Last weekend, while many PocketFivers were focused squarely on the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker, one member of the online poker community was busy taking down the $200 rebuy, $250K Guaranteed on that site. His name: Bryan Squirrely1 Sapp, a graduate student at the University of Louisville. Also on Sunday, Sapp made the final table and finished third in the Sunday Warm-Up. It marked over $85,000 in earnings in a single day for the Cardinal. PocketFives.com caught up with Sapp to get his thoughts on a highly lucrative Sunday and also learn about his activities away from the virtual felts.
His $200 rebuy, $250K Guaranteed win on PokerStars was worth $48,750. There were 337 entrants in the field, creating a prize pool of $250,000 with an overlay. Sapp comments on his run through the tournament, “I got cards in the first hour and built up a lot of chips. I was the chip leader with 90 players remaining and a player from Brazil, who was second in chips, moved to my table. I had queens on a 7-8-8 flop. I three-bet it and he flat called; I was concerned. A nine hit on the turn and he pushed all in and showed pocket nines. I lost 60% of my chips in that pot alone. From there, I hung around and won just about every coin flip I was in.”
He finished third in the WCOOP Sunday Warm-Up last Sunday as well, taking home another $38,213. Sapp won the $100 rebuy on PokerStars in August, cashing for $43,075 and took down the Sunday Mulligan on Full Tilt Poker in June for $46,000. He’s been on a tear over the summer and attributes his success to not playing as much: “I really haven’t been playing that much. I’m trying to get away from poker. I’m in graduate school and also am involved in real estate. Eric sheets Haber and Cliff JohnnyBax Josephy are backing me now, so when I play I don’t have to worry about the money. I’m not afraid to bust out, but I still want to show results.” His new backers have allowed Sapp to play with a lot less pressure, which has ultimately improved his results.
The amount of time Sapp was putting into poker initially quickly burned him out. He told PocketFives.com, “I used to play 60 to 80 hours per week and had awful swings. Poker was taking years off of my life and I couldn’t do it anymore. I’ll continue to play, but it won’t be only thing I’ll do. I’m in an MBA program at the University of Louisville and want to go into commercial real estate development. I’ve never been the type of person who likes working for other people.”
Living in Louisville puts him about a 20 minute drive from Horseshoe Indiana, which was formerly Caesars Indiana. Situated on the banks of the Ohio River, Horseshoe plays host to a World Series of Poker Circuit Event. About a year and a half ago, he chopped the Main Event for $113,000. On his live play, Sapp noted, “I started playing for a living three and a half years ago by playing $10/$20 limit at Caesars Indiana. I started playing tournaments and was a losing player for a while. Then, I read Dan Harrington’s books and everything clicked for me. My first big online score was the Second Chance on PokerStars for $40,000 and I have been up and down ever since. When the Circuit is in town, I’ll play live.”
He describes what area of his game gives him a competitive edge over his opponents at the tables: “I’m completely fearless, but that is the way online poker has gone also. Two years ago, you’d raise and you’d probably win the blinds. Now, you get three-bet. I’m not scared to stick it all in if I think that my opponent is weak.” Sapp is also learning how to be fearless at the Pot Limit Omaha tables: “There will be a lot of money to be had in that game for the next few years as more and more people venture out from No Limit Hold’em. Pot Limit Omaha is the next sexy game.” His original backer, Jeff yellowsub Williams, turned him onto Pot Limit Omaha.
I asked Sapp how someone could avoid getting burned out in poker besides just playing less. He responded, “You have to have other hobbies. I see so many guys who just have poker. I couldn’t play the volume that a lot of the ranked players on PocketFives play. You log on and see guys like AJKHoosier1 playing a bunch of tables all day. School breaks up the monotony for me and I also like to golf, hunt, and fish.”
Congratulations to Bryan Squirrely1 Sapp for a very profitable Sunday. We look forward to more from this Kentucky native in the future.
-----
Canada
United Kingdom
Costa Rica
Australia
Mexico
Denmark
Russian Federation
Sweden
Brazil
Germany
