Recently I sat down with the 4-Time 4SPT winner Richie Rich to find out his views on his current 4SPT hot streak, changes he's made to style, and other various topics.
I would first
like to congratulate you on your recent run of victories. You just accomplished
something that has never been done on the 4SPT before by winning 3 games in a
month. You also just completed back-to-back wins, which has only been done once
by Mr. Pick. Now you have a total of 4 wins, with 3 of them coming in the
current season and yet your first win on the Tour was over 7 months ago, way
back on Dec 16 th, 2004. To what do you attribute this recent surge
of success?
Thanks, Jeff. I’ve really worked on my tournament game
lately. I think what really sparked my recent run was seeing Vaughn and Dino
kick butt at this year’s WSOP main event. The experience of just being on the
rail was overwhelming. I could only imagine what it must have been like to play
in that field. I was awe struck by their performance and, also, eternally
jealous. That whole experience has driven me to work on my tournament game in
hopes of taking my shot at some of the 2006 WSOP events.
When you first
joined the Tour you had a very aggressive style that allowed you to accumulate
chips early in the tournament. Most of the players weren't used to playing
against that type of aggression. However, I know you had to change this up to a
tighter style after some time because people were catching on. Now it seems you
are back to the old aggressive play you first displayed when joining the 4SPT.
Can you talk about the adjustments you've had to make and the role that played
in your tournament strategy?
4th
Street Poker Tour
was my first experience playing tournament poker. Increasing blinds, antes,
lack of rebuys, etc were all concepts that, while I understood them, I had no
experience with. I came to the 4SPT as a successful cash game player. An
aggressive style in a cash game will get you a lot of small pots and get you
paid off on your monster hands. It can also break you, but you can always reach
in your pocket and buy more chips. You can’t do that in a tournament.
So when I first started the 4SPT, I just played the game
how I knew, aggressively. I think I was able to get chips because players
weren’t used to this. Once they caught on, I was busting out early in the
tournament. I needed to change something. So I studied a tighter style of play
and gave that a try. I often found myself busting out late in the tournament,
but short of the final table. If I did make a final table, I didn’t have enough
chips to make an impact, and we all know how much I love to have chips. So I
had to find a compromise between the two styles.
You always read/hear about changing gears. Like many
players, I thought I did. But after gaining a better understanding of when to
change gears, I’ve had more success in tournament poker. Now with a mixed bag
of tight and aggressive play, I can gain the chip lead and put myself in a
position to be a force at the end.
Let’s talk about
the importance of changing gears. A key factor for any successful poker player
is the ability to change styles without the other players realizing you have
changed it up. When do you realize you need to change styles, is it a hand by
hand assessment, table by table, tournament by tournament?
Changing gears and being aware of your table image is key
to winning in tournament poker. I used to change gears randomly, but, like driving
a car, that makes for an uncomfortable ride. I finally learned that you need to
change gears based on many factors.
How large is my chip stack relative to the rest of the
table? The blinds? How do my opponents perceive my play? Are we close to the final
table? The money? Who is in the blinds? How often do they give up their blinds?
How strongly do they defend them? Who is in the pot? How are they playing right
now? Loose? Tight? What’s my position? Who’s still to act behind me?
These are all questions I ask myself before deciding how to
play a hand. I’ll play tighter or looser on a hand to hand basis based on these
questions. The most important thing is to evaluate your opponents based on how
they’re playing right now. Is it different from their usual style of play? Are
they on tilt? You need to recognize when your opponents have changed gears so
you can make the right adjustments yourself.
Also
be aware of how your opponents perceive you. You might be playing tighter, but
if you’ve gotten AA, KK, and AK three hands in a row without getting to a
showdown and betting with them, people are going to think you’re playing loose.
Remember what hands you’ve shown down because you can be sure your opponents
do.
From watching you
play, I have noticed that you really value position. How important is position?
And what are some things you look for when playing in position?
No-limit hold ‘em is about betting. You can bet with any
two cards in your hand. Being in position gives you more control over the
betting. If you’re in early position and bet, someone can raise you and now
you’re stuck with a decision. If you reverse that and you bet/raise behind
someone, then you’re putting them to a decision.
Poker is about making the proper decisions, regardless of
the results. Let your opponents make the tough decisions and you’ll not only
make fewer mistakes, but you also give yourself an opportunity to win the pot
without the cards. If you’re just calling, you have to have the cards to win
the pot.
Position also lets you have more information about your
opponent’s hand. How did they bet/check? How much? Do they seem happy about the
flop? Does this all tie in with my preflop read? If you have to act first, you
have to act without this information. The more information you have on your
opponent, the better the decision you can make on how to act on your hand.
Do you have a set
game plan coming into each week? Does this game plan change depending on your
table draw?
I don’t have a set game plan when I sit down at the poker
table. I do try to focus on a part of my game that I think is weak so I can
improve it, but I bring the whole bag of tricks every week.
Table draw has a huge influence on how I’m going to play my
hands. Am I at a table with aggressive players? Well, then I’m going generally
tighten up. Passive players? Here come the big bets. It’s good to have a
general idea of they type of players you’ve got at your table (loose, tight,
aggressive, tight, etc) and to adjust your game accordingly.
You were one of
the top vote getters for Most Talkative. How do you feel this plays into your
game? Do you think others play you differently when you are more talkative?
