News: "My wife told me not to play for the title"

Ahead of the MicroMillions Main Event this weekend we chat with two-time Player of the Series Marcin Horecki about what it takes to thrive in online festivals.

"I'm not going for the title because my wife told me not to."

PokerStrategy.com: You mentioned you're not playing for the Player of the Series this year, why not?

Marcin Horecki: I won the title twice in the past, but this season I've decided not to go for it and just play a few events because my wife told me not to.

It's quite tiring trying to play 100 events in ten days and you have to manage your time and sleep less than usual, so this time around I decided enough is enough and that I'd let some other people have a chance.

PokerStrategy.com: When you were playing for the POS title, did you have to employ a different strategy?

Marcin Horecki: When I'm not playing for the title I practice standard poker strategy which everybody knows. However, when I am playing for the POS the most important thing I'm looking for is points.

When I won the title I was late registering for all the No Limit events so I could reduce the variance and make it into the points. Although late registering decreases your chances of making the final table, I was simply going for points which meant my strategy wasn't necessarily based on getting the win.

PokerStrategy.com: What kind of adjustments did you have to make in order to increase your chances of earning points?

Marcin Horecki: One of the biggest adjustments was playing on the bubble. A number of times I would fold strong hands, such as kings or queens, if I had, for example, 2bbs on the bubble. The reason for this was because even if I doubled up in the hand I still wouldn't have a comfortable position. However, if I fold in these spots I have more chance of making the points which can add up at the end.

"I fold strong hands, such as kings or queens, on the bubble"

PokerStrategy.com: How do you cope physically with the demands of a large online MTT festival?

Marcin Horecki: You have to be prepared mentally and physically for big festivals and in the MicroMillions late registration is an extremely useful tool.

For example, over the last two years I would sleep during the late registration period and set an alarm so I woke up just in time to register for events. When you're going for a tournament leaderboard crown you have to be organised and set some alarms.

Another good tip to increase your overall EV is to know some other games such as triple draw or PLO. In those games it's better to register early because players don't know what they are doing or they don't really want to play so there's a lot of value.

PokerStrategy.com: Do you think non-Hold'em events are represented well enough in the MicroMillions?

Marcin Horecki: They are certainly good value if you know what you're doing but there aren't as many of them on the MicroMillions roster as there could be. A much better option if you're looking for alternative events is SCOOP which has around 40-50% of non-NLHE games in contrast to MicroMillions which has around 10%.

PokerStrategy.com: What's one of the biggest leaks you see during the MicroMillions?

Marcin Horecki: In general the recreational players make all kinds of fundamental mistakes, but they are having fun so that's ok. For players looking to take the POS title two of the biggest leaks I see is players not paying attention to the bubble (i.e. gambling too much) and not playing as aggressively enough in rebuy events.

Another leak is not paying attention for the duration of a tournament. For example, one year a player who was behind me in the standings was offering a bounty to players at my table during the tournament. However, while he was offering a bounty he forgot to take an add-on which was 50,000 chips and he went on to miss out on points which could have helped him beat me.

"Recreational players make all kinds of fundamental mistakes"

PokerStrategy.com: Did you have any prop bets this year?

Marcin Horecki: I've had some big prop bets in the past, but I don't have any this year. However, I am looking for the SCOOP TLB title this year so I will probably have some bets on that.

PokerStrategy.com: To finish, give us some tips on improving your chances of MicroMillions success:

Marcin Horecki: The most important thing for recreational players to do is have fun and pick games they enjoy.

These are big tournaments and it's not possible to win it in the first hour so just sit back and play solid poker and enjoy yourself.

Another tip is to be more aggressive in the later stages of an event. The majority of players will be too passive when there's around 50 players left so this is a great spot to become more active, steal blinds and accumulate a lot of chips.

My final tip would be not to bluff too much. Most MicroMillions players are incapable of folding hands so lay off the bluffing and focus on betting strong when you have a good hand.

Daniel Smyth has been working in the poker industry for six years as both a player and writer. He currently has a costly penchant for PLO and provides daily content for PokerStrategy.com. You can learn more about Daniel by clicking here.

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