Poker Articles

When we first awarded the Pocketfives Triple Crown it required a player to make the final table of three 10k+ tournaments on three different sites. Back then, the catch was that it had to be done in a 24 hour period. Since 1/5/2006 the Triple Crown has evolved to only include tournament wins, which we think reflects the mark of pride it has come to hold in the online poker community. Of course, the time period was extended to one week to give more people a shot at the crown. Last week ranked player Jeremy “Chipsteela” Menard decided to kick it old school and take down a Triple Crown in one day, becoming the first to do so under the new rules.

Chipsteela started things rolling with a win in the PokerStars $100 freezeout, which started at 1 am on Tuesday 10/23. Perhaps he went to sleep that night dreaming of taking down another tourney over the next couple days to give himself a shot at the Triple Crown. Maybe he was just enjoying the $8,250 win. Whatever he was thinking, Monday night/Tuesday morning, he woke up later that day and was on fire.

Chipsteela final tabled two tourneys Tuesday afternoon, but he came up a little short in each, finishing 7th in the first Stars $55 rebuy of the day and 6th in the Full Tilt 55k guarantee. So far, it was an OK, but none too exciting day. It wasn’t until later that night that he hit his stride. The UltimateBet $33 rebuy began at 10:00 pm and the Full Tilt Poker 30k guarantee started at 11:01 ET. A few hours later he was heads up in the UB rebuy and had just made the final table on Full Tilt.

At this point, the average player would have been perfectly happy. Even if he didn’t win either tourney, it still would have been a good day. Chipsteela is not an average player, however. He closed out the UB tourney and went on to take down the FTP guarantee as well. Going by the start times of the tourneys involved, he completed the Triple Crown in 21:59 minutes. This sets a record that could stand for a quite a while. All three tournaments yielded healthy five figure scores. The UB $33 rebuy was worth 6k, he took home 7.3k on Full Tilt and 8.2K from the Stars win. All in all, with the other final tables on the day, Chipsteela pulled in about $27,000. Not bad for a random Tuesday with no huge scores, but the cash adds up when you are stacking up the wins.

I had the chance to talk to Chipsteela about his recent wins, as well as life as a poker pro:

Lenny: You were at the final table of both your second and third win at the same time, what was that like?

Chipsteela: It was weird because I was the short stack going into both final tables. On UB I only had about 5 BBs to start with, but I kept getting it in good and my hands held up. Before I knew it, we were three handed. I just played my game and got to heads up only down 3-1 in chips. From there I feel like I pretty much outplayed the guy.

Lenny: Was it hard to split your attention between two final tables?

Chipsteela: I was actually heads up on UB right when I got to the final table of the $100 6-max on Full Tilt, so there wasn’t too much overlap.

Lenny: How did you get your start online?
 
Chipsteela: I’m pretty sure my first deposit was like $25 on Party Poker around 3 years ago. I ran that up to $100 playing like .50-1 cash and was like ‘wow this is an easy game!’ Of course, I then lost it all and had to start over again.

Lenny: Did you go broke more than once?

Chipsteela: I went busto a few times for sure. I think sometimes you have to make mistakes to learn how to play better. Plus, I’m a really persevering guy.  When I got into poker and I lost a few deposits, I wanted to keep going until I could beat the game.

Lenny: Did you play much poker before you started online?

Chipsteela: I played home games with friends back when I didn't even know what a flush was. Then I played some bar events and managed to win one for a $50 gift certificate. I was so stoked. 

Lenny: Did you finish college?

Chipsteela: I sure did, I have a degree in psych from NC State. That was before I became a poker degenerate.

Lenny: Do you ever think about poker from a psych perspective?

Chipsteela: I like to think that I do. I always tell my parents that I’m still using my degree.

Lenny: How much do you use math in making your decisions?

Chipsteela: That’s a good question. I would say I definitely use it when
I'm deciding whether or not to call an all in after I make a raise preflop. After
the flop I like to focus more on my opponents’ tendencies and betting patterns when making key decisions.

Lenny: Where do you find your biggest edge in a MTT?

Chipsteela: Well, I think right now my pre-flop play is very strong. Most of my play is on Stars, where it’s always a pre-flop battle. I feel I am also good at recognizing the different dynamics at the table and I am able to switch gears to play my best in each situation.

Lenny: What is a typical situation that comes up a lot where you feel your experience pays off?

Chipsteela: When people are starting to get short and they are push/folding, I think I am good at determining which hands are +EV to call their all-ins.

Lenny: Aside from “hanging out and getting rowdy” you list skateboarding as one of your hobbies. Do you still skate much? Do you go to parks with ramps and such, or just hit the street?

Chipsteela: All street man. I've been skating for like 9 years now. I just changed my stars avatar to a pic of me skating. I’m hoping it will bring me luck. The shop that sponsors me is getting ready to put out a video with some of my tricks in it.

Lenny: That sounds pretty sweet. Does the sponsorship pay much, or is it more just free gear?

Chipsteela: Oh, it doesn’t pay the bills, but I get sweet deals on gear for sure. It is good to have a hobby outside of poker, you know. It helps keep you sane during those times where you are just running god awful.

Lenny: One more thing, who do you talk to when you want to go over a hand or discuss a situation?

Chipsteela: Until recently I rarely talked poker. I did watch videos on PokerXfactor and I play a lot, but that was about it. Last month I met a bunch of people in Aruba and I have been talking with them a lot online. I get to talk with some of the greatest minds in poker like Apestyles, SCTrojans, X2then, Hixx, AJKHoosier, Puffinmypurp, Thedean221, Gboro780, the list goes on.

Talking to them has definitely helped me think more deeply about how I play hands and to figure out what is the best play in different situations. Now I know that having friends to talk things over with is invaluable.

Lenny: Is there anything you would like to add?

Chipsteela: Shoutouts?

Lenny: Haha, well it doesn’t work quite so well in print as on the podcast, but shout away.

Chipsteela: Real quick, I’d like to give shout outs to my parents, my girl Courtney, all my friends in and out of poker and anyone else that has helped me along the way.

Jeremy “Chipsteela” Menard jokes that at 24 he is getting too old for this, but he enjoys the freedom the life of a poker pro affords him and he has no plans to get a real job any time soon. For a guy who has no trouble riding a skateboard down a ten foot railing, it’s no wonder he can re-steal on the bubble with air. Whether he is dreaming up his next trick or thinking how to maximize his expected value, Chipsteela is a guy who takes his play seriously while still having a great time doing it.