Negreanu Would be Punished at Higher Levels - Interview with Lex Veldhuis Part 1

We caught up with Team PokerStars Pro and online cash legend Lex Veldhuis at EPT London. In the first part of this two part interview he discusses coaching Daniel Negreanu and moving over to PLO.

Team PokerStars Pro Lex Veldhuis

PokerStrategy.com: Are you still coaching Daniel Negreanu?

Lex Veldhuis: It's not so much coaching now, just talking strategy. Back at the start it was kinda hardcore explaining of the fundamentals of online play, what you can and can't get away with. When we talk now it's more brainstorming about certain hands, it isn't just me explaining anymore.

PokerStrategy.com: When he first came to you for help, what level do you think he could beat?

Lex Veldhuis: Good question, maybe like $3/$6. Just so people know I think that's pretty good. He has really good game feel, but at higher stakes they would punish him for his lack of fundamentals.

PokerStrategy.com: So was it a case of fine tuning the game or teaching him the fundamentals from scratch?

Lex Veldhuis: It was the literal fundamentals of cash games online. Stuff like you can't call 3-bets out of position with pocket pairs online. That's a really typical example of what we talked about, one of the first hands that came up was where he called a 3-bet out of position with pocket fours with 100 big blinds.

That's a basic mistake in 100 big blind online poker, in live it varies, some people have 200bbs, some have 500bbs. In old school live games you kinda could, because people weren't aggressive enough or 3-betting with complete air, so your implied odds were really good.

"He really surrendered to the idea of starting over"

PokerStrategy.com: He is considered by many to be one of the best players in the world, but here you are teaching him from the beginning, did you have to manage an ego at all?

Lex Veldhuis: It was a really tough decision for him to start asking for help, especially publicly, but he has always been very open with the public so it wasn't a big problem. He really surrendered to the idea of starting over.

There were some instances early when he told me 'believe me this will work' and I would say ok, show me the stats, and he would say, 'I just know'. That was the only thing we had to mold, to get it through to him that he didn't 'know', he had to gather evidence to prove it.

PokerStrategy.com: Did you worry that he would lose some of his strengths as a poker player if you were changing his game so much?

Lex Veldhuis: Not really, I think the strongest part of his game is being able to make gut decisions in difficult situations, and you can still do that in deep stack online no limit. It was the middling situations that needed the work, all that stuff that made him a great poker player is still true.

Sticking to those good fundamentals also keeps him stay away from his weak side, like when he calls too light, it helps him with a lot of his flaws and on the back side of his inch worm.*

"Online players are not as scary in live games because they have a lot of trouble adjusting when they dont have everything available to them."

Back to Basics with KidPoker

PokerStrategy.com: To your own game and you have recently spent a lot of time playing PLO, how has that been for you?

Lex Veldhuis: With PLO I am trying to grind a lot of hands, you have to learn a lot of situations to learn what to avoid doing. Grinding a lot of volume is important. The maximum amount of tables I will play is 16, and I am really grinding hard. It may not be optimal, I know I learn less, but I know I am enjoying playing the game.

Grinding PLO is way harder, I could never grind 24 tables without programs like table ninja, and I don't like using those. I really don't like the concept of training videos, HEM, PTR - takes a lot of the game of poker.

That's why a lot of online players are not as scary in live games because they have a lot of trouble adjusting when they don't have everything available to them.

PokerStrategy.com: What is it that attracted you to PLO?

Lex Veldhuis: The games are a lot softer. PLO is a rough diamond, the player pool is soft, not as educated. You dont see many PLO strategy articles, its just not what the general public wants to read about, which is cool because it takes you back a few years.

People always say that PLO is the future, I think its the present. I was telling a friend I am coaching, I showed him the Stars lobby which had so many more good PLO games going at the mid to high stakes.

After Black Friday it got softer, but I am pretty bad myself. I'm picking the game up well, but nowhere near $5/$10 yet. PLO is more fun for recreational players - you dont have a feeling that you are drawing dead, there are lots of 60/40s, and it has huge variance. I am so happy I discovered it, it has refueled what I love about poker.

Join us later this week for part 2 where Lex talks about his upcoming kickboxing prop bet with ElkY.

*Inch Worm is a poker term coined by PokerStrategy.com coach Jared Tendler, you can see its explanation here.

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