With 52 of the 55 events played in the 2007
World Series of Poker, Ram Vaswani, undoubtedly one of Europe's top players, had yet to add to his five previous
WSOP final-table finishes, and with only a limit hold'em event, a no-limit lowball event, and the 6,000-plus player main event left to go, it appeared likely that this year would be something of a washout for Ram and the UK as a whole.
The only bracelets appearing set to return across the Atlantic were those purchased to pacify those wives and girlfriends whose idea of fun did not involve spending two months gambling for 15 hours a day in the middle of a desert. However, in tournament No. 53 of 55, of all things a limit hold'em event, two Englishmen, Andy Ward and Hendon Mobster Ram Vaswani, ended up head-to-head to decide who would have the privilege of taking home what was indeed to be the only bracelet won by a UK player in the 2007
Series. I put a few questions to Ram about the tournament and his thoughts on the
World Series in general.
Robert Butt: You've been playing the tournament circuit for more than 20 years now with great success. This was your first
WSOP win, although you've come close several times before, including a second- and two third-place finishes. What did it mean to you to get your first bracelet?
Ram Vaswani: It's a big deal to a poker player; it's one of the greatest tournaments you can win. It was special; it was probably a long time coming, but it was nice to get it out of the way.
RB: Do you believe your several previous final-table experiences at the
World Series helped you, or did you treat it just the same as any other final table?
RV: It's always good to have experience in finals in any tournaments, not just necessarily the
World Series, but I've played a lot of big-tournament final tables and you get used to it; it takes the pressure off.
RB: How did you think the tournament went generally? Were there any key hands you remember that got you to the final table?
RV: There are always key hands; you can't win a tournament without winning a few, and I can't remember any in particular, but I hit a few rivers here and there that made the difference.
RB: After making it to the final table, how did you get to heads up?
RV: I got off to a very good start. I was the chip leader for the first two or three hours, and then it went a bit slow and I actually
went down to the bottom stack with, I think, four players left. After that I hit some good form, which took me to heads up, where I was down 2-to-1 in chips.
RB: Heads up, you were against Andy Ward, a regular on the UK circuit. How much had you played with Andy before? Were you already familiar with his game?
RV: We've played in a couple of smaller local tournaments in England, but I wasn't really that aware of his game.
RB: When you were heads up, the reporters for The Hendon Mob site who were watching were extremely impressed with the standard of both your and Andy's play. You both seemed to know where you were in hands and were bluffing and re-bluffing at the right times. What are your recollections of the heads-up battle?
RV: Yeah, I called a couple of bluffs, and when it went heads up, everything actually went right for me. I hit a lot of big hands and managed to get paid off on them. I was surprised at how quick heads-up play went, considering that I had less in chips when we started, but like I said, I did hit a lot of hands.
RB: You're never big on theatrics at the table like some of the Americans and newer Internet players on the circuit these days, but it did almost seem to be more relief than joy when you took down the final pot to win the tournament. Is there anything in that, or was it just the end of an extremely gruelling two days of poker?
RV: Yeah, there was a bit of relief, because I've been playing the
World Series for a few years now, and it is something special to have a gold bracelet. Obviously, I've come close a few times before at final tables at the
World Series, so it definitely was a bit of relief.
RB: I know that you weren't playing as many events this year as you have in the past. Do you think that helped you, or will you be back to playing as many as you can next year?
RV: Now that we're playing with a choice of what to play, I find that nine or 10 tournaments are plenty; obviously, because there are so many players, it does wear you down and it takes it out of you, so you're better off concentrating on a few.
RB: In the main event, not for the first time, you went out early. Was it bad luck, bad play, or just the risk you take with your aggressive style?
RV: It definitely has to do with the style of my play. I've been knocked out of so many tournaments in the last year in the first couple of hours. I just think that my style of play is suited to having a lot of chips in front of me, so I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get into that position, even if I risk getting knocked out in the first hour. I don't believe in playing a short stack, let's put it that way.
RB: What did you think of your performance over the entire World Series?
RV: Other than the bracelet, I had one other chance, when I finished 18th or 19th in a sixhanded no-limit hold'em tournament [actually, 14th - if it's not first, it doesn't really seem to matter to Ram], and that was it, really. But like I said, I don't play that many tournaments now, and it's just not that easy to get results, overall, so to come out with a bracelet, that's all I can ask for.
RB: Any highlights or lowlights, apart, obviously, from the bracelet?
RV: Not really, except for my roulette moves …
RB: With the huge numbers of players creating a lot of pressure on the organisers, who have come under criticism in the past couple of years, what did you think of the general organisation of the tournaments this year?
RV: think it was good enough; they're learning from their mistakes every year, and it's not easy with all those players, but they've done well.
RB: I know that limit poker isn't your usual discipline and you like to have the ability to place more pressure on your opponents, as you can in big-bet poker. You're obviously also pretty handy at limit, though; will your win mean that you'll be playing more limit events in the future?
RV: To tell the truth, the only reason I played that limit tournament was because it was a shootout style, which is actually my favourite style of play. Otherwise, if I'm going to pick eight or 10 tournaments out of the whole lot, I'd rather choose no-limit or pot-limit events.
RB: With such huge fields in practically all the events now, winning a bracelet is obviously much harder to do than it used to be. You've won one; do you believe you'll win more?
RV: Well, I'm not going to say no; it's just a question of how many, really! If I keep going there every year and keep playing, why not, why not a few more?
RB: You've now got both a
European Poker Tour and a
WSOP win. Is there any rivalry between you and Roland De Wolfe over who is going to make it a hat trick, with you needing a
World Poker Tour win and Roland a
World Series win to complete the sets?
RV: Yeah, I think there's a few people who have a chance of doing that now. It definitely would be nice to be the first person to achieve that, but obviously it's a bit harder for me because I don't play that many
WPT events. Maybe I'll have to go over there [to the USA] a bit more.