I have fun when I play poker and I like to talk. I never
really thought about it as something I could use in poker until I saw Daniel
Negreanu use it to gain information on an opponent’s hand. He was able to
figure out that his two pair was beat and lay down a big hand.
Getting a player to talk about a hand (whether they’re in
the hand or not), you can gain information on what they’re thinking. You just
have to be careful that you’re not giving away information by talking, either.
For the most part though, it’s just me being social. The people on the Tour are
great and I enjoy their company.
Vaughn wrote about those moments in a
tournament when you catch a bounce and how you really need to take advantage
and push for the win from that point because those bounces don't come along
very often. I've seen it every single week, there is usually one hand that
defines the tournament for the winner. Was there a defining hand/moment for you
this week where you felt like the bounces were going your way?
The hand that stands out for me was early in the
tournament. I believe the blinds were at 15/30 and I was first to act with
pocket tens. I raised to 90. Folded to Justin in the big blind, he called. Turns
out he had pocket jacks. With a board of T 9 8 T 6, all the money could have
well gotten into the middle preflop or on the flop. Being a 4.5:1 dog preflop,
I was lucky to win. I was even luckier to get all his chips in that hand. From
there I used the big stack to take down quite a few pots and arrive at the
final table with 1/3 of the chips in play.
I know you like
to play online as well at some of the local card rooms. What are some of the
differences of playing online vs. live casino vs. 4th Street? Does your style
of play vary from online to cash game to tourney?
I used to hate online poker. At the limits I’m comfortable
at, you’re mostly playing cards and not the players. Aside from betting
patterns, you don’t have much in the way of tells. It does make you more aware
of betting patterns which helps you in live games. The most profitable way for
me to play online is to generally play tight, but aggressive with the hands
that I do get.
At live casinos, playing no-limit, you see a lot of
physical tells. The betting, however, is more erratic. Now you need to be more
aware of the people part of the game. I generally play loose and aggressive and
have had success this way.
At 4SPT and tournaments in general, you need a mixed bag of
these strategies. I feel like the online game helps with the tighter side of my
game and live cash games help with the loose aggressive side. By being able to
play both styles, you can adjust to how your opponents are playing.
Now that you are
approaching Sandman status, do you find it harder to go out in public without
people stopping you every minute asking for a picture or autograph?
Realize that I pushed my Card Player interview back to give
you first crack. Felt that’s the least I could do for all you and Jenn have
done. Channel 7 News calls every 15 minutes; it’s annoying. Those Wicked Chops
boys seem to have missed the boat, though. My autobiography should hit the
shelves before Christmas and make for a great stocking stuffer. Black-haired
“Richie Rich” logo gear should hit Nordstroms and Bloomingdale’s within the
month. Between the photo shoots and parades, I’m exhausted. Oh shoot, I still
need to call Evelyn Ng back.
Seriously, though. There are many players on the Tour who
are much closer to Sandman status than I. The Tour has cultivated many good
players. I’d be happy to gain respect for my game from the players on the Tour.
The Too Beaucoup
Crew is really tearing up the Summer Season. Of the 8 games played you guys
have won 5 of them. I think we all felt it was only a matter of time before
April took down a win but the Mad Dog came in and won after only a couple of
times playing on the Tour. This has to be a pleasant surprise for your Crew.
I’m very proud to say that we’ve done well this season.
April finally brought one home and Mad Dog’s win with so little time on the
Tour was definitely unexpected. Jun has also made a good amount of final tables
on the weeks he plays. We usually play together once a week outside of the
4SPT. Jun and I can be found at various LA card rooms, too. Gotta get that seat
time in.
I think this is a great example of how much you gain from
experience. No matter how many books and magazines you read or how many players
you talk to, you need to gain experience playing poker with players that
challenge your skills. It’s this experience that will help you develop that
sixth sense on whether you’re beat or not. You can’t get that online. You also
can’t get that playing once a week.
I noticed in your
player profile you took the time to shamelessly promote your cash game before
gratuitously thanking Jennifer and me. Would you like to take this opportunity
to correct that now?
You mean my Tuesday night $20 buy-in no-limit hold ‘em cash games featuring a custom table, real Paulson clay chips, and Kem cards where all you need to do is e-mail me to get in?
No comment.
"Warriors,.......come out and play-yayy!
-Mr.Pick
Posted by: | Wednesday, July 27, 2005 at 02:53
fascinating. in addition, 2+2=4 and the earth is round. there's got to be more of a method to his madness lately...
Posted by: Radish Boy | Wednesday, July 27, 2005 at 10:31
Eliot... I tried my best to get to that method of madness for ya but this is what we have to work with. I think there is enough in his answers to help round off some of his edge.
Posted by: Complex Slim | Wednesday, July 27, 2005 at 10:44
both teams played hard...
Posted by: radish boy | Wednesday, July 27, 2005 at 13:36
Chops here. Man, we totally missed the boat. Winning 3 times in a month, that's Ivey-esque. Nice work adjusting your game. Lots of people never do. Impressive stuff.
Posted by: Wicked Chops Poker | Saturday, July 30, 2005 at 12:09
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Posted by: efxuvsbdk yfvnokdre | Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 23:12
Richie Rich great job :D
Posted by: No deposit Poker Bankroll | Thursday, December 23, 2010 at 03:16