Lee Davy takes a pew with one of the most consistent performers in the live tournament scene, Simon Deadman, to talk about his three nominations at the 2014 British Poker Awards and much more.
Simon Deadman is one of the most consistent live tournament poker players in the world. He hits those top three spots with the accuracy of Phil Taylor throwing 180s, and he has finally achieved the recognition he deserves with three nominations at the 2014 British Poker Awards.
We caught up with Mr. Consistency whilst he was playing in the WPT UK and this is what he had to say.
Why are you so consistent?
“I am level headed. I take ego out of the game pretty much all of the time. That means I rarely blow up. I try to make good decisions, avoid the high variance style, and I have also been running well this year. That helps a lot.”
Isn’t that the same as most top players though?
“I think I may be small-balling and pot controlling more than some of the other players. That keeps me in the tournament longer than some players, but it also means I don’t run up huge stacks all the time doing that. Staying in the tournament is really important. Then when you get deep you can open up your game a little bit. Especially throughout Day 1 & 2 – maintaining your stack is very important.”
You had a great win in Vegas, during the summer, how did that feel?
“The whole tournament went really well. I ran ridiculously well in that tournament. The rest of the trip was a wash out but that one made up for it. Most of my final tables have been second place finishes this year. I am super happy with that. When I make the final table I pride myself on getting to the top three so often. Heads-up – it just hasn’t gone my way a lot of the time. I’m not bothered about coming second, in some of them, as long as I’ve played well. Heads-up is also high variance.”
How does it feel to be nominated for three British Poker Awards?
“It means I am doing well I guess. As long as I am making money, that’s the main thing. But the nominations are very nice.”
You seem to be progressing through the ranks quite nicely. Are you happy playing at the highest level?
“I always feel comfortable playing live against anyone. I feel in control and composed against any player in the world.”
PokerStars are not allowing players to buy-in to EPT events through their account anymore. I believe that’s irked you somewhat?
“It makes life difficult for so many players. You can be playing for about €20k in buy-ins and now you have to find that money in cash. You also have to walk around with it. It’s not what you want to be doing. People who are walking around with thousands of pounds in their pockets are high risk targets.
What’s your opinion on the latest furor with Stars?
“It doesn’t affect me a great deal because I play live most of the time. Who knows, perhaps, more people will stop playing online, and the live scene will prosper? Not being able to buy-in and cash out via Stars isn’t great. Also getting your money exchanged back into pounds is also a pain now. It’s also going to cost us in vig I guess.”
What’s your view on re-entry events?
“The recreational player will perhaps only buy in once versus a pro with four bullets. You give a pro four chances and they are going to run up a stack in one of them. But if they don’t have re-entries the prize pools won’t be so big. It’s strange because the big prize pools also attract the recreational players. The ones with multiple re-entries are bad, but if you can play Day 1, bust and then fire another one, that’s a good idea. Even the pros bankrolls are going to sink a little quicker when you are firing four bullets in a £3k event.”
