Doherty was in the best
position with a 352,000 stack good for fifth
spot. Sherringham was in 12th with

tony
cascarino
no joy at poker, but
victory at golf for
the Ex-ROI footballer
How did you get on in the
tournament?
I lost a big bit of my stack
when I made the second
nut flush to someones nut
flush. To be fair he played it
well. We both flopped the
draw and hit on the river.
He checked, I bet and he
shoved over the top. I
thought for ages but I had
him covered and I had to
call. I thought he might
have thought I was making
a move, but he had it.
Have you played any cash
out here?
A little bit, not very high.
Its been a great trip. I love
the resort and the golf
course is great. I won the
golf out of me, Teddy and
Ken, so that was something.
The climates great and
its French speaking so I
get on with that too. I dont
let anyone know I can
speak French at the poker
table though. They can give
away a lot of info. One
bloke was saying to his
mate, Why didnt you go
all-in? He had nothing! I
played the next hand with
him, checked and he made
a move, and I snapped him
off with a hand.
What was the play like?
It was okay, very lively. The
French love to get their
chips in. One guy bought
back in 13 times! He had to
pretty much win it to get
his money back!

www.PokerPlayer365.com

ken doherty
the 1997 world snooker champ
cemented his love for the game
on the circuit
The French bistro is
one of a number of
fantastic restaurants
223,500, with Bord and Cascarino hoping to spin their short
stacks up. Come the start time though, Bord wasnt at the
table and his short stack started getting shorter. Hed last
been seen at the Alias nightclub doing the exact opposite How did you end up here?
that most strategy books would cite as the perfect I was supposed to be
preparation for a long day and a shot at a final table. playing in a snooker
He turned up about 15 minutes late, ordered a coffee, a tournament in Poland this
cheese panini and more in hope that anything else some weekend, but it was a PTC
Nurofen, but busted before they arrived, getting it in with event and I had no chance
Jacks and losing a flip to A-K. Crippled in more ways than of qualifying for the final,
one, Bord was eliminated the next hand, which was also so I thought a few days out
responsible for taking most of Teddy Sherringhams stack. here playing poker would be
With Bord all-in and looking like he was walking, a great idea.
Sherringham wasnt for folding and called three streets with
what turned out to be A-K-high. His opponent was definitely Are you playing much poker
polarised but unfortunately had it after flopping the straight these days?
with 4-6. Sherringham shoved his last few chips shortly after Not as much as I used to,
and left to watch Man U v Arsenal in the sports bar. but I love it. There are a lot
It was turning into a massacre for the Brits. Tony of similarities between
Cascarino was next to go when he had to call a shove from snooker and poker the
UTG with the optimistic 8-6. He couldnt have been in patience, concentration,
psychology and the
Sherringham shoved his strategy. Thats why a lot
of snooker players like
last few chips shortly after poker. I remember Steve
and left to watch Man U v Davis coming to the UK
Poker Championships and
Arsenal in the sports bar he brought his laptop and
he was playing online in the
press room. That started a
revolution. People brought
chips to tournaments and
wed play when the days
action was over. Taking a
pound or two off Steve
Davis or Stephen Hendry
was worth ten times anyone
elses cash.
They were the best?
No, they were the tightest!
It was great fun it was as
competitive as round the
snooker table.
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pokerplayer365.com
We were with Steve Davis
at the WSOP and he was
gutted when he busted...
He was telling me about
that. He said it was worse
than losing in the World
Champs against Taylor. The
buzz you get from playing is
incredible. Its the closest I
get to how I feel when Im
playing snooker.
Nerves are one of the
toughest bits of the game
do you find that easier?
Yeah, it helps, the
breathing, the composure,
but youre still feeling it
inside, you still get an
adrenaline rush. I was
nervous today, my heart
was pumping a bit, which
was a good feeling. Even in
snooker you have to have
that to perform at your
best. When the pressure
comes on you should relish
it. It sharpens the mind.
How did the tourney go?
I got knocked out on the
final day, just before the
cash. I was in a really good
position, started the day
fifth, and I just lost a few
hands early on. Thats
whats bugging me, but
theyre things you learn.
You reflect on these hands
and think you could have
played them differently.
What was the standard of
play like?
Good, aggressive, but I
enjoyed playing. Weve had
a fantastic couple of days,
weve played golf, the
course was fantastic, the
foods been great. Ill
definitely come back if
theres another poker
tournament great, if not Ill
come back with my wife and
son for a few days and just
chill out.
DEAL feature
The final table was played out
out in the swanky Alias nightclub
much better shape when UTG turned over pocket Fours. It got
better on the flop when he paired his Six and much, much
worse when his opponent turned a Four. It left all UK hopes
pinned on Ken Doherty, whose face was a mask of
concentration at the table. Unfortunately, he lost a big pot
when he flopped two pair and his opponent whod paired his
Ace on the flop turned a bigger two pair. Doherty couldnt
recover and he was in the sports bar with Sherringham in time
for the second half.
The final countdown
It left local player David Haziza as the big chip leader going
onto the final table, which was played in the flash surroundings
of the Alias nightclub. The main dance floor provided the
stage, with seats all around a huge bar. There was still plenty
of play in the stacks and after starting at 4pm the chip lead
swapped several times throughout the evening until Haziza
found himself heads-up against another local, Fahd Kaabat.
Kaabat had played a solid final table but he too found
himself short against the player who had dominated the past
ten hours of play. The final hand proved the adage that when
its your day, its your day. Kaabat got his chips in with T-Q
against Hazizas K-Q, was rewarded with the T-T-J flop, 3 quads,
only to see the A arrive on the turn. There was no way back
and at 2.30am, Haziza celebrated his biggest career win. PP
The Mazagan runs regular tournaments all year, with a
quarterly deep stack. Were also hearing rumours it might
be hosting an international low-stakes tour later in the
year. Find out more at www.mazaganbeachresort.com.
www.PokerPlayer365.com
whats so good
about the mazagan?
Theres a lot more to the moroccan resort than the
poker we give you a guided tour
The 18-hole links course
is spectacular and tough
1 the food
The food is awesome from the top-end fish place
Sel De Mer, through Morjana (Moroccan and Lebanese)
and La Cave (French). The highlight was Loup rti, mijote
de chou de Bruxelles au magret fum & champignons,
cume de coquillages which is Roasted sea bass, sauted
brussels sprouts with smoked duck & mushrooms, seashell
foam. Any chef that can do this with brussels is a star.
2 the golf
Designed by Gary Player, this 18-hole links course is
brilliant. And tough, especially when the winds up. If
youre not a golfer, or just want to improve after getting
tonked on the course, you can get lessons in the hi-tech
Nike Golf Academy.
buggies & horses
The Mazagan has 7km of stunning beach to explore.
You can wander off and find your own bit of paradise or go
exploring on a quad bike. The quads are a great way to get
a buzz fast enough to make you feel like an action hero
and actually slow enough to be safe for everyone. We also
tried a spot of horse riding, which was terrifying.
4 the nightclub
The deep stack final table played out in the middle of
the Alias Club on Sunday. On Friday and Saturday nights,
it played host to James Bord and the rest of the high
stakes poker fraternity. When we saw Bord on Sunday he
said, Im not sure if the bar bill last night was $5 or $50k,
but I paid it. Everyone else left. Now thats a party.
5 the spa
Scoff if you want but the massage we enjoyed at the
Mazagan was the cherry on the top. We asked for medium
and it was about as medium as we could take, but it took
away all the aches and pains associated with standing next
to a final table for eight hours.
 www.pokerplayer365.com

