Ben Grundy may give the illusion of a man still in his teens, but he is in fact one of Europe’s top Omaha players, and can win or lose salaries in a matter of minutes. But although he’s renowned for his online prowess, he’s also made waves at the live felt with two EPT Monte Carlo finals and, most fittingly, a third in this year’s HA event in Vegas.
Player: Ben Grundy
Event: $2,500 Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha Freezeout
Date: Jun 3, 2009
Runners = 453
Position = 3rd
Prize = £99,574
Today’s event is Event 59: £2,500 Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha Freezeout
Grundy on…
… His HA Experience:
I haven't played many HA [Hold’em/Omaha] tournaments; It's mainly been cash games. I've played a little on Full Tilt, and also in the cash games live at the Vic. Round of each events seem to be more popular these days mainly because Omaha's really picked up in recent years. Personally, though, I prefer straight Omaha and think I would do better in an Omaha tournament than a mixed event.
… The Standard of Play:
The standard isn't too bad. A lot of players struggle with Pot Limit, it's so contrasting to No Limit and the strategies required are different - you can't just go all in with A-K or whatever, which really changes the game. You also get a lot of sponsored players who aren't necessarily that good at Omaha, but when they're getting paid into events, it's just another tourney with a bracelet at the end. The $2,500 buy-in won't make that much difference to them.
I won't particularly change my strategy and will basically play a similar way as I did in Vegas. I tend to play an aggressive game in tournaments and normally double up or go out early. I really don't mind gambling on a coin flip as my chances are so much better if I get an early stack.
… The Structure:
The structure was pretty decent for the first couple of days and there was plenty of room to make moves. It got a bit silly on the final table though. When we were three-handed, Rami Bouki had 20 big blinds and me and the other guy had 10, so there was a lot of luck involved. We actually decided on a deal at this point, not because of the money at stake, but simply because of the blinds compared to the stacks and the lack of play. It was basically get your chips in and see what happens.
I think the WSOPE HA event will actually be quite similar to the one in Vegas. They'll probably get something like 150 runners, maybe more as Omaha is quite popular in Europe.
… The Difference in Rounds:
The Omaha rounds definitely play bigger; the pots were 50 or 60 percent larger than the Hold'em ones because more people were seeing flops, hitting something and carrying on with their hand. This meant there were more exits in the Omaha. In the Hold'em, people seemed happy to play pretty tight and wait to play the Omaha, particularly on the final table. You see a lot of people folding hands to three-bets in the Hold'em and then showing something pretty strong like T-T. I think because people aren't just shoving over the top, it changes what people fold to a three-bet.
I play more of the Omaha because I feel I can get my opponents into some really bad situations. People seem to play aces and kings really badly, and will raise a small percentage of their stack and then not be able to let go of it post-flop.
… Early Aggression:
If I had to give just one piece of advice, it would be to try and gamble more than you normally would. In Pot Limit, it's more difficult to push all in like you do in No Limit, meaning that when you're short, you can get two or three people calling and trying to knock you out, which makes it more difficult to find your spots and pick up some easy chips. In my opinion, it's actually easier to plod your way through a No Limit tournament for this reason. It's difficult to win as a short stack in Pot Limit, so don't be afraid to take risks in order to get a bigger stack.
… Playing a Big Stack:
I find it a lot easier to put people on a range in Omaha. In Hold'em, people will get J-J type hands, and won't fold. It's hard to bet them off it. In Omaha, though, you can call someone in position and when the flop comes 4-5-7, you know they’re raising with big cards, and get them to fold because the flop looks dangerous and they know that you could have any four cards because you've been raising frequently. In Vegas, people only really seemed to be raising with big picture cards and aces, so you could actually float these flops and then, for example, if a flush hit the turn and they checked, bet them off it, especially if you can call their continuation bet cheaply.
Having a big stack allows you more freedom to makes these plays. I doubled up early in this particular tournament and had around 30,000 within the first few levels. This meant I could apply a lot more pressure, in particular in the Omaha where I was raising from late position nearly all the time, often with rubbish because I knew I could outplay people post-flop.
… Playing a Short Stack:
Life is definitely simpler for a short stack in the Hold’em rounds. Although it's Pot Limit, you can still three-bet and isolate. In Omaha, though, you tend to get multiple callers, thus making it more difficult to survive. There were a few players trying to limp-raise, but most of the time people just reraised their 20 blind stacks preflop.
