Poker Tournament Trail -- Brandon SchaeferSchaefer Discusses the Barcelona Field, Travelling to Events, and his Plans for the Day |
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It’s day 2A of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona and the chip leaders of the day are starting to come to the fore. Although, anything can change as, at time of writing, we are only just over the half-way mark. One of the players enjoying the upper planes of the chip leader board is Brandon Schaefer. This young gun is no stranger to going deep in an EPT — he won the very first Deauville event in season one for €144,000.
Now with a strong 69,000 in chips, and an even stronger strategy and style, the friendly American is set to go deep in this event also — once he steers clear of the many traps and obstacles that are sure to be ahead of him on his way. Card Player caught up with him during the 15 minute break between level 4 and 5 as things get increasingly intense at Casino Barcelona.
Rebecca McAdam: How are you doing today?
Brandon Schaefer: I’m doing great. I’m happy to be in Barcelona, I really love it here. It’s my fourth time here I think, and I just love the city, it’s a beautiful city, the Spanish women are beautiful, and some of my favourite things are here like I love tapas and all that. So, I’m doing great, thank you.
RM: How are you doing tournament-wise?
BS: I’m running good. I have 69,000 chips. I just won a bunch of little pots and then a few medium sized pots. I’m just running good — people are folding when I don’t have anything and they’re calling when I have something, so it’s quite good.
RM: What’s your table like?
BS: My table’s pretty loose but pretty passive so I’m just trying to play a lot of pots preflop and trying to hit hands because I can see a lot of pots cheaply. A lot of people are calling stations so if I can make a hand, I can get a lot of chips out of them.
RM: What do you think of the field, is it tough?
BS: No, most tournaments down here, like in Italy, or France, or here, are pretty soft. There are a lot of rich Europeans down here that live by the coast and like to gamble, so I don’t think the field’s very tough.
RM: Why do you think there are less players this year than last year?
BS: I’m really not sure, I haven’t really been paying that much attention, but online poker isn’t quite as big and crazy as it once was, and I think the economy just affects everything maybe, even rich Europeans who live by the coast.
RM: Do you think it’s more difficult for Americans for example because of the travelling?
BS: Yeah, definitely. I have a lot of friends who just hate travelling, and it is a 15-hour day of travelling if you want to come. I definitely think it’s hard, especially Americans on the west coast, and a lot of people live in Vegas and places like that. I have two friends here that this is their first time in Europe ever. I think a lot of people don’t like travelling, I don’t know why, I love travelling.
RM: You say you’re travelling for six weeks, so you must prefer to go for long periods of time rather than go back and forth?
BS: Definitely. Like I said it’s a 15-hour day, from Seattle I go non-stop to Frankfurt and that’s 10 hours, and then there’s like a two or three hour layover, and then two more hours down here. So I don’t want to do that 15-hour day and then go back in five days, and I have friends in Europe, and my brother is actually living in Germany so I’ll go stay with them. Octoberfest is coming up too. I definitely try to plan at least a month if I can whenever I come across the pond.
RM: Do you play much online when you’re travelling?
BS: Yeah, it depends. If I’m with my brother at his house, I’ll play a lot. If I’m in Barcelona for a week I probably won’t, I’ll either be playing here or I’ll go out and drink some sangria.
RM: What’s the strategy for the rest of the day?
BS: The rest of the day … same as it’s been. Again, try and steal a lot of pots in position, cheaply. There’s a guy to my right who’s playing a lot of hands. He’s two to my right and he has the same stack I do, and he’s kind of a fish. So I’m going to just try and get in a big pot with him eventually.
RM: And take all his chips…
RM: Yeah, exactly.
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