This Poker Life -- Dermot Blain Part IIIrish Pro Talks Big Wins, Making Improvements, And Future Hopes |
|
In part II of this interview Blain speaks about life after Macau, the Chad Brown Poker Series, and where he sees himself down the line. Check out part I to find out about the Irishman’s beginnings in poker. Catch up on part I here.
Rebecca McAdam: Did your life change much after Macau?
DB: Yeah for sure, I don’t think I have changed that much as a person but it has given me the freedom to travel and play bigger events, which gives me the chance to win big. I don’t think I have managed my money perfectly since but I still have put enough away that I won’t go life skint and I’ve invested a lot in building so I will have that if things go bad in the next while. I think the knowledge I have gained the last 18 months traveling and playing bigger will be invaluable in the future.
RM: Do you travel and play more than you are at home then?
DB: Yeah I travel like six months of the year at least, expenses are high probably close to 100k and that’s not even including buy-ins so you got to be winning, but I really enjoy it, nothing like the buzz of going deep in a major event with loads of chips, although I have got pretty good at busting big stacks lately, need to fix that! I really want a new apartment in Dublin!
RM: Your expenses are 100k without buy-ins?
DB: Actually no that’s too high, but definitely 50k plus.
RM: So tell me about the Chad Brown event — both you and John made the final table…
DB: Well we got to know Chad through a friend, Chad is a real nice guy so we said why not? It was a funny field, it only got about 70 runners with a mix of real good guys and some of the worst players I have ever seen. I’m actually really annoyed about that one, I played pretty terrible, bluffed most of my chips off in a bad spot when I got myself into a good spot with four left. John played well; he was a little unlucky. I would definitely go back, some good cash action there as well.
RM: Did you have any run-ins with John on the final table?
DB: A couple, I doubled up through him once but it was just a standard hand. I think we both have a lot of respect for each other’s game so I won’t be going out of my way to get him and vice versa. Obviously I wanted to win but if I didn’t I would like to see him win — we didn’t have any of each other’s action.
RM: Why?
DB: It was only a small field and we both had horses in the field that had already died so it wasn’t really worth it, but normally we do, it helps keep the variance down.
RM: How exactly are you improving your game? Are you working on certain areas or just generally playing more hands?
DB: I watch videos sometimes on CardRunners, or Phil Galfond’s site Bluefire is quite good as well, but mainly just by playing more hands.
RM: What stakes do you play?
DB: I’m currently playing 3-6 and 5-10, I’ve had had a pretty terrible year so far but hopefully once some run-good comes back I’ll be playing 10-20 and shot-taking at 25-50.
RM: Do you play the same stakes live?
DB: I generally play bigger live, I’m a pretty big winner in live cash so I’ve no problem taking shots, probably play 25-50 PLO at the Series and take some shots at 100-100 PLO in the Rio.
RM: What are your goals?
DB: l would love to win another major tournament title, I think that would be my number one goal. I also would like to buy my own place in Dublin, it’s a pretty good time to buy.
RM: Do you see yourself in poker for the foreseeable future?
DB: Yeah for sure, I can’t really see myself doing anything different at the minute, I’m not really too good at anything else!
Copyright © 2001-2024
CardPlayer.com. All rights reserved.