Get the knowledge beat the field

STRATEGY
identifying your enemy
TIP
of the Sometimes bluffing fish just calls out to you and you really
month want to do it, but just stop. Yes, its okay to c-bet fish in
appropriate spots, but whats not cool is when we start double
and triple barrelling our fish. Why? Its because the exact reason
we want these players at our table is because they dont fold! To
then try and make them fold on purpose is just stupid.
Matthew MDoranD Doran on bluffing fish read the full
article in the August 2012 issue, free in your PokerPlayer app

CONTENTS
26 the 20 biggest
tournament mistakes
Make the final table with our
guide to deep stack mistakes
32 under the gun
Dan OCallaghan shows
you how to drop the ICM
hammer on your opponents
34 positional sense:
kes and
late position
Stop making mista Make the most of the best
rt ma kin g the money
sta
spots on the poker table
38 grinderschool
video
Gazellig VPIPs just 29 hands
to get to a final table in this
small field $25 MTT
39 cardrunners
video
Be the boss in bounty
tournaments
40 GPI Rankings
The best tournament players
in the world this month
STRATEGY multi-table tournaments

BIGGEST MTT
MISTAKES
Deep stack tournaments give you the chance to scoop a
huge prize for a small outlay, and provide a real test of your
poker skills. Looking for help? We cant guarantee youll
win every big tournament you play in, but we can ensure
you dont bust out through a silly mistake

