Capture the Flag: Jorryt van Hoof

Jorryt van Hoof had under $200,000 in lifetime tournament winnings prior to the 2014 World Series of Poker main event, but he is definitely one of the most talented players at the final table, which kicks off in November at the Penn & Teller Theater in Las Vegas.

Van Hoof, who hails from the Netherlands but lives in London these days, will enter the final table as the chip leader with 38,375,000. The second-largest stack is 32,775,000.
Over the past few years playing online cash games, van Hoof is up more than $140,000, according to data from tracking site HighstakesDB. That figure only represents a small chunk of his overall winnings, since the site only tracks results at $25-$50 and higher. Much of van Hoof’s play has come at $5-$10 and $10-$20, which allows him to put in a lot of volume.

The 31-year-old plays under the screen name “TheCleaner11.”

An example of van Hoof’s ability to clean out opponents with an aggressive style can be seen during his elimination of poker pro Dan Smith when the main event was down to just three tables. The hand stunned Smith, since van Hoof elected to risk the house on a small pocket pair. Van Hoof sensed an edge and decided to push the advantage, just like a true cash game grinder should.

Smith began the action by raising to 350,000 from the hijack. Van Hoof three-bet to 900,000 out of the small blind. Smith four-bet to 1.825 million. Van Hoof tanked for about five minutes and eventually moved all-in for 6.425 million, having Smith covered by only 400,000 or so.

Smith made the call with the A K and was in a race against van Hoof’s pocket fours.

The flop came 8 3 2, which was no help to Smith. The Q on the turn brought some excitement since it was paint, but it wasn’t what Smith needed. Everyone held their breath for the river, and it was the 3, giving van Hoof the hand and the elimination of Smith.

Card Player had the chance to speak to van Hoof about his poker background as well as his experience playing cash games, which definitely helped prepare him years ago for the main event.

Brian Pempus: Can you talk about your poker background?

Jorryt van Hoof: As a kid, I used to trade Magic: The Gathering collectable trading cards, and while in high school, I opened a gaming store in my hometown of Eindhoven. After a few years, some customers and friends from the store started playing poker, and I joined in on the action. I immediately enjoyed the game and went looking for other places to play. I started playing €50 tournaments at Holland Casino and smaller buy-in tournaments online. I’ve only ever had one New Year’s resolution and that was to take poker, specifically my bankroll management, more seriously after seeing the potential of earning some good money. I was attending college at that time and living together with some students. I started grinding sit-and-gos with my friends at the student house for a few months before transitioning to no-limit hold’em cash games. That was also the end of college for me, as I dropped out of my business engineering studies. Also, I exited the gaming store business, as my partners had different ambitions than I had. From then on, it was playing poker full time.

BP: How did you move up in stakes over the years?

JVH: I played mostly $2-$4 the first year and moved to $5-$10 and $10-$20 after that. Those are the stakes that I have played the most over the years. I have been really conservative regarding bankroll management and started playing $25-$50 pot-limit Omaha (PLO) as my main game only this last year. I always played a few multi-table tournaments each year, mostly for fun and to change things up a little bit from the cash game grind.
BP: What challenges did you face while moving up in cash game stakes?

JVH: To move from $10-$20 to playing $25-$50 comfortably was a very big step for me. The games are quite a lot tougher, of course, but next to that, I think I kind of had the attitude that $5-$10 and $10-$20 was high enough to play at and, therefore, I lacked proper motivation to move up in stakes. Since last year, I have been thinking a bit differently about that, as I feel much more motivated to compete at a high level now.

BP: What do you like about cash games?

JVH: The complexity of deep-stack play and that you can play, or quit, whenever you want. I feel it’s easier to combine poker with other life ambitions, playing cash games compared to tournaments, as well. It’s easier to find that balance.

BP: How have you improved as a cash game player over the years?

JVH: I have improved quite a lot. I think most of it is due to my own reflections of my play, and also due to talking with friends about poker strategy. The past year, I have been really focusing on the mental aspect of the game, as I think the mental game is still highly undervalued in poker. Next to that, I am owner and coach on www.nederpoker.com, a Dutch poker platform. I think that having to clarify your thoughts as a coach can be really helpful for your own game.

