About four weeks ago, longtime PocketFives member and blogger Tristan Cre8ive Wade (pictured) took third in Event #11 of the World Series of Poker (WSOP). The $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha tournament brought in 970 entrants and Wade banked $102,000. He's a member of the Florida poker community and has contributed nearly 700 posts to PocketFives.In late 2011, Wade captured his first bracelet in a €3,200 No Limit Hold'em Shootout in Cannes during WSOP Europe and cashed for €182,000. He was gunning for his second piece of hardware in the PLO event in Vegas, but told PocketFives he was okay with placing third.
"I wasn't disappointed in the finish," Wade contended. "I understand the variance involved in tournament poker and PLO. I was short on chips for most of Day 2 and from two tables down, so I feel like finishing third was a victory in itself. Of course I want another bracelet, but there will be more chances."
Wade has logged four final tables during the 2011 and 2012 WSOPs and is approaching $1 million in career WSOP cashes. "I think I am playing better and also things are going my way," Wade rationalized. "Tournament poker is a grind and there is a lot of luck involved in many different ways. Hopefully, I continue becoming a better poker player and can run well too."Event #11 marked Wade's first career WSOP cash in a game other than No Limit Hold'em. He also went on to make the money in a $1,500 HORSE tournament after we spoke to him. Wade outlined his growth in PLO: "I used to play PLO tournaments online often and PLO cash here and there. I feel like I understand how tournaments work and I was also able to play hands differently in certain spots. I play a ton of NLHE, so the hardest thing about PLO is adjusting between the games."
As we said, the $1,500 PLO tournament brought in nearly 1,000 players. When asked what strategies he'd advise for large-field tournaments like those you'd find at the WSOP, Wade responded, "Patience should be the biggest strategy. But, some people don't know when and where to apply it."
2012 marks Wade's seventh WSOP and, as such, he's seen the annual tournament series change dramatically over time. We asked Wade to describe the atmosphere at this year's series in case you couldn't make it out: "I think the WSOP has a positive atmosphere around it this year. It's my seventh year coming to the WSOP and I feel like they are always trying to do a better job overall. There are some things they are changing and tweaking and other things the majority of us don't agree with, but hopefully we all can compromise as much as possible. They need us and we need them, theoretically."
Also making the final table of Event #11 was longtime PocketFives member Cal cal42688 Anderson (pictured), who finished eighth for $24,000. "I only played with him briefly, but from everything I saw, he played well," Wade said of Anderson's PLO skills. "It was apparent he knows what he is doing at the tables. We were both very short on chips, so we didn't have much room to maneuver."Wade is from Florida and was one of the millions of pros affected by the events of Black Friday. Since then, he's largely focused on improving his chops in the live arena: "Since Black Friday, I have stayed away from online poker. I miss it, but started traveling more to play live poker tournaments. I've enjoyed the break from the online poker grind as well. Recently, I've considered moving abroad to return to the online poker world. I will see how I feel after the WSOP; it might be time."
Nevada and Delaware appear to be just months away from offering legal online poker games in the United States. Would Wade pick up and move to either locale? "No, I don't think so," he assessed. "It really depends on how they would be operated and the benefits of playing on a website. If I could only play against people in that state, then I wouldn't care for that. It might take poker a long time to get regulated, especially the way it should be. As far as I'm concerned, there is only speculation about what will happen. I'm waiting to see what actually does happen."
PocketFives will continue to bring you interviews with top finishers at the 2012 WSOP.
