Roulette Table: Poker player prepares for tournament
By Timothy O'Connor
Summer Reporter
When he sits down at a poker table, David Wood gets aggressive.
"The way I play in casinos is a dangerous way to play," said the junior in the School of Management. "I'm the asshole. I'm the bad guy at the table that no one wants to mess with the first round, and the second round everyone wants a piece of me."
Wood is a finalist in AbsolutePoker.com's Win Your Tuition poker tournament. He has spent the past month preparing for the event, which takes place Aug. 8 in New York City, by figuring out how to win with bad hands.
"I'll just deal out some hands when I'm bored and just kind of look at what comes up and what wins," he said. "In order to take it further, I figured knowing some not-so-good hands that tend to win a good amount of times helps."
Wood's strategy for winning is to read the other players as the cards are dealt.
"I watch people look at their cards." He pulled out a pair of sunglasses and said, "I got my secret weapons. When I'm playing I put my sunglasses on. No one has any clue where my eyes are. I'm always watching every time they look at their cards."
Though the tournament is for an online poker site, the final will be played in person among the six contestants. Wood said playing in person was different than playing online.
"Some people like to play a lot different online and I guess I would have to say I'm one of those people," he said. "I don't focus as much on tells, I don't focus as much on anything except for statistics and just numbers."
When playing online, Wood said you have to pay more attention to bet sizes. In person, a player may throw in a lot of lower valued chips to make the pot seem larger and intimidate players. This is not possible in an online game.
"Poker is a mind game, period. But online, you have to be good, a lot better with numbers," he said. "I know some really good poker players that play in person that can't play online. They (have) great reads, but they can't read anyone online so they can't win."
Wood is currently unemployed and uses poker as a means of earning money.
"That's the best way to play for me because I know I got my balls on the line," he said.
Despite his success, he doesn't always win. A few years ago he had a bad experience at a Bahaman casino.
"I went to the roulette table and I was like, �Check this out,' (and bet) $100, $100, $100, $100 all on red. Black, black, black, black. It was $575 (that I bet) and I lost all of it in three minutes," he said.
But casinos aren't the only thing that gives Wood trouble. His friend, John Tyson, regularly beats him in poker.
"We know each other so well," said Wood, "but he knows how to play me."
That doesn't discourage Wood, however, because Tyson, a student at Ball State University, is on his way toward beginning his professional poker career by completing a tour in European circuits this fall.
"Dave's the better bluffer because he does it more often," said Tyson. "I'm better at calling his bets."
Tyson agreed that Wood tries to irritate other players.
"He's really, really aggressive all the time," he said. "It's really hard to play with him because he frustrates (everyone)."
Summer Reporter
When he sits down at a poker table, David Wood gets aggressive.
"The way I play in casinos is a dangerous way to play," said the junior in the School of Management. "I'm the asshole. I'm the bad guy at the table that no one wants to mess with the first round, and the second round everyone wants a piece of me."
Wood is a finalist in AbsolutePoker.com's Win Your Tuition poker tournament. He has spent the past month preparing for the event, which takes place Aug. 8 in New York City, by figuring out how to win with bad hands.
"I'll just deal out some hands when I'm bored and just kind of look at what comes up and what wins," he said. "In order to take it further, I figured knowing some not-so-good hands that tend to win a good amount of times helps."
Wood's strategy for winning is to read the other players as the cards are dealt.
"I watch people look at their cards." He pulled out a pair of sunglasses and said, "I got my secret weapons. When I'm playing I put my sunglasses on. No one has any clue where my eyes are. I'm always watching every time they look at their cards."
Though the tournament is for an online poker site, the final will be played in person among the six contestants. Wood said playing in person was different than playing online.
"Some people like to play a lot different online and I guess I would have to say I'm one of those people," he said. "I don't focus as much on tells, I don't focus as much on anything except for statistics and just numbers."
When playing online, Wood said you have to pay more attention to bet sizes. In person, a player may throw in a lot of lower valued chips to make the pot seem larger and intimidate players. This is not possible in an online game.
"Poker is a mind game, period. But online, you have to be good, a lot better with numbers," he said. "I know some really good poker players that play in person that can't play online. They (have) great reads, but they can't read anyone online so they can't win."
Wood is currently unemployed and uses poker as a means of earning money.
"That's the best way to play for me because I know I got my balls on the line," he said.
Despite his success, he doesn't always win. A few years ago he had a bad experience at a Bahaman casino.
"I went to the roulette table and I was like, �Check this out,' (and bet) $100, $100, $100, $100 all on red. Black, black, black, black. It was $575 (that I bet) and I lost all of it in three minutes," he said.
But casinos aren't the only thing that gives Wood trouble. His friend, John Tyson, regularly beats him in poker.
"We know each other so well," said Wood, "but he knows how to play me."
That doesn't discourage Wood, however, because Tyson, a student at Ball State University, is on his way toward beginning his professional poker career by completing a tour in European circuits this fall.
"Dave's the better bluffer because he does it more often," said Tyson. "I'm better at calling his bets."
Tyson agreed that Wood tries to irritate other players.
"He's really, really aggressive all the time," he said. "It's really hard to play with him because he frustrates (everyone)."