BP: What kinds of mistakes are people still making in the online cash games that you play?

JVH: I have been mostly playing PLO. The cool thing about PLO is that there are so many situations where there is a lot of uncertainty on what the best play is, so people opt for different plays, and, in general, just different playing styles. This means that a lot of the time people are making mistakes, but often it’s hard to recognize them. A very common mistake is unbalanced ranges, for example, playing all strong hands hard—raise, bet whenever possible—means your next street continue-calling or checking-range can be too weak.

BP: What are some basic strategy tips you can give beginner cash game players?

JVH: Make sure that when you play poker you are really engaged in the game in a way that’s optimal for your concentration. I think that boredom usually means you are playing too low and anxiety usually means you are playing too high. Both can be killers for your poker game. I think the old adage, “if you can’t spot the sucker at your table, then you are the sucker,” also holds true. You should search for weaknesses in your opponents’ games to exploit. If you find enough of them, you can be confident to continue playing—and if you can’t, then you can’t.

BP: Can you give some basic advice for those wanting to transition from no-limit hold’em to PLO cash?

JVH: The most important thing is that players should be aware of the difference in variance. I have seen different players trying to make the transition, but end up falling back to no-limit hold’em because of the bigger swings. Recognizing and learning absolute hand value strength is something that players moving from hold’em to PLO should make a priority. For example: Top pair, top kicker isn’t the same as in no-limit hold’em. Equity distributions run much smoother; this has a big impact on the game as well. It’s tough to have someone crushed like in no-limit hold’em, so there are different approaches to bet sizing. There are some very different styles in PLO still, so it’s tough to point out who’s exactly right on each particular area. It’s important to learn a good way to look at a PLO hand and be able to see where its value can come from. A hand with two hold’em hands might look nice, like A K 8 7, but it’s not that good at all. If you flop a nut flush, you can mostly expect value from someone with the king-high flush, and we are blocking that one with our own K. And also look out with [small pocket pairs], because in multi-way pots a middle or bottom set doesn’t have really good equity when a lot of chips go in.

BP: How does the deep-stack nature of the WSOP main event compare to cash games?

JVH: The blind structure and deep-stack play are what I love so much about the WSOP main event. It’s simply awesome. One of the biggest differences is that you are not playing for chip [expected value] as you are in cash games. The downside is that you might have to play for seven very long days, which is extremely tough both mentally and physically. The upside, in my situation, is that I’ve made the November Nine, which will be an unforgettable experience.

BP: Can you talk about the different skill sets needed to beat online cash games vs. live cash games?

JVH: I think there are definitely differences, but I also believe that they might be overrated. The biggest difference is the pace in which the games run and how fast you get hands dealt. Patience is definitely the key of being a successful live player. Live, you can also more easily go for exploitative play, since most games are softer than they are on the Internet.

BP: How tough is it to move up in cash game stakes these days?

JVH: I guess it’s quite tough if you start at low stakes. There’s definitely some hard work that would need to be put in to have a decent shot. Luckily for ambitious people, there’s a lot of good content available to learn how to play poker well.

BP: What is the cash game scene like where you live?

JVH: I live in London and the poker scene here is great. We have a few casinos with daily cash games running. I have already played some $10-$20 deep no-limit hold’em and also a session of $25-$50 PLO, which I couldn’t resist sitting down and playing.

BP: How do cash games prepare someone for a tournament?

JVH: In both forms of poker you, obviously, learn how to play poker. The big difference in tournaments is that you can’t leave whenever you want and you can’t reload. Outside of that, you’ll still learn about the value of position, how to treat different stack sizes, and so on.

BP: What are your cash game plans after a big main event payday?

JVH: I have no idea what I’m going to play after the WSOP main event. Big life experiences can have a huge impact on one’s paradigm. But it wouldn’t be surprising if I were to give some more action at the highest stakes. ♠