On February 22nd, Joel gittindrunk Shulruf took down the Bodog $100,000 Guaranteed for his first win in a Sunday major. The tournament is one of the most lucrative online due to its massive recurring overlay. Shulruf took full advantage of the truncated field in the event, winning $23,000 for his efforts. At the time of his victory, he was at the house of Ari Engel, a popular online poker pro and former Triple Crown winner. The Buffalo Grove, Illinois native sat down with PocketFives.com to discuss not only his first Sunday major tournament win, but also his first Sunday major final table appearance.
In the weeks leading up to his breakthrough in the $100,000 Guaranteed, Shulruf had suffered a poor run of cards. However, a change of scenery to Engel's house may have been just what the doctor ordered. He told PocketFives.com, "I was getting thirds and fourths and went on a real good run on Saturday, making a few final tables. I started running well and that’s how it works." The day before his Bodog victory, he took down the $24 buy-in $11,500 KO Guarantee on Full Tilt Poker for $3,700. On Sunday, he finished third in the Bodog $109 buy-in $15,000 Guaranteed Deep Stack and took 77th in the PokerStars Sunday Million.
He's been focusing on tournaments over the course of the past 10 months, groomed by Engel (pictured at left) and The Maven. He explained how others watching or playing in the Bodog $100,000 Guaranteed would have perceived his game: "Anyone who was watching probably thought I was playing badly. Other people were all in as favorites and I won every time. I was playing aggressively and making moves at the final table."Many poker players have made the successful jump from tournaments to cash games. Shulruf, however, transitioned the other way around. He described his decision to become proficient in tournaments: "The swings in cash games are brutal. Tournaments have a huge upside; you can become famous just by winning one. In tournaments, 90% of the field doesn’t know how to play." You can find him on the virtual felts on Bodog under the name deadmoney627. He plays on Full Tilt Poker under the alias iamthematador and on PokerStars as feltin'donks.
On what Engel and TheMaven have taught Shulruf in his short time learning tournament strategy, he revealed, "Mostly making pre-flop moves, like shoving with not so good hands when the conditions are right. When you first start playing, you wait until you have a hand like K-J on the short stack. Sometimes shoving with 2-7 is a better play than waiting for K-J." He's also been focusing on playing tight in the beginning of tournaments and then constantly loosening up as play continues. Shulruf claims that his post-flop play is solid due to his vast experience in cash games. Pre-flop strategies, however, have been a point of emphasis. In addition to Engel and TheMaven, he admires the game of PocketFiver Darren darrenelias Elias (pictured at right): "He plays so much by game flow."Other tournament cashes for the PocketFiver include a 10th place in the Full Tilt Poker $750,000 Guaranteed in December for $7,200. In the first 25 days of February, he piled up $44,000 in tournaments that are tracked for the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings. The day before Christmas, he earned $3,800 for finishing fifth in the $11 rebuy ($80,000 Guaranteed) on Stars. He took third in the $70,000 guaranteed version of that event one month earlier for $8,000. In live tournament play, he won a $500 buy-in contest during the WSOP Circuit Event festivities at Horseshoe Southern Indiana (formerly Caesars Indiana) last October for $52,000. In July, he took fifth in a $500 buy-in tournament held during the 2008 Orleans Open in Las Vegas for $6,000.
In 2004, Shulruf was in college and hung out with friends who were proficient in the game. He recalled, "It blew me away how they knew what other players had. I remember watching the WSOP and hearing Phil Ivey talk about practicing. I just thought it was all luck. When I first played Hold’em with blinds, I saw that there was skill involved."
His online game has gotten a boost from the tracking and analysis software PokerTracker. He explained, "If you’re concentrating on two tournaments, even with just two tables, you may have no idea how your opponents are playing." PokerTracker competes in the marketplace with Hold'em Manager and Poker Office; the latter recently introduced a much-improved Version 5.0. All three programs can overlay vital player statistics right on the table when you battle on some of the largest online poker sites.
Congratulations from all of us here at PocketFives.com to Joel gittindrunk Shulruf for taking down the Bodog $100,000 Guaranteed.
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