WSOP: Bracelet Winner Q and A -- Jason YoungYoung Talks About Why He Prefers Shootouts and a Marathon Heads-Up Battle |
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Jason Young came into the final table even in chips — with everyone. This was thanks to the shootout structure of event No. 17. He also came into the heads-up match with Mike Schwartz even in chips, although that was thanks in large part to fate. Young prevailed in both cases, and he took down his first major tournament for a cash of $335,565, as well as his first gold bracelet. Card Player caught up with Young at the post-final-table press conference to chat about the win, the money, and his thoughts about the tough battle over the past two days.
Question: We heard that you had one hour of sleep, and you played until 6:30 in the morning last night, was it adrenaline that got you through this?
Jason Young: All adrenaline. It was like when I was back in high school and had a big baseball game, you get pumped, you bring yourself up for it. How often do you get to a WSOP final table? Once I got here … that was it. I wasn’t stopping until it was over. Second place, fourth place, eighth place … no good. The bracelet is all that matters at this point.
Q: I’m sure you didn’t dream of becoming a professional poker player, what were you aspirations before this, say, years ago?
JY: What did I want to do? [Laughing] Actually, I wanted to find a job where I could make a lot of money without having to work too hard. Poker, here it is!
Q: Can you take us through the final table?
JY: I got really lucky. It was the only time I sucked out at the final table, when I was all in, blind versus blind. He had A-K, I had A-J. I made a jack on the turn and another jack on the river. From that point on, my hands held up. I would bet strong and have people playing back at me with big hands. I won some pretty big pots. I also sat back and let someone dump off all of their chips to me while they were trying to bully the table. Other than that, I just tried to play solid hands and be patient, wait for the right situation. Things got a little sticky there at the end. I tried not to go on tilt or do anything stupid. I just tried to keep myself grounded and it all worked out in the end.
Q: What was going through your mind during the heads-up match? Was it hard to keep off tilt?
JY: Yeah, it was pretty hard. It was over, he had like a 130,000 chips left, and I’ve seen and had some crazy things happen to me, but … Everyone was telling me not to worry, but I know better than that. Anything could happen, one more hand and he’s got 7 million and I have 3 million. You know, the bracelet is important to me, man. I just wanted the bracelet. If I were to come that close to getting it and then lose it, I don’t even know what I would have done. I probably would have been burying myself in a room with bottles of booze for the next three or four days, at least.
Q: Is it safe to say that the bracelet means more to you than the money?
JY: No, the money means more than the bracelet … but the bracelet is nice to have, too. I can’t even fathom that kind of money. I don’t even know what that kind of money looks like; I don’t even know what to do with it.
Q: Do you have any plans for the money?
JY: We’re going to go out tonight and enjoy ourselves … we’re going to have a good time with it. We’re going to enjoy the rest of Vegas and play some more tournaments. I was supposed to go back home to New York on Friday. I’ll probably still go home on Friday, and then be back out in Vegas on Monday.
Q: Can we talk about how you got your start in poker.
JY: My grandmother taught me, actually. We used to play seven-card stud and hold’em, which I didn’t even know what that was until three or four years ago. I saw the game on TV all of the time, and then I started playing in Atlantic City. I started playing in some tournaments and winning some money. My dad and I have been to Atlantic City about 150 times together over the last three years. It’s something nice for us to do together. I’m 26 and he’s 52 years old. I took him out to Vegas for his 50th birthday. We played in some tournaments together, and I’ve been playing ever since. I never dreamed that it would come to this, though.
Q: What do you do when you’re not playing poker?
JY: I’m partying, I like to have a good time. I just left my job of six years because things were going all right with poker. It looks like that might have been not such a bad decision, after all.
Q: Did you chose the shootout format for any particular reason?
A: I love the shootout format. The chips were so short-stacked in the first couple of tournaments I played here, so it’s hard to get a read on someone while they keep moving you around. The shootout is so simple. It’s just a single-table satellite. Like a sit-and-go, you only have to worry about who is at your table. You don’t have to worry about being moved, or some monster stack coming to the table. You just take care of business at your table, there is a lot of play, you get to catch reads on people. It’s probably my favorite type of tournament.
Q: What was your job that you quit?
JY: I worked for my town’s parks and recreation department. I set up camps and helped with after-school programs. The only problem was that I made $35,000 per year, and it probably cost about $90,000 to live where I was living. So, winning this tournament, it was like I just worked 10 years in two days. That’s not bad, man; that’s not bad at all.
Q: Where do you usually play?
JY: Atlantic City, The Borgata. I’m not playing professionally yet, but…I got a little bankroll now and a little bling on the wrist to say otherwise. We’ll see what happens, one step at a time.
Q: Very rarely do you get to go heads up even in chips. What was your strategy at that point?
JY: Just to play small ball. When I have a hand, fire. For some reason, people pay you off. You overbet a pot and someone thinks you’re bluffing. I had a couple big hands, once I hit a set and he was just calling me down the whole way, I was betting the whole way. Nothing too spectacular, just play my hands and don’t go chasing with garbage. Try to lose minimal pots and win big pots, that’s it.
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