www.PokerPlayer365.com

You could end up here on TV
playing for life-changing cash
1. Not preparing
Deep-stack MTTs are a marathon. You
might not think you need to do anything to
prepare, but wait until youve been sat at
the same table for ten hours. You need to
keep your focus and concentration levels
up all the time and if you start the day off
tired, its a recipe for disaster.
Have a good nights sleep the night
before. Dont drink. Try and wake up at a
reasonable time, but if youre an early riser
then try to have a lie-in. You might be
playing until 2am so you dont want to be
up at 6am. If you can fit in some light
exercise, great. Eat something healthy a
couple of hours before the tournament a
salad and some grilled chicken is ideal.
Then, make sure you get to the tourney
on time. The last thing you want to do is to
run late and create any unnecessary stress
for yourself before you sit down. Get to the
table early and you can get the lie of the
land and possibly pick up some crucial
information on your opponents before they
don their sunglasses.
2. fear of losing
Poker is a gambling game. Its a mix of skill
and chance, and for that reason anyone
can win a tournament. Actually, thats not
true. If youre scared of losing, you wont
win. If its your first big live tournament its
tough to play in a way thats optimal for
winning, but you have to try.
All the money is at the top end of a
tournament. Only 10% of the field will get
paid, which means that your chances of
cashing are slim. Even the best players
know this and embrace the possibility of
losing while targeting the real money on
the final table.
Were not saying you should be reckless
far from it. You dont even have to play
loose and aggressively. Play solid, good
poker, but when the big decisions come,
dont be scared of putting all your chips
in the middle. And dont freeze as you
approach the money.
3. following the
crowd
Youve paid your money and that gives you
the right to play how you want. Theres
been a lot of talk about the new breed of
poker players being unsociable taking
everything too seriously, not talking, and
wearing sunglasses and earphones at the
table. We agree poker should be fun, but
you shouldnt feel under any pressure to
act in a way that makes you uncomfortable
or thats not a natural fit for your personality.
If youre a chatty person, great. If youre
feeling stressed and finding it tough to deal
with the dynamics of live poker, then stick
your sunglasses and earphones on if it
makes you feel better. Be warned though,
you need to be extra vigilant if you do. Its
easy to miss raises if youre cant hear the
action round the table.
4. talking too much
That brings us neatly to the next point.
Poker is a game of information. You should
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Deep-stack MTTs are great
fun. You get lots of chips,
which means you can try out
all the moves you've learned
over the years against your peers and
depending on the level of event youre
playing some of the worlds top pros.
They also give you the chance to win
life-changing money, with millions up
for grabs in the biggest events.
They can be brutal though. Depending
on the structure, deep-stack MTTs can
go on for a long, long time. And the
volatility of NLHE means you can play
perfectly for hours on end and then bust
from a single mistake. Believe us, theres
nothing worse than making the walk of
shame knowing you messed up.
The good news is that you never have
to experience that feeling again. Weve
compiled a list of the biggest mistakes
you can make in deep-stack MTTs so
you never have to make them again. If it
helps propel you to a massive win our
cut is a measly 5%.
give as little to your opponents as possible.
The jocular chap next to you might actually
be a skilled pro whos using the art of
conversation to build up a highly accurate
profile of the way you play. Dont tell him
that you just want to cash and that youre
going to fold any hand around the bubble.
Dont be paranoid though. This is all part
of the rich tapestry of live poker. Why not
try to be that person yourself? Be friendly
and try to pump your opponents for
information. Treat it as part of the game.
Be very careful about talking during and
about a hand though. Its very easy to give
away how confident or nervous you are. A
response to a seemingly innocent question
could be enough to convince your
opponent youre on a stone-cold bluff. One
of the most common questions at the table
is, Will you show if I fold? How would you
answer that? If you say Yes, did you know
youre more likely to elicit a call?
If youre not an experienced player, the
best thing to do is stay quiet. Do this every
time and you wont give away the strength
of your hand. It might seem rude to ignore
someone, but theyre not necessarily
expecting an answer.
5. too much caffeine
Yes, you want to be alert during a poker
tournament. Theres nothing worse than
sitting there on autopilot with a fuzzy head,
desperately trying to stay awake. If it helps,
a coffee or a Red Bull could be a good idea,
but dont get carried away.
If you can, you should avoid caffeine
early on. If youve prepared you should be
STRATEGY multi-table tournaments

Don't make a mistake with

rested and your light brunch should have your monster stack of chips
given you all the energy you need to get you
through the first half of the day. If you start
on coffees or Red Bulls early and youre
playing for 12 hours, you might be tempted
to keep drinking them and thats a recipe
for disaster. Drink too much caffeine and
your thought process will be messed up.
Sammy Farha partly blames caffeine for
his loss to Chris Moneymaker in the 2003
WSOP Main Event. Farha says he should
have called Moneymakers infamous bluff
heads-up a call that could have changed
the entire poker landscape. His excuse? I
had drunk 20 cans of Red Bull and 20 cups
of coffee; you can imagine what that does
to your brain.
Look at a coffee or a Red Bull as a last
resort. If you can avoid them, great. If
youre really struggling, try to keep your
consumption to the minimum.

6. not paying
attention
This goes for the entire course of the
tournament, but there are key moments
when you should be on full alert. You might
think Level 1 is dull, but this is your chance
to tag your opponents quickly and easily.
Start with the players that youre more likely
to get into confrontations with the two
players to your right and the two to your left.
Note how they play, what hands they
showdown, whether they three-bet, call too
much, or defend their blinds too wide. Now
open your focus out to the rest of the table.
It might seem like a lot but its actually fairly
easy to tag a whole table after the first level
of play and this information could be
invaluable later on. Remember depending
on your table number you might be
playing with these players for a long time.

7. over-valuing
hands early on
You might have heard the saying that you
cant win a tournament on Day 1, but you
can lose it. Well thats even more true for
Level 1. With super-deep stacks the value of
big pairs is diminished and the value of
speculative hands like small pocket pairs
and suited connectors is raised.
You might look down at Aces and get
excited. You raise and pick up two callers.
The J-6-5 flop seems harmless so you c-bet
and get check-raised. You go with the
adrenaline rush and before you know it
youre all-in and your opponent has flipped
over pocket Sixes, leaving you dead to two
outs that dont come.
On the way out of the room you tell your
mate you got unlucky and some donkey
cracked your Aces. You didnt get unlucky.
You made a big, big mistake. You might
think Level 1
8. stack syndrome
is dull but it's a
Always think about your stack in terms of
big blinds. If your starting stack is 10k and chance to tag
the blinds are 25/50 then you have 200 big your opponents
blinds. Thats massive. If you lose a decent
pot early on and go down to 7,500 chips quickly and
you might feel a bit discouraged but you easily
shouldnt youve still got 150 big blinds!

