Capture the Flag With Alex Rocha

Poker pro Alex Rocha has more than $470,000 in career tournament earnings, but he is looking to make a transition to high-stakes cash games. Despite having most of his experience in no-limit hold’em, Rocha, who frequents card rooms in the Northeast, wants to be a mixed-game regular.

Rocha made a final table in the $1,500 buy-in eight-game mix at the 2014 WSOP, which has given him the confidence to pursue a wide range of poker variants. Card Player had the chance to speak to the 25-year-old Rocha about his poker career, as well as what his goals are for the future playing mixed games.

Brian Pempus: What has prompted the transition to mixed-game cash?

Alex Rocha: While my background is in no-limit hold’em, I have always enjoyed playing the mixed games. After some recent deep runs in mixed-game tournaments during PokerStars SCOOP ($215 HORSE, seventh) and WSOP ($1,500 eight-game, eighth, where Phil Ivey won), I decided to put in more hours studying the different games and getting better at them. I enjoy no-limit tournaments but lately no-limit cash has been boring me, to be honest, and I have just been having a lot of fun learning and playing the different games.

BP: Do you think it will be a big adjustment switching over to cash games?

AR: I’m not making a complete transition from tournaments to cash games. Tournaments will still make up most of my volume but instead of me playing 80 percent tournaments, 20 percent cash games, I would like it to be a little bit closer to 50-50.

BP: Can you talk about creating a schedule for playing cash games? Is routine important?

AR: Funny you should ask that…Structure and routine is something that has evaded me for most of my life, but after turning 25 this past April, I have been thinking a lot about changing that. Instead of hopping from hotel to hotel and couch to couch, I have been recently looking into getting my own apartment in New Jersey and adding some structure and routine to my life, especially with the recent news of PokerStars coming to New Jersey this fall. Routine isn’t something I am used to, but I do think that it can be important and helpful with regards to grinding cash games. Although it has been a seemingly foreign concept to me thus far, I am looking forward to adding some structure to my life.

BP: What kind of routine do you think you would implement for cash games? Like, would you stick to nighttime grinding? Can you talk about considerations like that?

AR: Luckily for me and my sleep schedule, games are often best at night so I would normally start up a session sometime between 6-8 p.m. and play as long as the games were good and running. Games are usually better on the weekends, with more recreational players playing. For myself, personally, being on the east coast, I would ideally play four nights a week: Friday-Sunday at Borgata and Tuesday nights at Parx Casino in Pennsylvania.

BP: Can you talk about the process of figuring out whether you are too tired to keep playing?

AR: The easiest way for me to realize that I am too tired to keep playing is if I lose a big pot or get a bad beat, and I am the slightest bit ornery or cranky. I would like to think of myself as a gracious loser and take my beats in stride, so if I feel myself getting at all emotional or flustered after losing a pot, it is more than likely due to fatigue and it would be time to pick up. Another indicator of fatigue for me is rushing my decisions. I’ve noticed that when tired I will not consider all options before making my decision and often call in spots I would normally fold.

BP: Do you sometimes have to put up with being tired if the game is really great?

AR: Yes. It is very important to know whether you are in a good or bad game and adjust accordingly. If you are in a great game with multiple players “giving it away,” it is obviously in your best interest to keep playing, regardless of fatigue, as long as your B or C game is better than their A game. In that same token, if I sit in a game with six or seven solid regulars and know I am tired and/or not playing my A game, I will get up and call it a day without hesitation.

BP: Can you talk about the stakes you will be playing or have played in cash games? What do you think of the level of competition? What do people still do wrong?

AR: In live no-limit hold’em, I have played up to $10-$25 with most of my volume being in $2-$5 and $5-$10. I am just getting started in mixed cash, but in the last month or so have been playing $15-$30, $20-$40 and $30-$60 depending on what’s running. The level of competition varies by stake and game. I think that generally speaking, the average no-limit hold’em player is a lot better than the average mixed game player, making the average mixed game a bit softer. While I’m far from perfect, something I still see people doing wrong in no limit hold’em cash games is calling three-bets or single raises out of position with very weak holdings and having no plan postflop. You also still see a lot of weak/passive play postflop as well as people pot-controlling hands they should be value-betting and building a pot with. Although I am relatively new to mixed game cash, I am noticing people losing extra bets they should be saving. I am also seeing people losing pots they probably shouldn’t have been involved in to begin with due to poor starting hand selection.

BP: What would it take for you to move to the highest mixed-game stakes in the world? How much better would you have to get?

AR: A backer (laughs). In all seriousness, my plan is to grind and move up the stakes in the mixed games and see how high I can go. I’m not sure about the biggest games in the world, but it should be a fun journey to the top. It’s hard to quantify how much better I would have to get to be able to compete at the highest levels but the easiest answer would be “a lot.” I am extremely lucky to have some excellent mixed game players in my corner, as personal friends, to learn from and help me improve. Mixed game phenom Melissa Burr, amongst others, have already helped me see my game improve in just the last six months, and I am very grateful to say the least.

BP: Could you give a bit of advice about the kinds of starting hands you should be playing in the games you typically find in mixed cash?

AR: You always want to draw to “lock hands.” Whether it be the lock-low or lock-high, you want to have cards that can make the nuts multiple ways. The key to high-low split-pot games is having a versatile hand that can scoop both halves of the pot. That is probably the most important piece of advice I can give regarding starting hand requirements.

BP: Would you say, in general, that position matters about the same in all the games? Or is it more important in some over others?

AR: Position is important in all of the games but there are definitely some games where position plays a bigger factor. With regards to mixed games, it is most important in non-split pot games like badugi, deuce-to-seven triple draw, and limit hold’em.

BP: Can you talk about how you found poker and how you moved up in stakes and the highlights of your career so far.

AR: I remember being very young, seven or eight years old and being excited to visit my grandmother because it meant me playing with her hand-held video poker game. From there, I remember being 11 or 12 and playing different variations of stud with family members for pennies, nickels and dimes on the kitchen table. Fun stud variants like “baseball” and “follow the queen,” and my competitive nature drew me to the game of poker.

I rediscovered poker when I was 16 years old from television. I used to watch TV poker all the time. Whether it was WSOP coverage on ESPN or Celebrity Poker on Bravo, the strategy aspect of the game had me hooked. I started playing online for play money when I was 18 and had some luck in the play money freerolls that paid out real money and was able to start grinding micro-stakes where I eventually binked a $3 rebuy to help start building an actual poker bankroll. From there I grinded online multitable tournaments until I turned 21 and could play in the live arena. Since turning 21, I have had 19 recorded live final tables, including winning a Borgata trophy and a WSOP circuit ring. I am not sure I have anything “highlight” worthy in my career yet as I feel I am very young and still have a lot to accomplish. But if I were to pinpoint something in my short career, it would be making a WSOP final table this summer with one of my original poker heroes, Phil Ivey, even though it was a disappointing eighth-place finish for me. ♠