"Even the Bad Beats Make You Want to Play More"
Our most recent PocketFives Openwas held on 888 Pokerduring the off-day of the World Cup prior to the knockout round. As football fans around the world took a breather from rooting on their favorite countries, the PocketFives community event on 888 kicked off. Your winner: Michael SuarezisKing Lawrence, who calls the United Kingdom home. We caught up with our most recent PocketFives Open champion.
PocketFives: Thank you for joining us. How are you feeling about the win?
Michael Lawrence: Winning any poker MTT is great, but I know there were some really good players in the PocketFives Open, so it gave me great satisfaction to take it down.
PocketFives: What online poker games do you typically play?
Michael Lawrence: I am a six-max specialist, as I play a lot of poker at Sky Poker, a UK-only site. They only play six-max, so being that the PocketFives Open was six-max and the whole structure was so good, I felt I had an edge.
I lost one-third of my stack in two hands very early on, as there were some very aggro players, so I just waited. The hand that I believe defined my tournament was K-3 of diamonds in the big blind. UTG limped and it folded to the small blind, who just called. Yippee a free flop, which had three diamonds and was ace-high, so I flopped the nut flush.
In the end, I managed to keep the UTG limper to the river and he re-raised my value bet all-in. Happy days! He had Q-9 of diamonds and was a bit unlucky. That hand gave me the chip lead and I never looked back. I did get a bit lucky in a couple of all-ins, but you need a little bit of luck.
PocketFives: What are your plans for the money?
Michael Lawrence: Add it to my bankroll and treat my kids.
PocketFives: How did you get started playing poker?
Michael Lawrence: I have played poker ever since I was a child with my uncle, but I never really got started until about five years ago after watching “Late Night Poker” on TV with Jesse May (pictured). I got the bug and signed up for Sky Poker.
PocketFives: Where do you see your poker career in five years?
Michael Lawrence: I’m not sure were I want to be, but I at least want to be able to enter the WSOP Main Event within five years.
PocketFives: What parting words do you have for us?
Michael Lawrence: Poker is a great game. Even the bad beats make you want to play more. The rush is awesome, especially when you win.
If you don’t already have an 888 account, sign up through the links on PocketFives to get a special 100% up to $600 deposit bonus, $88 free in most locations, and one free month of PocketFives Training with no sign-up fee. Get started by clicking here!
