If you happen to had advised him on the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials that the $5 recreation he performed with teammates could be the beginning of Chris Brewer’s poker journey to a profession within the recreation’s highest-stakes arenas, he’d have laughed.
Again then, poker was an off-the-cuff diversion for the College of Oregon observe standout. “I believed it was fairly enjoyable and figured I’d play once more if individuals needed to,” Brewer recollects. “No concept it will grow to be the crux of my life. However immediately, I appreciated the concept of competing in a thoughts recreation. I’ve all the time been drawn to technique video games.”
That aggressive intuition, honed on the observe, would finally carry over to the final technique recreation of poker, although it took years earlier than poker turned a severe pursuit. Brewer’s first WSOP money got here in 2015, when he was nonetheless in school, however tournaments didn’t grow to be his focus till 2020.
The “Unluckiest” Participant in Poker?
For years, Brewer developed an uncommon fame: one of many “unluckiest” execs on the circuit. Painful beats, bubbles, and near-misses turned a irritating theme.
“I can’t say I all the time dealt with it nice,” he admits. “It’s not enjoyable to take lots of dangerous beats. It’s straightforward to really feel just like the world’s in opposition to you. However I attempt to hold perspective: I’m wholesome, I’ve received a fiancée I really like, a superb household, a school diploma, and I get to play a recreation for a residing. There are a lot of methods to measure luck.”
His motivation throughout these years was rooted in proving he might win regardless of the setbacks. “I needed to point out I might succeed even when variance wasn’t on my aspect.”
The 2023 Breakthrough
When 2023 arrived, all the pieces modified. Brewer captured two WSOP bracelets, together with the $250K Tremendous Excessive Curler for over $5 million. The turnaround prompted apparent questions – was it talent, mindset, or simply the playing cards lastly falling his means?
“Largely, I simply ran higher,” Brewer says plainly. “The years earlier than, I’d lose the large all-ins. This yr I gained them. However I additionally had a barely extra structured research routine, and after briefly quitting on the finish of 2020 to strive a ‘actual job’ I didn’t like, I had extra gratitude for enjoying poker. I used to be rather less annoyed, a bit extra targeted.”
If he might communicate to the model of himself grinding by way of these downswings, Brewer’s recommendation could be easy: chill out.
“Don’t blame your self for issues you may’t management. Take pleasure in it as a lot as you may. Keep targeted and don’t let outdoors stuff trouble you. Management what you may management.”
Brewer is thought for his in-depth research of solvers. “Between 2016 and 2022, I didn’t have a lot life outdoors of poker and learning. I’ve in all probability spent as a lot time in solvers as virtually anybody.”
Relating to balancing GTO poker with stay changes, he prefers to lean on his strengths. “If you happen to play a superb theoretical recreation, you’ll win. There are exploits on the market, however guessing video games aren’t my greatest talent. My edge is knowing the sport tree higher than most, so I concentrate on exhibiting up and enjoying good poker.”
Becoming a member of PokerCoaching.com
Brewer’s transfer into teaching wasn’t nearly sharing information. It was about becoming a member of a workforce he revered.
“I actually just like the individuals at PokerCoaching.com. It’s a high-quality workforce, and I like that the main target isn’t solely on high-stakes poker. We assist gamers beat their native money video games, too. That’s how I began, spinning it up from small stakes.”
Instructing has additionally sharpened his personal recreation. “Listening to different individuals’s thought processes could be eye-opening. Generally they see spots in a different way than I’d, and it expands my understanding of how gamers suppose.”
One recurring misunderstanding Brewer sees is round fairness.
“Gamers underestimate how a lot fairness determines your technique, your wager sizing, your frequency, and the way aggressive or passive you need to be. Folks typically examine again too many middling fairness arms and fail to bluff sufficient with low-equity arms. In place, you need to be extra polarized and extra conscious of what your fairness means to your plan.”
Brewer’s recommendation for gamers caught with out the outcomes they need: hold strolling.
“You may all the time enhance. Get within the lab, determine your errors, put within the effort, and discover a good recreation. If you happen to’re caught in a recreation you may’t win in, even in the event you suppose you’re simply working dangerous, strive a distinct one. Play the place you’re profitable.”
What Separates Elite Gamers from the Relaxation & How To Begin Learning Right this moment
On the high of the sport in collection reminiscent of Triton or PokerGO Tour, Brewer says the distinction isn’t simply technical talent.
“The really elite aren’t afraid to be unsuitable. Many superb gamers worry making a giant river name and being unsuitable, or making a giant bluff and getting referred to as. That worry pushes them into cookie-cutter methods. The elite are prepared to take these dangers when the spot requires it.”
If he have been beginning right now, Brewer’s studying plan would start with the fundamentals.
“Preflop is an important a part of the sport. You may’t do something till you perceive it. I’d spend lots of time on preflop ranges, then bucket completely different flop sorts as an alternative of memorizing each spot, for instance, two Broadway playing cards, Broadway straight boards, monotone, and so on. Then I’d transfer to turns and rivers.”
He additionally recommends toy video games to know poker math fundamentals. “Numerous gamers now be taught simply from solvers and streams, however with out the underlying math, they make large errors after they face a spot they haven’t seen earlier than.”
From a $5 recreation on the Olympic Trials to $5 million wins within the greatest occasions on earth, Brewer’s journey exhibits each the grind and the glory. And now, as a coach, he’s distilling these classes for the subsequent wave of gamers, from native money grinders to aspiring excessive rollers.
“Poker’s all the time evolving,” he says. “If you happen to’re prepared to continue learning, you’ll all the time have a shot.”
