Card Player Profile: Dutch Boyd

Dutch Boyd has more than $1.2 million in lifetime tournament earnings. For the past few months, Boyd did not play any major tournaments, but he came out to Las Vegas for the Five-Diamond World Poker Classic. Card Player had the chance to chat with him after he won a preliminary event, and we discussed his goals for the coming year.


Lizzy Harrison: You haven't been around for a while; what has been going on with you, and where have you been?

Dutch Boyd: I have not really been following the tournament trail. I mean, I played a lot at this year's World Series of Poker, and I played in the Legends of Poker at the Bike [Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California], but traveling gets to me.

LH: What brought you here for the Five-Diamond World Poker Classic?

DB: I felt like I had something to prove at this tournament series. I mean, last year this tournament series was a complete disaster for me. So, I wanted to come back this year and kick some ass, and that is what I did.

LH: So far, you've won one preliminary event and cashed in two others; what key aspect of your game makes you the poker player that you are?

DB: In the tournaments that I did really well in, I was playing very good poker, so I was not really relying on the cards. I mean, when I won [event No. 3 of the Five-Diamond World Poker Classic], there were so many situations that came up in which I did not have a hand, but I did have a good read on my opponent, so I was able to push him off of his hand. I think I have a pretty tight image at the table, and so I am able to exploit that.

LH: Is there a part of your game that you want to improve?

DB: Yeah, the biggest aspect of my game that I am looking to improve is the ability to bring my "A-game" to the table every time I play. When I do bring my "A-game," I feel like I am one of the best, but sometimes, especially right after a big score, I become a donator at the table. There were a couple of tournaments I played right after I won, and I was out in like 20 minutes. They give you so many chips and so much play [at Bellagio] that there is really no excuse for that.

LH: You entered the final table of event No. 3 third in chips; what were your impressions of the other players at the table?

DB: There were a couple of good players there. I was not really worried about the two guys who had me covered going in to the final table. Jack Duncan and Tom Schneider were the two guys who had more chips than I had. I know Tom Schneider has been having a really good year, but I have played with him before, so I know that he plays ABC poker. He is kind of predictable, because he doesn't ever get out of line. Schneider is a solid player, but I knew that going in; that makes him easier to read than some of these Internet players who do crazy s--- with any two cards.

LH: Was there any one opponent that you were particularly wary of, and if so, why?

DB: Not really. I felt like I had a really good handle on the table. I kind of started to slip at one point, but I was always really confident, and so I recovered.

LH: How would you rate your play, on a personal scale, at the final table?

DB: I have definitely played better poker before, but I do think I played well. You can't argue with results.

LH: Was there a crucial hand that led you to victory?

DB: The crucial hand occurred when it was threehanded. Jack Duncan had about 530,000 in chips, I had about 480,000 in chips, and the guy who came in third [Osmin Dardon] had about 240,000 in chips. The blinds were 4,000-8,000 and I raised to 20,000 with a K-Q on the button. Dardon was in the small blind, and he called. Jack Duncan was in the big blind and he reraised to 50,000 - 30,000 more than my initial raise. I really felt like Duncan was just getting out of line because I had been raising his blind a lot. My strategy when we got threehanded was pretty much to attack Duncan's stack and to leave Dardon alone. That is a good piece of tournament strategy that I received from Layne Flack, and it stuck with me. Flack said "When you are playing in a tournament you want to attack the big stacks. Stay away from the small stacks because they are dangerous. They are dangerous because they do not have anything to lose."

So, I had really been nailing Duncan's blinds since he was the big stack. When he reraised me, I did not put him on that strong of a hand. I called, and Dardon called from the small blind. The flop came out Q-8-7 with two spades. Dardon checked and Duncan immediately pushed all in for 480,000. He had me covered, and I had a decision to make. I went in to the tank, because there were a few hands I was worried about. He could have had A-Q, pocket aces, or pocket kings. He could even have had pocket queens, pocket sevens, or pocket eights for a set. I really did not think that he would push all in with any of those hands. I thought he would try to suck us in so he could get more value out of those hands, if he had one of them. Finally, I decided that I was ahead of Duncan, and I made the call.

But then Dardon tanked! At that point, I felt horrible. He tanked for about two minutes and then he called. He turned over the hand I figured he had, 8-7. Duncan turned over Q-J, so I had him beat, and I was not that worried at that point. As long as a jack did not come, I would still have more chips than I started the hand with. Duncan would have been crippled, and I would have pretty much gone heads up with Dardon. Then, my miracle king came on the turn, and that left Duncan drawing dead. Dardon had to hit an 8 or a 7, and neither came. After that hand, I had about 1.2 million in chips, and Duncan only had about 60,000. At that point, it was pretty much over. That was the crucial hand.

LH: What did it mean to you to take down a tournament at Bellagio?

DB: It was significant, because I really felt like I came out here with something to prove, and I proved it. I find myself wanting to prove over and over again that I am a relevant player. It seems like in tournament poker you are only as good as your last tournament. I won a World Series of Poker bracelet in 2006, but I have not won anything since then. I did make a couple of final tables this year, and I have had pretty good results, but I'm always looking for a win. Winning a tournament always feels great, and it does not happen every day.

LH: How many other tournaments have you played since you've been in town?

DB: Seven, I think. I've had some good tournament results, and the cash games have also been good.

LH: Can we expect to see you out on the tournament circuit in the coming year?

DB: Actually, yes. My goal for 2008 is to be the Card Player Player of the Year [POY]. I plan on winning it. I want to take it wire to wire; I think I'll play 250 or maybe even 300 tournaments. I am skipping Australia and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure just so I can go down to Tunica and have a chance to play more events. I made a $5,000 prop bet with Jeff Madsen that I will finish ahead of him in the 2008 POY race. I have another $5,000 bet with Justin Bonomo that I will be ahead of him. The plan is to rack up POY points.

LH: Which are your favorite tournaments to play and why?

DB: I really like the Bellagio events. This is one of the nicest casinos. They run a good tournament, they start you off with a good amount of chips, and the blinds structure is good. At Bellagio, there are a lot of rich whales who sit down at the poker tables with no chance at all. I think that Bellagio is probably my favorite place to play. The only other casino that comes close is the Borgata in Atlantic City; they have a really nice room.

LH: Many people associate you with The Crew, but is it even in existence anymore?

DB: The Crew was always pretty unofficial. There are no dues or meetings, it's not like AA [Alcoholics Anonymous]. We still strategize with each other a little bit, but not as much as we used to. We have our own bankrolls now; none of us are really sharing bankrolls any more.

LH: I've heard rumors about The Crew doing a reality TV show, is there any truth to that?

DB: It was something we were working on, but it kind of fell apart. We shot a lot of footage in 2006, but nothing really came of it.

LH: What did The Crew learn by working together on a common bankroll?

DB: It was invaluable for the year or so that we were all living together. We shared our thoughts on poker and I really attribute my poker success to the rest of the members. But I must admit, there were some petty disagreements, the kind that you would expect when you are living with other people. However, I would say, for the most part, my experience was pretty positive, and I learned a lot.

LH: Do you think you will ever be involved in anything like that again, or is poker better as a solo endeavor?

DB: I would like to think that I can make a go on my own. In general, I think that it is a bad idea to share a bankroll. There are all sorts of problems with it. First off, you have to trust the people you are sharing a bankroll with. On top of that, inevitably, one person is going to have better results than the others, and that breeds resentment. And then there are feelings of inadequacy; you don't want to feel like somebody is carrying you. I would not recommend it. Looking back on it, it did work out OK, but I would not recommend that other people do it.

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