There was a good question on the PartyPoker Facebook page last week:
Jas Ricketts: How can we find the Pro team playing on PartyPoker? what are their Partypoker ID’s and what games/limits do they play? thanks
We’ve now got in touch with 3 of TeamParty players (Bodo Sbrzesny, Stewart Scott and Ian Frazer) and got them to answer Jas’ questions, talk about their strengths and weaknesses and also give advice on how to optimize your chances to earn the TeamParty sponsorship.
Bodo Sbrzesny
Table nick: Bodo_feel_it
Game: My limits are NL400 – 5k but I did run very bad on 5k and about 100 stacks under ev (expected value) on 300k hands on the other limits. So I will slow down and don’t play 5k at the moment and mix it with NL200. I play 12-16 tables at a time.
Time: I play between 7pm and 3am German CET time. I play nearly every day about 2-3 hours, sometimes more, sometimes less.
Style of play: Earlier I played like a nit and had my non-variance win-rate of 3 big blinds / 100 hands, but now I changed my style to 28 22 and my win rate is about 4big blinds / 100 hands. It is pretty good on multi-tabling I think. I only look on the ev, if I lose money but the ev is fine, I can’t do anything.
Strength: My strengths are a chilling mass-tabling game but then I don’t play that good sometimes. If I play 6 or less tables I really like my game and my style, I see a lot of options in the game and don’t play just straight forward.
To improve: I will improve my game actually and think about other game styles and betting sizes which my opponent don’t know and create situations which are new for them.
Advice on how to get a sponsorship: I think it is hard to have a sponsorship as a goal because many factors are in it which are sometimes lucky. A factor in my success was surely the POKER DEN TV cash game in London and my fearless game. Of course the opponents have “ranges instead of ONE HAND” and bluffs can’t work every time, but there they worked very well and I made good decisions. The combination of many factors brought me into this sponsorship.
Stewart Scott
Table nick: Stewart5cott
Game: I like to play NL/1/2 and PLO 2/4 up to 5/10 when running good on the cash tables but my specialty is MTTs where I will buy in from 55 dollars up to 10,000 dollars and generally play 12 to 16 tournaments at a time.
Time: I play all the big majors on Sundays including the 300k GTD and the High Rollers and the Monthly Million when it’s on at PartyPoker starting at about 4 -7am every Mon Aust EST or Sunday European time. Also the 10Kgtd speed $120 buy in starting 9-10am EST. When playing at night time 7pm EST onwards you can find me at either NL 50c/1$ 1/2 (9 tabling), 2/4 at the PLO tables (3 tabling) as I predominantly play tournaments if I play at night. I’m playing the gtd speed tournaments at Party Poker. I always loved these even had a 2nd in the 1k gtd speed turbos last Friday night.
Style of play: Typically tight aggressive but obviously like any good player I adapt to my environment.
Strenghts: I think my main strength is that I have the ability to get a good read on players in certain situations.
To improve: I think all players suffer from some degree of tilt which I am not immune to by any means but I’m constantly working on this. Naturally I am not a patient person which can still come out in my game now and then. Just recently started playing cash online NL and PLO and this is an area where I plenty of room for improvement.
Advice on how to get a sponsorship: Always present yourself like a professional. Try and do the right things with media obligations. Obviously good tournament results are very important but they are only one small piece of the puzzle. Boosting your profile is key. Playing as a many live tournaments as possible trying to ship one and winning the major at your favourite site always helps too. And being involved in the forum and being an active part of the poker community.
Ian Frazer
Table nick: Ian_Frazer
Game: PLO Hi/Lo 3-6, 5-10, 10-20, PLO 5-10, 10-20, high stakes tourneys
Time: Various times & days my play is not planned
Style of play: Very aggressive pre-flop and flop
Weakness: Boredom
Strength: Major pot decisions & finding weakness in opponents
To improve: Discipline! I can get bored and move off the rail.
Advice on how to get a sponsorship: Try to be loyal to one site to maximise your rewards. This is tough because of variance but it’s something you must achieve if you want to be a sponsored player. Find the games right for you and play more of them.
