It’s hard enough to win one weekend major tournament, let alone two. Three is incredibly difficult and taking down four is basically unheard of. However, that’s exactly what David Sir Sands Sands accomplished a week ago by taking down his fourth major, the $750K Guaranteed on Full Tilt Poker. That victory earned the PocketFiver $132,000 and a blistering 866 PLB points. On September 14th, he won the UltimateBet $200K Guaranteed for $45,000, one day after taking home a win in the $150K Guaranteed on sister site Absolute Poker. One year ago, he tasted victory in the Bodog $100K tournament. The bottom line is it’s been a successful run for Sands, who sat down with PocketFives.com to discuss his poker career.
Winning major tournaments on Bodog, Absolute Poker, and Ultimate Bet, Sands still felt that he had something left to prove. He commented, “I always felt like I had the game to win the main tournaments on either PokerStars or Full Tilt Poker.” His latest title was worth over $130,000, his largest online cash to date and his biggest score since a $12,870 payday for placing fourth in the $50,000 Guaranteed on Full Tilt on November 23rd.
During his quest for victory in the Full Tilt $750K, he gave props to PocketFiver Stephen stevie444 Chidwick, who ultimately finished 13th for $5,325. Chidwick holds both Monthly PLB and Triple Crown titles, and serves as a Moderator for PocketFives.com. On what separated Chidwick from the pack, Sands noted, “He was really the only one who was willing to take a stand. The others were just trying to move up in money. I was literally opening 50% of the hands and re-raising 30% of the time someone else opened.”
Sands sent Chidwick to the rails in 13th after Chidwick pushed for over 20 big blinds with Q-J. Sands snap called with A-J and the superior hand held. Sands explained what went through his head: “In my opinion, he might have had too large of a stack to shove in that spot, but because my opening range was so big, it was definitely a justifiable move.” Sands defeated fellow PocketFiver andressoprano heads-up.
Fresh off the six-figure payday, Sands told PocketFives.com what his plans are for the money: “I’ll invest almost all of it in the market as I have done with my past winnings. The market is so low right now that there is just too much value to pass up by spending it on something else.” The news this week broke that economists pinpointed December of 2007 as when the recession began in the United States, which sent markets around the world diving once again. Several stocks and mutual funds will be the targets of Sands’ investments.
Just a few weeks into college, Sands was first exposed to poker. He told PocketFives.com that he won each of the first three $5 buy-in sit and go tournaments he played, piquing his interest in the game. Then, “Someone agreed to put $100 online and let me play with it. If I won, I owed him half. If I lost, then I lost nothing. I ran the $100 up to $2,000 in a week, gave him his half, and then never looked back.” He placed third in the $150 buy-in $65,000 Guaranteed on Full Tilt in October for $11,880. However, he will best be known for his four major tournament wins.
On being able to multiply his bankroll by 20 over the course of a week when he first got his feet wet online, Sands explained, “I think the immediate success had something to do with luck. However, the game was appealing to me because I love competition. I really do like beating people, regardless of the game. I had always felt like I was good at reading people, so I guess it was just a natural fit for my skill set.”
He revealed that discipline is now one of his strongest attributes. He explained that he’s developed the skill over time: “Discipline used to be my biggest weakness. I am naturally very aggressive. However, there are a lot of spots where you can really get killed opening too often. I needed to understand tournament play and then have the discipline to switch gears in these types of spots. My close friend titantom32 was instrumental in this. He worked with me on tournament strategy and managing stack size.” Tom titantom32 Braband is currently a top 20 ranked player on PocketFives.com. He recorded a win in the PokerStars $250K Guaranteed for $91,000 August and notched a second place finish in the Full Tilt Sunday Brawl for $48,700 one month later.
For a player who has had so much success, what areas of his game still need to be fine-tuned? He revealed, “I really want to get better at recognizing spots to re-pop. I think I miss spots to re-raise, such as times when a guy really needs A-K or QQ-AA to play. I want get better at identifying people who are playing scared and then putting them to decisions for all of their chips, especially late in big tournaments.”
It’s important to know that despite four major wins, Sands is not a poker player by trade. Instead, he works in internet marketing. Congratulations from all of us here at PocketFives.com to David Sir Sands Sands for taking down the Full Tilt Poker $750K Guaranteed.
---
Canada
United Kingdom
Costa Rica
Australia
Mexico
Denmark
Russian Federation
Sweden
Brazil
Germany