www.PokerPlayer365.com

Be prepared to play
for hours on end
Its really common for inexperienced
players to think theyve got to win their
chips back by forcing the play, but youre
more likely to lose even more doing this.
Even if you dont lose chips, its all too
easy to look at the biggest stack on your
table and get envious. Dont. Your stack is
all that matters. Sticking around the
tournament average is great, but above all
else play to your stack size. Youre not
short stacked and imperilled until youre
down to less than 15 big blinds.
9. Drinking
After the first few levels a lot of players
especially British ones decide its time
for their first alcoholic beverage. Thats a
big mistake, unless youre just in the
tournament for a laugh. Alcohol might
loosen you up, and if you find tournaments
stressful you might think thats a good
thing, but it wont really help. Are you
planning on drinking until the end of the
night? Good luck with that. And if you start
and then stop, youre going to feel even
worse. Try and stay off the alcohol
completely, although were not going to
begrudge you a beer in the final level if
youre coasting through with a big stack.
10. getting personal
Grudges can form at the poker table really
easily. Lots of players take losing a hand
badly. If they get sucked out on its even
worse, and if anyone has the gall to bluff
them and show Leave your ego behind.
Pokers a game. Getting lucky is part of that
game, as is bluffing. If you start making it
personal its likely to end badly for you. If
theres an idiot at your table, work out if he
has any flaws in his game and tackle him
that way. Look out for other players who
might be playing badly against him because
they dont like him. These are all dynamics
that can play into your hands.
11. tilting
It can happen when you get your set of
Aces cracked by a runner-runner flush. Or
when you get a bit of needle from someone
whos just won a pot off you. However you
get there, playing when youre emotional
or tilting is very bad for your stack. The
tournament wont stop for you but you can
decide to take a break. Get up and walk
around for 10 minutes and get some fresh
air if you can. Tell yourself that everything
that happens is a part of the game and
youre not going to let it adversely affect
your chances of doing well in the
tournament. When youre feeling calm, sit
back down and carry on playing.
12. calling too much
At the start of the tournament its all about
your speculative hands. When the stacks
are deep, disguised suited cards can win
you lots of chips and theres plenty of
implied odds to make it worth limping.
Dont take this strategy too far. As the
blinds rise and the stacks get shallower,
you need to stop calling and start raising.
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If there's an
idiot at the table
work out if he
has any flaws
and tackle him
that way
Suited connectors and small pairs lose
their value with a medium stack. If you keep
limp/folding youre going to get short
stacked before you know it. Adjust your
game and try to get out of the habit of
limping when your stack is shorter.
13. moaning about
your cards
Being card dead really sucks in a big
tournament when youre on an active table
where its really hard to find spots to steal
and stay in the game. But it happens and
youve got to find a way of dealing with it.
Pick your spots and try to attack players
who havent shown much resistance
preflop. Picking up blinds and antes once
an orbit will keep your stack happy.
Remember that only you know youre
folding rubbish hands. Everyone else at the
table will think youre ultra-tight and you
can use that image to steal pots and keep
yourself in the game until your luck turns.
For that reason you should never start
complaining about your cards and let
people know whats really going on.
14. not using your
big stack
If youre lucky enough to accumulate chips
early on, then make good use of them. You
should keep the pressure on your table,
who wont want to tangle with you
unnecessarily. Target the weak, passive
players who will fold too much to you and
only play back with a monster. Be prepared
STRATEGY multi-table tournaments

It's hard to build a stack

to take your foot off the pedal if people do stack and easy to lose it
start playing back at you though. You can
lose a big stack in a much shorter space of
time than it took you to accumulate it.
You shouldnt gamble too much either. Lots
of players build stacks and then decimate
them by making calling shoves too wide
just because they can afford it. Do you
really think your K-J is good? Base this on a
specific read rather than the fact youve got
five times as many chips as your opponent.

15. not abusing the

bubble
If youre a short stack the period
approaching the bubble can be the worst
part of a tournament. Play crawls to a halt
and bust-outs seem to stop completely.
Cashing should be your first aim so you
need to keep an eye on the play at your
table, and try to find out if there are other
short stacks on other tables. 10BBs might
be a short stack but if youve just paid the
blinds you can eke out that stack for a
decent amount of time.
If youre a medium-big stack though, this
is your time to shine. Pro players love the
bubble if theyve got a stack. Its their time
to get busy, raising and three-betting lots
of pots in a bid to accumulate chips and put
pressure on the players that dont want to
bust before the money.
If youve got a stack its a huge mistake
to not do the same thing. Target the
players who are clinging on and the
medium stacks who dont want to get
involved in a huge confrontation that could
see them eliminated before the shorties.
This is your chance to play yourself into a
really strong position for your tilt at the
final table.

