I can't believe he wrote me back!

[Suhleafs]

What can I say, WOW, Howard Lederer actually wrote me back! I asked him a question on how I should approach the WSOP MEvent, tell me what you guys think.



> -----Original Message-----
> From: suhleafs@hotmail.com [mailto:suhleafs@hotmail.com]
> Sent: Monday, May 30, 2005 5:32 PM
> To: theprofessor@fulltiltpoker.com
> Subject: Ask Question
>
> From: suhleafs@hotmail.com
> Question:
> Hi Howard,
>
> I\'m not just saying this to \"brown-nose\" or to \"suck-up\" to you, but
> you are definitely my favourite poker player on TV to learn from. You have
> great analyzing skills and your overall knowledge of the game is
> admirable.
>
> What I would like to ask you is this. I qualified online for a seat in the
> WSOP Main Event this year. First, maybe I should tell you a little bit
> about my background. My name is James Suh, from Vancouver, Canada, I am a
> 24 year-old financial planner and I\'ve been playing poker for close to 5
> years now. I have read about a dozen books on poker, watched close to
> every single poker show that\'s been televised in Canada, I own both WPT
> Season\'s 1 and 2 DVD sets and among my friends (not my opinion) they all
> think I am the best because of my knowledge and also, my ability to
> analyze players and hands at the poker table.
>
> Now that you know a little bit about me, I would like to try and get your
> general ideas on how to play a 7-day long tournament as the WSOP will be.
> I read differing views on how to play such big tournaments. You have the
> older schools of thought, like the TJ Cloutiers and Johnny Chans, who
> would probably prefer to play tight at the beginning of the tournament
> then open up their game as the field gets smaller. Then, you have the
> opposite spectrum of thinking with players like Phil Ivey and Daniel
> Negreanu that see it as \"Well, there is so much dead money at the start
> of a tournament, I may as well try and get it!\"
>
> What kind of strategy do you adapt when thinking towards such a big
> tournament? My general style of play is more of the old school thought, in
> that since in my mind, I am better than the \"Internet Generation\" of
> poker players, that I want to wait for an opportunity to make a big stand
> when I have near the best of it, a 3-1 favourite rather than pushing those
> marginal edges and living dangerously. Now I realize that these 3-1
> opportunities won\'t always come up as often as the 55-45 situations, so
> what do you look to capitalize on the most?
>
> I really do value your opinion and I hope to see you this year in person
> and of course, on more TV tables. Thanks again and best of luck.
>
> James Suh

I try to keep an open mind. I am always adapting to my table. But, in
general if a table will let me do it, I will play very tight early and wait
for a really good situation. With the blinds small, you can afford to wait
for an easy double up. Once the antes kick in, I like to take advantage of
my tight image and pick up my play. Given that this year should feature a
weak field the likes of which has never been seen, I anticipate that I will
use the wait for a big mistake strategy. Best of luck,

Howard Lederer

[MVPSPORTS]

Aren't you gonna feel bad now when you smoke him to win the WSOP ...?

[Rhound50]

That is really cool that he wrote you back. Plus you definatly need to knock out one of the well known players so you can get on TV.

[kidluckee]

Will you be wearing a livepokerforum T-shirt under your online promo gear to flash at the final table

Best of luck, that is going to be one awesome experience whatever happens.

[flafishy]

Hey, Leaf. If you've posted it elsewhere and I missed it, sorry about that. But can you give a Cliff's Notes version of how you qualified? What site? What satellite? How many unsuccessful attempts, etc.?

[Suhleafs]

Rhound: I figure on each Day 1, they will have 220 tables, and only one feature table, maybe 3-4 in the entire day, due to broken tables, etc. So for that my chances seem slim.

Flafishy: I qualified via Prima. It was a $100 + one $100 rebuy and one $100 add-on. There were 380 players and amazingly, 7 guaranteed prize packages.
I rebought the second I lost a big blind because everyone at my table was doing it, and I wanted to be on a level playing field. Here is the link to some specific hands that kept me alive......

forum/viewtopic.php?t=2518&highlight=
and
forum/viewtopic.php?t=2516&highlight=

[MVPSPORTS]

Fla... He's probably busy studying Dan Harrington and Chris Moneymaker's tells... So here ya go...

http://livepokerforum.com/forum/viewtop ... light=wsop

Oh... nevermind...

[BennoOnline]

[Rhound50]

Suhleafs, there is a chance I may be in vegas for the series. Not sure right now, if I am maybe we can meet up. If not I'll watch it on webcast, I'll be rooting for you either way.

[slaz13]

I emailed lederer too, about a year ago. Pretty cool he takes the time to email people back.

[Mad Genius]

You need to pull a McManus and outplay the shit out of Howard.