After five bracelets had been secured a UK home, there were high expectations for the WSOP Main Event. With around 250 remaining, the British flag had become a prominent image on the end-of-day results: Praz Bansi was in fine form, JP Kelly was amassing chips, and veterans like John Kabbaj and Mark Teltscher were still plugging away. A repeat performance of James Akenhead's November Nine showing seemed imminent. Then disaster, as the Brits began to fall like dominos in a gale, and with 56 left, we were out of ammo and already lighting up those close-but-no cigars.
But just as I was taking a puff, a single ray of hope momentarily dazzled me as I noticed one gladiator still wielding his poker sword above his head. His war cry was reserved, but Redmond Lee was still alive, still breathing that WSOP air, and still holding the British flag aloft. In fact, he was our last Brit standing, and our only hope for representation in the November Nine.
A 24-year old pro from London, Redmond was continuing a 2010 trend of under-the-radar activity and echoing fellow silent assassins Mike Ellis and Steve Jelinek. Mild-mannered, but dangerous, Redmond was like a Venus Fly Trap, rarely active when you watched from afar, but step too close and he'd snap your hand off like an alligator with toothache. His escalation was therefore gradual, never the chip leader, but, at the same time, able to steer clear from the bottom of the pack.
I first came across Redmond in 2007 during another deep run in the Main Event. As many before me, I'd assumed he'd been the victim of Typo Town and Harrah's had accidentally placed his names back to front. Three years on, and there was no such doubt, Redmond Lee was on the ride of his life and just one day away from becoming a member of the November Nine. But despite his performance, I knew little about Redmond, he was a rare sighting on the the live scene, and a quick Google search shone little light. So, like Columbo on speed, I decided to wipe the dust off my detective's jacket and do some probing myself.
An inquisition-esque questioning revealed that Redmond had been playing poker for four years, initially picking up the game with his friends and ambling with life's bare necessities: matchsticks and toothpicks ("toothpicks were obviously worth double"). After TV's shows such as WPT and WSOP played their hypnotic tune, Redmond found himself hooked and eager to learn not just more, but everything there was to know about the game. Early progress was slow, and he endured a boom-or-bust cycle playing micro stakes, but then his fortunes turned.
"I started to build a 'roll by playing live and getting some good tournament results," he revealed. "I moved towards online tournaments, started to gather momentum and had some very substantial scores. After that, I started graduating towards cash as I felt that was where the 'real' money was and I always believed that if I could become a good cash game player, I would have a guaranteed income for life."
A quick glance at Redmond's Hendon Mob entry confirmed that his presence at the live tournament felt had been virtually non-existant, so I wondered what his thoughts were about playing live MTTs, and if he felt that there were any major differences that could hinder an online pro. "I think obviously the overall game and strategies are very similair live," he explained. "I'd say the only difference is in the speed of hands dealt and having to adapt to those will little tournament experience during the early stages, the sort of people that feel that when they go down to 10,000 chips at 100/200 that they are short stacked, for example. I'd say your adjustments in situations like that are far more dramatic compared to how they would play out online.
"From your experience," I inquired, "do you think that the online kids are beginning to take over WSOP, or do the live pros still have a few tricks up their sleeve?"
"The online guys are great," he declared, "and, yes, on the whole, probably have a much stronger all-round game than a lot of the older players. But experience is also key in anything, and I believe that sometimes the young players don’t know when to slow down and will sometimes act under emotion. Also, with an event like the World Series, Hold'em is saturated with young guys but the other lesser-played mixed games are probably something that the old guys can say they have an edge in and play better. Saying that, though, I think as time goes on we will see the old guys slowly filtered out and we will be left with only a few that haven’t gone broke or run out of people to borrow from.
The Main Event, however, is a different kettle of fish. Ever since Chris Moneymaker kick-started the 'Effect' he's become famed for, the Amazon Room has always possessed a reputation as poker's biggest aquarium, and, without doubt, the highest value field around. With the induction of the UIEGA, training sites, and, inadvertently, the recession on both sides of the Atlantic, you'd expect the standard to have increased considerably, and I recall Annette Obrestad Tweeting about how surprisingly tough her opening table was. Did Redmond share her view?
"The standard of play has gotten better over the years that I've played," agreed Redmond, "and I feel one of the main reasons is that more online kids who have been too young before are now of the appropriate age. However, the general Main Event table in the early stages is very weak and full of mainly recreational players. Semi-balla gamblers with $10,000 to burn, someone who's been saving for 10 years, Internet geniuses - you never know what you're going to get. I certainly think you could regard yourself as very unlucky to be at a 'tough' table in the early stages."
But whilst players laud the WSOP for its 'high value', they create somewhat of a paradox by complaining that it's also a 'crapshoot'. In fact, the word 'lottery' has often provided veterans with an excuse for an early demise, or for a final table that doesn't include their fellow pros, but the truth is that although you require more 'run-good' than Linford Christie to emerge victorious in the Main Event, it's no more of a 'crapshoot' or 'lottery' than any other tournament. With two hour levels and an increased starting stack of 30,000, it's surely one of the best-structured events on the calendar, and any pro hitting the rail will have been a victim of the vast numbers if anything. Pros make up a very small percentage of the field, and there's a bizarre assumption that if you're not a pro, you're not a good player. When I spoke to Johnny Lodden on the penultimate day, he added that despite the lack of 'big names' still remaining, pretty much everyone left in the event was a tough opponent. A lottery would clearly have produced a more eclectic line-up.
