Awash in a Sea of Rocks

I recently watched the first installment of the 2004 World Series of Poker main event on ESPN, and was reminded of the many stories I heard while participating myself. Across the sea of poker tables at Binion's, I was prospecting for gold and trying to navigate to the final table this year myself. Alas, my ship was awash in a sea of rocks, except for the maniacal Mike Laing, who was sitting to my immediate left for the entirety of my day two. Awash in a sea of rocks is a geologist's dream but a sea captain's nightmare. How do you search for gold but avoid being shipwrecked?

If you're the World Series of Whining champion, you spend a lot of time whining for the cameras. If you're a thoughtful player like Daniel Negreanu, you reflect on your play and conclude that there are lots of unbluffable players. Howard Lederer modestly stated that he'd been running well. Some used terms like lottery mentality, coin-flip competition, mine field, it's all luck, and so on. There's some truth to those statements, but I think the commentator was right when he said the professionals had to adjust to this year's field. I agree, and believe that this year's WSOP had a different composition of players from prior years. Of course, no two tables of players were identical, and you may have found yourself at the odd table packed with high-powered pros or loaded with maniacs. However, the anecdotal evidence that I heard sounded like we were awash in a sea of rocks.

What's a serious poker player to do? Put on some camouflage and hide among the rocks! Wait for high tide to come in and sail to the final table! If you can't beat 'em, join 'em? Well, kinda. Playing a no-limit hold'em tournament is not an exact science. If it were, you would in fact see the same faces at every final table. However, does the extraordinary feat of Dan Harrington making four WSOP main event final tables (including the two record-breaking fields of 2003 and 2004, a sixth-place finish in 1987, and a victory in 1995) suggest that he may have discovered the secret scientific formula?

Playing a no-limit hold'em tournament is a double-edged sword. All of the concepts and principles of playing well in any form of poker still apply, but due to the nature of playing no-limit, the good news is that all of those concepts and principles are greatly magnified. The bad news is that all of those concepts and principles that are greatly magnified result in the consequences of making errors being greatly magnified. At any moment, you can get stuck in a do-or-die situation with a decision that will determine whether you're going to bust out or double up to move forward in the competition. That's the beauty and the beast of this game.

As many advanced players know, you don't get too clever and tricky against players who are rocks, because they're participating in a hand only if they're holding decent cards. Against a rock, it's usually best to play a straightforward game and know that you have to be holding decent cards, as well. Hopefully, your decent holdings are better than theirs. Of course, the monster hands play themselves, with some selective slow-playing. You're likely to pick up some extra chips against the rocks by better evaluating what hands they're holding and selectively playing a little more aggressively.

Selectivity, selectivity, selectivity – that's what this game is all about. That's where the science of poker ends and the art of poker starts. Selective starting hands, selective folding, selective slow-playing, and selective aggression are the essence of poker, especially in a no-limit hold'em tournament. You must evaluate the players at your table, and ultimately the entire field, and adjust your strategy. Ultimately, you need to do a little excavating and get a good read on the rocks. If your sonar doesn't pick up on the rocks in time, you are doomed to be shipwrecked. I suspect that the seas are just going to get rockier as the WSOP continues its phenomenal growth.

Start getting ready for next year's WSOP. Remember to prepare your best sledgehammer and batten down the hatches on your sturdiest ship. Next year's WSOP is sure to have more gold than ever, but you'll have to navigate through the rockiest waters to claim your prize. And don't forget your life preserver!

I'll see you at next year's World Series of Poker, where I'll be maneuvering my ship, "The Rock-breaker."

Good luck to everybody! ;

Editor's note: Robert is the 2002 World Series of Poker champion and the instructor on the "WiseGuys on Texas Hold'em" videos, starring some famous actors from the Sopranos. The videos are very informative, as well as entertaining, and are available at wiseguyson.com.