16. not responding

post bubble
Once the bubble bursts and everyones in
the money things can go a little crazy. All
the short stacks that have been hanging on
suddenly get a new sense of freedom and
start happily shoving their stacks in a bid to
get lucky or go home.
If youve been raising every hand with
a decent stack its time to adjust and start
17. abusing the final Once the
to play proper poker again. Take stock of
the stack sizes on your table and play
table bubble bubble bursts
accordingly, watching out for anyone Congratulations, youre almost at the final and everyone's
who's obviously got itchy feet. table! Making a final table is a real
Remember generally that stacks are achievement and once youre there, anyone in the money
shallower now compared to the blinds so can win, even the shortest stack. Before things can
theres going to be more preflop play. You you get there, though, theres another
should be calling less and raising/three- bubble to abuse. Everyone wants to make go a little
betting more. Your next target should be the final table and the dynamics on the final crazy
the final table. two tables can be similar to the money

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 www.pokerplayer365.com

Major events like the EPT

offer fame and fortune

Above
all, don't be
pressured into
taking a deal
that doesn't
work for
you

bubble, with some players holding on and
others accumulating chips.
With a big stack you should be looking to
three-bet in a variety of circumstances.
Players with medium stacks are your
targets, as they are more likely to err on the
side of caution. Try to stay away from good
thinking players if at all possible, although
one scenario that crops up occasionally at
this stage is the re-resteal.
A re-resteal is when you target a thinking
opponent who is attempting to resteal his
way to the final table. A resteal is when you
attempt to win the pot preflop by re-raising
over the top of an active preflop player who
you believe is targeting a weaker player at
the table and has a stack where he can fold.
This is a move that will only work in a
deep-stacked situation, preferably against
a player who is capable of folding and who
has been very active. Taking advantage of
these sorts of situations will dramatically
increase your chances of making the final
table with a dominant stack and a good
shot at the top spots.
an ICM calculator online which uses the
independent chip model to come up with
equity figures. This favours the shorter
stacks but is more commonly used than
the chip-chop model which pays according
to stacks and favours the big stacks. If in
doubt, play on. Theres nothing worse then
realising youve taken a bad deal in the heat
of the moment that gives you little more
than you would have got anyway.
19. not adjusting for
short-handed play
As people start to bust out of the final table
you need to start ramping up your
aggression. As play gets short handed you
need to start opening with a much wider
range of hands or youll risk blinding out.
The big money is in the top three spots of
a tournament so if theres no deal then you
need to open up your game and go for the
win. Fortune favours the brave.
20. getting unlucky
Unless youre Phil Hellmuth you cant win a
poker tournament without getting lucky at
some point. You might not have to come
from behind on a flop with 5% equity, but
you will have to win a few coin flips
especially on the final table where shallow
stacks and short-handed play dictate a lot
of all-ins preflop.
So practice them the day before the
tournament. Pick heads or tails, then flip a
coin until youre a fair way ahead of 50%
and then quit.
Okay, were joking. That wont improve
your chances of winning flips on the big
day. For that youll need to wear your lucky
underpants. Good luck! PP

18. Taking a bad deal

When youre on the final table talk might
move to a deal. Generally this happens
when theres four players or less left, but
weve known full final tables chop a tourney
before. Some players like doing deals and
others wont consider them. Theyre there
to cut down on the variance when stacks
are shallow and the pay jumps are big.
If the money means a lot to you, you
might want to deal. If you do, dont be
pressured into taking a deal that doesnt
work for you, even if youre the only one on
the table whos against it.
If youve got a friend there, discuss it Can you play your A-game
when the pressure is on?
with him. You can also put the details into

