Capture the Flag With Ryan Tepen

World Series of Poker Circuit grinder and part-time poker refugee Ryan Tepen can be found playing up to $40-$80 mixed games, including $20-$40 heads-up triple-draw, on PokerStars during his trips just south of the United States border. When the Missouri native is not in Mexico, he can be found throughout the states at WSOP Circuit stops at the tournament tables and in the cash game areas playing $2-$5 and $5-$10 no-limit hold’em and $5-$5 pot-limit Omaha (PLO).

If there is a live $30-$60 mixed-game happening, Tepen can be found at those tables as well, and in his words “plays a little bit of everything.”

Card Player had the chance to speak with Tepen about his trips to Mexico to play online, cash games along the WSOP Circuit, and workable strategies to learn new games.

Diana Cox: How long have you been playing mixed games?

Ryan Tepen: Since 2008. I realized there were a lot of kids younger than me that were a lot better at no-limit hold’em, so I thought I should learn all the games. It’s come in handy. Whenever there is a really tough no-limit game, you can play Omaha eight-or-better or triple-draw, and whenever those games are tough you might see a really good no-limit game. So it’s nice to be versatile and to be able to switch back and forth.

DC: When you travel the WSOP Circuit are you playing cash on the side?

RT: Yeah, you have to. If you just play the tournaments I don’t really think you could survive on the Circuit. You would have to win at least two tournaments to really even have enough money to withstand the rake and withstand the travel expenses, hotel costs, food and entertainment. So if you’re not playing cash games I don’t really think you could even make it. After I bust a tournament, I take a little time to relax and then I go play cash.

DC: What are the cash game scenes like during those stops?

RT: It varies from stop to stop, but they are so much better at each property during a Circuit stop because everybody is doing the same thing and everybody wants to play. The satellites are good, but the cash games are always amazing. Especially in places like Hammond (Indiana) and Los Angeles. The games are just amazing because there are so many more people there. And the more people that bust out, the more people that can play cash. It’s great.

DC: When did you start going to Mexico to play online? What are the cash games you play currently like on PokerStars?

RT: I first went in April of 2013, so right before SCOOP, and I didn’t really play that much online cash. I had just started playing $4-$8 mixed before Black Friday and then when I got to Mexico I was on a really short roll and playing mostly tournaments. But I started realizing the mixed games were still amazing. I still stay away from no-limit online cash though. I think it’s probably beatable if you put in the time, but there are just so many good players in those games. But in the mixed games you see people that come in and want to try to learn the games and it’s profitable. So it’s been really amazing.

DC: After Black Friday there was a big wave of players that started going to Mexico for periods of time to play online in between major tournament stops. Are there people you are playing those games online with that you are now familiar with on the tournament scene?

RT: There are a couple of players I’ve played a lot with and I’m starting to recognize them, mostly from their Twitter handle being the same as their PokerStars screen name. I played a lot with “JLlama” and “Enon” and people like that. You see them doing really well in the mixed games and in the cash games, so it’s nice to know their style of play in a tournament when we do play. But we haven’t played that much together. Mostly it just helps you prepare for the mixed games in Las Vegas during the WSOP. Because you have to be able to adapt to everyone’s playing style. Some people have no clue and there are other people that are really good at certain games, so you have to figure out what games they are playing bad and what games they are playing really well and try to adjust accordingly.

DC: The term “mixed games” covers at the very least eight-to-ten games. How hard is it to begin learning and then mastering that many different games?

RT: It takes a lot, but eventually you start to realize a lot of the games have similar skill sets. A lot of the high-low split formats have a lot of similar starting hand requirements, and in some of the no-limit games there are different bluffing abilities, different things you can do. I learned a lot of this from Mike Matusow’s book Check-Raising the Devil, which didn’t have much strategy in it, but he said that he would use stud eight-or-better to help out his limit hold’em game, and limit hold’em to help out his Omaha eight-or-better game, because a lot of it had to do with bet/folding and check-raising. And that made a lot of sense. Whenever you can grasp that concept, you can take what you know in no-limit hold’em and limit hold’em and apply it to some of the other games. ♠