High-Roller events at low buy-in festivals aren't easy to get going; it's a one-off tournament and there's no guarantee that the high stakes cash games will be running. Nevertheless, a credible 27 players dipped into their pocket at the Nottingham Live, the likes of Jake Cody, Matt Perrins and Black Belt Neil Channing making it a surprisingly star-studded affair.
Among them was a familiar name to Black Belt Poker: Ben Vinson. A member of a poker-centric family that also includes father Alan and brother Adam, Ben was a participant in the original Grading back in 2009. During the process, it quickly became apparent that he wasn't a nine-to-five grinder, but someone who preferred to take shots to reach the dizzy heights we all aspire to. As some might say, he had a bit of gamble in him.
It is likely this characteristic that drew him more permanently towards live tournaments rather than the constant roller coaster ride of online cash games. Over the years, he's collated an intermittent, yet impressive list of results, most significantly in 2007 when he came fourth in the GUKPT Grand Final for £53,500, and third in the Blackpool leg two weeks prior for £38,850.
That major title has so far evaded him, and 2011 was mostly a fruitless journey, but as the New-Year fireworks near, Ben is showing signs of a resurgence with a deep run in the Partouche Main Event, and now a sterling victory at Dusk Till Dawn: with two recent bracelet winners in the final four, Vinson brushed aside the best pound-for-pound field of the week to become the High-Roller King and add a welcome £12,000 to his 'roll.
Black Belt Poker's Chris Edwards caught up with Ben during the aftermath celebrations:
Chris Edwards: That was some lineup. Was it as hard as it looked?
Ben Vinson: Definitely, I was really surprised. I thought there'd be a few more satellite qualifiers, but there were very few weak spots; everyone knew what they were doing. And the final was like a who's who of poker. Really tough.
CE: How do you approach this type of field?
BV: They're capable of doing anything, so you have to be on your guard at all times, and keep thinking outside of the box. They're never going to be playing ABC. You need to try and outthink them, because they can play no hand the same as the nuts. Obviously, when the blinds go up there are less decisions to be made, but deep-stacked, it's less about the cards, and it becomes more of a psychological battle with the top players.
CE: Can you recall any key hands?
BV: I moved tables when there were two left, and on the very first hand I played a big pot with Matt Perrins. I know he's relentlessly aggressive, so my plan was to just jam if he four-bet my three-bets. So, on the first hand, he opened, and I raised with 9-5 of clubs. As I predicted, he four-bet, and I jammed, but he had J-J on this occasion. Fortunately, I rivered a flush for a massive pot, and after that I was never really at risk at any stage, 10-handed right down to heads-up.
CE: What are your thoughts on Matt?
BV: Matt hasn't had as much success as some of the other guys, but I definitely rate him. I've played with him a lot and he's one of the toughest I've come up against. He's definitely due, but if a few key hands go his way in certain competitions, he'll get there.
CE: How was your tournament overall?
BV: Last night I came in thinking we were going to play to the end, so it was a bit weird to play just six levels. Everything was going really smoothly at first; I chipped up from the start and doubled my stack without even having a showdown, but then on the very last hand of the night, I lost all my chips when I flopped a set and another guy turned a straight. I was so angry that the day had ended because I only had 9K left and I just wanted to keep on playing.
I came back not expecting anything really, but I managed to chip up to 15K early, and found a lot of good spots to pick up some dead money. There was this player who, in his mind, probably thought I was running over him, when actually I'd had a lot of big hands. In one pot, I opened J-9 and he flatted the big. It came T-8-5 and he check-raised, I jammed, and he called me with 6-7, so I won a big pot with jack high which really got me going. That gave me some real momentum.
CE: What do you make of the six-max dynamic?
BV: There's obviously a lot of difference between six-max and full-ring, especially when you get deep in a tournament, but, at the start, I think people overplay their hands a lot when it shouldn't be too much different to the early stages of normal games when there are no antes. Players tend to spew. The value of your hand obviously goes up, but not as much as people make out. I played tighter than some of the others and managed to pick people off.
CE: Are you playing much online poker at the moment?
BV: Not really. I do play, but I wouldn't say I'm an online pro or anything. I tend to go through stages. I've never been an online grinder, more of a spin-up guy in the past, both cash and tournaments.
CE: What do you make of what's happened to Full Tilt Poker?
BV: I had no money on there, so I was lucky; I went skint a couple of months before, so some poor bugger that busted me now has that problem. I had a feeling that something like this was going to happen, although I'm not sure why. I had a couple of mates who had money on Full Tilt, but not too many; I'm pretty skeptical as to them getting their money back. If they get it, they get it. I don't know the ins and outs of the whole thing, but it's a terrible situation to be in for a poker pro. But that's always the risk.
CE: How about live?
BV: Again, I go through stages. I live in Derby at the moment, but when I come down to London, I'll stay with my dad and then go to the Vic. Maybe the Palm Beach too, cash games. Obviously, with tournaments, I'll play anything going really. I travel a lot for the European tournaments.
CE: Do you have any favourite live venues or cities?
BV: Definitely the Aussie Millions. I always try to go there in January. The food, the weather, and I love watching the tennis. The action is really good too.
CE: You're with the Poker Farm currently. What's it like being part of a team?
BV: It's really good, and they have a lot of good players playing for them at the moment. We all travel to different tournaments that we probably wouldn't get to play otherwise. It's a good situation to be in, and it's a lot fun. There's a good camaraderie between the boys.
For more information on the Nottingham Live, check out the following links:
Nottingham Live Main Event - Live coverage/upadates
Black Belt Nottingham Live - Full Results
Press Release: Hyson Cleans up at Nottingham
Press Release: Vinson Victory in High-Roller
Winner's Interview: Stuart Hyson