Poker King Of The Micro Stakes: Nathan "Blackrain79" Williams
January 19, 2012 2:45 pmNathan “Blackrain79” Williams is a university graduate in his thirties from Canada, who is also the biggest winner ever at PokerStars’ micro stakes cash games.
With around $30,000 in winnings playing at the 1c/2c and the 2c/5c levels alone, it is no surprise Nathan Williams didn’t attract much attention from $2NL and $5NL cash game railers, until his stats first appeared on poker tracking sites. As Williams explains:
“When PTR came out my exploits at the lowest stakes became public knowledge and it became interesting for people to talk about. I guess because no one was playing as many hands as I was and getting such high win-rates, people just thought it was crazy.”
Now, Nathan Williams has decided to tell the story of his success in a new book entitled “Crushing the Microstakes” and fundamental to his approach to micro stakes annihilation is recognising and exploiting the fishy tendencies of his opponents.
Some of the gems mentioned in his book, which he highlights do not apply to higher buy-in levels, include slipping in 10BB raises pre-flop with hands such as AA and KK as a fish who has decided to go with a hand will rarely be dissuaded from playing.
Other micro-stakes moves he mentions include pushing all-in with the nuts into tiny pots, and advising against too much bluffing as its value diminishes at the lower levels, especially against serial callers.
Although Williams’ advice may not extend to low or mid-level players, the poker maestro insists it is the micro-stakes domain where his book acts as a definitive guide and as he explains:
“I realized that the players you make the most from playing lower stakes are just recreational players…the recreational players really aren’t doing anything to improve, and that’s where most of your money is coming from at the micros.”