Generation Next -- Ryan Franklin

So, you think you’re cool. You can sit down and fire up 20 tournaments to play simultaneously online, splashed across two 24-inch monitors, while you glide your mouse from hand to hand in a robotic manner. Why? Because, supposedly, volume dampens the volatility of variance; at least that’s what you read on the forums. You grind. You struggle. You may even squeak out a small profit. But where’s the big score? Have you become mindless, and lost all creativity and imagination in your game? Online star Ryan “HITTHEPANDA” Franklin knows that you don’t go deep in tournaments often enough because you do just that, and you don’t think.

“It’s so easy to go into autopilot mode. Don’t. Pay attention,” says Franklin. “Train yourself to think. Cut back on the number of tables and distractions. I used to have poker forums and instant messages up on my screens, and I was always searching for music, and so on. If you’re doing that, you’re subconsciously not thinking as deeply about the game as you could. Consequently, you’re definitely missing value.”

One fateful day, Franklin was introduced to online poker through a friend whom he routinely competed against in video games. He quickly realized that poker was simply a video game at which he could make money. An obsession was born. He searched the forums for knowledge, and joined a community of poker friends at LOLnicesqueeze.com, where he could share hands and discuss strategy. Success came quickly for the teen, as he has cashed for more than $1 million in online tournaments to date.

Last fall, Franklin had a day that most players only dream about having. On Sunday, Oct. 18, he won the Full Tilt Poker $150 rebuy tournament, for $71,000, and then went on to capture third place in the PokerStars Sunday $500 event, for $48,000. And just three months earlier, he took down the Full Tilt Poker $750,000-guaranteed event, for $94,000. Last year, Franklin made the final table of his first live tournament, the EPT Portugal main event. He finished seventh, for $70,000.

Only 19 years of age, Franklin demonstrates maturity beyond his years. Early in his poker career, he understood the value of developing his mind first, and that with patience and focus, the rest would fall into place. He thinks that plan will continue to serve him well and will help him to achieve his main goal for 2010 — to be one of the top-five online players in the world.

Craig Tapscott: Where would you recommend that players who are new to online tournaments begin?

Ryan Franklin: I would tell them to start by playing the $4.40 180-player events on PokerStars. They will introduce players to tournament concepts — of course, against very bad players — and are easy to beat and a good bankroll builder. Honestly, after that money is made, I would invest in a good poker-training site. That knowledge in itself will be worth the investment at that point, and they’ll make their money back.

CT: So, they are better than the $1 and $2 multitable events?

RF: I wouldn’t recommend grinding in the low-limit multitable tournaments, because even if you’re a good player, you are not going to see a first-place win unless you get lucky. It’s more luck and fate if you make a final table in those 7,000-player events. At the same time, dedicate time away from the tables to studying the game. And find a friend at the same stakes that you’re playing and discuss hands with him, and use each other for support.

CT: Training yourself to break down situations over and over again really catapulted your game to the next level, didn’t it?

RF: Yes. I play a very loose-aggressive style, and try to exploit my opponents. I realized that if I took a line with a set against an opponent and won, I could take that same line with a bluff, as well. Thinking like that, even in a low-stakes game, will benefit you. And as you go up in stakes, you have to get comfortable with playing and opening more hands preflop. You have to realize which spots are profitable and take advantage of that knowledge.

CT: Where do most players miss out on accumulating chips early in tournaments?

RF: Players definitely don’t open enough before the antes kick in. From the start, you should be trying to figure out which players are playing tight (because they want to get deeper in the tournament, but it’s actually not the correct strategy). When you become aware of the table dynamics, opening with any two cards preflop can be profitable at times. Set the table up. It’s very important to make your opponents think you’re capable of doing anything, because that makes you harder to play against.