David Tuchman Talks Early Impressions and Strategies on 888poker's New Flopomania
David Tuchman, who's most notably known for his fantastic abilities as a poker commentator, just arrived in São Paulo this morning, but his first stop was obviously to head to 888Live to play some Flopomania poker. The game, which is new to 888Poker, is a brand new take on No-Limit Hold’em that removes preflop action entirely. Instead, players put up an ante, are dealt cards, then are forced to make decisions from the flop onwards. Tuchman was one of the few players invited to play in the 888Live Flopomania Invitational, where he busted after just a few levels of play.
We caught up with Tuchman though and he not only gave us some of his initial interpretations of that game, but he provided a little bit of strategy talk as well. Despite busting, and sulking over jokingly to do an interview, Tuchman really enjoyed the game, saying it was something about the way Flopomania brings people together that removes some of the seriousness from the game of poker.
“I think it’s fun,” Tuchman said when asked about the game. “I think it was actually fun. I didn’t really know anything about it before today and then I found out about it. And I was a little skeptical, because I was like, ‘Huh? We all see a flop?’ But it’s kind of fun because I think it, the camaraderie of poker, and you’re all having a good time and you’re all laughing and it kind of takes the serious nature out of it.”
Tuchman explained that a lot of the seriousness of the game comes directly from the preflop action. It’s an entire street of betting that encourages players to get out of hands, but with Flopomania, all of that extra tension and pressure is gone.
“Because a lot of the preflop play is really serious,” Tuchman explained. “And there’s nothing wrong with that, but I think as a nice contrast it’s kind of fun because you kind of forget that you’re playing poker for real. It’s almost like a home game again. You’re like ‘Oh yeah! We all see a flop! Let’s go! Let’s do it!’”
When it comes to strategy, Tuchman stressed that position is still key, and not only that, it’s about knowing that your opponents are going to give up on hands, and knowing that a lot of speculative hands have already missed the flop.
“Ok so Sofia was at my table and I could see that once you get some chips you can really take stabs at a lot of pots,” he said. “Because of the hands that people speculate with, especially in position, and so the hands that people speculate with preflop, well now they’ve seen a flop. And it’s hard to hit. And even if they have like bottom pair they’re not always compelled to fight for it.”
But it’s not always about firing firing firing, Tuchman explained. You still have to pick good spots to fire.
“So like, if you have any draw or anything like that and you’re in position, it’s a really good spot that you can take stabs,” he continued. “Especially if you’re short handed. Now if you’re playing a full ring game it’s different. But I think in short handed you can take stabs at it because the antes are really big compared to what you have to bet to get people to fold.”
Tuchman is unfortunately unable to play in the Main Event since he’s already made other commitments, but he’s still confident in his abilities.
“I wish I could,” He said about playing the Main Event. “I would love to. ‘Doran let me play!’ No I wish I could but I’ll be doing commentary tomorrow. So I’ll be doing commentary every day Day 1, Day 2 and the final table. I come down here for the commentary. And I’m such an amazing poker player that you know if I played I would make it deep, and then who would do commentary? Right? That wasn’t a joke! You’re not supposed to laugh right in my face.”
We can look forward to seeing and hearing from Tuchman on all of the future live streams of 888Live Festival in São Paulo, as his full-time job as commentator starts then. Meanwhile, the 888Live Flopomania Invitational is still in session with Chris Moorman and Sofia Lövgren heads up for the title.