WSOP: Bracelet Winner Q and A -- Andrew BrownBrown Talks About his Poker Endurance and a Tough Superstitious Opponent |
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The final day of the $2,000 Omaha eight-or-better event at the 2008 World Series of Poker was a lengthy affair. Eighteen players had to play down to one, which took about 12 hours to accomplish. That last man standing was Andrew Brown, a 26-year-old professional poker player from New York City. His largest challenge was saved for the last battle Brown had to fight in order to win the tournament. He faced off with Ted Forrest heads up, and he started with a chip disadvantage. Brown prevailed in the end and won his first gold bracelet. He told Card Player at a post final-table press conference that it would not be his last.
Question: You had a tough task tonight with all the big-name professionals at this final table. Who were you the most worried about? Did playing Ted Forrest heads-up provide a particularly tough challenge?
Andrew Brown: Honestly I think Ted, Phil Ivey, and Barry Greenstein are the three best players out there. I'm guessing that Ted's best game is stud…He's very good at this game…he definitely was the hardest person I faced during the tournament, and I played with Greenstein and Men “The Master” Nguyen. The final table was full of pros like Scott Clements, Ralph Perry…it was a really tough table and I was just happy to get heads up with Forrest, and kind of test my skills against him. It was a see-saw battle…he was incredible, a very, very good player. I think if we played 10 times or a 100 times, he'd probably have a decent edge against me.
Q: What did you think about all of Ted Forrest’s superstitious routines at the final table, like getting up and circling his chair between hands?
AB: He said he was super, superstitious, and I said when he mentioned that, ‘Don’t you know it’s unlucky to be superstitious.’ But I don’t think he took too kindly to that comment considering he actually is superstitious.
Q: Is Omaha eight-or-better your best game? Do you have other favorites?
AB: My favorite game is pot-limit Omaha or even Razz, I just really enjoy it even though it’s a very mechanical game. But this game is my most enjoyable game to play live. I play this more than any other game I play in New York City at the clubs, and when I go down to Atlantic City I’m usually playing this game as well live. For live poker I really enjoy this game more than any other form of poker?
Q: A lot of long hours in this tournament. How did you keep your focus and your patience during the long stretches of play?
AB: I’ll be honest, that was probably easier for me than it was for anyone else in the tournament. I mean I’m like any other poker crack head; I’m a guy that stays up all night and plays retarded hours you know, I think I have an edge when people get tired, I give myself an edge because I don’t get very much sleep…I play well tired, I mean I usually play as late as possible when I’m playing online because I can play better tired than other people can play tired. And you know I had coffee.
Q: That gold bracelet there, if you look around this room, 99.9 percent of these people will never have that. What does it mean to you?
AB: Honestly, it’s not the first that I plan to win. I said to my friends that the first bracelet I win was going to be in razz, but I guess I spoke to soon because I haven’t even had a chance to play the razz event yet. And this is my first Series, so what does it mean to me? Um, what it means to every poker player, it’s very special. I play poker for a living so as opposed to somebody that may be a tourist or just taking a shot in an event it might be a little more special to me, or as special as [it is to] other poker players.
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