Congratulations to Micky P, who has made the final table of the APAT OnLive Championship, which will be played at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino on December 15th. In a series of interviews with each finalist, APAT Media Director Richard Prew caught up with Micky for his views on the event to date, and his thoughts on the London final table.
Poker Background? I have been playing online for around 2 years now but had never set foot in a casino untill last year"s APAT UK Championship in Newcastle. Since then i have been lucky enough to get a seat at the Welsh, Scottish, Irish and European competitions.
Greatest Poker Successes? No major wins to my name. My biggest online win is $3500 in the Sunday Million. Biggest live win is 1000 euros in Dublin on the sunday of the APAT weekend.
How did the Online section go? I struggled badly for the first couple of hours just hovering above my starting stack. I can"t quiet remember any really crucial hands but as we were getting close to the final table bubble I started becoming
really aggresive, hoping to get a good stack for the final table. It seemed to work for once!
Were you ever seriously at risk of going out during the Online stage? I got extremly lucky against Chris Filus (who was one of the chip leaders at the time). I was the small blind and raised it up with K 9 os. Chris reraised and I thought he was at it, so pushed. He turned over Jacks. A third jack on the flop looked bad for me, but i managed to luck a queen and ten for the straight.
How many of your fellow finalists did you encounter during the Online section? I was on Kevin Shutt"s table a couple of times and spent a lot of time on the same table as Jack Prime.
What are your thoughts about the Live section? In one way I thought I had the online table pretty well sorted out and think I maybe won it there and then. On the other hand I get a chance to play at the Vic and it will be great to be part of it all. The only down side is with air fare from Scotland and accomodation. I"ll have to finish in the top three to make it worthwhile.
What do you think of the Onlive concept and the tournament structure? I think the OnLive concept is great. A great time to start in the afternoon and 10000 chips - you couldn"t ask for more.
What would it mean to you to triumph and win that WSOP seat? I am only a small stakes player and can only dream of playing in the WSOP. I can"t even imagine what it would be like to play there. It would mean a lot, not just the seat but also winning an APAT tournament. I"ve met many new friends through APAT and have supported the tour since almost the start, so it would be great to be an APAT Champion.
Looking at the chip count, there is all to play for. Will you go with a strategy in mind? If so, what is it?(feel free to spread disinformation!) Rich as you know I haven"t got a clue what I"m doing most of the time but just now im leaning towards glory or bust. It could be my only chance to get a WSOP seat, and I"m certainly not going to be scared to get my chips in.
