Capture the Flag -- Vanessa Selbst

Vanessa Selbst began her poker career by playing in small cash games with her college friends, but quickly found that poker could be a well-paying job to help put herself through school. She continued to sharpen her skills by playing online as well as live, and dabbled in live tournaments, winning a World Series of Poker bracelet in the 2008 $1,500 pot-limit Omaha event, all while keeping her grades up. She graduated from Yale University with a degree in political science, and is now pursuing a law degree.

Kristy Arnett: When did you start getting into cash games seriously?

Vanessa Selbst: During my senior year of college, I started playing a lot. In my second semester, I had class only two days a week and an internship in the city one day a week, and I stopped working; so, I would travel to Foxwoods a lot. I quickly moved into the uncapped $5-$5 game. It was the summer after my senior year when I kind of had a breakthrough. I built my bankroll from $15,000 to $70,000, mostly in that game. I also broke through online, winning a few thousand here and there. I turned my online bankroll into close to $100,000. That’s when I moved up to $3-$6, $5-$10, and $10-$20.

KA: In cash games, what kind of guidelines do you suggest for knowing what to buy in for?

VS: It really depends on your comfort level. Nowadays, the game has changed. I don’t always go into a game feeling like I’m the best player. Sometimes you’ll get into a game where there might be a couple of players better than you, but you still want to play because there are a couple of soft spots. If you are better than everyone in the game, buy in for the max or to cover the person with the most money. If you are sitting directly to the right of someone who is really good and deep-stacked, and the people who aren’t as good as you don’t have as much money, there is no reason to have more money than the person who is in position on you and is potentially better than you or on the same skill level as you. My main advice in terms of buying in is to make sure that you have more money than the people you think you are much better than, and are not super deep when out of position against anyone who will give you a hard time. Sometimes you can’t avoid it, because the fish are super deep, too, and you don’t have position on the good players. You’ll just have to stay out of the way, and not let your ego get in the way.

KA: What’s the biggest mistake that you see players making in deep-stack cash games?

VS: People don’t put pressure on players enough when in position, and it’s kind of shocking to me. If you call a raise preflop with 10-9 suited, just because the flop comes K-5-5 or something like that, you don’t have to give up. The other person probably missed it, too, so just use pressure in position. It’s easy to do. You really have to bet scare cards more than people do, and overbet if you have to. You can’t just wait for the nuts. If you are going to play deep, you should take advantage of it; otherwise, it’s pointless.

KA: Do you think that people don’t play as aggressively when they are deep because they are afraid to get played back at and are protecting their stack?

VS: Yeah. I think they are afraid of losing money, but they aren’t putting themselves in the other player’s shoes. When I’m coaching players, they will say, “I don’t want to make this bluff here because it’s so obvious.” I’ll say that it’s not obvious because they’ve represented strength. Their line looks so strong that they have to bluff in this spot. People are afraid to make a bluff because they are afraid to lose money, but if they look at the other person’s point of view, they can see what a tough spot they are putting that person in. If you are sitting 600 big blinds deep, even if you think your opponent is aggressive, are you really going to want to stack off with top pair out of position when your hand is essentially faceup? Out-of-position players basically have their hand faceup because it is hard to play deceptively when out of position; you can’t get too aggressive because you can’t overrepresent the strength of your hand. You also don’t want to be too passive, because you make it too easy on your opponent.

KA: In what kinds of situations and with what kinds of hands are you looking to three-bet when in position?

VS: It’s all part of a mixed strategy. A lot of people started this whole three-betting craze, and I wasn’t as into it. Even when I am deep, a lot of times I like to just call raises because the deeper I am in relation to the size of the pot, the bigger my advantage. So, if you are only 200 big blinds deep and you three-bet, you are already inflating the pot such that opponents’ decisions become easier, because once the pots are inflated, it’s easier for them to stack off with hands like pocket kings. It’s harder to manipulate the situation. That’s if you are 200 big blinds deep. Obviously, you want to three-bet some trash hands or suited connectors, because you can’t three-bet just your really good hands, as you won’t get action.

KA: How does it change when you are deep?

VS: When you are like 500 big blinds deep, three-betting hands like 7-6 suited is a great play, because you still have enough room post-flop to make some bluffs and manipulate the pot; you can pot-control when you want, or bet with a draw without fear of being check-raised all in because you are so deep. So, when you are super deep, you can three-bet hands like that because it makes you very deceptive and you get paid off, since they won’t put you on those hands.

KA: What about pot-limit Omaha [PLO]? What hands are you looking to three-bet in that game?

VS: In PLO, it’s really just whatever plays well post-flop, because in some games, you are going to get called 100 percent of the time when you three-bet, and in other games, it’s more like 80 percent; anyway, it’s a lot more than in hold’em. Rundown hands like 10-9-8-7 are great to three-bet. Aces are fine to three-bet, especially if you’ve got people who are going crazy with kings because they know that you don’t necessarily have to have aces. Aces are tough because there aren’t that many great flops for them. Double-suited aces, I’m three-betting for sure, because anytime you flop a flush draw, you are drawing to the nuts and are getting your money in good; even against a set, you’ve got a lot of outs. So, I’d three-bet double-suited aces, rundown hands, and hands that flop well, like double-suited big pairs, especially kings against a loose opener. I don’t like to three-bet low rundown hands. I think people do it too much with hands like 5-4-3-2, because they never really flop the nut draw. When you are deep, it’s great to be able to three-bet with a lot of stuff, since they can’t four-bet you with aces because you are going to call; also, if their four-betting range is only aces, they have to adjust that range. Let’s say that you are playing $25-$50 and they make it $150; you make it $500; they make it $1,500 with aces and you are sitting $10,000 deep; they are screwed. In PLO, you are never really bluffing preflop, because you are never that far behind against any hand with your rundowns; so, it’s a great game to position three-bet.

KA: What advice would you give to no-limit hold’em players who are making the transition to PLO?

VS: Don’t get attached to aces [laughing]. Another piece of advice I would give is that if there is no money in the pot, you don’t always have to inflate it with a hand like a set when there are a lot of scare cards that could come. I think Phil [Galfond] had some good points about that from a hand he played in the $5,000 pot-limit Omaha rebuy event that he won, when he just called with the nuts on the flop. He wasn’t really slow-playing, he was just waiting for a safe card on the turn, because if he got all of his money in on the flop, he wouldn’t be a favorite. There are many situations like that, in which you can disguise your hand and also increase your equity. If you check-raise a made hand when out of position and deep against a good player, and a scare card comes, even if he doesn’t make his hand, it’s easy for him to make a play at you. Just because you have the best made hand, it doesn’t mean that you have the best hand. Even if you do, you might be only a 55 percent favorite, so rather than playing just your hand, you want to play the odds and how the board runs out. It makes your decisions easier, and keeps you out of some tough spots.