Winning Wisdom

At only 27 years old, Gavin Griffin already holds one of the most impressive collections of poker's most prestigious titles. The former poker dealer won the $3,000 buy-in pot-limit hold'em event at the 2004 World Series of Poker, a win that, at the time, bestowed upon him the record as the youngest bracelet winner in history. Since then, he has accumulated more than $4.5 million in live tournament winnings, and made history again by winning the European Poker Tour Grand Final Championship, which boasted the biggest first-place prize in EPT history at the time, more than $2.4 million. Griffin continued his quest for major titles at the 2008 World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Classic, where he snagged a triple crown by winning the coveted WPT title and the $1.4 million first-place prize.

Now, Card Player is giving its readers a chance to send questions directly to the poker prodigy.

Poker fans can send Griffin their questions to [email protected]. The questions can be about anything from poker strategy to his opinions on certain aspects of poker or his life as a poker pro traveling the circuit. The best questions will be answered by Griffin and published in Card Player. If your question makes it into print, we'll send you a free Card Player T-shirt.

From the Dealer Box

Hello, Gavin:

Your success to date in the poker world is impressive, to say the least. Congrats and best wishes for much more in the future. I have a question about your experience as a dealer. You stated in an interview I saw recently, "I learned more from doing that (dealing) than anything else." Many successful poker professionals have had experience as dealers before becoming big-time winners on the felt. What edge do you think you have because of your time spent on the other side of the table? And, do you have any suggestions or insights for those of us who don't have the same experience (and are not in a position to become a dealer anytime soon) that would help us approach the game as if we had?

Thanks, and best of luck.

-- Neal Fugate

Hi, Neal:

First of all, thank you. I certainly did learn a lot from dealing, not the least of which was learning what not to do! You see people make a lot of different mistakes when they are playing, and if you are not careful and don't realize it, these are mistakes that can get you in trouble. When I was dealing, limit hold'em was very popular, and people would show up at the river with terrible hands and win huge pots in situations in which they never should have been in the first place. Someone who isn't thinking critically about the game may find himself thinking that this is a good thing, and that you can play terrible hands and do well. It is important to realize that you can learn things from everyone, whether they play poorly or well.

The other major thing that I learned from being a poker dealer is how important it is to pay attention. One of the keys to being a good dealer and a good player is to always know what is going on at the table. There is a lot of information available to you as a player if you are willing to pay attention and absorb it. Paying attention also makes the time go by faster. If your head is always in the game, you will make fewer mistakes and will capitalize on your opponents' mistakes. Poker is a game of incomplete information. Whoever is making the most well-informed decisions is going to come out on top in the end. If you can pay attention and use all of the information that you gather from this, you will be a successful poker player.

Bet-Sizing Thoughts

Gavin:

I recently watched your World Poker Tour win on TV. Congratulations! I wanted to ask you a question about bet-sizing. On one hand when you doubled up David Tran, you said, "Nice bet-sizing, David." Can you elaborate on what good bet-sizing is and why it is important to being a solid, winning poker player?

-- George Walker, Atlantic City, New Jersey

Hi, George:

The hand you are referring to is one in which I limped from the button, called a raise, then moved all in when I flopped a draw to a gutshot. David had two aces and his hand held up. He made a good-sized bet on the flop, because he bet an amount that looked like he was trying to get me to fold without committing too many chips. The other times that he had taken a similar line, he folded when I raised. He knew that I knew that he had folded several times when making this size bet, so he decided to take advantage of that and bet that amount with a big hand this time.

It is very important to always be aware of the things you and all of your opponents have done in the past, so that you can take advantage of any patterns that might have developed over the course of the day. Using the information that you have given and received in the past is a key element to becoming a great player. For instance, if you play with a few people quite often, it can be very profitable to set up situations to take advantage of. If I'm at a table in a main event that I know isn't going to break for a while, I often will limp from early position with weak hands to set a precedent for limping later in the tournament with big hands. It really isn't necessary to do things like this in smaller buy-in tournaments, because the tables break faster, or in a main event when you know your table is going to be one of the first to break. I hope this answer helped, George.

To Check it Down or Not to Check it Down, That is the Question

Hi, Gavin:

First of all, congrats on all of your success, and may the future hold similar success stories for you.

I have a question to settle an argument with my poker buddy. I play a lot of satellites and sit-and-gos at my local casino to build up my bankroll. My poker buddy absolutely despises these tournaments because of the miniscule starting chips and the fast blinds. I, on the other hand, love these tourneys, because they attract a lot of bad players and last only an hour or 90 minutes. I have adjusted strategies to consistently win these tourneys.

The argument is this: Before starting each single-table satellite or sit-and-go, I always remind the other players that we have to treat this as the final table, and that if anyone is short-stacked or all in with a short stack, to check it down unless they hit the flop, turn, or river. Don't bet other players out, because we are trying to eliminate players.

He says that if you have a good hand, play it as you would, as it would be more beneficial to you to bet it and try to win chips from other players, thus enhancing your chances to win the table, rather than eliminate players from the table.

What is your answer to the argument? Thank you for your help.

-- Kevin

Hi, Kevin:

This is a classic example of taking a solid tournament strategy and applying it at the wrong time. People often think that it is correct to check the hand down anytime you are in a tournament and there is a player all in with action remaining on the side. This is true only in a few situations.

In the situation you are referring to, it is not correct to check the hand down unless it directly affects the prize money and there is no side pot. If it's the first level of the sit-and-go and there are 10 people left, it is incorrect to play the tournament for the prize-pool considerations. True, you can't win the tournament unless you eliminate all of the players, but the more important thing is getting more chips if you have the best hand.

I have seen people attempting to check it down on the first day of a three-day tournament when we are nowhere near the money, and this really doesn't make any sense. There is still a long way to go until the prize money should play a factor in what you are doing. There is a really good book out right now called Kill Everyone, by Lee Nelson. It examines tournament situations, especially sit-and-go tournaments, and how you should adjust your play based on your stack in relation to the blinds and when it becomes important to take the prize money into consideration. It goes through a lot of math relating to the situation that I don't have space for, and that I wouldn't be able to do anyway. I leave the complicated math stuff to their math experts and my friends Bill Chen and Jerrod Ankenmen. Best of luck in your next tournament, Kevin.

Gavin Griffin is a member of Team PokerStars. Visit his website at www.gavingriffin.net.