Over at ACR Poker the dual Venom tournaments announced earlier this month have already begun, with the operator’s flagship $2,650 tournaments this time featuring a progressive knockout (PKO) format for both no-limit hold’em (NLH) and pot-limit Omaha (PLO) variants.
Starting flights are running now, through to next Sunday, and one player looking forward to mounting a charge is ACR Poker ambassador Ana Marquez, fresh from a deep run at EPT Malta.
PokerOrg spoke with Marquez about her recent final table appearance in the PokerStars Open Main Event, as well as what to expect when it comes to playing a big PKO like the Venom.
‘I was wondering, did I punt it?’
Firstly, congratulations on making the final table in Malta. How did you find the experience?
It was amazing, because after a bit of a downswing in the last couple of months, having a deep run to a final table in such a big tournament was a huge relief.
The final table was very slow, I was shortstacked and card dead. There were three other short stacks, which makes it even tougher, because I have to wait for them to bust. And then at the end, my busting hand didn't feel so good, but I’ve checked it and I feel okay about it.
I got pocket eights with 12 big blinds in the lojack, I shoved and I ran into tens. The hand had me for a bit until I analysed it, and the shove was correct, but I was wondering, did I punt it? With three shorter stacks, maybe I could have waited, but the reality is that the blinds were going to make it tougher for me. And being so card dead the entire day, it was the best I could do.
‘The people that play online more often have the strategy nailed down’
Which of the two Venom PKOs are you most interested in: the NLH or the PLO?
I know how to play PLO, I almost won a bracelet, but at the same time it's not a game I study regularly, so I prefer not to play the Venom PLO. I'm excited about the NLH one.
My go-to strategy in PKOs involves applying what I know from what I've studied, but in general it’s just playing my normal game, especially at the late stages.
At the beginning, the bounties matter and you get better odds to call down. And it’s the same for the people that you're playing against, so you have to be careful when you're jamming. They're going to be more likely to call because of the bounty. So if you have value, you definitely want to put all your chips in.
Playing online vs live, I would say it's almost the same, but maybe the people that play online more often have the strategy more nailed down. So they're going to be playing the math part better, they're gonna be calling better, they're gonna be shoving better.
This is at the beginning, because in the later stages the bounties don't matter so much, because winning in the tournament, laddering up in payjumps, is more important than the bounties. This is an important point to take into consideration.
What are some mistakes you think people make when playing a PKO?
I think one of the common mistakes players make in PKOs is folding too much in general, or calling off incorrectly at different stages of the tournament, like at the beginning or the later stages.
A lot of players go really crazy, and it's not always necessary. You really want to know in what spots you want to go crazy or not. I would say, if you haven't studied the math behind it, just focus on playing solid poker and enjoy the experience.
Just be aware that when people are going all-in, they know they're gonna get called more often. So sometimes if you think, ‘are they jamming light or not?’, they're gonna have it a lot of the time, because they're expecting that you're calling off lighter.
‘Forget bad beats, my biggest nightmares are in airports’
Have you had much success in past Venom tournaments?
Going deep in any Venom is super exciting: It's the most fun tournament to play in all of online poker, it's like the main event of online poker.
Unfortunately, I haven't run super deep, but two years ago I had a bit of a deep run. I don't remember where I finished, but I remember I made a nice cash. I swapped with Jonathan ‘apestyles’ Van Fleet and made extra money, but I didn't get the sweat of being close to the final table on the final day. I hope this time that changes!
The Venoms are so amazing because they're deep, you have a good structure, they’re long tournaments. You have time to play, rest and even go over some of your hands, and the deep structure makes it amazing because you have more playability than just being shortstacked and having to get it in, no matter what.
Finally, with Halloween approaching, do you have any poker ‘horror stories’?
I tend to forget about bad beats, but there’s one that haunts me. There were three tables left in the $3K 6-Max at the WSOP in Vegas. I was chip leader, and suddenly I ran aces vs. queens and I lost, and then the next hand I got A-K vs nines and I lost, and I got very short.
I ended up finishing 6th at the final table. That was gross, because in that moment you're expecting to win. You're thinking: ‘I have all the chips and it's gonna happen!’. And then this happens, and you're like, ‘This is not possible!’ I was devastated, even though I just made a final table.
But to be honest, my biggest nightmares are in airports. Coming back from Malta, my flight got delayed an hour and a half. I missed my connection, they broke my suitcase, and then I had to wait in a three-hour line to get a hotel. Then they told me there were no flights for three days!
But whether it’s misclicks, bad beats or airports, the only thing you can do is put these events in the past and continue. Bad things are always gonna happen, but this is life; lingering on all these things is not useful.
Just erase it from your mind, take what you can learn and move on. Because otherwise, it's just pure stress!
The dual Venom PKOs are running at ACR Poker now, with Day 1C taking place at 6:05pm ET on Sunday, October 19.
Additional images courtesy of WSOP/WPT/Danny Maxwell Photography/Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd.
