Forty-year-old Matt Keikoan got his start in poker working as a prop player in California with the likes of Bill Edler, Erick Lindgren, and Matt Lefkowitz. After eight years working for the casino, Keikoan went out on his own to try the life of a professional poker player.
Keikoan hadn’t had much tournament success until last year’s main event, where he finished in 63rd place, good for a six-figure score.
Keikoan spoke to Card Player shortly following his heads-up victory over Shannon Shorr.
Question: Theo Tran came into the final table with a monster stack. Were you worried at all about him playing on your left?
Matt Keikoan: It’s always a worry when you have the bigger stack on your left because he has position on you but I also knew that it was a chance to get chips too, so it goes both ways.
Q: Was your strategy to stay out of his way for awhile?
MK: Yeah, I guess it was. At first I wanted to stay out of his way if I could.
Q: Could you talk me through your heads-up battle with Shannon Shorr?
MK: It just went kind of smoothly. I slowly built and caught some cards. This whole tournament I caught cards and got lucky. I guess that’s how you win tournaments.
Q: Would you say you are a tournament specialist?
MK: I’ve been playing tournaments for about four years. The closest I’ve ever come to a win is a ninth-place finish in a World Poker Tour event. I play a lot of tournaments, it’s been a long time coming.
Q: Are you going to be playing in more events?
MK: Probably not. I have a daughter back home. I’ll come back for the main event and I might come back sometime in between, but I’m not going to play a lot more of the events.
Q: I know you came up with Bill Edler and Erick Lindgren. How does it feel to join them with a bracelet?
MK: Well, we all have bracelets right now, except for Gavin [Smith]. It’s especially sweet because he’s always ribbed me about being stuck so much in tournaments, so at least I can hold the bracelet over him now.
