One of the 15 members of the PocketFives community to win a gold World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet this year is Greg DuckU Hobson (pictured). He claimed the top spot in the first ever Ante Only event in WSOP history, which carried a $1,000 buy-in and brought out 939 contestants. Hobson booked a quarter-million dollar payday for his efforts and quickly found the time to talk to PocketFives about his first WSOP victory as well as a little Ante Only strategy.PocketFives: Thanks for joining us. How did you approach the Ante Only format?
Greg Hobson: I was pretty skeptical at first, but it was intriguing to see how people played differently. I didn't get to play a whole lot down the stretch until the final two tables because I was short-stacked where all I could do was either shove or fold. I thought there was quite a bit of play overall, especially since we were at the final table deep-stacked. People didn't have the Ante Only concept figured out and there aren't any resources for it, so we were all on a level playing field.
PocketFives: Why did you decide to play in the event in the first place?
Greg Hobson: It's still No Limit Hold'em, but you don't have blinds. It's still going to be a game where you're playing poker in the end. A lot of times, you'll have the best poker players figure it out much better than the rest and, accordingly, the final two tables had a ton of talent. You had people just figuring it out as they went.
In Ante Only, you play more post-flop and there's a lot more thinking going on. A lot of times in No Limit Hold'em, people are just auto-piloting because they know what the correct plays are in certain spots. They've done it so many times that it's kind of mindless. When you have a new game like this, people constantly have to think and figure out the dynamics. People were limping with monster hands and hoping other people would raise, for example, so there was a lot of leveling going on.
Overall, you had to watch your stack when you got short. You couldn't wait around for the blinds like you can in a regular tournament, so you had to think ahead.
PocketFives: You mentioned you have to play more post-flop poker in an Ante Only event. Why is that?Greg Hobson: You can't really fold any hands when the antes are big and the bring-in is small. You should be limping with every hand. To fold is silly because you're getting such a huge price as long as you're a competent player. If you can play post-flop, then this tournament lends itself to your strength because it plays a lot post-flop. You play almost every hand. Everybody I played with said how much fun this tournament was.
PocketFives: How did the action play out pre-flop?
Greg Hobson: Pre-flop, the opening raise was, a lot of times, about half the pot. You have to realize that people can have any two cards in this game, and they should be playing any two cards. It's a fun game that allows you to splash around in pots a lot more than you do in a regular Hold'em tournament.
PocketFives: The final table was filled with other members of PocketFives, including Mike SowersUNCC Sowers (pictured), Harrison gibler123 Gimbel, Mike timex McDonald, John johnnygstaks Hayes, and Seth setherson2 Davies. Can you assess a few of their games?Greg Hobson: They are all great players. I met Seth in Vegas and he's from Oregon like me and really solid. It felt like an online tournament in terms of the talent level. I've played against these guys a ton. I don't think I referenced any specific hand histories, but I knew what each person was capable of.
I was not thrilled to have Sowers on my direct left; that was a bad spot. Timex didn’t have chips, so he was on lockdown most of the time. He wasn't as much of a factor at the final table because of that. Harrison called me down super light in a couple of spots. Either he was actually calling me down light or he has soul read on me.
John had one monster takedown pre-flop to build up some of his chips, but it seemed like he was playing pretty solid and wasn't getting too crazy. I only played with him at the final table. I maybe played one or two pots against him.
PocketFives: Previously, your largest cash in a WSOP tournament was a $34,000 haul in the Main Event five years ago. Do you typically play a light WSOP schedule?
Greg Hobson: I'm not a person who comes down and plays for the entire WSOP. In any given year, the most number of events I've played in is four or so. I have a family now, so I can't just come down for an extended period of time. This year, I made an exception since I can't play online. I've probably played about 25 WSOP events total in my life. I always play to win each one.
