Brian Townsend aka Aba20/Shrugby on High Stakes Poker

Like many players I love good poker TV. I mean serious poker with well known pros like Ivey, Negraneu, and Doyle. What I don't really care for besides celebrity poker is watching unknown players or up and comers players on some of the WPT events or shows like Poker Dome. There are however exceptions. One of those exceptions is an online player named Brian Townsend. If you watch High Stakes Poker on the GSN Monday evenings at 9PM, he has been on the last couple episodes and will be featured in several more episodes.

There are a number of reasons you may not have heard of Brian. He plays mostly on the internet on Full Tilt and PokerStars under the screen names Aba20 and Shrugby. He also hasn't been playing very long. There is one big reason you will hear a lot more about him in the future though. He is one of the the best current cash game no-limit poker players today. He plays daily and beats the highest stakes no-limit games online. I don't just mean he beats them. I mean he crushes them! He is quickly becoming a terror at the high stakes Pot Limit Omaha games online as well. Brian regularly plays against and beats big name pros like Phil Ivey and David Beyamine. Not many "well known pros" play high stakes online. These two are exceptions and Brian plays against them regularly not to mention many other terrific online players in pots that are commonly in the $100-$150K range.

What is probably the most amazing is that Brian has been playing no-limit holdem for only a short time. He began playing no-limit at the beginning of 2006 starting at the lowest limits and rapidly rising in less than a year to playing the highest stakes games available online. Brian has risen so rapidly because of his exceptional skill and also because he has played countless thousands of hands while being very aggressive in taking shots and moving up in limits very quickly. He has hit rough spots along the way and had to occasionally move down in limits for awhile before succeeding at the next level. In being willing to take a step down when necessary before moving up again though he has shown the characteristics of outstanding bankroll management that many aspiring poker players could benefit from. Brian often plays as many hands a week at 200/400NL and up as many of the "well known pros" play live in the "Big Game" in the course of a year.

Like I said, fortunately we will be seeing a lot more of Brian in the near future on High Stakes Poker which is in my opinion the best poker show on TV followed closely by Poker After Dark on NBC which I believe is the second best show on right now and the best tournament show on TV. Brian has been so successful online that he will be sitting at the HSP table with three quarters of a million dollars. In some of the upcoming episodes of HSP Brian will be playing at a table featuring Daniel Negraneu, David Benyamine, Phil Ivey, Phil Laak, Antonio Esfandiari, John D' Agostino, Brad Booth, and Patrik Antonious. This could definitely without exaggeration be the toughest no-limit cash game holdem table ever assembled. Honestly, as good of a player as Daniel Negraneu is, he is probably the fish at this table. That's how good the others are. If Brian does lose some pots though or doesn't look like the world class player he is realize that even though these shows last for hours on TV they are actually playing very few hands like 20 hands or less an hour live. They are constantly having to stop and restart due to TV production requirements that go into filming a show like this. When you are playing so few hands at these limits the variance can be extremely high. Also Brian is not used to play at a full 8 or 9 handed table at this level. The highest stakes games online are never played as full ring games. They are usually shorthanded between 2-6 players. This is where Brian's expertise is and where he will shine the most right now. Pros like him can adjust to the differences in these games but he is still most experienced short-handed. Trust me. You will see much more of Brian in the years to come.

If you can't get enough of Brian on HSP right now you may also want to check him out through another medium. He has recently signed on as a producer and part owner of the online poker video instructional site www.cardrunners.com. He will be making new videos of his play along with his excellent commentary at a variety of limits including those significantly lower than the limits he currently plays at. For those not familiar with CardRunners it is an excellent site with hundreds of videos by successful professional online players. Whether you are a relatively new $1/2 NL player or a more experienced player you will benefit greatly from this site. The site is primarily no-limit oriented and there are videos for tournament as well as cash game play. If you play $1/2 - $10/20 NL holdem or online tournaments with typical buy-ins from $20 - $200 this is the perfect site to learn from and take your play to the next level. Hope to see you soon at the tables----Ben.