28 Oct 07

One Stack High Society

Simon Münz aka Schnibl0r, PokerStrategy’s exceptional Fixed Limit talent, is matching himself with poker stars like David Benyamine and Patrik Antonius and does so quite successfully. In an interview with PokerStrategy he is telling us about the last few days and his plans for the future.

PokerStrategy-Coach and Fixed-Limit expert Simon Münz had an exciting week. He made it to the highest limit on Full Tilt Poker, Fixed Limit $500/$1000 and $1000/$2000 where he was looking to compete heads-up against famous poker stars like David Benyamine and Patrik Antonius, and against Online-High-Stakes specialists like TheBryce and FatalFog.

After a part-time high of 800,000 dollars and pretty easy initial wins against David Benyamine and Patrik Antonius, the tables turned and Schnibl0r had to accept some serious losses against The Bryce aka Freedom 25, who he had previously pretty much beaten. "There was nothing more I could do", says Schnibl0r, „he was tilting and whined the whole time he was in the chat, and then suddenly he started hitting cards. It was incredible. You just couldn't do anything about it".

An additional, even though pretty short losing session against Joe Cassidy aka Nizot Skizared signified the preliminary end of Schnibl0r's first attack on the Poker elite. But it won't be the last.

Schnibl0r says that overall, despite the two losing sessions, he is still doing well playing heads-up. 3handed, he notes, is looking worse, which is why he wants to focus exclusively on heads-up in the future. He wants to take a break, reflect on past sessions, deal with Heads-up-Poker matter some more, and analyse his opponents' games. "And then I'll take revenge", he says. "I'll take TheBryce apart."

The Interview

PokerStrategy: Simon, what was your motivation to dare the jump to 1000/2000?

Schnibl0r: For one, I really like FL Heads-up and I have special skills which I might be able to expand with the help of this shot. Secondly I just felt like even higher limits and even more money. I am a little gambler, what can you do? A video by TheBryce on Youtube also motivated me to play fixed limit - I was close to changing to no-limit. He just has so many complex thought processes. It made me realize that I was far away from the limit and that I wanted to reach the maximum heads-up skills there were.

PokerStrategy: So you took it as some kind of athletic challenge?

Schnibl0r: It is very tough to be among the best of the world. At the beginning I used to shiver because I was afraid to lose all that money. I was also scared because there were so many good, and until then still unknown, opposing games and I did not know whether I really had the edge. When I took 100BB from Benyamine the first time I felt like god, of course. You have to say, however, that he played totally crappy that day, weak tight, which meant I didn't even need strong hands to win against him. I was more happy about the money than about the fact that I beat him.

After that a few sessions against Sassi, Fatalfog, TheBryce, Patrik Antonius, Hoss, etc. followed. They all belonged to the best of the world and I respected them a lot. The swings were enormously high and it was a constant up and down. I did win against almost all of them at some point though, except against Fatalfog. Towards the end I also had a severe downswing against TheBryce.

PokerStrategy: How do you judge the strength of your opponents thus far?

Schnibl0r: I underestimated Patrik Antonius and also David Benyamine. I only knew him from the first session in which he had played really badly. He improved his game in the next sessions and I think he played even better than TheBryce. Patrik Antonius is very aggressive and loose and hence hard to read. He is a good opponent, but everyone has leaks and is therefore beatable. TheBryce scared me the most but when I dared to play $500/$1000 against him, I noticed how readable he actually was, and I now think he is the worst among the $500/$1000 - $1000/$2000 regulars. I have to admit that I thought those tournament players were fishier. But they are beatable nevertheless.

PokerStrategy: What does your future look like? Where do you see yourself in one to two years?

Schnibl0r: I am certainly going to try to perfect my heads-up-game so that I can develop and also use the perfect counterstrategy for every opponent and every style. I still need a lot of time and experience for that. That's why I am going to play fixed limit only and try to establish myself at the $1000/$2000.

PokerStrategy: What about other types of Poker? We often see you on no-limit tables also, e.g. on NL5000 at PartyPoker.

Schnibl0r: Once I established myself at $1000/$2000, which only needs some time, or if fixed limit died out, which I do not believe is going to happen, then I will most certainly think about no-limit theory again. I would also intensify my Omaha knowledge to be more flexible and to keep my brain working.

PokerStrategy: If you look back at the past few days and compare yourself to your opponents. How strong to you think your game is compared to your opponents' games?

