Trained on the Internet, a new breed of poker professional rakes in millions of real-world dollars in high-stakes cash games and major tournaments. At the 2006
World Series of Poker, final table after final table was littered with online pros. This year should be no different.
In last year's main event, more than 4,300 players qualified online. Erik Friberg, Prahlad Friedman, and Eric Lynch would challenge deep, finishing eighth, 20th, and 24th, respectively. Online pros who took home bracelets were Jon "PokerTrip" Friedberg and Ian "Ian J" Johns. The
U.S. Poker Championship champion, Alex "Yahtzem" Jacob, made two final tables and Jordan "ImsoLucky0" Morgan made one final table and cashed in four events. Three online pros took second in varied events: Nath "Cap'n Jackpot" Pizzolatto in a $2,500 no-limit hold'em shorthanded event, Maros "Premier" Lechman in a $2,500 pot-limit hold'em event, and Alan "TheUsher" Sass in a $5,000 pot-limit hold'em event.
The stage is set. At this year's
WSOP, the Internet pros will continue to be chip-stealing assassins, unfazed by the soul-piercing stares of the live veterans. Online poker has prepared them for the long hours, the stress, the betting patterns, the big laydowns, and the big calls. The one possible challenge … playing only one friggin' table at a time.
Day In, Day Out
Jon "PearlJammer" Turner's workday begins a little differently than your average nine-to-five corporate executive's. The tall, thin redhead awakens at 3 p.m., showers, chugs breakfast, and plops down in front of his computer. It's now 4 p.m. Tables snap, crackle, and pop up on his screen over the next hour until 10-14 tournaments are running simultaneously. The dual monitors are smashed with action as Turner glides gracefully from hand to hand, evaluating folds, raises, and all ins. By evening's end, he will have spent $3,000-$4,000 in buy-ins.
"I'm very different than the average professional poker player," said the 25-year-old Turner, "in that I make my money through volume - even though that may be more normal these days online."
A good day - a final table or two - translates into about $10,000-$15,000 in cashes. Yet, bad days do happen over his six-day workweek. A bad day costs Turner about $2,000-$5,000 in losses. To compensate, Turner wields enviable caution, playing well below his protected bankroll's capabilities. For Turner, volume equals profits.
In contrast, Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron plays only part time, due in part to his classes at the University of Santa Barbara. Poker came easily for the sophomore, and obviously it's a lot more lucrative than an after-school job. During the last 12 months, Baron has won more than $1 million online, including a takedown of more than $254,000 for first place in the PokerStars
Sunday Million this past January.
Baron, who is currently in second place in the
Card Player Online Player of the Year race, plays only about 20 tournaments a week. He competes mostly on Sundays, when the larger buy-in events take place. "Playing so many tournaments a day seems like too much of a grind," said Baron. "I don't see how you can make that big of a profit. To me, that takes all the fun out of it. It's worse than school, having to click all those buttons all day."
Baron has recently taken his talents to the high-stakes cash games, with great success. He knows the inside scoop - that the tournament pros receive all the glory while the cash-game pros quietly make all the money. But the recent success of
GSN's High Stakes Poker television show may have changed that perception. Cash professionals are now shining in the limelight, none more so than Brian "sbrugby" Townsend.
When word leaks out that sbrugby has materialized online, railbirds flock to watch, chat, and learn. At Full Tilt Poker, Townsend, 25, butts avatars with the best in the game: Ivey, Benyamine, and Antonius, and more often than not walks away with five- and six-figure wins. Townsend, who just a year and a half ago was playing 25¢-50¢ no-limit hold'em online, plays about 50 hours a week. His rapid ascension within the high-stakes poker world, where pots can soar to $500,000, has been awe-inspiring.
"I have a strong desire to be the best player in the world," said Townsend. "But this is how I feel about everything I do. It's how I approach my life. I care a lot more about what I think about myself than what other people think."
Easy access to poker online and a burning desire to compete has attracted younger players who are developing skill levels at geek speed. Many of the under-21 young guns have earned bankrolls well into the millions. A few of the players who create a buzz are ActionJeff, Ozzy87, Mr. Smokey1, Gobboboy, and AaronBeen. These are only a select few of the players to be on the lookout for when they come of age to compete live in the United States.
Still, the player making the biggest impact online over the last year is Norwegian Annette Obrestad. Within a year of bursting onto the scene, the 18-year-old has risen to be one of the top-ranked online players in the world. She plays 8-12 hours a day, 20-25 tournaments, seven days a week. As Annette_15, she has made 185 final tables and won more than $700,000 online.
