World Series Of Poker Main Event: Eric Baldwin Looking For Record-Tying 11th Cash Of SummerBaldwin Calls 10 Cashes But No Final Tables A 'Funny Summer' |
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Going into the $10,000 buy-in main event, poker pro Eric Baldwin was one of three players with a shot at tying Konstantin Puchkov’s record of 11 cashes in a single summer WSOP, which was set in 2012. Baldwin was in action on Monday in the main event.
“It’s been a funny summer, 10 cashes and no final tables,” Baldwin told Card Player during a break in play on Monday. “It would be really cool to make your one final table in the main event after such a long…I wouldn’t say disappointing summer, but I definitely have a bone to pick with not making a final table. This tournament always has a chance to be something special.”
Baldwin, who has roughly $4.5 million in lifetime tournament earnings, is having a strong summer on paper, but he really wants career bracelet no. 2. His piece of WSOP hardware came in a 2009 no-limit hold’em event. Baldwin collected $521,991 for that win.
Since his bracelet, he has had four final tables at the WSOP. Closing out one of the events in the Rio Convention Center is a hard task, but Baldwin consistently puts himself in real contention. Since 2006, he has accumulated 40 lifetime cashes at the annual summer poker festival. Few players who began their WSOP careers at around the same time as Baldwin have more cashes.
“Most of the tournaments I am playing are the smaller buy-ins at the World Series and the fields are really big,” Baldwin said. “Anyone who plays poker knows how tough it can be to make it through what many people call minefields. A lot of things have to go right to make it to the final table or to eventually win one. You have to keep your nose to the grindstone and do what you can.”
According Baldwin, he isn’t getting unlucky late in events. In a very humble way, he simply said that things just aren’t going his way. There was one event that he thought he made an error in late. “A final table just hasn’t happened yet,” he said. “As far as how I feel at the tables, I feel great. Poker seems more simple than it usually does. It’s fun to play when you are in that zone.”
This summer has been the most exhausting for Baldwin because of all the times he has reached a day 2 or a day 3. He scheduled his main event starting day so that he could get a day off on Tuesday should he survive through the first five levels on Monday.
“Some people I know wanted to play golf yesterday and was I like ‘No, that’s too active for me’ (laughs),” Baldwin said. “I just laid on the couch and watched some movies with my wife, who is pregnant, so we are a great pair to hang out together (laughs).”
Though he is already running on fumes, Baldwin isn’t too worried about his energy level should he make day 6 or day 7. “The adrenaline helps a lot,” he said. “I’ve made a day 7 in the main event before. You don’t really even think about being tired.”
Baldwin, whose best main event finish was 59th in 2010, said it would be a dream to be awaiting a November Nine final table while his child arrives later this summer.
Here are Baldwin’s cashes this summer:
July 5: $777 No-Limit Hold’em—430th for $1,361
July 3: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Bounty—195th for $1,832
June 28: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em—32nd for $12,376
June 26: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low 8/OB—27th for $7,217
June 24: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em—55th for $6,255
June 20: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em—15th for $24,731
June 10: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em—54th for $7,642
June 5: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Six Max—130th for $3,008
June 3: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em—18th for $7,254
June 2: $565 No-Limit Hold’em—448th for $5,615
In addition to Baldwin, Joe Kuether and Mark Radoja both have 10 cashes this summer. Radoja played day 1a and survived with 45,800 chips. Kuether has yet to play.
For more coverage from the summer series, visit the 2015 WSOP landing page, complete with a full schedule, news, player interviews and event recaps.
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