Research the Reverse

I remember the first time I walked into Binion's Horseshoe in Las Vegas. It just happened to be during May, and the World Series of Poker was in progress. I saw throngs of people lining the rails to get a glimpse of what turned out to be the final table of the big event.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"They're shooting it out for all the money," someone responded.

"Who is?" I asked.

"Who? Are you from another planet?"

Well, I must have been from another planet, because even though I played poker rather regularly, I had no clue what was going on or why.

That was my first exposure to tournament poker, and if it created that much excitement, I needed to know more. I set about the task of understanding why the magnitude of the WSOP was so great. I won't go into the history of the event, as others have done so eloquently, but suffice it to say that it turned out to be the crown jewel of our game.

So, my goal was set: I wasn't going to leave this planet without at least one entry into the $10,000 buy-in championship event at the World Series. Wait, did I say $10,000? There was no way that I would put up $10,000 to enter a poker tournament. I could buy a car, put a down payment on a house, or invest in a big company. I could start a trust fund, go to college, or take a world tour. No! But someday, somehow, I was going to play in the WSOP big one.

My first step was to do some research. What were tournaments, how did they work, and how were they played? Where were they held, and what games did they play? Hold'em, Omaha, stud? No-limit hold'em! I'd never played no-limit; what did that mean? Could you lose all of your chips in one hand? Research, I needed to do some research!

Research in the poker industry doesn't always mean reading, although reading is an excellent place to start. Research doesn't mean just playing, because playing without learning is a road to disaster. I have found that a combination of many ingredients results in the best soup, so to speak, so here's what I did.

I started out buying books, books about the different games and how they're played, and then I found books about tournaments. Tournaments are a completely different animal. While in some ways they mirror live play in regard to starting hands, odds and implied odds, betting structures, and so on, they are in truth a complete reversal of anything I'd ever learned in poker.

While understanding that the game of poker is somewhat complicated, imagine what you'd think if I told you that in order to win in tournament poker, you'd have to reverse your thinking. Here's what I mean: In a ring (live-action) game, your hand is most important, because most of the time you have to show it down. Second in importance is your position. Oft times, your position can win you pots if you make the right play from the right position. Third in importance is your chip stack, because you can always buy more chips if you go all in and lose.

In tournaments, the reverse is true. Your chips are of utmost importance, because when you run out, you are out of the tournament (I'll talk about rebuy tournaments in another column) – done, finished, gone. Your position is of second-most importance, because if you're in position to make the right bet at the right time, you're probably not going to get called and you'll win the pot. Of third importance is your hand. That's right, your hand could be of least importance. In tournaments, and most certainly near the end of tournaments, if you play properly, use your chips correctly, and maximize your position, you should not have to show your hand very often. You're not always going to get hit by the deck with great hand after great hand, so you must be creative and use your ability to win pots without good cards. This is why the pros are the pros, and will continue to be the pros. I often hear people ask, "How can those guys win time after time?" The answer is that they have a complete understanding of the "reverse" nature of tournaments. It's what I call "turning the corner" to success in tournament poker.

My research continued by playing in any tournament I could find. They ranged from daily $10 events to $100 events. I covered the entire spectrum of games. I even played and won a Mexican poker tournament, not because I had a great understanding of the game, but because I understood how tournaments worked.

There came a time when I played in a daily event in a casino and wanted to play in its $330 buy-in event that evening. The buy-in was above my means, but I wanted to move up and test my newfound knowledge. I asked myself how I could enter an event that I couldn't afford. Then I saw a minitournament, which was called a "single-table satellite." Doing my research, I went to the tournament director and asked how it worked. He explained that 10 people paid $40, got $300 in chips, and played down to one winner, who received an entry into the $330 event that night. I had found a new way, satellites, to enter bigger events, and started that day.

Playing in these events was the next step in my research, because events with buy-ins of $300 and higher is where you'll find the tournament pros. Playing with them gives you a chance to step up to another level of understanding, should you choose to do so. I say this because I have found that many a player chooses never to step up. Oh, they may win a satellite every now and then and play in a larger event, but they are not there for research or learning. They're just there to play it like a $10 event and hope to get lucky. This is not the road to turning the corner. Think about the opportunity you have to watch and learn from a world champion who's sitting at your table making special plays. If you do your research, it will pay off.

I went to my first WSOP to play in 2001. Tremendous excitement came over me as I walked into the tournament room. There they were – the "Who's Who" of the poker world. I was awestruck, but resolved to go about my task. I found the satellite area and went to work. I got lucky and won two of the three satellites I played. I was on my way. I entered the first Omaha eight-or-better event and was shaking as the first hand was dealt. It was a feeling I'll never forget. It is said that the WSOP has an aura about it like no other, and I'm here to tell you that it's true, true, true. I got busted out in just less than three hours. I wrote it off as research, and was ready for the next event. Later that day, I got a call that my beautiful wife had taken ill, and my 2001 WSOP was over. My wife is fine now, and I'm back to play in the 2002 WSOP.

I set a goal for this WSOP, and it was to play in the big one. A $10,000 buy-in is still too high for my budget, and I wasn't going to pay $1,000 to play in a single-table satellite, so I had to find another way. I researched "supersatellites." They are like minitournaments, in which the buy-in is $225 and the prize fund is awarded in seats instead of cash. For example, if the prize pool has $43,000 in it after the one-hour rebuy period, the last four players remaining all get seats into the championship event, and the remaining $3,000 is split amongst the last several players. My research showed me that supersatellites are played for most major championship events, so I started to play them wherever I went. I got lucky enough to win a seat at the California State Championship, and also at both of the L.A. Poker Classic million dollar events at Commerce Casino.

Thus, my goal was obvious as I went to the 2002 WSOP: win a supersatellite to get into the main event. It took me three tries, but I accomplished my goal and am going to realize my dream of playing in the championship event at the WSOP. I expect to experience the same tingles and butterflies that I experienced at my first-ever WSOP event in 2001, but hopefully I'll set them aside and play my "A" game.

As you're continuing on the road to learning and understanding the games and their intricacies, research all you can, develop strategies and goals, and modify them as you go. If all of this pays off and you get a chance to enter the "big ones" along the way, you will indeed have turned the corner.