Darren Shallis from Newport won the 2008 APAT Irish Amateur Poker Championship in Dublin last weekend. Darren kindly took some time to answer questions about the tournament and his victory.Darren, well done! Tell is about your poker history: your experience, achievements and usual haunts:I"ve been playing since January 2005. I came into the game from playing Magic: The Gathering, which is a strategy card game. I started out by playing Micro cash online, to learn the game, and that turned in a small monthly profit. My main game is still relatively low limit cash games online. My biggest online win would be the Virgin Free-roll, where I won 100,000 airmiles.
My first B&M experiences were playing £10 STTs, at a local snooker club, where I can still be found on a Friday night. Soon I turned my hand to playing live MTT at Grosvenor, Cardiff, where I managed to win 4 of the first 7 times I played there.
My biggest live win prior to this was the £20 rebuy for £1,100.
For this tournament, it started badly didn't it? You lost a lot of chips early on and then were facing Chris Filus, who had a large stack. Tell us about the challenges you faced on your first table?The first table was pretty tough. I had Andrew Tracey to my immediate left, and Chris Filus 3 to my left. Caroline Burgess I also recognised on my table. Second hand in I managed to lose 2,000 chips when I flopped an up and down straight flush draw. I managed to get away from it on the turn when the board paired (opponent had a set). After that, it was a case of grinding away. Chris was steamrollering the table, and it was a case of being patient, and waiting for the hands to come along.
When I saw you after the table break, you didn't seem in great shape stack-wise. Indeed at the end of the first day you were in the pack. How was the rest of the first day for you?At the first break I had 7K, which I managed to get up to 15k at the dinner break. It was a real grind though. I managed to get up to about 51k at one point, but then did an awful lot of damage when I ran Pocket 9"s into Aces. At one point I was as low as 7k late in the day, but a managed a couple of double ups to keep my head above water.
On Day Two things seemed to go far smoother in the run down to the final table, so much so that 37,000 chips became 200,000 and the chip-lead near the bubble. How did you achieve this?Blinds were 3k/6k at this point, so I did not have much time. 20 left at the start of the day, ranking points starting at 18th, and money at 14th. I knew Simon (Auckland) had about 17 more points than me, so I decided to go for it. The first opportunity I got, I pushed (J-4!) and it got through. Next hand I found Pocket 6"s and got called by Stuart Langford who had Pocket 3"s. This held, so I now have circa 75k. Shortly afterwards in a battle of the blinds I have 7 6 on a 7 3 2 board. The SB (David Smith) bet about 25k, so I went all in. He called with A 3, and I now have about 150k and am motoring. I then got moved tables, taking the blinds with QQ first hand! 2nd hand I have K 10 in the cut-off. I raised and Bobby Murphy in the BB called. The flop was Q 9 8, all spades, (I have the K spades). We both check. Turn J spades (Lovely!). Bobby now bet out around 20k, and I decided to move all in (This is a bad play, as I"m only called if I'm beat). Bobby dwells, but folds.
The seat draw for this was quite interesting, as the other big stacks were all to my immediate left. I still tried to play in aggressively though, and thankfully I had some good hands at the start of the final table. The final table started at 5.30, and I had a flight back at 8.45, so I needed to leave the card room by 7.30. I was hoping that by this time we are down to 3, (so I win enough money to pay for the new plane ticket), or I"m on that plane anyway.
Did it go according to plan? Your first real setback appeared to come only when you were heads up? Things went perfectly. Aggression seemed to work, and a couple of re-raises with not a lot got through. I can"t remember losing a showdown until we got to 3 handed. 3 handed seemed to go on for ever, ebbing and flowing. I was nearly out when my A9 all in was called by Kev"s 88. An A on the river was nice (good shout Tikay!).
Beginning heads-up 4-1 up in chips I must admit I thought you were blowing it when Bobby brought it back to level. What were your thoughts at this point?Don't blow it! Once we were back to level, all I could think of was how much stick my mates back in Newport would give me (I have a terrible heads-up reputation).
Heads-Up was long and gruelling. How was your stamina at this point?Although I was tired, I"m a stubborn so and so. If I was tired, then my opponent must also be tired. When that final hand came and it was a low card, someone said "split pot". I thought my 7 was playing, but I just could not work it out. We then had a 5 minute wait, while the chips were counted, as it was very close. I could not celebrate until they said I covered Bobby, as if he had come back and won it, I would have been gutted.
Arguably you should have won the Walsall APAT. I know you regarded that as a missed opportunity. How much was that on your mind during Day Two?To be honest, I didn"t think about it too much. It was slightly different at this final table. Walsall I had half the chips in play at the start of the final, which meant it was mine to lose. This one I had to go out and win it.
As the winner, what are your thoughts now on the event, the venue and APAT itself?The APAT structure suits my game really well. Lots of play early on, and time to wait for hands. The Fitzwilliam is a smashing card club, and they were great hosts to another great APAT event. APAT is exactly what the game needs: A fantastic structure for a low cost. The Nationals are great events in their own right, and always very well run by people who put the game first.
The GUKPT beckons. Any early thoughts on playing one of those events, and which one?Luton would be my preference, but I have to try and get the time off work.
I"ll let you know!!
Congratulations!Darren was interviewed by APAT Media Director, Richard Prew.
