Blair Hinkle Wins $1.75 Million at Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open

Blair Hinkle burst onto the live poker tournament scene in 2008 when he won a $2,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event at the World Series of Poker for $507,613. What made his win even more impressive was the fact that he was the second Hinkle brother to pick up a bracelet that summer, joining older brother Grant in the winner’s circle.

He continued to light up the tournament circuit for the next three years, picking up two more six-figure scores and a gold WSOP Circuit ring. Having always been a top-notch online player, Hinkle continued to grind from home and on the road.

Then, in February of 2011, Hinkle scored his biggest payday to date, chopping the $600 Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) XIX main event for a whopping $1,162,950, one of the largest prizes ever awarded online.

Almost immediately, Hinkle began requesting withdrawals from his online account, but his emails asking to raise his $8,000 per day limit fell on deaf ears. The site asked for him to re-verify his account, given the large payout, but by the time that process was over, it was April and Black Friday had hit the poker community. He had made several withdrawals totaling $48,000, but because the Department of Justice placed a freeze on Full Tilt’s assets, he never received more than $1.1 million.

For more than a year, Hinkle was stuck in a holding pattern. Even the smallest news about Full Tilt would give him false hope, and as a result, he was let down over and over again. With his bankroll seven-figures short of what it should have been, Hinkle’s game suffered. He was no longer the fearless player that took the tournament circuit by storm. Instead, he played scared, unwilling to take the big risks that are sometimes necessary to come out on top.

There was a nice score in June of 2012, after he took fourth in a $1,500 no-limit hold’em event at the WSOP for $192,734, but other cashes were few and far between. Then, in April of 2013, Hinkle won his second WSOP Circuit ring, taking down the very same main event at the Horseshoe in Council Bluffs, Iowa that he won back in 2010. It was another $121,177 and the start of a great 2013 campaign.

Since then, Hinkle has racked up seven additional cashes, four final tables, and one massive victory. In late August, Hinkle topped a field of 2,384 players en route to a victory at the $5,000 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open main event in Hollywood, Florida, moving him into third place in the Card Player Player of the Year standings. For the win, Hinkle was paid $1,745,245, the largest score of his career that includes more than $5 million in tournment winnings. Even better, this time Hinkle was able to collect.

Card Player caught up with Hinkle to talk about his victory, his missing online funds, and his plans moving forward.

Julio Rodriguez: Congratulations on your big win. You went heads-up with Justin Bonomo. Can you explain what its like to win such a high profile tournament against a player of his caliber?

Blair Hinkle: It feels pretty amazing. It’s always nice when you hit a gutshot and make the nuts, only to have your opponent move all-in on you. I’ve been playing long enough and seen everything but, at that moment, I have to admit that my heart was pounding. It was definitely a rush, knowing that I had won one of the biggest tournaments of the year.

Playing against Justin was incredibly tough. Everyone knows he’s an amazing player who has put together some really great results, so beating him for the title made it that much more special. The heads-up battle, especially, made the win a lot more satisfying than if I had beaten a random player after only a few hands.

JR: Can you talk about the tournament itself? The $5,000 buy-in event met its $10 million guarantee by allowing multiple reentries over the course of three starting days.

BH: I was only in for one buy-in. I played Day 1A and got through. I had planned on playing up to three times, but was happy not to need them. I heard some stories of players spewing their chips away because it was a three-day reentry tournament, but I didn’t see any of those players at my table. There were obviously a lot of amateur players who were taking a shot, but as we got deeper, there were still a lot of talented players left. Overall, it was a great tournament that showed that poker is still going strong.

I was fortunate enough to make quads twice, both times winning huge pots to give me the big stack. I wish I could say that I was able to turn it on from there and run over the rest of the field, but the truth is that I wasn’t able to get into as many hands as I would’ve liked because my opponents were so good. Still, it was great to have some protection in case a big hand didn’t go my way.

JR: In 2008, after winning your bracelet, you described your playing style as maniacally aggressive. Is that still the case?

BH: It comes out every once in a while. In 2008, I was on a significant life heater, much like I’ve been on the last few months. Back then, people really didn’t know how to combat against a hyper-aggressive playing style. At the time, I was opening six out of nine hands every orbit, and very few players would put up any resistance without a real hand.

Nowadays, you can’t get away with that anymore. Players will three-bet and four-bet you with air or trap you with their big hands. As a result, I’ve had to play much tighter and learn to be more patient. Of course, if I happen to be at a table that is letting me run them over, then I’ll happily go back into that hyper-aggressive mode again. I guess you could say I’ve learned to shift gears and I’m a much more well-rounded poker player.
JR: You were in a unique position after Black Friday, having won a lot of money that you are still unable to touch. Did it affect your game at all?

BH: It definitely affected my game. Obviously, I was missing seven figures from my bankroll. That wouldn’t have been so bad, but then my backer dropped me as well. Now, I couldn’t afford to play in all of the $10,000 events on the circuit and I had to be much more selective when I took a shot.

If I’m being completely honest, I can admit that there were times when I was playing scared, knowing I didn’t have that money to back me up. I would see a good spot to make a move and then start second guessing myself, knowing I needed to make the money or move up the pay ladder. Having money gives you the freedom to play optimal poker and pull the trigger.

JR: Card Player and other poker publications are guilty of making you the poster boy for Black Friday. Did you like seeing your story repeated any time some news broke about Full Tilt?

BH: You have to understand, Black Friday isn’t really something I could ever escape. I thought about the money constantly and all everyone wants to talk about at the tables is how I got screwed out of seven figures. It’s always the first topic of conversation.

I’ve always been a very positive person, but when everyone around you keeps showing you sympathy, it’s hard not to take on the mentality of a victim. Rather than looking at the next goal, I was stuck looking backwards for a couple of years.

Sometime last year, I made a strong effort to put it in the past. I hear news about Full Tilt all the time, but I’m not going to get my hopes up anymore. If I get the money this year, great. If not, at least I can say I’m playing the best poker I can.

JR: Was there ever a time when you considered quitting poker and getting a more traditional 9-to-5 job?

BH: Three or four years ago, when looking at my five-year plan, I thought I might play poker for a few more years and then see what else was out there. But going through the struggles of the last couple years and the highs of the last few months has made it clear to me that this is what I love to do and I’ll gladly take the good with the bad.

JR: You won nearly $1.75 million in this tournament and this time, it’s actually sitting in your bank account. Any plans for the money?

BH: I will be honest and admit I didn’t have all of myself in this event. I wound up selling about 12 percent of my action and making a few swaps with other players, but I will be getting around $1 million after everyone is paid out.

Imagine you won $1 million in a poker tournament. Almost immediately, you are making plans for that money and how you will spend it. Obviously, I did the same thing before Black Friday, thinking about buying a house, a new car and other big life decisions. Now, it’s like I finally got that Full Tilt money and can move forward with all of those big purchases that I’ve had in the back of my mind for the last two years.

That being said, I’m not really looking to go on a crazy spending spree either. You won’t see me playing six-figure buy-in high roller events, but I may take a shot at some bigger buy-in tournaments from time to time. Right now I’m playing the best poker of my career, so I want to take advantage of that as much as I can.

JR: You are now in third place in the Card Player Player of the Year race. Do you have any plans to chase down that title?

BH: I’m actually going to spend a month in Vancouver playing online poker tournaments. I’m excited because I haven’t played any online poker since Black Friday, so it will be fun to see how the game has changed over the last couple years. But after that, I’m going to take a look and see what lines up with my schedule. If I can make another deep run, then maybe I’ll have a shot earning that title. After what I’ve been through, winning Player of the Year would make for a pretty great story. ♠