"I think the play improves dramatically at the end stages," concurred Redmond. "No one is really making mistakes and chips are very hard to accumulate. I dont think I regarded anyone who had big chips in Day 7 or 8 as donkeys who have ran good. I had a lot of respect for just about everyone's game."
If the sea of tables and standard of play later on wasn't enough to make his eyes water, then Redmond also had to contend with eight days of relentless poker, just the occasional stoppage to grab 40 winks or a bite to eat. They say poker isn't a sport, but if the prosecution ever needed evidence, the physical stamina required to play the Main Event would be first under the microscope. Focusing the mind on a deck of cards for such a long period can only lead to mental exhaustion and as the days progressed, you could sense some players beginning to wilt. Redmond, however, looked daisy-fresh throughout.
"I feel my biggest challenge was just trying to live up to my own expectations," Redmond divulged, "and not make the same mistakes I’ve made in the past. I feel I achieved this and any time I felt tired or that I wasn’t playing 100 percent, I would always remember that crushing feeling of letting myself down and blowing a big opportunity. I knew that whatever happened, I wasn’t going to go home because of a mistake from not concentrating. I feel as a pro this is unacceptable.
"How about the feature table?" I asked. "Did you feel the pressure of the bright lights?
"I loved it," he beamed. "It felt great to have all the attention and I found, if anything, it improved my game. It's hard to tell how others were dealing with it but I didnt notice much change in people's games."
"And the agents, circling the arena like rabid wolverines eyeing up raw flesh, did you not find them distracting?"
"There were a lot of them, yes. It wasnt distracting, though, as I got a deal sorted fairly quickly and it was just a nice bonus to be earning money for wearing a logo!"
On the final days of the Main Event, the smell of money is in the air, and the poker agents are the first to flare their nostrils. At the tables, the tension is even more intense. Forget a knife, you could cut it with a toothpick as the final table neared and the possibility of becoming a self-made millionaire started to become a reality. The November Nine bubble is likely the most expensive one in history given all the missed sponsorship opportunities, but even with a few tables left, each handful of exits sees players wallets increase by tens of thousands, something that Redmond found increasingly hard to ignore.
"I would never pass up a big opportunity to get my chips in with a ‘flip or a big draw," he claimed, "so, in that way, my decisions were very much standard poker plays. But, on the other hand, it is hard when you look at the screen and realise that if you last another couple of players, you might be jumping up by an absurd amount of money. I was aware of being the final Brit too, and was proud."
Whether intentionally or not, ladder is exactly what Redmond did as he quietly, but surely continued to ascend rung-after-rung until he found himself coming back for the eighth and final Day. His journey of late hadn't been easy, though, as for the last couple of Days, Redmond had found himself faced with a difficult sized-stack of around 20 to 25 blinds, not enough to play freely, yet too much to start open shoving. His moves were therefore isolated to three-bet pushes, where he'd hope to pick up the blinds uncontested, or, if he were to actually find a hand, double up to a more manageable stack.
"It was very tough," he sighed, "especially as I was getting dealt nothing to play with at all. However, in some ways, I kind of see that as maybe a blessing in disguise, to have easy decisions rather than be looking down at A-T suited, K-Q, etc and maybe getting myself into tough spots. I was just taking each hand as it came, the same as I had throughout the whole tournament. I was looking for any spot I could where I thought I could sneak a three-bet raise against players who weren't gonna play back at me. I think it's always important in tournaments to never panic as with that sort of stack you are always only a double-up away from having a very playable stack, especially in the Main Event which has such a slow, steady structure.
Unfortunately, the hands continued to evade Redmond as his stack dipped to dangerously low proportions: "I hadn't seen any playable hands in a while and had already been shoving and three-betting all in just to keep my head above water. I found 4-4 and was going to be in the big blind in one hand. I knew it was going to be a gamble but I decided to shove preflop. I didn't want to raise and then have to fold and I didn't want to fold because I knew once the big blind hit me, it was going to really dent my stack. I thought that I may not get another hand and should try and pick up the chips in the middle now. Unfortunately, I was called by T-T and I didnt get there, but I think I would still do the same thing again."
"I was very pleased with how I played," he continued. "I was proud that I kept my nerve at all times, and even when I did play a hand not as well as I could have, I picked myself up very quickly. My girlfriend was wonderful too in helping me keep focused and shake off any negative thoughts."
Redmond ultimately finished in 21st place. It was a remarkable achievement and a true showcase of patience and level-headedness. For someone who plied his trade online, he displayed a level of maturity and focus that you don't often see in players of his age and background, but it was a key attribute that led him to taking home $317,161. Redmond didn't bring back a bracelet, or a return ticket for November, but he'd proved himself as a talented tournament player who, if he were to apply himself to the live circuit on a more regular basis, would likely be frequenting many a final table. "I have played a lot of live poker over the years now and feel my live game is just as good, maybe even slightly better. I will hopefully be playing more live tournaments this year, though." That, I'm afraid, is bad news for the rest of us.
For more interviews see:
Phil Ivey
Patrik Antonius
John Juanda
Tom Dwan
Ian Frazer
Annette Obrestad
James Akenhead
JP Kelly
Jason Mercier
Richard Ashby
Sammy George
Roland De Wolfe
Marty Smyth
Jake Cody
Karl Mahrenholz
Paul Zimbler
Kara Scott
John Kabbaj
Jeff Lisandro
Freddy Deeb
Barry Greenstein
Phil Laak
Shaun Deeb
Chris Moorman
Lex Veldhuis
Johnny Lodden
Isaac Haxton
Blue Belts:
Gavin Hall
Simon Mairs
Jamie Burland
Owen Robinson
Rob Jarrett-Smith