When I Was A Donk With Tyler Patterson

In this series, Card Player asks top pros to rewind back to their humble beginnings and provide insights regarding the mistakes, leaks, and deficiencies that they had to overcome in order to improve their games.

Tyler Patterson has nearly $1.5 million in live tournament winnings to go along with his success at the cash-game tables.

Since his first recorded major live cash in 2005 for $400 in a $120 no-limit hold’em tournament, Patterson has tallied 66 live cashes, with 24 of them coming from major tournament poker tours. His largest cash of $298,950, came from a third-place finish in the 2012 World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open. Most recently, he won his first career World Series of Poker gold bracelet by taking down the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better event for $270,992.

Patterson may have an impressive poker resume, but it did not come without a learning curve. Card Player spoke with Patterson about some things he has learned in the past nine years as a poker pro.

He immediately said one the biggest problems he faced as an inexperienced player was a problem that arguably plagues many of poker’s newcomers — the mindset that every single pot needs to be won. Patterson even had his struggle with this concept recorded during a televised hand for all those watching to see.

“One of the biggest concepts I had a problem with was trying to win every pot. When I got started in a pot the main focus was ‘how can I win it’ and no matter what happened, I would try to figure out a line that could make me win the pot. Obviously there are times when you need to give up, and I’m a lot better at figuring out when that is now. I’m more focused on getting maximum value when I have it.

I’m definitely still trying to get in there and battle, but mostly in position and mostly against the right opponents nowadays, whereas in the past it would be to just blast for everything.

There was even a televised hand in Canada [at the B.C. Poker Championships] that really illustrated this. I had a lot of chips in a tournament and just totally dusted them off in a ridiculous bluff that got called by a player with ace-high. It was really embarrassing.

As soon as you realize that a normal, credible line that everyone seems to understand is not going to work to win the pot, you probably shouldn’t make up some elaborate play to try and win. It’s okay to fold sometimes.” ♠