Schnibl0r: Well, I might sound a bit arrogant and unbelievable since I am a bit down, although in heads-up I am still up overall. I think I am at least as good as FatalFog, Sassi and Hoss. David Benyamine, TheBryce and Patrik Antonius are a bit beneath me. I cannot say much about Joe Cassidy since the session was just really shitty, relatively short, and I just don't know if he is extremely lucky or whether he really is the ultimate fixed limit heads up god. He is hard to play, that's for sure, and he probably knows what he's doing.

PokerStrategy: There have been voices which say that the jump into these limits was too early for you. Or they say that you should have just stopped in the middle of it to take home the half or three quarter million dollar winnings. What do you say about that?

Schnibl0r: The fact that I won 100BB in one shot against Benyamine helped me get accustomed to those limits. I noticed that he played really badly and I thought that I could beat that sort of game in the long run. Why not keep playing then? I also learned a lot through this jump.

I am only 20 and would be able to establish myself on those limits, so why not? If it doesn't work out, I'll just have to try another run. That's how it was at 100/200. But that's Poker. And I think that with enough concentration and sufficient bankroll, I will certainly be able to beat the limit.

PokerStrategy: What is your comment to people who say that you should have just taken your, granted, rather large winnings?

Schnibl0r: If there is a street that is 100 meters long. This street is filled with 100€ bills. I wouldn't just stop half way and say: That's enough for me. I would keep collecting. Like most Poker players I am trying to get the maximum out of my bankroll and my skills.

Without this attitude I would have never reached 100/200, but I made it. I will keep using my ambition and my motivation and go for it. I do not just want to win half a million dollars. I want to beat the limit, which will give me more on the long run. I still have the time and ability to learn right now. Who knows what things will look like in 20 years? I might not get a chance like this then.

PokerStrategy: Thank you for the interview. We wish you much success for the future.

Interesting hands, graphs, and certainly Simon's Pokertracker-Stats

Pokertracker-Stats (Heads-up-Games only)

Graph $500/$1000 (all games)

Graph $1000/$2000 (all games)

Selected hands

Full Tilt $1000/$2000 Hold'em (2 handed)

David Benyamine posts the small blind of $500
ScHnibL0r posts the big blind of $1,000

Preflop: Schnibl0r is BB with 6, 7
David Benyamine raises, ScHnibL0r calls.

Flop: 5, 3, A
ScHnibL0r checks, David Benyamine bets, ScHnibL0r raises, David Benyamine calls.

Turn: A
ScHnibL0r checks, David Benyamine checks.

River: 8
ScHnibL0r checks, David Benyamine checks.

Final Pot: $7,999.50

Results:
Schnibl0r has 6 7(one pair aces).
David Benyamine has 2 6. (one pair, aces).

Schnibl0r wins $7,999.50

Schnibl0r: I call any2 on the big blind and never 3bet. Since my opponent contibets every flop, I checkraise with every hand I want to play on the flop. That makes it impossible to nail me on one hand. Depending on the hand, card, and situation, I keep playing smartly on the turn.

The second Ace on the turn is a bad card for me since I do not have foldequity here. That is why I chose to check/fold. David Benyamine hands me a lot of freecards and valuebets terribly. He also tries to avoid difficult situations by choosing specific betting sequences.

After his check-behind on the turn I knew that he would want to bring his hand to the show-down because he did not like to make consecutive marginal valuebets on the turn and river. He would have probably bet his weak hands again. I therefore decided for an additional check on the river, since I assumed my foldequity to be quite small again.

The result is pretty funny. As you can see there was only one hand worse than mine, and Benyamine was holding it.


Full Tilt $1000/$2000 Hold'em (2 handed)

TheBryce posts the small blind of $500
ScHnibL0r posts the big blind of $1000

Preflop: Schnibl0r is BB with K, A.
TheBryce raises, Schnibl0R calls.

Flop: 4, 4, K
Schnibl0r checks, TheBryce bets, Schnibl0r raises, TheBryce calls.

Turn: 3
Schnibl0r bets, TheBryce raises, Schnibl0r 3-bets, TheBryce caps, Schnibl0r calls.

River: 2
ScHnibL0r checks, TheBryce checks.

Final Pot: $23,999.50

Results:
Schnibl0r has K, A. (two pair, kings and fours).
TheBryce has 7 J (one pair, fours).

Schnibl0r wins $23,999.50


Schnibl0r: At this structure preflop is standard again. Once again I checkraise every hand I want to play on the flop. I also want to play my top pair top kicker on the flop. TheBryce seemed slightly tilted in the previous hands. He plays very aggressively and likes to rebluff even though I hardly ever pure-bluff. I see myself way ahead in this hand, of course, which is why I have to decide between bet turn and a checkraise.

