Byron Kaverman: Highly Respected Poker Pro Tearing Up Tournament Circuit In 2015

Byron Kaverman’s initial passion was soccer, playing collegiately at Tiffin University. Always competitive, the kid from Fort Jennings, Ohio used to travel two hours each way just to get to practice. Despite learning the game of poker in high school, Kaverman’s first plan was to follow in his uncle’s footsteps and become a sports psychologist, but a huge tournament win in 2011 put his grad school idea on hold.

It was the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $5,000 side event, and Kaverman was the last man standing from a field of 245, claiming the title and the $320,840 first-place prize. He’s been more or less on the road ever since, making final tables in Florida, Nevada, New Jersey, California, Monaco, Denmark, Spain, France, and England.

In total, the 28-year-old has earned just under $6 million on the live tournament circuit in the last five years, the majority of which has been won in the last 18 months. It started at the 2014 WPT World Championship with a runner-up finish worth $727,860. He followed that up with a 2014 EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final High Roller fifth-place finish for another $468,309.

His momentum continued into 2015, where he made four final tables in $25,000 Aria High Roller events, finishing fourth, second, first, and first for a combined $888,983. At this summer’s World Series of Poker, he recorded four big cashes, including a 12th-place finish in the $111,111 buy-in One Drop event for $332,593. He even won his first WSOP bracelet, taking home $657,351 in the $10,000 buy-in six-max no-limit hold’em event, then took third in the Bellagio Cup XI main event for another $409,219.

Kaverman’s consistency over the last few years has cemented him as one of the best players in the game today. As a result of his stellar year on the circuit, which includes 8 final tables and three wins, Kaverman now sits in fifth-place in the Card Player Player of the Year race. He has earned nearly $2.2 million this year alone, bringing his lifetime tournament earnings to $5.8 million.

Card Player caught up with Kaverman to discuss his success and how he approaches the game.

Card Player: Where and when did you discover poker? What are some of your earliest poker playing memories? Can you give an example of how you used to approach the game?

Byron Kaverman: I learned the game by watching Rounders at my friend’s Michigan lake house going into my junior year of high school. Seems like many have similar stories from right around the same time. We were hooked, that’s for sure. My brother and I even went on eBay and ordered all of the past WSOP episodes. We’d watch and then play heads up on school nights, and come to think of it, I think he still owes me from some of those games.

CP: What was the most surprising thing you learned about yourself or about the game when you first started playing poker with the pros? What about the poker world continues to surprise you?

BK: My journey from starting out to getting to the point I’m at now in the poker world is an unusual one. I played online through college, but put in a relatively low volume and only played a dozen or so live tournaments during that time. The summer of 2008 was my first time playing at the WSOP and I actually skipped the main event because the final table date conflicted with the first round of the NCAA playoffs, which we fell just short of. My friends thought I was a lunatic, and I actually didn’t play another live tournament until 2011, but I guess looking back at making the decision with such ease and never regretting it taught me to stay true to what I’m passionate about. I think it’s important that’s applied to all walks of life. 

I find the poker world to be very intriguing. People come from all around the world to compete in a game with a lot of complex dimensions. And through the competition, we get to meet and associate with diverse and interesting individuals. When asked, I describe poker as being a lot like the golf and tennis tours. It’s often the same groups of people competing against each other from city to city. With poker though, the psychological element becomes increasingly relevant. For example, many of the bigger buy-in events have small fields where players know each other well and are often good friends which makes playing in big spots that much more intense.

CP: If you had to describe your game, how would you do it?

BK: I would describe my game as being on the solid-aggressive side. I feel it’s important to be able to adapt quickly to different types of opponents and table dynamics.
CP: What kind of a player were you when you first started and how has your game evolved over the years? Do you tend to adjust your playing style based on the table or do you like to impose your will on a table by being super aggressive?

BK: It’s hard to compare my style now to that in the past because the game is always changing. Starting out, I was more of a feel player and a bit on the wild side. I think it’s key to adjust well. The players who try to consistently run over tables are going to have a hard time doing so.

CP: You play a lot of high roller events. What is your approach in the early stages of a small field, big buy-in event and how does that differ from the approach you take in smaller buy-in, huge field events?

BK: The margins are small in many of the high rollers, which makes taking small edges necessary. In other situations waiting for better spots can often be best.

CP: During the end of a tournament, at the final table, how does your approach change? Because the payouts are top-heavy, are you more willing to gamble in order to give yourself a better chance at winning or is it more about survival because of ICM implications?

BK: Final tables can be tricky when considering the different stacks and payout structure and, in a lot of spots, it’s optimal to play hands in ways that differ from the standard. The situations are always unique too. Sometimes it can be best to go for it and other times playing low variance to make a pay jump is important. 

CP: The last two years have been really great for you as far as tournament results go. How did the money change your life? How did that success change the way you approached poker as a business? 

BK: The last couple years have been incredible, I’ve run extremely well in some big spots. The money hasn’t changed things for me too much. I’ve invested some and am looking to do more. Going into the WPT Championship, where I finished second, I was on my biggest downswing ever, but in the months leading up to the tournament decided that, after the summer, I was going to move to San Diego and travel less. I had been going city to city playing for the most part for a stretch of two to three years, which was awesome, but [I] felt the need to relax and enjoy other things regardless of how poker was going. As far as approaching poker, I treat it like any other sport by doing things like going into tournaments well prepared and staying sharp by sometimes playing online before live events.

CP: You’ve had a few close calls in some tournaments. Are you hard on yourself when you fall just short of a win or do you just chalk it up to variance? How much do you review your play after a tournament is over? What’s the best way to improve your game other than experience?

BK: If I’m confident in how I played, I just chalk it up to variance and don’t let it affect me. In times though where I have regrets, it can be frustrating to fall short, but that’s just part of the game. Following some tournaments, I spend time thinking things over and looking at hands more in depth, but generally just focus on the next one. I think the best ways to improve are talking with people and watching videos. Aside from that thinking about situations differently than normal and experimenting at the table can be good too. 


CP: Can you describe the feeling of winning a WSOP bracelet? How do you feel about the added attention or the prestige of winning a major title? Or is it all about the money at the end of the day?

BK: Winning the bracelet was awesome. The fact that it’s such a prestigious tournament made it very satisfying and I’m comfortable with the attention that comes along with it. Going into the final day, someone close to me asked how I was feeling and I told him I was leaving Rio with the cup. It was a reference to a conversation a friend and I had about Germany in the World Cup final and I really adopted that mindset throughout. It was my first time experiencing the type of sensation that I have so many times on the soccer field, the feeling of complete focus and winning-at-all-costs mentality.

CP: What are your plans for the immediate future, either in poker or in your everyday life? What about ten years from now?

BK: I moved to San Diego a year ago and have yet to really spend an extended amount of time there, so I’m looking forward to doing that. I’m enjoying things and am going to continue to go with the flow. Poker has been going well, and I’m excited for the challenges that await. Having said that, doing things outside of the game is something I’m always interested and open to. ♠