Capture the Flag — Justin Smith

Justin Smith began his poker career online at the age of 17. He started at the very bottom, and in just over four years, he went from 1¢-2¢ limit hold’em to $1,000-$2,000 H.O.R.S.E. Before turning 21, Smith traveled to Europe to play tournaments, and cashed in two World Series of Poker Europe events, including the main event. Now of legal age, he travels the tournament circuit, but cash games are still his main source of income.

Kristy Arnett: How did you get your start playing cash games?

Justin Smith: My first deposit was for $50 on PokerStars, because it was the only site that had 1¢-2¢ limit hold’em. My friend suggested that I play when I was in a wheelchair after a motorcycle accident. I had just turned 17. I was being young and dumb, doing stupid stuff, and hit a car. I tore the ACL [anterior cruciate ligament] in both knees, and broke my ankle very badly.

The first time I played no-limit [hold’em], I had a $300 bankroll and played 5¢-10¢. I put a third of my bankroll on the table, and lost half of a buy-in. That was the last time I ever went outside my bankroll, all the way through my buildup.

KA: How did you learn and improve?

JS: The friend who introduced me to poker helped my game a lot. He was already beating $5-$10 limit hold’em.

KA: Tell me a little bit about your path up the stakes.

JS: Well, when I moved into an apartment after high school to go to college at the University of Central Florida, I was stuck in a standstill. I had a $1,000 bankroll and $1,000 a month in bills. Basically, I would multitable $2-$4 limit hold’em and make $1,000 every month, withdraw it, and pay my bills. I had no problem making exactly $1,000, so basically I would double my roll every month, and have to cash out. I could never move up. I needed to break through, so I transferred to no-limit hold’em, and took off like a rocket from there.

Every month, I would move up to the next level, just because I happened to build at that pace, and I used a 20-25 buy-in bankroll rule. By the time January of 2006 rolled around, I was playing $5-$10 and $10-$25 no-limit hold’em on UltimateBet, and then PartyPoker came out with $10-$20, and I started playing that. Then, Full Tilt came out with $25-$50. I started playing heads up, and did pretty badly at first because I was so used to six-handed. I was folding way too many hands, and I never value-bet on the turn — just really funny rookie heads-up mistakes. I then just kept slowly moving up.

KA: What games and stakes are you playing now on a regular basis?

JS: If I’m playing online, I’d say that I’m playing mostly H.O.R.S.E., PLO [pot-limit Omaha], and PLO eight-or-better. Very rarely do I play no-limit hold’em. I’ve been playing $25-$50 PLO, or $200-$400 and $300-$600 H.O.R.S.E. Actually, $1,000-$2,000 H.O.R.S.E. has been running on Full Tilt recently, and I’ve been playing that nonstop.

KA: How did you learn mixed games?

JS: One of my friends taught me how to play two years ago. He’s relatively unknown, but he played in the “Big Game” a few times. He used to let me sweat him online quite a bit, particularly during the stud games.

KA: Did you drop down in stakes to learn those other games?

JS: No, I actually didn’t, which was a mistake. I jumped into $100-$200 and $200-$400 Omaha high-low. I ended up losing quite a bit. It cost me $200,000 or $300,000. I started off very badly, and it took me a while to grasp the games, especially the high side of Omaha eight-or-better. I had to learn how to value-bet hands properly on each street. I lost a lot, but it was worth learning. I should have started lower, though, and would suggest doing that to others who are learning.

KA: What do you think makes you a good mixed-game player?

JS: I think most of it is just my poker-player foundation. I think naturally, I’m just a good poker player. I’m not saying that to be cocky or anything. I just think that I have attributes, like my style of play, that work well for all types of poker, whether it’s draw poker, limit poker, or split-game poker.

KA: And what type of style is that?

JS: That’s kind of hard to say, but I think I value-bet correctly, and I have decent bluffing frequencies. I feel like I’m one of the few players who, one week, could be playing a certain way, and another week, be playing like a totally different person. I think I adjust my play well.

KA: Let’s talk about some of these H.O.R.S.E. games; what game do you think is most players’ weakness?

JS: I think there are few people who play razz at an advanced level, but I see the most weakness in stud high. I think people peel way too much on third street. Raising is fine, but too many people just flat-call. They don’t know how to play their hand optimally on third street or fourth street. For example, when someone raises with a king up, and two players with a jack and a 10 up also call, it’s not optimal for a player with a 6 up to peel unless he has 6-7-8 suited, since most of the time he is going up against a pair of kings, jacks, or tens. Peeling with a pair of sixes would be awful in this situation, but I see a lot of people do it. On the other hand, if you had an overcard against the opening raiser’s upcard to go with the pair of sixes, I would advocate raising there. Let’s say a raiser has a jack as his upcard, and you have a pair of sixes with a queen, king, or ace. I prefer reraising in that spot, but calling is OK. It depends on the player, but I usually reraise because someone could have a pair of jacks or tens behind me, and that would help force them out of the pot.

KA: You also mentioned razz as a game that players struggle in. When you have a good board showing but have paired your downcards, do you keep betting as a bluff?

JS: Yes, it’s an auto-bet. You definitely want to keep betting because, more often than not, your opponents are going to fold, since they may have a couple of bad cards in the hole themselves or are just afraid of the strength of your board. You just have to keep representing.

KA: Do you advocate cash-game players taking shots?

JS: Actually, no. I’m a huge advocate against taking shots. There’s something about it, maybe it’s subconscious, but rarely do shots go well. It’s not a good idea to be playing out of your bankroll, because cash games are all about pushing small edges, and you can’t really do that if you are taking a shot. If you get all of your money in as a 55 percent favorite, you have a very big chance of busting out of the game.

KA: Do you ever find that you have a lack of respect for money, since you can win or lose so much in a session?

JS: Yeah, and it was really hard at first. I remember the first time I had a $500 day, I went to the mall. I was playing $1-$2 limit hold’em and that was 250 big bets. Obviously, that is way above expectation. I bought sunglasses and a new shirt. I thought I was hot stuff at the time. I wasn’t realistic. I thought I could win the same amount of money the next day. You need to remember that when you have a particularly good upswing, it will help average things out if you go on a downswing, and at the same time, when you lose, you can’t think of all the things you could have bought with the money. Life goes on.