Tournament Trail Q and A Part I -- Roland de WolfeDe Wolfe Speaks about Day 1A, his Style of Play, and Televised Tournaments |
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Roland de Wolfe is one of those players who stands out among the poker community — not just in achievements and his style of play, but in personality and charisma. With his recent success at the PartyPoker Premier League and his constant cashes in the World Series of Poker, it is not unusual to see his name among chip leaders in major events worldwide. Speaking to Card Player as day 1b chip leader of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Polish Open, he explains how he got there, but also gives us his thoughts on the difference between playing in Europe and America, and his involvement in televised tournaments.
Rebecca McAdam: You’ve won an EPT, a WPT, and you came close to a WSOP. Is getting all three a goal of yours? Is it something that’s hanging over you?
Roland de Wolfe: No not really. There’s a lot of luck in tournaments. Obviously, everyone dreams of getting a World Series bracelet, and I don’t have one. Every year I seem to get to the final in Vegas, I get right to the business end of things, and it just ends up not working out. I’m amazingly privileged though to have achieved what I’ve achieved. Sometimes you’re going to have success in certain competitions, and sometimes less success in others. Just playing well and enjoying myself is more important, and it will come if it comes, and if it doesn’t I’ve achieved in other areas, so it’s not hanging over me at all.
RM: You ended day 1b as chip leader, how did the day go?
RW: I woke up at 7am in London and I only had four hours sleep because it was my brother’s birthday last night. My mate called me and said, “Come out to Warsaw!” He has his own plane so we just jumped on, got straight in here, checked in, and I was in the tournament. It was a little bit tricky at first because instead of wiring the money over, I was backing someone who won another tournament and they just brought cash, but at the last minute they dropped out and they gave it to someone else, who I had never met. So, I had to wait for someone to come up to me to give me money. It was quite funny.
RM: Tell me about the key moments to get you to chip leader?
RW: I played a few munchkin pots, and then I had a hand to get to 15,000, when I had queens and the guy didn’t believe me. I had an over pair and he value-bet one hand, I busted one guy when I made a flush on the turn, and the card that made me a flush gave him top set, and I got it in there. I had him covered but I managed to avoid the pair up. The cards seemed to endear themselves to me. It was a tough day though.
I got to 20,000 and on the very next table I flopped trips in one hand, and I just put pressure on at the right times. I made it to 25,000 and got moved again, and I just picked up some really good hands. I had A-K and I warned some guy that I was going to bust him, and … eventually I did bust him, but he raised my blind and I flat called with A-K, and it came Q-9-7. It went check-check and the turn was an ace, which brought three diamonds, and I checked. He checked behind and the river came a king, and I over-bet the pot. I bet like 2,500 into 1,500 and he raised it to 6,500, and I thought about it, but he didn’t look that confident with his hand, and I thought it was almost impossible he had a flush, he could have J-10, that was possible, but it would have been played a bit weird. So, I called, he had K-7 for the worst two pair, and there were just these pots that continued to go my way. I made a couple of nice moves at the right time. I had a lot of good hands. I reraised the same guy three hands in a row. Each time I had a reasonable hand.
I just built and built, and the key pot which took me really high was … I limped under the gun with the 5-4 of clubs, and one guy raised but he didn’t raise that much, he made it 1,000, and another guy called on the button, and I thought about folding but I just gave it a go. It came A-7-3 rainbow, so I flopped a two-way straight draw. The turn was a deuce which was a good card for me. So, the board was A-7-3-2 with two spades. I led into it for 4,000 with two players. A Frenchman folded and this guy called. The river came a 4, so the nuts was 6-5, but I’ve got the wheel. He had 16,000 left, I bet 7,000, and I thought he might make a move, and he thought about it for a while and shoved all in. I didn’t even think that I was splitting it, I just knew that he was doing something ridiculous, and he was with Q-10 of spades, which is not the best call on an A-7-3 flop. So, that got me up to 70, and I splashed around a little in the last level and ended up with 67. It was a really good day all in all.
RM: How do you feel about tomorrow, have you a plan?
RW: The first thing I need to do is wake up on time and get there for the start. I lost like half an hour today just checking out the NFL scores, or eating, or whatever … These things happen.
RM: Do you think playing in Europe is different to playing in America?
RW: No not really. I spent four months in Las Vegas this year — I’ve got really good friends there and I’ve learned a lot from them. I’ve actually done really good in America and I had so much fun, but it’s nice to come back to Europe, especially Eastern Europe. I feel privileged because I haven’t really seen this side of Europe. As far as the players go, I don’t think there’s that much difference. At the World Series you have tonnes of inexperienced players, and in these EPTs you get them too. I played the WPT in Las Vegas, the $15k, and that was really tough. Every table was decorated with World Poker Tour tournament winners and bracelets. Generally, the Europeans are just as tough.
RM: Do you play any different when you’re in America than when you do in Europe?
RW: No, not really. I play my own style.
RM: You play in a lot of televised events. Why?
RW: They keep inviting me back! I’ve always supported TV events. I think it’s really good for poker, and it’s a good profile for players to get. It’s good for sponsorship. My sponsor Full Tilt Poker really like me to get out on TV, and I think the European Poker Tour and the Royal Poker Tour, and in Europe — the World Series, they just don’t get aired enough. In Europe the main thing is six-handed stuff, and the Premier League, and I’ve taken part in that. A lot of my success, maybe not so much on the table because they are not really meaningful tournaments, but in terms of my profile, which has come through that, and that leads on to other things like personal appearances, endorsing products, which are all the things that make you attractive for sponsors. I’ve been really aware of that and I’ve worked hard not just at the playing side, but the commentary, with which I’ve created a little niche. My commentary is pretty popular.
RM: Do you like that side of it?
RW: Yeah, I do. I don’t like the sound of my own voice, but I like communicating to people and having a laugh, and some of my energy, enthusiasm, and humour will hopefully get transported out and people will enjoy it. That’s what it’s all about. At the end of the day, poker is about making a living, but when you’re a TV player then you have the responsibility to entertain, and I always have that in the front of my mind. I mean I’m a very good poker player, I play high limits, and do win a lot of games, I’m quite talented, and I’m in front of millions of people, but more important than that I’m an entertaining player. I might not be the best but I’m pretty good, and I’m definitely one of the most entertaining. I’m fun to watch and that’s really important because grinding away at a living is not what I want to do, and I don’t think it’s desirable. You have a responsibility to entertain. If you just say nothing on TV, it’s no good.
RM: Are you being yourself or are you being a more heightened version of yourself in front of the cameras?
RW: No, no, I’m being myself. I’m very, very silly.
In part two of this interview, Roland de Wolfe talks about playing online, his strengths and weakness live, and the extreme swings of high stakes poker. Read it here at CardPlayer.com tomorrow before de Wolfe takes to the felt as overall chip leader of day 2.
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