Capture The Flag: Fabrice Soulier

Fabrice Soulier crossed his name off the unofficial best-without-a-bracelet list this summer at the 2011 World Series of Poker. The French professional won the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E championship for $609,000.

Soulier got his start playing in cash games in his home country, and over the past decade has established himself as one of the country’s best all-around players. He plays in some of the biggest mixed games in the world.

Transitioning to tournaments recently, Soulier has racked up $3.5 million in career earnings to go along with his bracelet win.

Card Player caught up with the Frenchman to talk about his poker origins, his recent victory at the WSOP, as well as what it takes to be successful in cash games.

Brian Pempus: What first brought you to the game of poker?

Fabrice Soulier: When I was a teenager I started playing poker with friends on the holidays. One of my older friends was already a semi-pro, and he was making a lot of money playing with his father’s friends in Paris. He showed me that he could actually beat the games. Of course when I started I lost, but I tried my best to learn and improve. A few years later I was playing in backrooms of cafés in the south of France. At that time the people around the table were like how they are in the movies — some sex shop owners, salesmen, businessmen, and just some guys with a lot of money. The room we were playing in was filled with cigarette and cigar smoke. We were playing five-card draw and lowball. Little by little I started to beat the games. I could buy a few things for myself and pay for some nice holidays, but nothing really serious yet.

I started playing more seriously when I went to Paris as a student. I discovered the clubs, like the Aviation Club de France and the new game, no-limit hold’em. The game at that time was very different. A three-bet would almost always mean a premium hand and people would fold A-K preflop easily. I understood very quickly at the time that I should be very aggressive, raising all the time and applying pressure at the table. I was one of the most aggressive players already. I was playing a lot and I also had a “real job” on the side at that time. I was a TV director and a movie assistant director. I barely slept anymore around the year 2000. I won some nice money in tournaments back around this time. At this point, I had to make a choice. I decided to quit my job for an entire year, just to see if poker would work full time. It did.

BP: Can you talk about your bracelet win this summer? How much did this mean to you?

FS: Since my first trip to Vegas more than a decade ago, it has always been a dream to win a bracelet. So it obviously means a lot to me. Since the win I feel more relaxed when I’m deep in a tournament or playing a final table. I don’t have that title pressure anymore. I still want to win every tournament I play, but now I’m willing to take more risks and play it less “safe”. Winning a bracelet is the biggest achievement of my poker career so far, but it’s definitely not something I will settle on. It’s just something I was missing that’s finally here.

BP: What is the cash game scene like in France? Multiple Frenchmen won bracelets this summer. How has poker been growing in France?

FS: Poker has been growing very fast over the last few years in France. We were very late, and the level of play was not so good compared to England for example. But with the Internet and a richer and richer poker scene, players are improving rapidly. This was a great year for France at the WSOP, and I bet we will have many more bracelets coming in the near future.

BP: In regards to cash games, how should a player determine when he or she is ready to move up in stakes?

FS: I don’t know if I am the best person to give advice for money management in cash games, but I have always liked the idea of taking shots in bigger games. It is not easy to do, because you have to be able to go up and down in the limits all the time. It is hard to accept playing much smaller one day than you did the day before. It is good adrenaline though, so I like this approach. I usually try to record three wins at a certain limit, and then I take all the profit and take a shot at a higher limit. If I don’t win, I go back to the smaller limit. It can be really painful sometimes if you keep running poorly in the bigger games. Fortunately I have been kind of successful with this strategy.

BP: Can you describe some basic cash game strategy for beginning players?

FS: The most important thing is never to put money on the table that you cannot afford to lose. It will make you play weak and as scared-money, which is the worst thing that can happen to you. You have to be able to forget about the amount of money you are playing with. That is why it is very important that you don’t count on the money you play with to, for example, pay the rent.

You also need to feel comfortable at your table in the poker room. Patience is a big virtue in cash games.

BP: What advice would you give to players who have made the decision to play professionally but are having a hard time dealing with the downswings?

FS: If you really have a hard time dealing with the downswings, it means that you’re playing too big. Any player who wants to become professional needs to have a bankroll that allows him to lose for weeks in a row without it being a major problem. It takes a lot of time to climb all the steps if you want to do it properly, otherwise you’ll generally win fast but lose it all as fast as it came. It’s important to find a balance if you want to do this as a living. Ask yourself how much you want to win per month and stick to it for a while. Then, when you see it’s going pretty well, try to play bigger. And like I said earlier, sometimes you can also take a shot at some bigger games, with a specific budget allotted to this.

BP: What is your poker schedule like? What advice would you give for players who want to play poker full time and are having difficulty in finding a comfortable playing schedule?

FS: It can be very difficult to set a schedule when all you have to do is open your computer and work at home 24/7. But having a balanced social life is also very important if you want to be a successful pro. Try to set some fixed hours, or tell yourself “I’m not playing before this or that time in the afternoon.” When I was living alone, it was obviously more difficult than now. Currently, if I play too much, my girlfriend will start pulling my arm, insisting to go out for a movie, visit a museum, take a walk in the park, or eat at a restaurant, and so on. So, yes, my advice is to find yourself a girlfriend that prevents you from playing all the time! [laughing] More seriously, it’s all about self discipline, especially if you’re an online cash game player. Now, I’m playing more live than online so the schedule is easy: one week of poker nonstop and then some good time away from poker to find my energy and balance at home.

BP: How has your participation in cash games changed over the years?

FS: I play less and less cash games these days. Before, I had to play cash a lot, just to finance tournaments. A lot of the time I would end up playing all night in a cash game just to pay for the buy-in to a tournament. The next day I would cash in the tournament and then bust after few hands. It’s very difficult to play tournaments, and that’s why I’m very grateful and happy to be an Everest Poker ambassador. It makes life easier. They allow me to play a lot of nice tournaments around the world.

Anyway, when I play cash games now, it’s mostly in Las Vegas and for fun. I don’t play cash games for a living anymore. When I sit down now, it’s only for a few hours and because I enjoy playing mixed games — anywhere from $40-$80 up to $200-$400 at the Bellagio. I actually only play mixed games and almost never play no-limit hold’em cash games anymore.

BP: Do you do anything in particular to mentally or physically prepare for playing?

FS: Before a big tournament or before the WSOP marathon, for example, I do prepare myself mentally and physically. I don’t go out very often to the night clubs, I eat healthy, I try to sleep well, and I exercise. I cannot allow myself to sit at a table with a hangover, as the caliber of players nowadays is so high that you have to put everything you can on your side. ♠