Online Poker -- Interview With Sunday Mill Winner Carter 'ckingusc' KingKing Talks About His Second Major Victory |
|
Last September, Carter “ckingusc” King made history by winning the tournament with the largest prize pool in online poker history. After the final hand was dealt, King walked away from his monitor with a whopping $1,265,432 and the title of 2008 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) champion.
Since then, King's kept busy and has come close to a couple more big scores, but his success was easily overshadowed by national headlines and the mainstream attention given to one of his very famous friends.
Last week, King put all distractions aside and tore through the Sunday Million field of 7,906 en route to a $193,697 payday and his second major tournament victory. The Columbia, South Carolina, resident took some time out after his win to speak to Card Player about the tournament and his mindset throughout the final table.
Julio Rodriguez: First, I'd like to ask you about the final-table bubble itself. You were doing well with a large stack, but did you feel any added pressure to make the final table because of your previous success in the WCOOP, or did that success allow you to play for first the entire time, not worrying about busting short of a big pay day?
Carter King: I felt pretty good about my chances from about the final three tables down as the play had been generally weak. There was definitely some thoughts in the back of my mind about how huge final tabling or even winning it would be, but luckily I was feeling really confident and playing well. Also, having the WCOOP win definitely helped give me confidence and possibly shook the confidence of my opponents.
JR: Once you got to the final table, what kind of strategy did you use to navigate the rest of the field? Did you decide to sit on your chips until a few players busted, or did you go right after them?
CK: I think that my prior success helped me get away with spots that I might not normally have. People knew that I was a good player and not afraid, so once we got deep, I was able to pick up a lot of pots without any resistance. My main strategy deep was therefore just to try and pick up a lot of pots preflop or on the flop.
JR: When you were seven-handed, you got a little lucky holding A-J. BigsexyKN raised to 1.2 million in the hijack, and you reraised to 3.055 million from the small blind. bigsexyKN responded by shoving for 9.05 million, and you made the call. He showed A-K, but luckily you caught a jack on the flop to bust him. Did you feel your A-J was good the whole way, or did the pot odds force you to call the all in?
CK: I knew that once he opened that my A-J was well ahead of his raising range, and with the chip stacks the way they were, I would be getting a good price to call if I three-bet. So, when I made my three-bet, I tried to make it small enough that he could think that he had fold equity on a shove. So, he could show up lighter than if I had made a bigger raise. Basically, I knew he was folding preflop most of the time, and if I make the raise smaller, he could show up with a hand like a small pair or even A-10 suited.
JR: When you got heads up, you had about a 3-2 chip lead over *xen, The first race went to him, but it was the second race that got you back into the match. *xen held K-10, and had you all in with pocket eights. The board raced out Q-10-6-K and then the miracle 8 hit the river to double you up. How did it feel when the 8 hit the river?
CK: I was pretty calm on the flop and the turn. I had kind of accepted my fate and was still really happy with the result and my play. However, when the 8 hit, that made it all the more exciting.
JR: Where do you think you fit among the great online pros?
CK: I think this win shows that I'm definitely at least one of the luckiest players, for sure. But in all seriousness, I hope that this win shows that I am capable of adjusting to a ton of different players and that I am a threat to win any tournament that I enter.
JR: There was talk of a chop throughout the final table, but you refused. How much did the infamous WCOOP negotiations play a part in your refusal to chop? Or was it simply a matter of you outclassing the rest of the table?
CK: Most of the chop talk was between nine- and five-handed, where I would never entertain a chop, especially considering my chip stack. Also, I knew that if the time for a chop ever came, I would be vocally against it from the start, hoping that it would play in should I try to negotiate more money.
JR: You experienced more than your fair share of distractions after your WCOOP win. Do you feel that attention hurt your game at all during that stretch?
CK: To be honest, it didn't really affect my game. It just got a little rusty because I was having fun and not playing as much.
JR: How has your game changed since then? Do players gun for you more often or do they avoid you at the tables?
CK: It really differs from person to person. I do think that people are more prone to pull kind of weird or ridiculous bluffs than before. However, I can usually figure out pretty quickly who wants to avoid playing with me.
Copyright © 2001-2024
CardPlayer.com. All rights reserved.
.jpg)