Preparation + Aggression = Positive Expected Edges
Online pros have brought a loose-aggressive style (LAGS) to the felt, battering and confounding the stereotypically tight-aggressive live players. Adept at switching gears and reading +EV (positive expected value) situations, they march toward poker dominance. "The competition is so much tougher online than the big, live buy-in events," said Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke. "The people who play the live events don't have nearly as much experience, so I find the live tournaments easier."
Internet LAGS have been criticized for loose calls and for what may be perceived as donkey plays, but there is definitely method behind the madness. Fricke, 19, considered himself more than prepared to take on the likes of Gus Hansen for the recent
Aussie Millions title. "I'm positive I've played a ton more tournaments than Gus, at least 3,000 multitable tournaments online," confessed Fricke. "Online, you generally have to make decisions based on your opponent's range of hands at any one point. So, when I make a move, get called by a better hand and suck out, I still made the correct play based on my reads, and based on their range. So, just because I suck out doesn't mean it was a bad play."
Family man Eric "Rizen" Lynch left a solid job in the corporate world to play online poker. Before vacating the 9-to-5 grind, he was already an extremely profitable player. The biggest advantages of the Internet for Lynch are the factors of time and convenience. "I can put my kids to bed, walk across the hall, and be 'at work.' I never have to be put on a waiting list, or deal with smoke-filled cardrooms, and if I don't like my seat, I can move."
Sure, Lynch took a chance. But, chance had very little to do with more than a million dollars in combined online and live cashes in 2006, including a 24th-place finish in the
WSOP main event.
But shifts happen. Sooner or later, every player will have to deal with the seismic shifts of variance, testing a player's emotional balance and true character.
When Variance Bites, Apply an Attitude Adjustment
Bad runs are inevitable. Online pros are neither invulnerable nor exempt from big losses caused by variance or tilt. Some high-stakes cash pros can lose the price of a cozy house or a shiny red Ferrari in one session. The smart pros just deal with it. Variance is a reluctantly accepted part of a sometimes brutal and violent game.
Brian Townsend lost sleep early in his poker career when $100 disappeared from his bankroll, but with experience came composure; a recent $300,000 loss over 24 hours caused no tossing or turning. "I never think of it as real money. It just doesn't bother me that much. When I have big losses, of course I don't like it, because I like to win. But the money factor doesn't affect me that much."
Kevin "BeL0WaB0Ve" Saul has a reputation as one of the most respected and talented online tournament pros. Time after time his patience has been tested when beats come a calling. "You just have to move on," said Saul. "If you let them get to you, not only may they affect your other tournaments, but also your life outside of poker. Great players are great because of their ability to get their money in good the majority of the time, which means they are going to back into a lot of bad beats in the long run."
Eric Lynch takes a more studied approach. "I manage my bankroll properly to withstand the variance," said Lynch. "I maintain confidence in my game that things will get turned around. The biggest mistakes that successful players make is trying to attribute bad runs and variance to their play, and making unnecessary (and sometimes awful) adjustments to 'fix' problems that don't exist."
Crossover Success
The Internet continues to be a profitable training regimen for many current, successful live players. They've got game. With millions of online hands under their belts, a situation rarely arises that they've not experienced.
Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy leads the pack, bringing wry humor and class to every table he joins. The former stockbroker dominated online poker for consecutive years, and cashed for more than $1 million in live play in 2006.
Internet phenom Justin "zeejustin" Bonomo, who sometimes tables 14 sit-and-gos simultaneously, brought quiet confidence to the Bellagio
Five-Diamond World Poker Classic last December. He left Vegas $264,000 richer and made four final tables, including the main event.
At the recent Bellagio Five-Star World Poker Classic, Jared "TheWacoKidd" Hamby won two events five days apart for more than $522,000. In 2006, he made the final table of the PartyPoker Sunday Million and won more than $250,000 online.
The list goes on and on and on …
Don't Worry, Be Happy
The successful online pro tends to whistle while he works. Punching a time clock, meeting deadlines, gridlock traffic, or a grumpy boss is of little concern. This guy runs his own company - Me Inc. - and takes full responsibility for posting losses or profits.
Online professionals may make poker look easy at times, but they work hard for their money. Thanks to the Internet, many players who have no access to casinos are making a good living playing a game they love, and many of them dream of becoming a world champion. It could and has happened.
Expect the
WSOP this year to continue to be the stomping grounds of the savvy Internet pros; final tables will be made, bracelets will be won. Brandishing a no-holds-barred attitude, they'll leave the mouse behind, fly to Vegas, grab a Red Bull, and toss their chips in … with no fear. And why not? There's always another tournament online.