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Under
Gun
the
Dan OCallaghan reveals how you can use the ICM hammer to
devastating effect. Find out how and test yourself over the page
I
f any of you watched the
stream of my GPPT High
Roller win last month
(shameless brag), you
may have wondered why I was
sitting there spamming the raise
button with my headphones on
instead of being my usual,
sociable self. Well, I had a pretty
big chip lead throughout the
final table and I was actually
listening to MC Hammers
Hammer Time to encourage
me to keep up the momentum.
Believe me, nothing gives you
more motivation to swing the
ICM mallet!
ICM or the independent
chip model usually forces you
to call your stack off tighter, but
I get the impression that people
only consider it when looking for
an excuse to justify passivity.
Theres way more to ICM
than this it can be a blessing
and a curse. Yes, it forces you to
make brutal folds and it can be
annoying, but ICM can also be
your best buddy. With the right
dynamics an ICM hammer can
be all you need to manipulate
your opponents into folding
hands you would usually need a
crowbar to part them from.
Heres a great example from last
months GPPT final table with
blinds at 12k/24k/4k.
The stack set ups in this hand
are vital. We are the runaway
chip leader, with about three
times as many chips as Nathan
Farnaby, who is in second place
with a comfortable stack of
around 20BBs. We are facing a
sizeable pay jump and there are
three smaller stacks, one with
only four big blinds left.
After one of the small stacks
folds, Nathan raises it to 53k
from the cut-off. Nathan is a
good, aggressive player and has
a solid understanding of ICM.
Ive seen him make some
disciplined folds
earlier on in the
tourney to
support this.
As he is The ICM and
currently stack dynamics
second in
chips, Nathan make it really
has a good hard for him to
incentive to
target the continue
mid-stacked
player who is
currently on the big
blind. Not only is the BB
pretty damn tight to start with,
it would be a financial disaster
for him to go broke before the
micro stack either busts or
doubles up.
Nathan is aware of this
dynamic and can expect a blind
steal to be successful here,
which will almost certainly
widen his overall opening range.
Nonetheless, since he still has
to consider that the 4BB micro
stack is likely to get it in pretty
wide, we can be confident that
he doesnt have complete trash
and has a hand that has a
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reasonable chance of winning
when all-in. A range of 22+,
A2o+, K2s+, Q8s+, J9s+, T9s,
98s, 87s, 76s, A2o+, K9o+,
QTo+, JTo+, or around 33%
seems about right.
The micro stack folds and we
look down at J-6o in the SB.
Now of course, folding here is
fine and in almost any other
scenario doing anything
other than tossing the
J-6o into the muck
in this spot
would probably
be a mistake.
However, the
context and
presence of
the small
stacks makes
things more
interesting.
This is a great
spot to use them as
leverage, and three-bet to
a sizing that is big enough to put
Nathan to a shove or fold
decision. We three-bet to 135k
and Nathan folds pretty quickly.
Hammer time
The ICM and stack dynamics
make it incredibly difficult for
Nathan to continue with
anything other than the top
three or four percent of hands.
Sure, he may choose to call us
sometimes, but even out of
position with J-6o, this aint no
biggy, because he still has the
same risks of ICM suicide
postflop, which means hell have
to play pretty face up.
This is great for us because it
means we will both be able to
realise the bulk of our equity
and bluff more effectively than
usual, should we need to. Our
three-bet basically puts Nathan
in a situation in which there is
nothing he can do but fold the
vast majority of the time.
Without going into the maths
too much, this is great from our
perspective. Were risking 123k
more to win the 109k already in
the middle, meaning we need
Nathan to fold a little more than
half of the time to make our bluff
profitable (around 53% to be
precise). Assuming the 33%
range I did earlier, we force him
to fold about 85-90% of his
opening range, which gives us
an insanely profitable three-bet.
The beauty of this spot is that
there is literally nothing Nathan
can do about it. Ordinarily hed
be able to move in wider for
value (or as a bluff if he suspects
were light), but here the stack
dynamic makes this financially
suicidal. He simply has to stand
there, let us pull his trousers
down and smile while we tickle
his gooseberries.
This hands a great example
of how you can manipulate your
opponents understanding of
ICM. If youd like to see a few
more, you can watch the whole
final table of my High Roller win
by clicking here.
Test yourself!
What would you do in these tournament situations? Answers at the bottom
Game: $50 online MTT Question 1
Stage: Final table, blinds 5k/10k/1k Its the first hand of an online
MTT final table and you get dealt
UTG UTG + 1 UTG + 2 UTG + 3 Hijack Cut-off Button SB BB
156,500 203k 257k 77,500 81k 454,500 1,010,500 203k 304,500
6-6 under the gun. There are
two stacks shorter than you and
several larger stacks. What
should you do?

a) Fold
b) Limp in
c) Raise to 25,000
d) Move all-in

B B

Question 2 Game: $100 online MTT

Youre the chip leader on the final Stage: Final table, blinds 3k/6k/500
table of a $100 online MTT and
UTG UTG + 1 Hijack Cut-off Button (You) SB BB
there are seven players left. Its Fold Fold Fold Fold 365k 84k 54k
folded to you on the button with
J-T. The small blind has 14BBs
and the big blind has 9BBs. What
should you do??

a) Fold
b) Limp in
c) Raise to 14k
B
d) Move all-in

Answers

Answer 1 Answer 2
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www.pokerplayermagazine.co.uk
STRATEGY POSITION
Positional
sense
Late position
Youve got the best seat at the
table and you dont want to waste
it we show you how to make late
position pay
Y
ears from now poker will take place at
Wembley stadium. The players will sit on a
raised stage as 90,000 crazed fans scream in
star-struck frenzy as spotlights rake the sky.
Before play begins the announcer sucks in air and
bellows Lets play poker! A thousand fireworks
shot from the stadiums iconic arch marks the
beginning of play
And thats the image we want you to have when you
play in late position. Okay, maybe were exaggerating a
little, but the message were trying to convey is that
when youre in late position its time to become a real
poker player. Its here that you can make moves, be
creative and really gather chips.
As we discussed last issue, position gives a huge
tilt in the strategic dynamic. If youre first to act
youre often left guessing what your opponents will
do or what hands they hold. Conversely, if youre last
to act you have information on what all the other players
have done. As before well give some hand advice but
mostly well discuss concepts and plays which you can
use to strengthen your play and make chips in pokers
most powerful positions.
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Take your seats
Typically, late position is viewed as the button, the
cut-off (the seat before the button) and the hijack. After
the flop, of course, late position could be any seat on the
table where you act last. Bear in mind when considering
your preflop play that you must consider those to act
between you and the button. In some games with
passive players you can open the pot one or two places
off the button with substandard hands; with loose or
aggressive players behind youll need to tighten up and
You should consider the
players in the blinds and
how likely they are to
defend or play back
only make those plays from the cut-off, and sometimes
just on the button.
Its difficult to give specific hand advice because
sometimes, in late position, you can play any two cards.
For example, in the later stages of a tournament when
the blinds are pretty big and there are tight/weak
players in those seats you can open the pot with a raise
from the cut-off or button with any two cards. In most
games if the action is passed to you in late position you
should open with a raise. The chances of taking the
blinds uncontested and having the lead after the flop

