Capture the Flag -- Lex Veldhuis

Lex Veldhuis got his start in poker five years ago at the suggestion of fellow StarCraft player Bertrand Grospellier while struggling as a poor student in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Although criminology was his focus in school, Veldhuis spent most of his time studying poker. At the age of 25, Veldhuis now travels the world to marquee tournaments, and most recently made the final table of the World Series of Poker $40,000 no-limit hold’em event. He spends most of his time playing cash games online as “RaSZi,” and is known as one of the most aggressive and dangerous players around. His main game is $25-$50 no-limit hold’em, but lately he’s been frequenting the $100-$200 tables.

Kristy Arnett: When you first started playing, what helped you move from low stakes to medium stakes?

Lex Veldhuis: I think my biggest realization was that if I could raise preflop and continuation-bet with A-K and make them fold, why couldn’t I do that with 9-3 offsuit? This was when I started playing $1-$2 and really diving into poker. I started playing a lot more hands and played very loose-aggressive poker, and that really worked for me, because it put me in so many different spots and so many marginal situations. That’s when I improved the most, and rocketed into $3-$6.

KA: What advice would you give to players who feel like they are at a learning standstill, and who have gotten comfortable playing the same stakes?

LV: Well, I’m teaching a friend of mine right now, and I think the one thing that can help you really improve the most is asking why things should be done. For example, someone says, “You should bet this turn, right?” You should ask, “Why?” Then, you start reasoning things out for yourself. If you learn to think on that kind of level and solve your own problems, you will learn quickly. I also would say to get advice from friends, but keep challenging yourself. If you want to be the best, you have to play people who are better than you. If you want to just grind out a little money, you can play ABC poker, but from a skill perspective, you have to keep challenging yourself and playing in tougher games.

My friend is playing 25¢-50¢ or 50¢-$1, and he’ll say, “Oh, I’m down $300. I can’t handle the suckouts.” I just tell him, “F—- the money. If you think you are going to get rich at these stakes, you’re a fool. The only thing you need to care about now is improving. Worry about the money when you are playing $3-$6 or $5-$10.” At the lower stakes, I think players need to focus on just improving.

KA: What other tools would you suggest that beginning cash-game players use to improve?

LV: Read up on poker, mostly online. Books are mostly garbage. A book about tournaments that was written 10 years ago is not worth much. No disrespect to the person who wrote it, but it’s just outdated. If someone wrote a book about hold’em, it’d be relevant now, but in half a year, it might be outdated for certain stakes. Online, you can find forums about the stakes you’re playing, and see what the players are doing who are winning. It keeps changing. It’s a good thing that the best players post their thoughts online, because they are ahead of the wave and anticipate the next moves that people are going to make. The Internet is constantly refreshed and evolving.

KA: Everyone talks about playing aggressively when in position in six-max games. How do you adjust to someone on your left who is constantly reraising you preflop?

LV: When you are playing really aggressive people, you can do one of two things: You can take a step back, or go full throttle and one-up them at their own game. So, if you are getting reraised a lot preflop, you can choose to four-bet or to open-raise less frequently. Both are solutions to aggressive people on your left, so it’s really a matter of what you are comfortable with doing. If you don’t think you want to play their game, you can play a little more snugly and try to trap them more. Let’s say that someone opens before you; you can flat-call with a big pair so that the aggressive player will three-bet and you can win a big pot.

KA: Can you be as successful by playing a tighter game?

LV: I think aggression is kind of overrated. If you look at the highest cash games, some of the biggest winners are lunatics and some are pot-controlling small-ball players who will check-call K-Q on a queen-high board all the way to the river, and then bet pot for value. You cannot say which style works better, but it’s definitely annoying to have an aggressive player to your left. You have to think about how to exploit that player. You must think, “If I were that player, what would be annoying or difficult for me,” and then do that.

KA: How do you deal with late-position aggressors when you are in the blinds? Should you three-bet a fair amount?

LV: If you have a K-J suited type of hand in the blinds and the button opens and you three-bet, you are going to get into a lot of tough spots. Instead, you could start flat-calling preflop and check-raising every board that you think is good for him to continuation-bet, that he probably missed, or that could be really dangerous for him. You don’t necessarily have to make your play preflop, because people are becoming really wise to that. You’ll see people four-betting a lot when you three-bet them from the big blind. I think there is a lot of money to be won preflop, but I just don’t think it’s all that profitable anymore to be three-betting from the blinds when the button raises. It’s played out. If you are going to make a play preflop from the blinds, I’d try squeezing when it’s not so standard to three-bet.

KA: What are the most difficult hurdles you’ve encountered as you have moved up in stakes?

LV: One thing I really noticed when moving through some stakes was that there’s a big difference in styles of play. From 25¢-50¢ to $1-$2, people play basically the same way, but when I got to $2-$4, people were playing so differently that it was almost impossible to win the first couple of times.
What I really had to overcome was the idea that every time I moved up, I lost. The biggest problem I’ve had over the years is “degenning” [playing too high for one’s bankroll], and I don’t feel like I’ve gotten it out of my game yet. When I take shots, it’s not because I’m on tilt or because I’ve had a losing session; I just want to play. It’s not always smart, but when I do take shots, I put my whole bankroll into it instead of just 10 percent, or whatever. It’s funny, the self-reflection that comes when you ask me these questions. I know what my leaks are, but I know that I’ll do it again next week. On the other hand, if I wasn’t like that, I don’t know if I would be better than the average $3-$6 player. It’s given me the chance to improve by continuing to push myself and play better people. I know that I can do this while I’m young and have no real responsibilities, but I don’t think I’ll play like this forever, as it’s too stressful. In the future, if I had a family to provide for, it would change me. I wouldn’t play $100-$200 anymore. I’d step back to grinding, which would probably go better for me after doing all of my degenning now [laughing].