Bokkie: I Have Good and Bad Memories of Monte-Carlo

€1 Million in guaranteed prizes - The Everest Poker ONE will gather many top European poker players at Monte-Carlo starting on April 21st. Team PokerStrategy.com member Bokkie will be one of them. We sat down with him for an interview where he talks about his performance of the last year, high daily poker play and the PokerStars.net EPT Berlin.

Representing the community from the Netherlands on PokerStrategy.com, Bjorn bokkie Verbakel has been a member of Team PokerStrategy.com for one year.

He will be joining fellow Team PokerStrategy.com members at the Everest Poker ONE. Read more about this in our previous news.

PokerStrategy.com: Hi Bjorn, how are you doing? Are you excited about the upcoming event at Monte-Carlo?

bokkie: Hi everyone, of course I am excited to go to Monte-Carlo. It's a great city and I expect a good tournament with a lot of great players.

PokerStrategy.com: If I remember correctly, you have fond memories of Monte-Carlo. How was your performance there at previous tournaments?

bokkie: Indeed, I have some good memories and bad memories about Monte-Carlo as most people already know. Two good memories that come to mind is when I made it in the money in the €10,000 Main Event last year and also when I placed third in the 5,000 6max for a total of €78,000.

The only bad memory is after that tourney I had to quit with PokerStrategy.com for that year due to bad tax reasons in the Netherlands.

EPT Monte Carlo: Tough Competition in 2010

PokerStrategy.com: What are your expectations now regarding the Everest Poker ONE? How tough do you think the competition will be?

bokkie: Last year the competition at my table was above average in the Main Event. In the 5,000 it was very tough, but still with one bad beat AK pre vs. AA I made a hot run.

PokerStrategy.com: You have been a member of Team PokerStrategy.com for more than a year. How has it been? What did you enjoy most and what were your best experiences?

bokkie: Of course Las Vegas is number one, but I enjoyed my time in Snowfest too because  you could do more than only play poker. The Aussie Millions was good as well because I made a month holiday out of it and spent some time with family there.

DoNs And Lower Stakes on PokerStars

PokerStrategy.com: How happy are you with your results in the previous year? Do you feel that you were able to improve your game?

bokkie: I don't think my results were that good because I pretty much played break-even for PokerStrategy.com. Monaco was about the only tournament I played well in, but it's MTT's so the swings are huge.

I think my game has improved for live tournaments but not really online. I didn't play very well online last year because the SnGs where a little bit dried up and in MTT's I ran very bad last year.

Part of the problem I guess is that most poker players have quite a large ego. Because of this, they don't want to decrease in stakes so they don't play for maximum hourly winnings.

 
PokerStrategy.com: When you joined the team, you were playing mainly SnGs and MTTs. Did you make any changes to your online poker habits?

bokkie: I have switched my games a few times. I played DoNs, 45 and 18 man SnGs and tried to play a lot of tables. I've also been playing the highest stakes that are running at the moment.

In the DoNs I made a good profit but they aren't at PokerStars anymore. I switched to the lower stakes because I was teaching someone and saw that the ROI was much larger in those tournaments and you don't have such high swings if you play a lot every day, like 150 SnGs.

PokerStrategy.com: Let's talk about the previous event in Berlin. Your elimination was quite unlucky, right?

bokkie: Yes, I got it in with AKo against AKo and villain made a flush. Shit happens (smiles).

Next Stops: Madrid, San Remo, Las Vegas

PokerStrategy.com: Were there other interesting hands you can share your thoughts on?

bokkie: I particularly remember one hand, I had JJ on the button in early stage, blinds 75/150.

UTG raised  to 375, he gets four callers and I 3bet to something like 1,400. Everyone calls except the player to my right who first calls and then 4bets to 8,000, while the average stack is 30k.

His range is very wide so my JJ are normally good there and then I have to think about what the other players can have.

The only players I may have to be scared of is the UTG raiser because maybe he would only 3bet/call with KK or AA, but I think he isn't the type of player that would probably do this in a 4-way pot.

So I put his range on TT, JJ, QQ and AK and maybe AQs and I think he folds it all, being 200bb deep in this spot. He folds QQ and the other player shows AQo and hits his ace.

PokerStrategy.com: Did you play any tournaments other than the Main Event in Berlin?

bokkie: I made the money in the only side event I played. I didn't get that many good cards, but I waited for some good spots. When I reached the money, I went all-in for the first time in a two day event and lost with 77 against A7o in a blind battle for 20bb.

PokerStrategy.com: What do you think about the result of your teammate Allanon? Did you rail the final table of the highroller event?

bokkie: No, I missed it because I was already on the plane home, but of course congrats to him!Po

PokerStrategy.com: What are your plans after the Everest Poker ONE? Where will we see you next time?

bokkie: I will be in Madrid, San Remo and of course the whole WSOP.

PokerStrategy.com: Bokkie, thank you for the interview and good luck in Monte-Carlo!