More than any other poker tournament, the World Series in Las Vegas confronts amateur players with the thrill of facing the game's best and the daunting task of trying to beat them.

Strip away luck, which you can't control anyhow, and that leaves just your skill and guile to battle poker's elite and the even larger group of strong seasoned players who also have a day job.

On paper, your chances aren't good. Happily, though, poker is played on felt. The thing is, you'd better have a plan.

Kris Kuykendall of Cincinnati, Ohio, faced exactly that challenge early this year at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas. The "Cincinnati Kid" qualified online for his first-ever major face-to-face tournament.

Barely 25 — his birthday came during the event — the Kid was up against a then-record non-World Series field of 1,136 players, including many WSOP bracelet winners and a very tough international contingent.

"I'm ready for this," Kris told me before the six-day tournament began. The slightly built former Ohio state high school wrestling champ backed that up with a third-place finish for $800,000. It paid to have a plan.

"My main strategy was to get a feel for the live action and play a solid game to start out," he said. "Going in, I just told myself to remain calm and think everything through. Most importantly, I wanted not to give any tells by being consistent in my motions and the way I played hands."

Once comfortable with the action, he kicked his game into a higher gear.

"I don't think I would have made the final table without playing an aggressive style," he said. "Three-betting in position (acting last) was a helpful tool that I executed well to build my stack and to continually pound on the shorter stacks."

For the final three tournament days, however, that strategy was severely tested. Despite multiple table moves, Kris repeatedly found himself positioned one or two seats to the right of the dangerous David "The Dragon" Pham, 2007's player of the year and the tournament chip leader.

That meant on most deals, Kris would have to act before Pham. Conversely, when Kris had the button and good betting position, Pham was in one of the blinds. The rookie knew the pro was a strong defender from the blinds.

"Pham had a huge impact on my play. I am a cash game player at heart and love to play position with an aggressive style," Kris said. "Pham, a brilliant player, was able to pick up on that quickly being on my left. I recall many hands where he three-bet me, and I just couldn't continue with poor position."

Frustration grew with each seat re-draw. "Three draws in a row with him placed directly to my left was starting to get to me," Kris admitted. With the final table in sight and big money up for grabs, he needed a new plan.

"I really focused on changing up my game to keep him guessing," Kris said. "I didn't want to make monotonous moves all the time when I had position because he would have taken advantage of that. I will say that he kept me on my toes!"

The strategy paid off. With 18 players left, Kris mixed smart laydowns with serious aggression and moved into the chip lead. Once, for example, he raised pre-flop with pocket tens only to see Pham come over the top with a big re-raise. Kris didn't back down, putting in a huge additional raise and taking the pot.

On another hand, he held his ground with pocket kings against Pham even though an ace came on the flop. "I just didn't believe him for an ace," Kris said. His read was correct.

That pot of 1.1 million chips helped propel him to the final table, where he finished one spot ahead of Pham. Online pros Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier and Hafiz Khan took first and second.

With one big live tournament under his belt, Kris already was thinking about strategies for next time.

"Now that I have a feel for live poker a bit, I'll start my next tournament with a more loose-aggressive approach. I was a bit nervous at first, and that drew me away from playing my style. I love the competitive atmosphere and the pressure. You will definitely see me at the WSOP."

With a plan in mind, no doubt.

E-mail your poker questions and comments to russ@luckydogpoker.com for use in future columns. To find out more about Russ Scott and read previous LuckyDog Poker columns, visit www.creators.com or www.luckydogpoker.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 RUSS SCOTT

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