Generation Next -- Greg Kaplan

Greg Kaplan, a University of Indiana business school graduate, has forsaken the corporate grind — temporarily, at least — for the toils, cash, and freedom of an online poker professional. Yet, poker is an entrepreneurial venture for Kaplan, an investment of time that equates to a strategy that maximizes his hourly rate. To accomplish this, he plays approximately 30 hours each week, at 24 tables simultaneously, and earns in the neighborhood of $80 an hour at $1-$2 and $2-$4 cash-game stakes.

Perched comfortably in front of two large monitors turned vertically, Kaplan’s only handicap seems to be accelerating his computer mouse from table to table as fast as his brain can make an appropriate decision. “Multitabling [playing multiple tables at once] skills came to me over time,” said Kaplan. “It was a gradual increase until I reached 24 tables. My decision-making process has become lightning fast. I know everything that’s happening in the snap of a finger. And, more importantly, I know exactly what I’m going to do on each street and with whatever cards are dealt.”

By multitabling, Kaplan also earns Frequent Player Points on PokerStars, the online site that he calls home. He calculates that by reaching SuperNova Elite status this year (which he attained in 2009), he can earn close to $135,000 in cash and bonus packages. In addition, he hopes to play a bit more on the live-tournament circuit in 2010, where million-dollar paydays are possible.

For the moment, he is content with playing in the medium-stakes cash games. He has no immediate plans to challenge the high-stakes professionals and deal with the glory and blood baths that six-figure bankroll swings can bring. Actually, he may cut back on the daily grind and return to graduate school next fall. “Having something to do other than play poker was good for my game,” said Kaplan. “Keeping your brain focused on other things besides check-raising is just excellent for your mental health overall. Till then, I’ll just keep on grinding.”

Craig Tapscott: Does multitabling decrease variance, in your experience?

Greg Kaplan: Theoretically, it should decrease the swings, but I don’t know if that’s true, because there’s a lot of tilt involved in multitabling. For the most part, nothing bothers me. But, it’s hard to play your best all the time. The swings can be bigger. I mean, I might be all in on six tables at the same time. All I can do is play the best that I can. So far, it’s worked out.

CT: You have a tight image. How do you make that work for you?

GK: I’m pretty tight preflop, but I use that to my advantage. What I don’t think tight-aggressive players do enough is play loose post-flop. Why? Because people are going to assume that you’re playing tight, because your preflop stats say that you play tight. But if you jack up your bluff frequencies through the roof on the flop, you’re going to get more respect, all due to the tight image that you’ve cultivated. By using your nit image post-flop, you will get a lot more folds than a loose player does. The key is to abuse your tight image to the max.

CT: What are some of the ways you do that?

GK: I cold four-bet more preflop. Almost nobody does it. You can take any two cards, but still not commit to the pot.

CT: Give me an example.

GK: The perfect scenario would be if a loose player raises from the cutoff and a hyperaggressive player three-bets from the button. I’m in the big blind. I’m going to see that the first player is playing 35 percent of hands, and the player who three-bet does so 15 percent of the time when he’s on the button. (I use Hold’em Manager stats.) Most of the time, they will have non-premium hands with which they can’t get it all in preflop. So, I can take any two cards and cold four-bet; it will get a lot of respect with my image. And from a math standpoint, I’m risking about $48 to win about $36, so it doesn’t have to work that often to be profitable.

CT: What is the main leak that losing players have at the medium stakes?

GK: People call out of the blinds too light, and it’s so easy to exploit, because you have a decent idea of their range of hands. You may be in the cutoff or on the button, but they really have no idea what you’re doing. If you play well post-flop, you can just punish those players.

CT: Thanks for your time, Greg.