That’s good news for Beyne whose wild style and uncanny ability to unnerve opponents helped him to a $261,000 victory at the Asia Pacific Poker Tour High Rollers event last month. As he gets ready to take on the PKR Heads Up Grand Slam we asked him how he keeps his confidence at it's peak - even when up against players like Johnny Chan.
PKR_Colin: How much more of a role does confidence play in heads-up poker compared with other poker formats (eg. 6-max cash games)?
Beyne: Confidence is very important in heads-up because you have to be the one taking control of the game. This is much more important in heads-up than in 6-max. You can steer the gameflow and you can only win if you keep control!
C: Do you go into heads-up with a really clear strategy or is it a matter of reacting to what your opponent is doing?
B: I have my standard strategy, with which I always start against an unknown player. Then of course I start adapting. Adapting fast and thinking one level in front of your opponent is very important. You have to know, 'what is he thinking that I am doing?' and do the opposite. For example: You make a big overbet bluff on the river. Now you gotta know, what will your opponent think if you do it again? A very bad player will think, 'he's done it again so he's bluffing again - I call!'. A better player might think, "he's never bluffing me twice in a row, because he knows that I know that I saw that he bluffed - I fold".
Now an even better player might think: "He knows that I know that he's never bluffing me twice, that's why he bluffs me twice, because he knows I'm a good player and will fold - but I call". This can get very complicated but it's important to know on which level your opponent thinks and adapt accordingly.
C: Do you like to talk to your opponents or would you rather just focus on the cards?
B: Of course I like to talk and have a chat! That's the good thing about live games, they can't put me on ignore and block out all the B.S. - haha :P
C: Sometimes your style of play really gets under peoples skin - would you say that’s something you cultivate?
B: Yea, I do it mainly just for fun but also because my opponents get tilted and make mistakes. Forcing players into making mistakes that they wouldn't make against another player is a part of my style.
C: Is there a style of player you would be better suited to playing? And a style you would prefer to avoid?
B: I'd like to play someone like Johnny Chan, someone who never bluff 3-bets and check/calls with his good hands! These are the best players to play with. I don't like playing hyper aggressive players (unless I'm hitting great hands - hehe). Someone who 3-bets a lot and tries to take away all the pots from you is very difficult to play heads-up, so I'd prefer someone like Phil Hellmuth who folds queens to a single raise, haha!
C: Is it going to be emotional?
B: Of course! It's a $10,000 buy-in and it's heads-up! That's the biggest heads-up tourney I've ever played, and it's gonna be fuuuun :)