Heads Up With Eric Baldwin

In 2009, Eric Baldwin won the Card Player Player of the Year award for his stellar results, which included his first World Series of Poker bracelet. He has cashed for more than $4.1 million in his career, and most recently won a bounty shootout event at the PokerStars North American Poker Tour Los Angeles. Card Player TV caught up with Baldwin just before that final table began to discuss how the shootout format should affect your strategy.

Eric Baldwin: Playing a shootout is a lot different than playing a multitable tournament (MTT). First of all, your table is never going to break, so if you have a bad setup at your table, you are just going to have to deal with it. Another thing is that shootout tournaments are frequently winner-take-all events, so while you might avoid playing against another tough player in an MTT, in a shootout, you are going to have to get his chips eventually, so you have to go after him. Also, there is a lot of shorthanded play, because people aren’t filling the empty seats. As people get eliminated, you are forced to play shorthanded. I definitely am more willing to gamble early, because, as I said, you have to get everyone’s chips, so pushing small edges is a lot better strategy than it might be in an MTT with a lot of soft players. ♠