By
Dan |
Published
Nov 20 2008, 03:09 PM
On November 16th, while most of the attention of the online poker world was focused on the Main Event of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series, one PocketFiver was busy making his own waves in the site’s Sunday Mulligan. Sean TheBeing Golin scored just over $56,000 for his win. The Castle Rock, Colorado native has won the Fifty-Fifty on Full Tilt on several occasions before, but his win in the Mulligan marked his largest online score ever. Not a poker pro by trade, Golin works at a mutual fund firm in nearby Denver and sat down with PocketFives.com to talk about his win and poker career in general.
His most recent win in the Fifty-Fifty came back in February, when he pocketed $11,134 for his efforts. He’s also taken down a $55 buy-in event on Full Tilt Poker for $6,521. Given he’s had success in $50 buy-in tournaments before, he told PocketFives.com what it means to dominate the Sunday Mulligan, which comes with a $200+16 price tag: “I knew I could compete at the $50 level, but to play at the major level is great. I’ve been playing at the higher levels for less than a year. I’ve had some cashes, but no final tables like this.”
His run to the final table of the Sunday Mulligan began with about 100 players to go. He described the action as play wound down to the final table: “I went on a run of cards. I was the chip leader from about 107 to the end. I got in big pot late with two tables left against the chip leader at the time. I hit the nut flush on him with pocket kings against his set.” By virtue of winning that hand, his chip stack was boosted to over one million and second place held a mere 400,000. At the final table, he wavered between being the chip leader and being third in chips.
Down the stretch, he played big stack poker, stealing blinds and picking up pots wherever he could out-muscle his opponents. He told PocketFives.com, “During the later stages, it got easier just because I had a huge stack the whole time. Everyone folded to my raises and those pots added up quickly.”
Golin’s poker career began during his sophomore year of college on Empire Poker. He deposited $50 and headed for the $5 sit and go tournaments. He reminisced, “I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t even start winning until I joined PocketFives.com in June of 2007. Three months after I joined the site, I won the Fifty-Fifty.” Since then, he has amassed a sliding PLB score of over 1,400, good for the 93rd percentile on PocketFives.
PocketFives.com affords many players the opportunity to fine-tune their games. However, each user seeks out different pieces of information from the site. Golin noted what he was eyeing when he browsed the Poker Discussion Forum on the site: “Reading hand histories and people’s analysis helped me. When I first started, I never thought about things like position, value bets, and pot odds. That’s what I started picking up from PocketFives. I picked up on it quickly.”
On the Fifty-Fifty, I asked what about the tournament played to his style as a poker player. After all, a person winning it on more than one occasion means that they most likely have an edge. Golin explained, “I like the structure of the tournament. I wish you started with more chips, but the players are really weak and pretty aggressive. They don’t know what’s going on. The TAG style of play works really well in that tournament and in the Mulligan.”
One man who has had a high degree of success on Full Tilt Poker is World Poker Tour Bellagio Cup III champion Kevin BeL0WaB0Ve Saul. Currently at #13 on the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings, Saul was seated nearby Golin during the Sunday Mulligan. Golin praised Saul for his skills in general: “His success both live and online has been mind-blowing. His aggressiveness and decision-making help him win. I definitely respect his game.” Saul had two six-figure cashes during FTOPS IX.
Because of his more conventional job, Golin plays a few times per week and every Sunday. The Fifty-Fifty, as its name implies, is a $50 + $5 buy-in tournament with a $50,000 guaranteed prize pool. It takes place nightly at 9:30pm ET (21:30 ET) and first place pays at least $9,500. Satellites begin at $2.25. Check out the Full Tilt Poker lobby for more details.
Congratulations from all of us here at PocketFives.com to Sean TheBeing Golin for his marquee Sunday major win. We look forward to more big things from Golin in the future.
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