When I Was A Donk – Kristen Bicknell

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.

Kristen Bicknell first got the attention of the poker world online, where she spent years as a Supernova Elite player on PokerStars under the name “Krissyb24.” The Canadian poker pro then turned her attention to the live arena and, in 2013, won the $1,000 buy-in ladies event at the World Series of Poker for her first bracelet and $173,922.

This summer, Bicknell one-upped herself by winning the $1,500 bounty event at the WSOP, banking $290,768 and her second gold bracelet. The 29-year-old now has more than $500,000 in career live tournament earnings.

Here, Bicknell explains how she learns from her mistakes at the table.

When I first started playing poker about 10 or 11 years ago, I was in a $1-$2 game at a local casino and hit a set. A gutshot straight got there on the river, but I didn’t recognize it. I bet, my opponent moved all in and I called. He said he had the nuts, and I was like, ‘what’s the nuts?’ I went from feeling like I was going to win this huge pot to feeling like I made a big mistake, and that was the first time I had ever experienced that rush of emotions at the table before.

It really was a great lesson for me though. A set on one board may be very strong, but a set on another board may be very weak. It may seem like common sense now, but when you first start playing, it can be difficult to understand things like board texture and how that affects hand strength.

As long as you are looking back and evaluating your game, you will improve. When I look back at how I was playing even six months ago, I think I sucked. That’s a good thing, because it means I’m getting better.

When I transitioned to live play, there was a lot to learn that I never had to deal with online. Online I could get away with a lot of three- and four-betting, but in a live game, that can quickly get a little spewey. But you take a step back, evaluate, and make an adjustment. It’s important that you are really honest with yourself about how you are playing and that you don’t fall into the trap of blaming bad luck while you still have leaks in your game. ♠