Generation Next -- Chad Eveslage

As a Little League baseball pitcher growing up in Jeffersonville, Indiana, Chad Eveslage excelled at messing with a batter’s head. He lived for those moments that made time stand still, when everything just clicked. Nothing was more beautiful than setting up a wicked curveball with consecutive fastballs and then hearing the sweet swish of another strikeout.

That fierce competitive nature would eventually lead him to poker, and to playing freeroll tournaments online. He watched. He read forums about the game. He talked to friends. And for six years, he practiced poker after basketball games, after baseball games, and on weekends. And instead of earning money working at the local mall during his senior year of high school, he cashed for more than $1 million online.

When he began playing at the lower stakes, he was hyperaggressive. He had to learn to tone it down to be able to play for higher stakes. “As I went up in stakes, I noticed that a lot of players played a lot tighter than I did,” said Eveslage. “At first, I got outplayed, and I went on a big downswing. But I fixed my major leak — playing too many hands. That little adjustment has been the key for me.”

Much to his poker friends’ and parents’ surprise, Eveslage will attend Ball State University next fall, pursuing degrees in history and social studies. The soft-spoken tournament phenom wants to eventually teach. But for now, baseball season is coming and Eveslage will be more focused on strikeouts than stacking opponents. Poker will have to take a back seat until Sundays roll around each week. Then, watch out. Let the mind games begin.

Craig Tapscott: You said that you had a mentor watching over you as you played in those freerolls online.

Chad Eveslage: Yes. I met “metsfan512” online, a very good player. And he was getting some coaching from “mossified84.” So, he taught me everything he was being taught. That worked out great. I started playing at 12 years old, but didn’t take it seriously until after I turned 18.

CT: What were you learning?

CE: When I was learning from him, he was one of the most aggressive MTT [multitable tournament] players online. He would raise a lot, perhaps too much, looking back on it now. When he taught me to three-bet light preflop, it was very effective at the $10 to $25 buy-in levels. If I noticed that a player was opening light or rarely at all, I would three-bet him, and that helped me accumulate chips.

CT: What other things were you working on as you progressed in stakes?

CE: Previously, I did not put people on a range of hands until post-flop. Now, I’ve learned to put my opponents on hands preflop, as soon as they enter a pot. Also, I really began to go over the lines that people would take in hands. That helped eliminate hands for me one at a time, so that I could eventually put them on a narrow range.

CT: What was one of the biggest leaks you had early on?

CE: I used to watch the high-stakes cash games online, where players would bet a large percentage of the pot on the flop. So, I did the same thing in tournaments. I was wrong, and had to adjust back. I also overbet pots. If a player made a continuation-bet, I would raise too much — around four or five times his bet instead of two or three times, which I do now.

CT: So, you’ve been playing now for about six years, and more seriously once you turned 18. How has online tournament strategy evolved?

CE: I think the article that Alex “AJKHoosier1” Kamberis wrote two years ago said it best. He was wondering when the madness would stop. He said that when people used to raise a pot, they had a hand almost 100 percent of the time. Nowadays, when you see a three-bet preflop, people are thinking that the three-bettor doesn’t have a real hand. So now, the four-bettor must have it when he raises. Eventually, it has to go back to the bet and raise. That will get respect once again, or else people will be five-betting like crazy. The aggression has gotten out of hand.

CT: So, what do your parents think of your growing bank account?

CE: I’m actually putting money away for college. But overall, they’ve handled it well. Of course, in the beginning, they didn’t like it. But then I had my first $1,000 cash. Now, my dad plays. He recently went to a live tournament to compete. It’s been great.