Adam Schoenfeld -- Another World Series of Poker Main-Event CashFull Tilt Pro Has Cashed in the Main Event Twice in the Past Three Years |
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Once upon a time, Adam Schoenfeld was known as the guy who simply couldn’t cash in a World Series event. It didn’t matter what he played or how hard he tried. He would enter and inevitably fall before the money bubble.
He played up his struggles for the cameras, and before he knew it, Schoenfeld had become a regular on ESPN’s broadcasts. Known for his penchant for one-liners and self-deprecating humor, he soon became a Full Tilt pro and co-host of Card Player TV’s weekly show The Scoop — even though his first cash in the World Series didn’t come until 2008.
“I created something of a cartoonish image for myself, semi-intentionally. At that point, I was something like 0-for-27, which isn’t even a super bad year by modern standards,” said Schoenfeld. “I was able to get some attention for myself, and it’s both important and profitable to be a known guy in poker.”
‘Known guy’ is the phrase of choice for the Brooklyn native.
“That’s what I always claim to be. I’m not necessarily good, but I’m a ‘known guy,’” said Schoenfeld.
The Full Tilt pro may play down his abilities, but he has had some notable success away from Las Vegas. He came in third in the 2001 U.S. Poker Championship main event in Atlantic City for $68,400, and final-tabled the L.A. Poker Classic main event in 2004, finishing in fifth for $170,170.
However, in Las Vegas, he has performed below expectations over the years. Despite playing in his first couple events in 2001, he had to wait until 2008 to get his first cash, which came in the main event. He added his second and third WSOP cashes of his career this year — first at the $1,500 no-limit shootout and now at the 2010 main event.
“I basically took — except for the main event — the World Series off between ’05 and ’08. I played two events in ’08, two events in ’09, and this is my ninth event this year,” said Schoenfeld, who admits he prefers playing online. “I get paid to be an Internet player, and they don’t require me to wear pants,” he explained.
With his cash in this year’s main event, the guy who is known for his failure to make the money in World Series events has now cashed in two of the past three main events. Schoenfeld said he’s refused to let his past struggles interfere with his current mindset.
“There’s huge variance in the big tournaments. If you can’t accept that or if you let that get to you, you will not ever succeed. And I feel like I will succeed,” said Schoenfeld. “If you look now, I’m barely under par if you figure one [cash] per 10 events [entered].”
Schoenfeld credits playing online with helping to improve his game, while also doling out high praise for online pros.
“I’m playing the best I’ve ever played. I’ve played a lot online, and it’s really sharpened me. I’m continually learning,” said Schoenfeld, who mentioned the difficulty he had playing against some of the younger generation earlier this summer. “I got totally owned in the $3K triple chance by like six Internet guns at my table. It’s not that I’m not capable of handling two of them, but six is difficult.”
There are plenty of ‘Internet guns’ remaining in the field at the main event, but Schoenfeld is hoping he can continue to play his best game and make a serious run at the final table. In fact, his biggest cash at the World Series actually came at last year’s main-event final table. He didn’t cash in the event, but thanks to a 3 percent swap he had with Jeff Shulman (pictured at right), Schoenfeld collected over $60,000.
“I hope to pay him back a lot more than that this year. As I said to Jeff and [fellow Scoop co-host Diego Cordovez], our Card Player colleagues, you got to play pretty badly to not make day 4,” Schoenfeld joked.
Editor’s Note: Schoenfeld was eliminated on Day 5.
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