Generation Next -- Thomas Braband

To win consistently, a tournament player must find any and all edges that accumulate chips. Each hand or situation offers a chance to exploit that perceived edge, through fear, unbridled aggression, or psychological warfare. Early on in his poker education, Thomas Braband learned to exploit player weaknesses and pay attention to the ins and outs of an ever-evolving game. Those acute perceptions have paid off handsomely for the University of Wisconsin psychology major, to the tune of $1,100,000 in online tournament cashes.

"I think the top players online [regarding the metagame aspect] are the ones adjusting the fastest to where poker has evolved lately," said Braband. "The guys at the top know 'tight is right,' most of the time. They wait for weakness and good spots to accumulate chips. They may have different styles, but making adjustments is the key to poker success online."

Over the past few months, Braband (aka Titantom32 online) has crushed even his own expectations. On PokerStars, he captured a $530 no-limit Sunday event for $91,250, and four weeks later he took third in the same event for $50,000. And on Full Tilt Poker, he took second in a recent $240 no-limit Sunday Brawl for $48,715. These scores and other top finishes have propelled Braband into the top 20 players making a run at the coveted title of Card Player 2008 Online Player of the Year.

Braband wins big because he's always on the move, always thinking, always learning, and always battling for a way to win. For him, a mind at rest is a mind that loses its incisive edge.

Craig Tapscott: This fall, you have had some huge success online. How has your game changed since that big downswing you experienced last spring?

Thomas Braband: Well, it seemed like I was losing all of the key flips and hands late in tournaments. That changed this fall and I'm winning them.

CT: So, it's all luck? I knew it.

TB: (Laughing) No. My game has evolved a lot since the 2008 World Series of Poker. I prefer playing live and having the time to think over each small decision and being able to get maximum equity on all of my hands and situations.

CT: What specifically has changed to reflect your current success?

TB: After coming back from the Series, I started to implement that detailed thought process for each hand online. It's hard to do that when you're playing eight to 10 tables at a time. I cut back volume. When I'm on one to three tables, I can focus on each table better and get maximum value. Then I can find spots where there is weakness in a player's betting patterns. I might not even notice those things if I were playing in too many tournaments.

CT: What else has changed?

TB: Last spring I was being way too overaggressive and trying to run over everyone. I've tightened up my game and seen a lot of success. For my style, it's important to know where the current evolution of poker is. I've read some articles about where the current state of poker is regarding the cyclical nature of the game, mainly regarding metagame. For example, the situation in which you are being repopped from the blinds. The top players aren't doing that light anymore. They were getting four-bet because they weren't getting respect by reraising from the blinds.

CT: Let's talk about the current evolution of some of poker's trends.

TB: The light three-bet to an under-the-gun raise is growing in popularity at the moment. This is because many players know that you're supposed to get respect for an under-the-gun raise, so they raise light there. The three-bet has to get respect, because the under-the-gun raiser is supposed to have a hand. It gets into third- and fourth-level thinking. My style is pretty geared toward knowing a player's tendencies and exploiting his weaknesses.

CT: Give us one strong example to learn from, perhaps the reraise from the blinds scenario.

TB: A maniac at my table was raising all the time. I reraised from the small blind with A-J, knowing he was going to jam his whole range into me, mainly because I was in the small blind. And, of course, he gave my raise no respect and shoved all in. I snap-called. He flipped over A-8. I've really learned to pay attention to how often players raise, as they can't have a hand every time. Then they think that you're just playing back at them and becoming tired of it, but all along, you've been setting this situation up. As I said earlier, people reraising from the blinds aren't getting credit these days. Use that, like I took advantage of that knowledge in this spot.