Online Poker: Interview with EPT Final Tablist Isaac Baron

So, how do you follow up being the Online Player of the Year in 2007? Well, Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron tried to answer this question by taking down one of the biggest tournament of the year, the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Grand Final. He came very close to accomplishing that feat, too. He entered the final table widely regarded to be the favorite to win, but he ultimately hit the rail in fourth place.

In his post-elimination interview on the sidelines, the immense disappointment in his elimination was painted on his face and hanging heavy with every clipped word he spoke. It takes a very special kind of player to be so disappointed with a more than $900,000 payday, but a looming $3.2 million prize can do that to a man.

Card Player caught up with our reigning Online Player of the Year to talk about his incredible finish in that event, how he got there, what he thought of his competition, and why it didn’t work out in the end.

Shawn Patrick Green: You were actually kind of laying low in the first few days of the EPT Grand Final. How do you play the early stages in a tournament like that, with such an incredibly lenient blind structure?

Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron: I just kind of try to go on how my cards are and how my table is. If I’ve got a bunch of really inexperienced players, I’ll try to play more hands and get in with some suited connectors and small pairs to hit some big hands and win big pots. But, for the most part, I try to play pretty tight. Usually, if I play a big pot, I’m going to have a big hand; I’m not going to be doing anything too crazy, for the most part.

SPG: And is that how it went in this tournament, as well?

IB: Yeah, I actually had a bunch of unlucky situations early, and then I actually did run a pretty big bluff that didn’t work, so I got short-stacked. I got short-stacked right off the bat, so I kind of just focused and grinded it away, and I played really tight after that.

SPG: What did you think of the competition on the way to the final table?

IB: I thought it was a pretty mixed bag, for the most part. For such a huge tournament, the competition was definitely weak. It definitely wasn’t as tough as a $1K tournament online or a $100 rebuy or anything like that. But compared to some other live events, it wasn’t unbelievably soft. San Remo the week before was 10 times softer, but it was definitely a good field.

SPG: How did you exploit the weak elements?

IB: For the most part, just trying not to get too much money in there preflop and just trying to play a lot of flops with them, because a lot of the people are not going to make too many mistakes before the flop, or too many drastic mistakes. So, after they get to the flop, a lot of them kind of freeze up, and that’s when they tend to make their mistakes. So, I just try to play a lot of pots in position with strong to medium-strength hands, and I went from there and just kind of chipped up.

SPG: You were strongly considered the man to beat at the final table, even though you weren’t the chip leader. At least, that’s what I was hearing, but then again, there were a lot of online poker players roaming around (laughs). What do you think of that assessment?

IB: Um … I mean, I’m definitely a confident person; I would think I was the man to beat. Antonio [Esfandiari] is a great player, but he was short-stacked. I liked my chances with as many chips as I had. I feel like if the final table ran 100 times the way it started with my chip stack, I’m going to win it more often than anyone else. But it just didn’t work out; the cards didn’t go my way, and I made a mistake at the end. It just didn’t go my way, but I definitely feel like I was, and still would be, the favorite at this point.

SPG: Well, and speaking of the end, it’s always tough to go out on what was essentially a bluff. You raised all in with A-Q on a dry board and were insta-called by Glen Chorny with pocket aces. Do you have any regrets about that hand, not considering the ultimate result?

IB: Well, it’s kind of tough at this point not to consider the result, because obviously I wish I would have folded now (laughs).

SPG: Well, but based on your thought process and the reads that you had?

IB: I was pretty sure that he was either trapping with a big pair preflop, which I thought was a possibility, or, if he wasn’t trapping, there was a chance that I either had the best hand or that he’d fold a medium-strength or low-strength hand that just had me beat, like a small pair or something. And I thought that even if he did make some sort of hero call with a small pair, I’d have a pretty good amount of equity. And I just thought it was a good spot, but I don’t know. I don’t know that much about Glen’s game; maybe he’s never weak there, but I thought that he definitely, definitely could have been weak there a good amount of the time.

SPG: Who were you most wary of when the final table began, and how did that change as final-table play went on?

IB: Like I said, Antonio was definitely a worry, but he wasn’t too much of a worry unless he got ahold of a bunch of chips, which he didn’t. If he had gotten a bunch of chips, I definitely would have been very worried about him. Mike Martin, he plays really well, and he was definitely one of my major concerns. And obviously Glen, with the amount of chips that he had; he was definitely a concern, too.

SPG: So, what happened at that final table? What were you doing right, and what could you have done better?

IB: I think I played pretty damn well. I think I made a lot of good plays. I really didn’t pick up any good cards. I didn’t have a pair above the two eights when I doubled up Maxime [Villemure]; that was the highest pocket pair I had the whole table. I just had to make something out of nothing, a little bit, and I think I picked my spots really well, at least until the last hand. I really have no regrets.

SPG: What’s next on your live-tournament agenda?

IB: I’m not 100 percent sure, but at this moment it’s looking like I’m just going to be taking it easy until the Bellagio Cup when I turn 21.

SPG: Speaking of which, exactly how much longer until you can start terrorizing the U.S. tournaments?

IB: July 10, so a little too late for the main event in the World Series, but just in time for the Bellagio Cup.

SPG: What are you playing most often, nowadays? What does a normal “work week” entail for you?

IB: Um … I don’t know. I mean, I’m not playing that often. I kind of just play when I feel like it. I usually tend to play on Sundays. And then I’ll try to find a good cash game a few times a week, but I prefer playing higher than $25-$50, and it’s not often that games go that high, so I haven’t been playing all that much. I’ve just been relaxing, for the most part.

SPG: Yeah, I’ve been noticing that. You didn’t play a lot of multitable tournament in the first place, really, but you still managed to rack up a nice amount of wins even though you didn’t play that much, and it seems like you’re playing even less nowadays.

IB: Yeah, I’m definitely, definitely cutting way down on the online MTTs [multitable tournaments], for the time being.

SPG: A lot of people were mentioning how you were the Card Player Online Player of the Year during the Grand Final. People have obviously taken notice. Has much changed for you since you won that title? Have you had to change up your game at all?

IB: I think that, yeah, people are definitely more aware of who I am. There are definitely not too many times that I’m at a table online without at least a few people commenting that they know who I am, or something like that. So, people know that I’m a successful player and that I’m aggressive, and they’re definitely coming after me a little bit more than in the past. So I’m just trying to adjust by playing maybe a little tighter preflop and trying to trap them a little bit more.

SPG: And how has that been working out, so far?

IB: It’s been fine. I really haven’t played too many MTTs in the past few months, but I’ve been doing all right. But no big wins online recently or anything like that. I definitely think that I still like my online game a lot. I don’t think there’s anything for me to be worried about; I still like the fields.

SPG: It must be hard to know where to proceed from the top (laughs). How are you continuing to improve your game and go beyond?

IB: It’s like anything, the better and better you get, the smaller the improvements are that you’re going to be making. I understand all of the fundamentals, and I know how to play the game, it’s really just fine-tuning it, every part of the game, and making sure that I’m always really sharp, working on my discipline, and stuff like that. Working on reading people live, as well.

SPG: When you say “fine-tuning,” how do you go about finding out what you need to fine-tune?

IB: By reviewing sessions, whether it be for a cash game or a tournament, in my head by myself and also talking to friends about it. Just kind of thinking a lot about plays that I made that were good and plays that I made that were bad, and why they were good or why they were bad. Really it’s just about rehashing everything over in my mind and just being really aware of how I’m playing and what I’m doing well and what I’m not doing well, and trying to adjust.

SPG: Congrats again, and thanks for doing this interview, Isaac.

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