By
Lenny
Ken “isuck123” Goldin has had his fair share of success online, but up until recently, the live arena had not been particularly kind to him. Last Sunday, he entered the main event of the WSOP Circuit even in Atlantic City, and he was a man on a mission. Goldin said of his approach to this tournament, “My entire tournament strategy was that I wanted to make it to the final table of a live main event. Once I got there, I could go ballistic and win the damn thing, but first I had to get there."
Isuck123 has always maintained a passion for poker and a high regard for the online community. That and strong play at the tables has earned him the respect of his peers, as well as this writer. That made it all the more exciting for those on the “virtual rail,” who followed his progress deep in this event.
With most of the poker world focused on the WPT event in Vegas, Ken Goldin decided to stay close to home and take his shot at the WSOP Circuit event.
"I felt that my online game was the best it has been all year, even better than this spring when I was running hot. I decided to play the Circuit event because I was confident in my game, and with a lot of the bigger names in Vegas, it was my best shot to make a main event final table.”
Day one on Sunday was a mere 13 hours of poker, and isuck123 spent his time well, accumulating chips and ending the day 3rd overall with 95,000, just a few chips behind 2nd place. Early on Day 2, he continued to chip up, reaching 117,000 before he lost one big pot.
“I folded AK on a K high, rainbow board. My opponent check-raised me all-in, and at the time I was 3rd in chips and he was 4th. I was pretty sure he had either a set or AA for an overpair. I folded AK face up, which raised some eyebrows. I had already decided to play a little tighter than I had on Day 1.”
Later that day, isuck123 was moved to one of the toughest tables of the tournament. With Victor Ramdin, Brian Strahl, and Matt Glantz at his table, Goldin had some real competition. He stuck with his conservative approach and played stack preservation most of the day. “Ramdin went through his whole thought process out loud," Ken told me, "which surprised me. It wasn't like we were on TV and he had to sell himself."
Day 2 saw the money bubble burst fairly early with 27 players getting paid, but they were also playing down to the final nine, even if they had to play all night.
“We went from 27 to 18 pretty steadily, and then 18 to 15 very fast. Once we were short handed on two tables, it took forever to get down to the final 9. We were playing 5 and 6 handed for what seemed like forever. Finally we got down to 10 and we were moved to one table, but we still had to eliminate one more.”
Luckily for Ken, that “one more” was Brain Strahl, and the TV final table was set, which allowed him to finally go get some well earned rest. They had played more than 14 hours of poker that day!
Tuesday, the final table began play at a comfortable 2pm with a lot of short stacks. Goldin came in as the shortest of those, but there were 8 other players between 100k and 215k.
“It was almost a race for second at that point, but I’ve won tournaments after coming in as the short stack,” he said of his outlook going into Day 3. “Once I got to the final table, I feel I was the most willing to go out at any time. The money went up considerably, but I was playing without fear. I re-shoved the chip leader at one point and got a lot of strange looks.”
Ken “isuck123” Goldin’s aggressive play on Day 1 and patience on Day 2 got him to the final table. Unfortunately, he didn’t end up with a win, but 5th place and $69,000 is nothing to sneeze at. He said this of how he felt after the tournament, “Certainly a great experience. Honestly it's given me the confidence that I can go to Vegas next June and final table at least one WSOP event. I also want to go to more Circuit events. I think it's a great structure, and I want to go for it again.”
Ken recently avoided the “online death” of his isuck123 moniker by contributing enough points to the Old Guys team in the Battle of the Ages II, which has been a very entertaining contest for Pocketfivers and online players everywhere. So isuck123 is here to stay, and with newfound confidence in his live play Ken Goldin is looking to make more headlines in the near future. Of his plans for the coming year he had this to say, “I think I have improved my game enough that I can be confident at any table no matter who is there. I really feel I can win one of these damn things in 2007.”