On May 25, 2006, Peter “Nordberg” Feldman took down the $10,000 buy-in World Series of Poker Circuit Event at Harrah’s New Orleans. His $530,000 payday and extensive television time vaulted him into poker fame. Eight months later, Feldman did it again, capturing a WSOP Circuit Event bracelet at Harrah’s Rincon in San Diego, California for $280,000 on January 20, 2007. This highly successful online and live pro sat down with PocketFives.com to discuss his Rincon victory. This was his fifth WSOP Circuit Event. Aside from his two wins, Feldman has competed in Indiana in the fall of 2005, Lake Tahoe last year, and Council Bluffs this year. Feldman comments on the road since the New Orleans tournament: “It’s really exciting to have a second win. It’s been a tough eight months for me in live tournaments and you always have doubts about whether you'll be able to get there again or not. I can't remember running better for three days; I never lost a big pot.” Amazingly, it’s been feast or famine for Feldman. While he won the New Orleans and Rincon events, he was a first level bust in Lake Tahoe and Council Bluffs.
Feldman comments on the play at this and other WSOP Circuit Events: “In Circuit Events in these somewhat isolated areas, the fields are pretty small and there are a lot of big name pros, but also a lot of amateurs. There is a big gap between the good and bad players. You try to get in pots with the bad players, like you do in every tournament.” Just fewer than 200 hopefuls entered the Rincon event.
Early on at the Rincon event, Feldman had a key pot near the end of Day One: “I had about 42,000 chips with blinds of 400/800 with an ante. I meant to open for my usual 2,400, but I made it 4,400 by accident and everyone at the table knew it was an accident. I had pocket queens and someone behind me made it 11,000 and had me covered. It was a really weird spot with the mis-raise and I wasn't sure what to do. Since there were already 15,000 chips or so in the pot, I stuck my chips in. My opponent had A-K. I flopped quads and doubled up and my tourney was never at risk after that.” Feldman merely grabbed the $1,000 chips instead of the $500 ones, causing the error.
At the final table, a large pot ensued: “With four or five people to go in the tournament and a chip stack of 500,000, I opened to 18,000 with pocket sixes and Danny Wong re-raised me out of the small blind. He wasn't quite deep enough to call for set value, but he had re-raised me twice before, so I decided to call in position. The flop was 2-3-4. He bet out and I raised him all in, and he thought awhile before folding. That was a really big pot; had I lost it, I would have had only 150,000 chips or so, and I thought it was important to stay aggressive.” The final table was a gauntlet of stellar poker players, as joining Feldman were Gavin Smith, fellow PocketFiver Shane “Shaniac” Schleger, Gavin Griffin, Danny Wong, Davidson Matthew, and Eric Cajelais.
So how does the Rincon win stack up against two World Poker Tour cashes (including a television bubble at the 2006 Borgata Winter Poker Open), a half million dollar payday in New Orleans, and a WSOP Main Event cash (feature table appearance pictured at left), also in 2006? “This is more special to me. In my mind, I played better and it’s huge to beat a lot of good players at the final table. I am really proud of it because I feel like I earned more respect by winning the second time and that's what motivates me more than anything - people respecting my game and winning the title. The money is great, but it’s not everything. A lot of pressure came with winning the New Orleans event and becoming well-known. Even playing online, I hate making some bonehead play that a bunch of people happened to see.”Besides mastering poker over the past four years, Feldman enjoys golfing. His best score was a 72 at Twin Lakes near Detroit (after bogeying holes 17 and 18) and also a 74 at Burning Tree in Michigan. He now claims he shoots in the mid-80’s and that the mention of him once shooting a 72 “will kill my action.”
Congratulations to Peter “Nordberg” Feldman on his second WSOP Circuit Event title. We’re confident continued success will come.
Canada
United Kingdom
Costa Rica
Australia
Mexico
Denmark
Russian Federation
Sweden
Brazil
Germany
