James Keys has earned over $1.5m in live tournament earnings in a career that stretches back to 2007, where he made the final table of the inaugural World Series of Poker Europe Main Event finishing in 9th place.
The highlight of his career came at the 2011 Aussie Millions when he finished runner-up to David Gorr in arguably the most stacked final table in Aussie Millions history.
I managed to drag Keys away from a Phuket beach long enough to delve back through the annals of time to pore over that amazing achievement.
So talk about life leading up to 2011 Aussie Millions?
“It was pretty similar to how it is now. I was grinding the online cash games whilst trying live tournaments around the UK, Ireland and Europe, in between my annual trip to Vegas.”
Did you stump up the buy-in, sell shares, or qualify via satellite?
“I sold shares on Blonde Poker. I actually sold out 65% of myself. My Bankroll wasn’t big enough for $10k’s at the time, probably not even big enough to play for the buy-in amount I eventually did.
“But the Aussie Millions is a really good shot to take. A really good 10k. I played it the year before and min-cashed. By Day 3 or 4 you have a two hour clock and there are a lot of weaker players because of their live satellite set-up.”
Who did you travel with and what did you do in and around the event?
“I stayed with Rupert Elder, Andrew Teng, Jack Powell and Scott O’Reilly. I was trying to play everything. The year before we did some tennis and went to the Melbourne festival – did some sight seeing.
“In 2011, I was really focused and went to the Crown everyday. I played every side event and then if I bust I played cash. I was playing about 14-hrs a day in that casino. It was a pretty boring trip in terms of what I saw, but it was a good poker trip.”
Talk to us about the highlights of the event for you?
“It was one big highlight really. Everyday I had some sort of outdraw where I was 20% behind but came out on top. Then I had a huge stack of around 500k, on the bubble, which was good for a top five chip spot. Bubbles are always so much fun in these events, so I was raising every hand and that was a highlight.
“Then with two tables left, and 10 players, I made a big call with pocket eights on a T9xxx board against Sorel {Mizzi}. He raised pre and barreled three streets, and I called him down with third pair and it was good. It didn’t make the final TV cut, which is a shame.”
Did you ever think you were going to win it leading up to the final table?
“Not really. I stayed really focused and tried to play each hand as well as I could, and not really think about the money. I was thinking about ICM and laddering and stuff, but on the final table – at least televised – there is a real pressure on you to look good…or perhaps that’s just because I’m an egotist?
“I didn’t want to win a tournament and then people watch it back and think I had the nuts all of the time. You want to do something spectacular and so people can look at it say, ‘well he was the best player’. I guess I got some of that out of my system with that call against Sorel.
“On the Final Table I played very ABC and that’s how I looked on the TV coverage which is a shame.
Many people believe it was the toughest final table in Aussie Millions history. Were you intimidated at all?
“It was pretty intimidating. I had Patrick {Antonius} on my direct left and Moorman {Chris} on my right, which was fortunate. I did have pretty good reads on most of the other players on the final table. It was only David {Gorr} that I hadn’t played a lot with so I had a handle on what was going on pretty much a lot of the time.
“It was intimidating playing against Patrik and Chris but I was just playing ABC so it was hard to get caught out.”
David Gorr finished third in the inaugural Australasian Poker Championships back in 1998. Did he mention this?
“No he didn’t. He would be the first to say that he was a long outsider. He was a pretty humble guy and knows it was mostly luck. He just kept getting the nuts time after time and nobody ever believed him.
“We were three handed and Jeff Rossiter had spun up a satellite buy-in to a top three spot with 95% of himself. We did a deal and he locked up around A$1.1m, or something, and he then ran a massive bluff on David…and he had it again, obviously.”
Where does the Aussie Millions rank for you in terms of worldwide events?
“It’s a major tournament. The major Hold’em events are the WSOP Main, EPT Main and I would probably put the Aussie Millions behind those two. It’s Australasia’s major tournament and it’s very important to a lot of people. They run satellites for six months and talk a lot about the winners.
“They have these 20ft high posters of all the winners. I remember going to the cash desk after my long heads up to collect my money. It was the first time I felt a little bit sad when I walked past these posters. There was Gus Hansen, Tony Bloom and then this blank one that could have been me.
“I went back the following year and it had David’s face on it which is a bit of shame…but never mind.”
