The newest member of the PocketFives Training staff is site Mod and longtime community fixture tyson219. He's been a contributing member of PocketFives since 2006 and can be found under the moniker tford219 on PocketFives Training. His first contribution to PocketFives Training covers his run through the $3,250 Guaranteed on Merge and focuses on key MTT issues like set-mining, opening ranges, and short stack play. View Part 1.We caught up with tyson219 to talk about joining PocketFives Training and learn what videos we can expect to see from him going forward. By the way, if you're from outside of the United States, you can get one free month of PocketFives Training with the sign-up fee waived, which is a $65 value, by signing up for a major online poker site through PocketFives' links and making a deposit. There aren't any play-through requirements either. Learn more here.
PocketFives: Thanks for joining us. Congrats on the new gig on PocketFives Training. We are excited to have you. Talk about some of the major issues you faced in the $3,250 Guaranteed, which is a $10 freezeout.
tyson219: I think one of the biggest challenges is to always think carefully about your opponent's range and understand how to maximize the value of your hand to get as many chips as possible.
That concept is important across all stakes too. At the end of the day, every tournament player's goal is to accumulate all of the chips, so maximizing the value we get from our hands is always going to be important. In lower-stakes MTTs, it can sometimes be easier since our opponents make more mistakes, but that doesn't diminish its importance.
PocketFives: What is your approach to making videos and what do you hope students will get out of your first installment?tyson219: In the first video series, I tried to find a hand history that would allow me to express my thoughts on several aspects of play, including pre-flop and post-flop play as well as bubble situations and short-handed play. I hope students will be able to learn solid fundamentals from this first series and really try to focus on assigning ranges and maximizing the value you get from your hands.
PocketFives: Have you given any thought to your next video series?
tyson219: A couple months ago, I won the Merge Mini-Major, a $10 buy-in tournament with the same structure as their $125,000 Guaranteed. I think it would make a really interesting video since there was a lot of room for post-flop play and it was a really fun final table. In the future, I'd also like to focus more on concept videos. Hand history reviews are always great and cover a wide range of concepts, but they don't always provide enough detail to teach students how to play in a variety of situations and adapt the concepts to their everyday play.
PocketFives: You've been heavily integrated with PocketFives by being a Mod, an active community member, and now a PocketFives Training instructor. How has our site changed your career?tyson219: I've been a member of PocketFives since I started playing online MTTs in 2006. I played sporadically between 2006 and 2011, but when I started playing seriously again in 2011, PocketFives was a great resource. I felt like I learned a lot from reading some of the top online players' comments on hand histories and the lines they would take. I've enjoyed giving back to the community more recently by commenting on hand histories and other players' posts. I'm excited to continue that and go into more depth with PocketFives Training.
PocketFives: What has helped you learn and grow as a poker player?
tyson219: What has helped me the most was a combination of strategy discussions of hands posted on the forums, videos from PocketFives pros, and meeting players through the forums that I could discuss strategy with in more detail. What I really tried to do with my own game is listen to everyone and attempt to integrate certain advice they had into my own game.
A free two-day trial to PocketFives Training is available. Sign up today!