Make the most of your
hands in late position
make this correct. Only if the blinds regularly defend
or play back against a late position raiser can limping
be considered.
In general you can play any hands that have some
playable value. So any pocket pairs, any two high cards
above a Ten, any two suited connectors and any hands
like A-5 that have great implied odds if you hit the
flop hard. Basically any two cards with a relationship to
each other.
You need to adjust to the situation and how the action
has developed. If there are a lot of players in the pot a
hand like A-9 offsuit is often a fold as it doesnt play well
multi-way. If a tight player has opened the pot with a
raise you need to tighten up and rarely enter the pot
unless youre making a play, which well discuss later. If
the pot is unopened then you can consider a very wide
range of hands.
If youre on the button and one or several players have
limped into the pot you have lots of possibilities. This is
a great situation to play a hand that works well in a
multi-way pot, such as a small pocket pair or suited
connectors. You may even consider a pot sweetening
raise as your situation is very favourable. An alternative
play is to punish the limpers and attempt to take the pot
right now with a decent-sized raise.
Often you should follow this up with a significant bet
on the flop continuing to represent a good hand. This
play cant be done too often against observant
opponents but is often very effective. A final possibility
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is to limp on the button with any two cards this can be
a profitable play in deeper-stacked games. The idea
here is that there will be a lot of pots after the flop that
you can claim when the other players fail to make a
hand. The button is everything in no-limit holdem play
it often, be aggressive and bring the pain to those tight/
weak losers who act timidly in front of you.
Daylight robbery
Stealing the blinds is an essential part of any no-limit
holdem players arsenal. Late position is the easiest
place to do this from as there are fewer players between
you and the goal of winning the blinds and antes
uncontested. You should not view this as an automatic
play as some players do but as a science itself.
You should consider the players in the blinds and how
likely they are to defend their blinds, or worse play back
and try to resteal from you. It can be dangerous to try
and steal from short stacks as theyre looking to take a
stand with anything and, conversely, big stacks can
afford to make a move at you or see a flop; therefore
players with medium-size stacks are often the best
people to steal from. However, the best guide for picking
on a blind is the type and characteristics of the player.
Youre looking for tight, uncreative players who only play
if they find a real hand.
Calling an early position raiser from late position,
usually on the button, can open up a lot of possibilities
for later in the hand. This move is more useful the
STRATEGY POSITION

deeper the stacks that both you and the raiser are
playing. This is because you have greater implied odds
i.e. greater reward when you make a hand and
greater manoeuvrability on later streets to take the pot
away. You should consider doing this with hands like 6-7
suited that can make a big hand and are likely to be live
against the initial raisers holdings, which will probably
be a big pair or two high cards. Against weak/tight
players who give up their hands too easily after the flop
and turn you can call with some very weak hands;
however, make sure you dont overestimate your ability
to play postflop the pot will be heads-up and the
money is deep.
Three-betting preflop is an aggressive move that can
be extremely effective but carries a fair amount of risk.
One example of this play is when an aggressive or loose
player has opened the pot from middle or late position
and youre on the button. By making a re-raise in this
spot with any two cards you often have a great
chance to take the pot away right there and then as
youre representing a strong hand. The downside of this
play is that it involves betting a decent amount of chips
as you need to make a big enough re-raise to prevent
the original raiser calling to hit his hands. If he has a
premium hand you wont like the response you get but if
youve picked the right player youll usually take the pot.
An even stronger play based on the move weve just
discussed is the squeeze play. The opportunity to use it
may not arise often but when it does and you correctly
pull the trigger, we guarantee youll feel good!
The play can be used when a player usually a looser
type of player has opened the pot and at least one
other has called the opening raise. The action moves to
you in late position and you make a big re-raise maybe
four or five times the original raise with any two cards.
This action looks incredibly strong as its exactly the bet
youd make with a big hand like Aces or Kings. If the
original raiser doesnt have a huge hand you will almost
always win the pot immediately. Effectively youre
squeezing the second player in the pot who would have
re-raised if hed have had a big hand and is very likely to
have a holding he cant call your big bet with.
Floppage
On the flop you should continue to use your position to
be the aggressor and put pressure on other players.
Floating on the flop is a legitimate tactic, which can be
profitable in the right situations. This involves calling on
the flop often with nothing with the intention of
taking the pot away on the turn. This move applies to
heads-up pots only and its particularly effective against
a lot of new players who make continuation bets on the
flop like theyre a religious compulsion, and then check
the turn if theyre nervous about their hand.
Be aware that your story needs to be convincing
though, so this move will be more successful when the
turn card gives your opponent reason to be worried. For
example, if there are two flush cards on the flop, you call,
and the third flush card arrives on the turn and you
spring to life, to some players their great starting hand
will suddenly look pretty puny. Another example would
be when the flop comes small but the turn is an Ace or

