Stephen Chidwick praat in Reddit "Ask me Anything" over zijn "daadwerkelijke" pokerwinsten

Stephen Chidwick praat in Reddit "Ask me Anything" over zijn "daadwerkelijke" pokerwinsten

Stephen Chidwick is één van de bekendste en beste pokerspelers ter wereld. Vooral in de toernooiscene is hij een zeer gevreesde tegenstander. De Britse High Roller heeft op zijn Hendon Mob voor $76.035.947 aan toernooicashes staan. Dit zijn enkel de bedragen die hij uitgekeerd heeft gekregen en zeggen niet zoveel over de winst die hij aan deze prestaties heeft overgehouden. In een "Ask me anything" op Reddit.com beantwoorde Chidwick een aantal vragen en al snel ging het over zijn "echte" winst. 

Daniel Negreanu noemde de verdiensten van toernooispelers, die vooral actief zijn in de High Roller Events, vorig jaar in een tweet een “Mirage”. Daarmee bedoelde de GGPoker ambassadeur dat cashes niet altijd wat over de winst van een speler zeggen. Stephen Chidwick, al jaren een van de meest consistente toernooispelers ter wereld, heeft wél winst gemaakt, maar geeft toe dat die lang niet zo hoog is als veel mensen zouden verwachten. Als je zelf inkoopt voor een toernooi van $10.000 en $20.000 winst dan komt die $20.000 als cash op The Hendon Mob te staan. Maar omdat het inschrijfgeld van $10.000 nog van dit bedrag moet worden afgetrokken kan de winst maar maximaal $10.000 bedragen. 

Op Reddit vroeg iemand Chidwick hoeveel van zijn $76 miljoen aan toernooicashes (volgens The Hendon Mob) daadwerkelijk winst is. De toekomstige Poker Hall of Famer antwoordde via het Octopi Poker-account dat hij denkt tussen de $5.000.000 en $10.000.000 in de plus te staan. Het exacte bedrag weet hij niet, omdat hij dit tijdens het begin van zijn loopbaan niet goed heeft bijgehouden.

Toernooiprofessionals hebben namelijk veel kosten die niet worden meegerekend in de resultaten van The Hendon Mob. Denk aan reis- en verblijfskosten, buy-ins, het uitwisselen van percentages met andere spelers (swappen), belastingen en geld dat naar investeerders of backers gaat. Chidwick en andere high rollers spelen zelden volledig met hun eigen geld en ruilen vaak actie met collega’s, waardoor een aanzienlijk deel van hun prijzengeld naar anderen gaat.

Zoals Negreanu al aangaf, zijn veel spelers met carrièrewinsten van tientallen miljoenen dollars in werkelijkheid break-even of zelfs verliesgevend als alle kosten worden meegerekend. Als Chidwick, die wordt gezien als één van de beste toernooispelers ter wereld, uiteindelijk slechts zo’n 10% van zijn cashes als echte winst overhoudt, dan zullen de meeste anderen met vergelijkbare volumes waarschijnlijk nog minder hebben verdiend. Chidwick won inmiddels twee WSOP-bracelets, 16 PGT-toernooien en drie Triton Poker-titels. Hij staat tweede op de all-time geldlijst van live toernooien, achter Bryn Kenney, die vorige maand als eerste speler de grens van 80 miljoen dollar aan cashes passeerde.

We hebben nog een aantal andere vragen en de bijbehorende antwoorden uit de "Ask me anything" op een rijtje gezet:

Vraag "ekimtk"

Do you think the gap is closing between regs and recs in the highest tier events? (250k+). It feels like watching these super high rollers there are very few true spots that can be really exploited. They make mistakes, but nothing so egregious that the they are straight donating.

Antwoord Chidwick: 

Maybe slightly, recs have gotten better but so have pros. The exploits probably get more subtle and harder to spot as a viewer over time but they’re still there.

Vraag "Bosconino"
Cheers for being one of the normal dudes in poker that actually provides an aspirational model of what a professional can and should be. Do you think financial success at poker and the health of the ecosystem inherently requires weaker players, degenerates, bumhunting and gamblers to be part of it? And if so, can poker ever shed its image of being a casino gambling game and become respected in the same way chess or other games and sports are? And is this actually an image you wish poker had?

