Have you ever wondered what it's like to play as a red pro on Full Tilt
Poker? "Rounders" co-writer Brian Koppelman did, so we gave him the opportunity to
experience life as a Full Tilt Poker pro for one day. This is his story.
A couple of weeks ago, Full Tilt Poker made me red for a day. That's right - for 24
hours, I got to be a Full Tilt Poker pro. My new status gave me a slight edge on the
virtual felt, but it also put a giant target on my back. I saw first-hand how fast any
table I sat at filled up, how intent my opponents could be about breaking me, and how
differently the other players reacted to the way I bet my hands.
My brief time as a Full Tilt Poker pro began during an email correspondence with my
friend Erik Seidel. Erik and I met after he was featured in "Rounders," a film I wrote
with David Levien. In the movie, Matt Damon's character watches and re-watches a clip of
Erik getting trapped by Johnny Chan at the final table of the 1988 World Series of
Poker. As a close-up of Erik appears on screen, Damon's character describes what it
feels like when you are gutted. The implication being, "I am a loser, like Seidel is a
loser." There is no mention of the fact that Erik took home second place money in the
WSOP, that he's one of the leading money winners ever at the WSOP, and that he's better
at poker than 99% of the world. Nope. All you see is Erik, his goofy hat, and his
loser's hangdog expression.
Some guys would have reacted poorly to such a portrayal in a feature film. Not Erik.
He's always been good-humored about it and, I think, glad that in raising poker's
profile, the film helped to raise his profile too. In fact, in the years
since "Rounders'" release, Erik and I have been frequent email correspondents, and he
has been kind enough to serve as technical advisor on any other poker project I have
done.
So, it makes sense that when I play online poker, I play at Erik's site. Recently, the
two of us were talking about Full Tilt Poker and about how much I enjoyed playing there.
Soon, the idea came up that we should both enter a Bust-Out Bounty tournament so that he
could show me first hand what it feels like to be gutted in public. Let's save the fact
that I outlasted him by hours and finished a hundred places ahead of him for another
article. Instead, I'd like to take a moment to tell you how the game plays when your
screen name appears in Full Tilt Poker Red.
The first thing I should say is thanks to all the Full Tilt Poker players who took the
time to check in with me in the chat box. It's great to know that "Rounders" has
inspired so many of you and brought you to the game. It's really rewarding that so many
of you can quote the film line by line. However, it somehow feels less rewarding when
those same lines get thrown back in my face as you are raking in my chips. One player,
who hadn't let on that he knew who I was, trapped me with top-two against bottom two. He
took half my stack and, as I was trying to collect myself, he was kind enough to tell me
that the only thing he was missing was the rack of Oreos.
What was also new for me is the amount of observers drawn to any game I was playing in.
This gave me a true appreciation for how hard it must be for the pros on television to
ignore the cameras and just play their cards. I felt like every raise, weak call or
foolish bluff I made was magnified. Each time I won or lost a hand, the railbirds would
comment, letting me know how lucky/unlucky or good/bad at poker I am. It's difficult
enough to make the right decisions at the table without wondering how onlookers will
receive those decisions. More than once, I made a bigger bet than I might have on the
river, hoping my opponent would fold and I would be saved from the embarrassment of
having to reveal the horrible cards I had played.
On the flip side, those opponents did fold more often than they would have if I weren't
in red. Not in the Bust-Out Bounty tourney (where I figured out that I should almost
never bluff), but in the ring games and Sit and Gos where my hands got much more respect
than they normally would have. Players assumed that I knew what I was doing and they
were wary. I understand it. The day before I was in red, I found myself head to head
with Huckleberry Seed at an Omaha table. For the first 15 minutes, I was totally off my
game. I couldn't play back at him for fear that he would jam me, read me, and crush me.
After a while though, I found my footing and remembered that in the short term, if I had
the cards, I had just as good a chance as anyone.
In the end, that's the thing, I guess. Being in red does change the way other players
react to you. For a time. And it changes you too. For a time. But, if enough hands go by
and enough time passes, the distinction passes too. And everyone goes back to being what
they've always been. What I've always been proud to be. Just another poker player.
Brian Koppelman, Full Tilt Poker Tips
Information von Richard Honegger
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