hammer time
In this hand, from the superb TV show High Stakes Poker, Barry
Greenstein uses position to devastating effect
Barry Greenstein
Eli Elezra
Greenstein raises looking to win
the hand right there. Elezra calls
out of the big blind with K-J.
The flop
Elezra checks and Greenstein bets
$6k to make the pot $11k in total.
Elezra now check-raises him with
his top pair/decent kicker, making
it $15,000 to go and bringing the
pot to $32,000 total.
Elezra has countered
Greensteins positional advantage
and aggressive play. However, hes
also given Greenstein a lot of
information about his hand. At this
point most players would fold.
Greenstein, however, re-raises him
all-in for over $90k.
Elezra thinks for a long time
before folding. Greenstein was
able to make this move because of
the information his position gave
him. He reasoned it was extremely
unlikely Elezra would play a Four
this aggressively. He can probably
narrow his holdings down to a
weakish King (note he didnt
re-raise pre-flop thus probably
eliminating A-K) a flush draw or a
bluff. He reasoned the probability
of him holding a hand he could call
a big all-in with was unlikely.
This is a fantastic, courageous
play by a top professional and is,
of course, laden with risk as it
involves a huge bet. But it
demonstrates that if you can
couple player knowledge with the
extra information late position
gives, you can terrorise your
opponents and profit from it.
even a King. If your opponent is holding a hand like Tens
or Jacks and youre prepared to bet this big card youre
putting your opponent to a really difficult decision.
These are some of the concepts and plays available to
you in late position. Remember, theres no necessity to
make these aggressive moves, and if youre playing in
games where your opponents hate to fold youll have to
cut down the amount of moves you make. But your
mindset in late position or when youre last to act should
be aggressive, switched on and strong.
You should be ceaselessly looking for opportunities to
take pots away that no one else wants. Remember the
players acting before you are giving you information
with their actions. Look for weakness in the form of
checks or small bets and attack them. Of course, you
need to consider the players in the pot with you, like
those who check-raise a lot, when youll need to lower
your bluffing frequency. Also be aware of the board;
something like Q-5-2 rainbow offers you a far greater
opportunity to win the pot than J-10-9 with two hearts
where someone could be drawing or trapping.
Late position is your chance to be a real poker player
to steal, out-aggress, take people out of their comfort
zones and make creative moves. Be bold, be brave, be
the man. Youre the queen and theyre the bitches
Erm, sorry, you get the picture.
Your mindset in late
position should be
aggressive, switched
on and strong

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 Global Poker Index
rankings
The GPI is the worlds most respected ranking system for live tournaments.
We count down the best players in the world this month
WORLD POKER RANKINGS
rank name nat points
1 Steve ODwyer 4,438.59
2 Byron Kaverman 4,140.29
3 Bryn Kenney 4,064.73
4 Jason Mercier 4,034.73
5 Connor Drinan 3,975.62
6 Dominik Nitsche 3,973.18
7 Nicholas Petrangelo 3,946.01
8 Fedor Holz 3,818.05
9 Anthony Zinno 3,756.48
10 Stephen Chidwick 3,742.04
11 David Peters 3,733.56
12 Sean Winter 3,702.69
13 Erik Seidel 3,684.12
14 Davidi Kitai 3,681.75
15 Barry Hutter 3,638.57
16 Kevin MacPhee 3,619.33
17 Mustapha Kanit 3,618.79
18 Adrian Mateos 3,550.47
19 Mike McDonald 3,457.52
20 Dzmitry Urbanovich 3,455.74
US poker rankings
rank name world points
1 Steve ODwyer #1 4,438.59
2 Byron Kaverman #2 4,140.29
3 Bryn Kenney #3 4,064.73
4 Jason Mercier #4 4,034.73
5 Connor Drinan #5 3,975.62
6 Nicholas Petrangelo #7 3,946.01
7 Anthony Zinno #9 3,756.48
8 David Peters #11 3,733.56
9 Sean Winter #12 3,702.69
10 Erik Seidel #13 3,684.12
www.PokerPlayer365.com
GPI PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2015
rank name NAT points
1 Byron Kaverman 4,736.90
2 Anthony Zinno 4,649.05
3 Steve ODwyer 4,640.17
4 Nicholas Petrangelo 4,605.26
5 Fedor Holz 4,260.13
6 Dzmitry Urbanovich 4,233.71
7 Jason Mercier 4,175.44
8 Connor Drinan 3,996.08
9 Scott Seiver 3,887.88
10 Erik Seidel 3,875.60
11 Paul Volpe 3,852.86
12 Dominik Nitsche 3,848.66
13 Stephen Chidwick 3,792.63
14 Martin Finger 3,741.42
15 Joe Kuether 3,740.72
16 Igor Yaroshevsky 3,720.62
17 Mike McDonald 3,689.68
18 Barry Hutter 3,681.94
19 Sam Greenwood 3,678.50
20 Bryn Kenney 3,660.40
uk poker rankings
rank name world points
1 Stephen Chidwick #10 3,742.04
2 Simon Deadman #56 2,842.72
3 Jack Salter #57 2,830.43
4 Charlie Carrel #71 2,678.79
5 Niall Farrell #73 2,659.83
6 Kully Sidhu #120 2,295.10
7 Ben Heath #134 2,189.97
8 Ludovic Geilich #135 2,178.65
9 Tom Hall #138 2,171.20
10 Senh Man Ung #142 2,165.88
2016 irish open

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