What advice would you give to your younger self?
Sporting News asked that question to the high stakes poker professionals gathered at Triton's Super High Roller series in Hoi An, Vietnam. The collective poker wisdom assembled there may have surpassed any other time in history, and they were happy to share some of their life lessons that they had to learn the hard way.
Patrik Antonius
“The most important thing is to be honest with yourself regarding your focus and skills. You cannot have any ego.”
“All of us will face, at some point, a very, very difficult period with poker. It’s inevitable, with the swings and volatility. That breaks a lot of players. So you must prepare that it’s not going to come easy to you. You’ve got to earn it in a very hard way. But eventually, it will be worth it.”
Dan "Jungleman" Cates
“Play tournaments or PLO. I don’t think anything is going to be too easy. I think tournaments might be quite soft. There’s also options for tournaments to travel to soft ones, and there’s endless people who aren’t very good at the soft ones.”
Erik Seidel
“Play more mixed games.”
Sam Grafton
“A big realization for me is that you don’t have to win every hand that you enter. I used to come into every hand and be like, well, I could have aces and they can’t have aces. So I’d play every hand as if I’ve got aces or I could have a set.”
“Sometimes, the way that ranges interact, this is just a spot where you’re going to check-fold. Sometimes, you have pocket kings and you’re very attached to this hand. You want to call down, but you don’t have to win every hand. You can let things go and wait for a better spot.”
Michael Soyza
“Think twice before deciding to become a poker pro, because players are really, really good now. And there are probably things you can do to make more money now.”
Jonathan "Apestyles" Van Fleet
“Have some structure. Study and pay attention to what I’m putting into my body, and things like that. Don’t drink, and learn short deck or PLO.”
Linus "LLinusLLove" Loeliger
"Be ambitious and actively feel motivated to study. That’s the most important thing for being successful in this game.”
Mike "SirWatts" Watson
"The biggest leap I made was trying to think about the game from a fundamental way instead of just trying to copy strategies or do what everyone else is doing. Try to learn from the basics of the game and understand strategy more deeply that way."
Timothy "Tim0thee" Adams
"Go easy on myself a little more in different facets of life, including relationships. Prioritize things as simple as sleep. Prioritize overall well-being. Stay more even keel, don't have too many ups and downs. When you're younger, you're more addicted to the chaos a bit."
Isaac Haxton
"There's more variance in poker, and you're not as good as you think. Be more cautious with your money. Don't go broke."
Jason Koon
"So much advice. So many mistakes. Spend less time being angry at myself for making mistakes. Forgive myself quicker, and just focus on being in the chair."
Daniel Dvoress
"Spend more time studying poker and less time playing."