Generation Next -- Kevin Browne

One of the main perks of playing poker for a living is freedom — the freedom to come and go as you please, no time clock to punch, endless vacation days, and no one hovering over you expecting results for a paycheck. Kevin Browne was a cog in the wheel of the corporate machine, until poker became the wrench that stopped what seemed like a perpetual 9-to-5 grind.

Browne graduated in 2002 from the University of Albany, and plunged straight into the corporate world as a certified public accountant at a major international firm. As a break from the stress, he played a little poker with friends on the weekends. As his poker game evolved and bankroll grew, a light appeared at the end of the corporate cubicle tunnel. Poker could be profitable. So, he quit.

“Now I’m self-employed, playing 40 hours a week, and love it,” said Browne. “I’m the boss of me. Coming from a CPA background, where I was working 60-80 hours a week, I had very little free time. Now, 40 hours a week isn’t a big deal to me. I have a consistent win rate and always make money every month.”

Browne recently won the August “Ultimate Grinder Award” at a tracking site. He played 160,678 hands of $1-$2 no-limit hold’em and netted $23,774 in profits. He’s also on track to achieve the coveted “Super Nova Elite” status at PokerStars this year, which carries with it about $85,000 in cash and bonuses. With one life-changing decision, the former CPA became his own CEO and president, and now enjoys the freedom and perks that go with the titles.

Craig Tapscott: Your game and skills grew fast. When did things click for you at the tables?

Kevin Browne: First off, poker books weren’t for me. That’s not the way that I learn. I learn by doing. Nothing beats actually playing. I watch and review the hands that I play in my Poker Tracker. I also look at hands of players with a higher win rate, and see what they’re doing that I’m not doing and determine how I can incorporate that into my game.

CT: Like what? Don’t hold back on me.

KB: (Laughing) OK. I noticed that other players were playing looser than me, raising more and playing more pots. They were noticing position more, and reraising in position more than I was. These were players I was having a tough time against. I started to change my game up. I looked back, and it wasn’t that I was getting unlucky and wasn’t winning; the problem was that I was too tight. When I reraised players from any position, they weren’t playing back at me, or they were folding, because of my tight image. They knew that I had A-A, K-K, or Q-Q most every single time.

CT: And you play 10-12 tables simultaneously. Doesn’t metagame go out the window, since you can’t consciously focus on the other players with any great detail?

KB: I rely on my Tracker stats more than the next guy. I look at how often a player three-bets, how often he three-bets and folds, and how often he four-bets, and four-bets and folds. Those are four stats that I’ve incorporated into my game in the last year, which has dramatically changed things for me. And I always have a good sense of who is spewing, going all in, and tilting off cash.

CT: Give me an example of how you maximize the value of a big hand.

KB: Let’s say that I have A-A when seated right behind the under-the-gun player, who raises. I look at his stats and see that he folds to three-bets 85 percent of the time, which is tight. So, if I want to maximize my A-A there, I won’t reraise, because he will fold. I flat-call with A-A or K-K. And with the games being so aggressive, there’s a lot of squeezing going on. I don’t want to win just the $7 from the initial raiser and the blinds. Many guys behind me are on autopilot and will reraise with a decent hand like A-Q or 9-9. When it comes back to me, I can play back or float them. It can easily be a good situation to get my A-A all in as a big favorite.

CT: What is the biggest weakness in players at the $1-$2 and $2-$4 cash no-limit levels?

KB: The biggest mistake is calling too many three-bets, especially as a novice player. It’s a good way to become a losing player. If you don’t read hands well, you can spew a lot of money.