World Series Of Poker Europe: Andy BlochAndy Bloch Speaks about Day 1 Short-Comings and his WSOPE Main Event so Far |
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With almost $4 million in tournament winnings, Andy Bloch is one of the most successful tournaments players in the world. The former MIT Blackjack team member has an unerring knack of slipping under the radar and gliding into the late stages of major tournaments. However, he may not be best known for what he has won, but what he has nearly won. Second place finishes in 2008's NBC Heads-Up Championship and the World Series Of Poker $10,000 Pot-limit Hold'em World Championship litter his CV, alongside his most famous close call in the inaugural $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event, fittingly won by the late Chip Reese.
As Card Player caught up with Andy Bloch on Day 2 of the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event, presented by Betfair, he had quietly worked his way up the chip count, and looked set to have another shot at glory here in London.
Shane Gittes: How did you finish up on Day 1?
Andy Bloch: I had 97,000. Today has gone good. I won 20,000 early on and then I won a big pot where I flopped a set of sevens on a 7-3-2 rainbow flop, busting a guy. And then I won another decent pot after that so I'm up to about 166,000 at the moment,
SG: You've been on a pretty tough table all day, with Scott Fischman on your right and Adam Junglen on your left. How have you had to adjust your strategy to combat players such as those today?
AB: I've played with Scott Fischman a lot and I know his style of play. I know he likes to limp with a wide variety of hands. Just because he limps doesn't mean he has a strong hand and it doesn't mean he has a weak hand. He could have just about anything. Adam is a great young player. He's not even 21 yet so most people don't know him. But I played with him a lot in the first £1,500 event where he made the final table so I have a fair amount of experience with him. I have a lot of respect for his game. For whatever reason, we didn't seem to get involved too much in a lot of pots. Most of my day has been being fairly patient and then winning two big pots at the end.
SG: Talk us through those two big pots.
AB: Sure. The first pot I had pocket sevens with a stack of about 80,000. There was a raise to 2,200 and a call, and I just called. Four people saw the flop which was a 7-3-2 rainbow. The preflop raiser checked, the first caller bet out 8,000 and I just decided to smooth call. As it wasn't a dangerous flop I was prepared to just call down the whole way or perhaps give someone with an over pair a chance to check-raise or whatever they were thinking of doing.
Everybody else ended up folding and the turn was pretty much a blank — an 8. So I now had the second nuts, behind only pocket eights. It did put two hearts on there, so if he had 5h-4h or something he has outs. Well, he bet again, about 20,000 which left him with 16,000 behind. I decided to just call in this spot and obviously the money's going in on the river whatever happens. A jack came down, he pushed, and I called. He pretty much instantly mucked his hand. We don't even know what he had. The TV crew had the roving hole card cam so they knew what he had but the table didn't tell him to turn it over, even though we could have.
A couple of hands later I had K-Q in early position. I raised and got two callers. The flop was K-Q-J which is kind of a scary flop but not that scary because somebody has to be just calling with a pair of jacks, kings, or queens, or have A-10 to beat me. I bet out 5,000 because I didn't want to give any free cards, the guy to my left called, and the third guy made it 11,000 more. In this spot, I decided to just call. A little bit like slow-playing but the raiser only had about 20,000 left so I'm not too worried about him.
SG: How about the flat caller? Does his play worry you?
AB: I'm worried about him but I'm not sure how I'm going to lay the hand down if he moves all-in. But I wanted to give myself an opportunity to lay the hand down or if he has a hand like A-K, I want him to overcall. But if he moves in and the other guy calls, I may be able to fold and be up against a straight or a set. On the other hand, they may both have two smaller pair and I would be in great shape.
Anyway, the guy to my left folded and later said he had A-K. The turn was a 5, a blank. I put the guy all-in for 20,000 and he pretty quickly folded. I could have checked again but I didn't want to check and risk him checking behind me with 10-J and give him lots of outs. If he has 10-J and you check behind, it's pretty much a disaster as he has ten outs to beat you and the pot is already very big. I might as well bet there and take it down.
SG: You have a reputation for often going deep and making the cash in big tournaments. Is that due to your style of poker?
AB: Well, actually, I often go out on the first day of major tournaments. Like in the WSOP main event, I almost can't remember the last time I made it past Day 1! I think it was the last year it was held in Binion’s. But once I get past the first day, I have a pretty good record in cashing. Sometimes I maybe play a few hands and do badly, getting myself short-stacked but I'm good at clawing my way back.
SG: On only Day 2 of a huge tournament such as this, what is your daily strategy? Do you attempt to accrue a huge stack and be up there with the chip leaders or is the emphasis purely on survival until you get to the latter stages?
AB: I just think about slowly increasing my chip stack. That's just what I do. I'm not afraid to get all my chips in if I think I have the best hand or a good draw. I think it's a lot better if you can slowly increase your chips everyday by just 50 percent or maybe double. Most of the time I play these tournaments and I'm never all-in until the last time I'm all-in! When I get knocked out of the final table it's often the only time my tournament life has been on the line all week.
SG: I noticed earlier that you were using your stopwatch to time how long it took your opponents to make every decision. Was there a conscious strategic reason behind this?
AB: Basically, Scott Fischman and I were getting a little irritated that some people were taking a lot of time over what seemed like simple decisions. Like if somebody raised preflop, they would sit and think and think and think, and then count their chips out before pushing all-in. Yet it is a tell that people should pay attention to — the time it takes for people to act. Everybody has their own tendencies for when they are strong or weak. Sometimes if you can count in your head the time it takes for people to make decisions, you will be able to get a better read on them later.
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