Meet Mer Brit. A 28-year-old poker pro from Atlanta known as “PeachyMer” online, Brit has been running rampant on the tournament scene in 2009. With a pair of wins and a runner-up finish in the PokerStars $100 rebuy in April, Brit vaulted up to #53 in the PocketFives.com World Wide Rankings (as of 4/22/09), claiming bragging rights as the highest (and only) ranked female among the top 100.
Starting out as a Limit Hold’em full ring player nearly four years ago, Brit quickly transitioned to 6-max games and moved up in stakes rapidly. Some hearty competition from her ex-boyfriend “created a monster”, as she says, and allowed Mer to reach her high-stakes level just two years after she began playing. Being a female, though, made the learning process a bit more unusual for her than most.
“There are lots of stereotypes being a girl, so I avoided help from others as much as possible and kind of dwelled in my own little bubble”, Brit told Poker News Daily. “One person that did help me in Limit Hold’em was Mike Schneider, adding some insight since I learn differently than most players.”
Brit gave No Limit Hold’em a whirl about a year ago. She first cut her teeth in cash games but was unable to find the time to dedicate towards it. A friend of hers then suggested that she try tournaments and Brit found instant success.
“Coming from Limit into No Limit was a bit rough, but Brian Hastings helped me with a few basic/key differences here and there”, she said. “At this stage there were a few key people – Ryan Daut, Corwin Mackey, and Blake Cahail – who bridged my gap in a critical area I lack, the math base in my poker. Without them I would not be the player I am right now.”
Brit dove right into high stakes tournaments and began playing full-time in August 2008. The rest is history.
Mer took some time with Poker News Daily to analyze a hand she played during the PokerStars $10,000 SCOOP Main Event against established pro Dan “Lenny” Heimiller. Also seated at the table early on during Day 1 of the event were Humberto Brenes, Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, and Ryan “ryanbluf” Karp.
Hand Setup:
Seat 1 (Lenny): 9,600 chips
Seat 2: 7,325 chips
Seat 4 (PeachyMer): 10,575 chips
Seat 5: 13,250 chips
Seat 7: 9,775 chips
Seat 8: 9,625 chips
Seat 9: 9,850 chips
Poker News Daily: First, can you describe the dynamics of this table a little bit?
Mer Brit: I was semi-familiar with a few of the players but really had no idea about the majority of them. The table had not been too out of hand at this point; there was a decent amount of raising but most of the 3-bets were uncontested. Overall, it was a mixture of very aggressive and nitty players.
PND: How do you think your style of play is perceived by opponents?
MB: Generally, I am perceived as a pretty tight player and I believe most at this table viewed me this way.
Cards are dealt:
PeachyMer raises 100 to 150 with [6s] [6c]
Seat 5 folds
Seat 7 calls 150
Seat 8 folds
Seat 9 calls 150
Lenny calls 125
Seat 2 folds
PND: How often are you raising under-the-gun and with what range of cards?
MB: It depends on how the table has been playing during a given time frame, but generally KQs+, AJs+, 66+.
PND: How do you plan to proceed on the flop after you get three callers?
MB: Light my lucky candle and cross my fingers that I hit a set! Otherwise it is going to depend on the flop texture. If it came low I would bet and see how it proceeded; if broadways hit I would more than likely check/fold with three callers.
FLOP: [6h] [5h] [3c]
Lenny bets 100
PeachyMer raises 400 to 500
Seat 7 folds
Seat 9 folds
Lenny calls 400
PND: Big flop for you. Describe the action here. What are your thoughts on Lenny’s game and with what hands do you think he’s leading with a small bet and then calling a raise?
MB: Lenny bet out fairly small into the pot, making my decision to raise easy since it was an extremely drawy board. I really didn’t have too many thoughts on his game since I cannot recall playing with him before, so I just applied general characteristics to him. With him betting out I am assuming he has some piece of this flop but with the action preflop it can be an assortment of options: a set (I’m not that lucky), an overpair, a flush draw with overs, a pair with a flush draw, a pair with a straight draw, combo draws, etc. So either way it’s not a “yippie” situation for me yet.
TURN: [8d]
Lenny checks
PeachyMer bets 1,355
Lenny calls 1,355
PND: What does his check here mean?
MB: Unfortunately I would expect him to check here with most of his range so this check really doesn’t mean anything to me.
PND: You decide to bet a little more than 4/5 pot and he makes the call. What can you narrow his range down to now and are there any cards you’re looking to avoid on the river?
MB: His call here doesn’t eliminate many hands except possibly middle pairs such as nines and tens. There are quite a few cards I would like to avoid on the river — any straight cards, hearts, basically most of the deck!
RIVER: [4c]
Lenny bets 3,450
PND: Thoughts on Lenny’s bet?
MB: I expect Lenny to bet the majority of the time here no matter what he is holding.
PND: Did you ever consider folding? How often do you think he’s bluffing or betting with a worse hand in this spot?
MB: It is not a fantastic river for me but I really didn’t give folding any thought, although it did rule out raising at this stage. As the hand was played I don’t see him value betting worse, but I think this river will be bluffed at enough for me to call profitably.
RIVER: [4c]
Lenny bets 3,450
PeachyMer calls
Hands Revealed:
BOARD: [6h] [5h] [3c] [8d] [4c]
Lenny shows [Kh] [3h] (a pair of Threes)
PeachyMer shows [6s] [6c] (three of a kind, Sixes)
PND: Looking back on it, how would you grade your play in this hand? Anything you would do differently?
MB: I think I played this hand as well as I could have and got the maximum chip wise, therefore I wouldn’t play it differently a second time around.
