Capture the Flag - Jordan Morgan

Cash-game grinder Jordan Morgan has played about 2 million hands in his six-year poker career, and he shows no signs of slowing down.

The Full Tilt pro is not only a medium-stakes regular online, multitabling [playing multiple tables simultaneously] effectively for years, but also a successful tournament player. The 26-year-old Morgan has more than $1.5 million in career tournament earnings since 2005.

Highlights of the Oklahoma native’s career include a runner-up finish at the 2006 United States Poker Championship, for a score of $405,000, and wins in a 2007 World Series of Poker Circuit event in Tunica, for more than $200,000, and a Full Tilt Sunday major, for six figures.

Morgan started his career by playing micro limits with his college friends at the University of Oklahoma. It didn’t take him long to figure out that poker was working for him, and he decided to pursue a career as a poker professional at the age of 21, rather than continue with his studies in engineering.

These days, Morgan plays a variety of games — multitabling eight tables of Rush Poker, four tables of heads-up no-limit hold’em, up to 10 tournaments, or 16 tables of six-max cash games.

Card Player caught up with Morgan to talk about his start in poker, grinding the medium stakes online, heads-up strategy, and his plans for the future.

Brian Pempus: Can you describe your progression up in the stakes? How many hands would you estimate you’ve played in online cash games over the years? Can you describe the importance of putting in a high volume?

Jordan Morgan: I started at live $1-$2 no-limit hold’em and then moved to $20 to $50 online multitable tournaments. After that, I went to the big buy-in online tournaments, and eventually the big buy-in live events. For the past few years, I’ve been playing the medium-stakes cash games online. I’ve played easily more than 1.2 million hands, and would guess that it’s nearing 2 million hands. It’s hard to estimate, because for several years, I didn’t have good database software set up. Since I dedicated myself full time to cash games in early 2008, I have played more than 1 million hands.

BP: Can you talk about the current state of the medium-stakes games online? How have the cash games changed since you first started playing?

JM: Due to the readily available training tools, almost all players are fundamentally sound enough not to be at a huge disadvantage when playing. The game now is more a test of tilt control and monitoring game flow than how to play a certain hand in a certain spot. When I first started, it was possible to win just by having a basic understanding of the game and hammering your strong hands while bluffing just a little. Now, it takes a more complete and balanced approach to the game to succeed.

BP: What is your preferred game at the moment? What is your best game, and why?

JM: I prefer heads-up no-limit hold’em right now. It is also probably my best game, because I thoroughly enjoy treating every new opponent as a new challenge to conquer. The beauty of a heads-up match is that everyone plays differently, so no single strategy is enough to win. You have to constantly be paying attention and making adjustments to have success in heads-up games online.

BP: What makes you successful at these medium stakes? What advice would you give to beginning players who want to play heads-up cash games?

JM: I have noticed that when I am actively working on my game and trying to get better, I win and tend to crush the games. When I am not working on my game and just grinding out hands, my results tend to be fairly stagnant and not as good. So, I would say it’s my ability to keep working at getting better, even though I have played professionally for six years, that makes me successful. In heads-up no-limit hold’em, it is vitally important to always be adjusting to each opponent. Many styles can be successful, and playing one set way over and over again is a set way to go broke.

BP: Can you give our readers some basic no-limit hold’em heads-up strategy? How important is position in heads-up play?

JM: You should always pay attention to your opponent, but should start out raising most buttons and being more selective in the big blind. If he is three-betting a lot before the flop, consider minimum-raising or even limping. After the flop, you should try to pick up as many pots as possible, but don’t go overboard. Your opponent will quickly begin to disbelieve you, and may call you down light. This is why it’s usually best to have a good hand when first learning how to fire multiple barrels. Heads-up no-limit hold’em is probably the game in which position matters the most. It’s possible against some opponents to win by playing only in position and just folding every big blind.

BP: Can you talk about game selection in heads-up play? How important is it at the medium stakes? Is there any research that should be done before playing an opponent?

JM: As a pro, sometimes it can be hard to get action, so I generally sit and wait for people to join me. It is a good idea to search opponents on Full Tilt Poker to know what other games they might be playing. Google also can be surprisingly helpful in looking into a person’s poker history. Game selection is fairly important, but as long as players are properly bankrolled for the stakes that they feel they are beating, it should be all right to take whatever action they can get.

BP: Can you discuss your personal views and rules regarding bankroll management? What advice would you give to up-and-coming players regarding bankroll management?

JM: I like to keep 30 or 40 buy-ins readily available in my account for cash games. I will take shots in games for which I have 15 or 20 buy-ins, though. The advice that I would give to an up-and-coming player is to aggressively move up and down in stakes as needed. Follow the basic guideline of having 30 to 50 buy-ins for a game, but be ready to move down as soon as you hit 20 or so. If you feel you are winning quite consistently, it is a good idea to take a three to five buy-in shot at the next limit up, while being prepared to move back down as soon as possible if needed.

BP: How was 2010 overall in the cash games? What are your goals for 2011? Is there any cash-game area in which you are currently trying to improve?

JM: 2010 went pretty well. I struggled a bit with volume at times, but when I was getting in hands, I seemed to win very consistently. My goals for 2011 are to continue to work on my game, and move up in stakes and have another successful year at the tables. I really enjoy Rush Poker, and the biggest game is $2-$4 full-ring no-limit hold’em, so I recently began trying to learn full-ring play. I don’t have much experience in those games, but it seems that I play them a bit too crazily, so I am having to learn how to nit it up for the first time. I’ve also been playing a lot of medium-stakes 10-game mixed, trying to learn all of the games that I’m awful at playing right now.

BP: What hobbies or interests do you have outside of poker? What are your plans for the future?

JM: My hobbies include golf, video games such as Call of Duty, cooking, and hanging out with my bulldogs. I’ve recently gotten into Twitter, and am enjoying that quite a bit. For the future, I would like to branch out into the mixed games, and continue to have the success that I had in 2010, so that I can move up in stakes this year. For tournaments, I want to make another televised final table, and I really think it’s about damned time that I win my first bracelet.

Also, Jeremiah Smith and I are starting a radio show on March 17 on ESPN Radio in the Tulsa-Joplin area. I’m pretty excited about that, as I’ve always wanted to be on the radio. ♠