I decide for a bet this time, since I have hardly ever check/folded against him in the past. A try for a checkraise would have been too obvious. On the flop he simply calls too often while holding trash. This implies that I have to bet almost every hand on the turn anew.

TheBryce raises on the turn. Until after my bet on the turn I could also be holding an A-High-Hhan, pocket pairs and possibly even Q-High or sometimes even a Bluff.

Since he knows that, he will oftentimes value- or bluffraise me even with weak hands. My top pair with top kicker is masked pretty well due to the preflop call. And it is strong enough for the 3bet. Since he answers with a cap, a fold is out of question. Metagaming reasons alone will prevent me from making a tough laydown. In case I found a fold here, it would oftentimes happen that my opponents would try to aggressively crowd me out of large pots. The Bryce should actually know that, too.

I can already see myself being beat by a 4 or a pocket 3, or pocket aces. Check, check on the river, which surprises me. The Bryce's hand surprises me even more though: J7, he cannot even show a flush draw or high value.

This hand shows that even a highly praised The Bryce may tilt. It is obvious that he does not want to give up any hand anymore. He either bluffs or tries to get to the showdown with any hand that has the slightest bit of showdown value.




Full Tilt $1000/$2000 Hold'em (2 handed)

TheBryce posts the small blind of $500
ScHnibL0r posts the big blind of $1000

Preflop: Schnibl0R is BB with Q, A
TheBryce raises, Schnibl0R calls.

Flop: J, T, 8
Schnibl0r checks, TheBryce bets, Schnibl0r raises, TheBryce 3-bets. Schnibl0r calls.

Turn: 2
Schnibl0r checks, TheBryce bets, Schnibl0r calls.

River: A
Schnibl0r bets, TheBryce calls.

Final Pot: $17,999.50

Results:
Schnibl0r has Q, A (one pair, aces).
TheBryce has Q 6 (high card, ace).

Schnibl0r wins $17,999.50


Schnibl0r: This hand occurred shortly after the last tilted hand against TheBryce. He was way behind me already and still played aggressively and focused on showdown. Preflop is standard again with the same explanation as in hand 1. Subsequently I am holding two overcards to the flop and I have a gutshot for a king. It is also possible that my AQ is already ahead, since he will raise a large amount of hands preflop. I therefore decide for a checkraise on the flop again.

I am 3betted on the flop. TheBryce loves to do that. It is a very good counterstrategy against my frequent checkraises. I do have the possibility to cap, but I decide against it. In order to avoid being read, I will never cap the 3bet but always call it.

Due to my Draws (Gutshot+Overcards) and the Ace-High Showdown-Values I have enough equity against his range and check/call.

The river reveals the Ace. Now I have to decide whether to checkraise the hand or whether to simply bet my top pair. Since I do not want to get a 3bet from two-pair hands, and since there is the possibility that worse hands on the river bluffraise with this card, I choose to bet.

His call does not surprise me since I expect all pairs to call. I am surprised, though, that he is once again just holding a High Card Queen Q6o and that he is actually assuming that he is holding the stronger hand in one out of eight cases. I find his call very questionable and I do not think it is played well.


Full Tilt $1000/$2000 Hold'em (2 handed)

ScHnibL0r posts the small blind of $500
David Benyamine posts the big blind of $1,000

Preflop: Schnibl0r is Button with 6, K.
Schnibl0r raises, David Benyamine 3-bets, Schnibl0r calls.

Flop: K, 5, 6
David Benyamine bets, Schnibl0r calls.

Turn: 8
David Benyamine bets, ScHnibL0r raises, David Benyamine 3-bets, ScHnibL0r caps, David Benyamine calls.

River: K
David Benyamine bets, ScHnibL0r raises, David Benyamine 3-Bets, ScHnibL0r caps, David Benyamine calls.

Final Pot: $39,999.50

Results:
David Benyamine has 8 8 (full house, eights full of kings).
Schnibl0R has 6 K. (full house, kings full of sixes).

Schnibl0r wins $39,999.50


Schnibl0r: I just call on the flop since I think that he will bet many of his hands again on the turn. I then raise him. His 3bet does not bother me much. He is oftentimes just holding top pair and does not give me much credit for my raise. I cap my two-pair hand and do not reckon being 2 outs behind on the turn. The river provides me with the second nuts, which are enough for me to cap again. This $40,000 pot has been the largest heads-up pot I have won thus far by the way.


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