Antwoord Chidwick: 

Thanks ❤️ I think there are many different ecosystems in poker and we already see a huge difference in image of cash games and tournaments for example. I do think poker can and is increasingly being seen as more of a mind-sport. There’s an organization in India that runs a yearly team-based competition that’s completely free to enter and qualifiers get drafted onto teams and compete in a bunch of different formats and it gets 10s of millions of views. Things like game of gold also appeal to a wider audience. From what I understand poker is being used more and more by businesses as an education in critical thinking, game theory, dealing with imperfect information etc. And yes I would like for this trend to continue. Though I don’t see the degenerate/gambly/bumhunter aspect going anywhere either. But they can be separated to greater and lesser extents imo.

Vraag "WildMasterpiece2906"

How difficult has MTTs got in the last couple years for professionals? It seems like the edges get smaller and smaller every year in the high rollers when everyone has access to the same solver tools.

Antwoord Stephen Chidwick:

Yeah they’re tough :) But challenging and fun. There’s still a lot of elements that aren’t captured by the tools.

Vraag "No-Requierement1203"

Biggest difference in large field low buy in MTT vs the larger buy in with with less. I get that the higher buyins will be heavy with regs/pros. Is there a mindset difference early/mid/late in the tourney that you apply?

Antwoord Stephen Chidwick:

Biggest difference is the variety of play styles you face in the big fields. In a high roller I’m probably going to know and have history with ~everyone at my table and I’m a lot less likely to pick up useful info from showdowns. In the lower buyin big field events I think it’s more important to be paying attention to hands you’re not in and gathering information that you can use to make much bigger deviations that you would in a bigger buyin event.

Vraag "Captain_Buffhole"

As someone who’s played before and after widespread solver adoption, what important skill has become undervalued in modern MTTs—and how should serious players train it today?

Antwoord Stephen Chidwick:

Good question. Probably the skill of putting people on ranges and thinking through the hand from first principles/incorporating intuition into your strategy. It’s easy to look up the ‘answers’ in a sim and not go deeper into how people are actually playing/adjust for the myriad factors the sim doesn’t take into account. I like to challenge myself to put people on specific hands when I’m watching them in pots I’m not involved in and seeing how often I get it right or am completely surprised by what they show down.

Vraag "super_grover765"

When you're deciding your schedule, do you make an effort to determine if a given series of events is "soft enough" to be worth your time or do you just prioritize the buy ins/how much volume you can get in?

Antwoord Stephen Chidwick:

I mostly prioritize how much I can get in buyins and then by places I want to be or are convenient for life schedule.

Vraag "RedScharlach"

Your bust out hand against Bryn Kenney in the final 4 of the $1m triton invitational is one of my favorite hands of tournament poker ever, as someone who's watched a shit ton. I just thought it was so gangster that you were willing to stack off given the ICM implications, and I know you've talked about it in terms of future game, getting a big chiplead and crippling BK, with a great chance to win vs Zang a rec and Dan Smith both on middling stacks.

Is that kind of future game calculation superceding ICM something that mainly comes up at final tables where you can clearly see future game scenarios, or do you sometimes go against ICM even earlier just to attempt to run up a stack and improve your chances at winning, given a presumed skill edge over the field? Also, in that specific spot, did it cross your mind that whichever pro placed highest would become #1 on hendon at the time? I know it's totally superfluous but just curious if it's something you're cognizant of during the tourney.

Antwoord Stephen Chidwick:

Thanks :) I think in general the more hands you add to the calculation the more it will deviate from icm (obviously depending on things like stack depth/tournament structure etc). I don’t put much stock into icm outputs with lots of players left. I would imagine I was aware that I could have been number 1 had I won that tournament but not something I would have been thinking about during the hand.

Vraag "Sebalto"

What’s your pre-game rituals look like? Do you listen to any music or podcasts? Study a little bit before you play or do you just try to get a good nights rest and play your best when it’s time?

Antwoord Stephen Chidwick:

I try to prioritize sleep. If I can get sunlight and exercise before I play that’s ideal but not always possible. If I know my table draw (day 2+) I’ll usually go through any notes I have on my opponents and formulate a general plan for how I’m going to approach common situations. I’ll virtually always do some kind of meditation or breathing exercise just prior to playing. Sometimes music, sometimes philosophical or inspirational content depending on what I feel like I need in the moment.