… Maintaining Patience:
I don't have much of a problem with boredom, despite playing a lot of heads-up poker. I actually like the break from playing what I normally do. I just listen to music, chill. To be honest, I'm quite active anyhow and probably play over half the Omaha hands.
I generally only play bigger events these days because I won't have the concentration for a smaller event. I still enjoy them and like the challenge of playing Omaha tournaments. It's boring just playing online all the time.
… His Final Table Opponents:
The best player I came up against was probably the guy who won it, Rami Bouki. He was calm, relaxed and always seemed to be in control of what he was doing and know where he was at. It's more beneficial to target the weaker players and try to knock out the shorter stacks, so I looked to play fewer pots with Bouki. He had position on me, and we both had big stacks. I've played him heads-up online, so I knew he was good.
I've played Paul Parker a little in places like Luton and he's a decent player. John Kabbaj is obviously good because he won the Pot Limit Hold'em $10,000 event. I hold both of these players in high regard.
… Final Table Strategy:
On the final, I played to win and didn't mind risking going out early. I used to ladder more because the money meant more to me, but now I'm more focused on coming first. In both EPT finals I was in, I concentrated too much on each player that went out and never really gave myself a chance of winning because each jump in money was of value to me, especially in the first one because I'd qualified online rather than bought in. Each spot meant an extra €40,000.
I really wanted the bracelet in this one, especially because it was Omaha. I've had chances before, and got really unlucky, so this was important to me. I also brought my dad and sister over and they arrived on the day of the final, so it would have been great for them to see me win. The money's still important though, and I definitely wouldn't swap the money for the bracelet. The $140,000 easily covered me for the rest of the Series. Ask me again in a few years, maybe the bracelet will be more important to me then.
… His Exit Hand:
I had A-A-A-7 on my final hand and Najib Bennani had 7-8-J-Q. The flop was really great. I don't remember the exact cards, but he had no pair, no straight draw, nothing. Then on the turn and river he made two pair to knock me out.
… Current Form:
Online's going OK. I'm winning, but not a lot. I'm trying to break into some of the higher games, but can't quite get there at the moment. I want to work my way up rather than just put everything on the line. Richard Ashby used to grind before he played the higher stakes. I used to play Richard quite a lot, but we drove each other mad. We'd take money off each other and be like, 'Why are we going after each other?' It didn't make much sense. Also, it's hard taking $50,000 off a friend. He worked his way up, and I want to do the same: deposit $50,000 and get it up to $200,000. I don't want to have to deposit a massive amount right away. It's not about the notoriety, it's just that I think there are some bad players at the higher levels. There's no one I'm afraid of playing, I've never sat out against anyone.
It's pretty frustrating at the moment as I'm struggling to get the action. Sometimes I could be seated at a table on Betfair for a whole day and not get one person play me. It's the same on Full Tilt. When you have your results published everywhere though, it's not really that surprising. You can only have one alias on these sites, but I wish you could play anonymously or have specific tables where you can sit down and call yourself anything so people don't know who you are. I'm not a fan of having results published on something like the High Stakes Database as there are rich, recreational players out there who just want to play and not have everyone know what they're losing. It's embarrassing. That might be the reason why Guy [Laliberte] stopped playing. He doesn't want people to know if he's lost 10 million or some equally huge sum and have people know his business. It should be private.
… Future Plans:
I'm going to play tournaments in the upcoming months or two. I'm getting a little bored and frustrated with poker at the moment, because of the lack of action and also because even bad players have started getting good. I'll always play poker though. At WSOPE I’ll be playing all the events except the $1,000 No Limit Hold’em freezeout as I have a family commitment.
… Durrrr Challenge:
I'd quite happily play the durrrr Challenge and be pretty confident if he came down to my stakes, but I don't want to have to be playing for 100 percent of my 'roll. He's pretty loose and plays crazy at times, so I'd be risking a lot of money. Also, I still can't get my head around losing $50,000 in a day, it still hurts. For a lot of these players, they can lose a lot of money and not be affected by it. Maybe it's because I still remember working as a project manager and really don't want to back to it. Maybe that's why I've never made it to the truly high stakes, because of that mindset.