Berliner1982 meets Phil Gordon

Two weeks ago our PokerStrategy coach Berliner1982 met the poker professional at the 1 million Euro Poker Challenge organized by Full Tilt Poker in Berlin.

PokerStrategy: Hello Berliner1982. Where were you two weeks ago? What was the event called?
Berliner1982: On September 29, me and about 3000 other enthusiastic poker fans went to the 1 Mio. Euro Poker Challenge organized by Full Tilt Poker, in Berlin. My roommates and I decided to have some fun and enjoy the atmosphere at a live poker event.

PokerStrategy: Did you take part in the event yourself?
Berliner1982: Yes, I had participated in the Full Tilt Poker freerolls and then qualified for the qualifying round. I was allowed to take part in a Sit & Go. The winner went on to the local final round, where they won prizes. The first place winner won 15,000 Euro in cash and an appearance in the TV finale on DSF (German Sport TV). And he won a shot at 1 Mio. Euro, too, of course.

"The structure of the event didn't really allow for much playing time."

PokerStrategy: How did it go?
Berliner1982: Well, the structure of the event didn't really allow for much playing time. The schedule was very tight and every one out of the 2100 participants wanted to be the winner. That is why you quickly had to either push or fold. Unfortunately, my best hand was an A3o. With 3000 chips left in early position I had to push all in at 400/800 blinds. The player in the big blind later told me he had an A8s. He folded because he did not want to take part in a coin flip and thought I had a pocket pair. Other than that the players were rather tight, but extremely weak, especially in the push or fold phase.

PokerStrategy: Were you able to take advantage of that?
Berliner1982: No. I was always unfortunate to have the chipleader to my left or on the blinds. I could not push any two against him, because he could always call.

PokerStrategy: It sounds as if this blind structure would cause a quick elimination?!
Berliner1982: When I was holding J5s on the BB with 2.000 chips left playing at 800/1,500 blinds, and the chipleader pushed any two here and at the BU, I called. I did that because I would have had to call two hands later and I would have no fold equity. Unfortunately I ran into pocket jacks. Even though the flop gave me a 5 and the turn brought me a straight draw for a split pot, I was still eliminated from the SnG after about an hour. I won 8th place. The player who kicked me out later also won our table.

"It was really funny that I kept running into Phil Gordon all day...literally."

PokerStrategy: So the tournament didn't go so well for you. What did you do afterwards? Did you meet any pros?
Berliner1982: I didn't do anything after the tournament because my heat started so late. I did everything I could beforehand. I asked Phil Gordon for an autograph while he was signing with Erik Seidel, which he was happy to give me. I also got one from Erik Seidel, Alan Cunningham, who, by the way, seems really shy and contained in real life, and from Phil Ivey. It was really funny that I kept running into Phil Gordon all day...literally.

PokerStrategy: Were you able to talk to a pro for a longer period of time?
Berliner1982: Yes, I briefly talked to Erik Seidel when I met him apart from the crowd to ask for an autograph. This was more small talk though. But he seemed very outgoing and friendly.

PokerStrategy: Did you meet anybody else?
Berliner1982: I didn't meet anyone except for Phil Ivey and Alan Cunningham who were signing autographs. But the highlight was Phil Gordon. I had the opportunity to talk to him for about 10 minutes right before my SnG. We had an interesting discussion about NL Holdem and the short stack game in cash games. As most of you might know, I play the short stack strategy a lot. After running into Phil Gordon for the third time, I addressed him, especially since I couldn't forget about a hand I had recently played.

PokerStrategy : What exactly did you talk about?
Berliner1982: At first we talked about a hand I had recently played in a coaching. It was an AK, where you normally raise after a minraise. When I had an ace high after a small donkbet, I decided to fold on the flop.

"In the end we decided that fold equity was a decisive point when dealing with raises or pushes in late position."

PokerStrategy: What did Phil say about that?
Berliner1982: Phil said that my move was wrong and that you should directly push. We then had a heated discussion because I explained that people knew that I played a very tight game etc. In the end we decided that fold equity was a decisive point when dealing with raises or pushes in late position. If the fold equity against my opponents is large enough, he also advised me to push first in when being in middle position having suited connectors. I have to admit that I never considered this move because the hand just seemed too weak.

PokerStrategy: What else did you talk about?
Berliner1982: Other than that I just wanted to know whether we'd be able to see him on TV again - maybe at High Stakes Poker. He just laughed and said: "I will not play against these guys," which showed that he highly respects these players and that he wants to play profitably against weaker opponents. We might be able to see him at Poker After Dark, but he didn't want to or couldn't tell me for sure.

PokerStrategy: What did you learn from this conversation, even if it was a short one?
Berliner1982: I think I benefited from this talk because there were many aspects which I can implement into my future game to further optimize it.

PokerStrategy: Thank you for the interview, Berliner1982! Have fun coaching! 😉

If you want to talk with Berliner1982 about the interview, you can do it here:
» Meeting Phil Gordon