D Ro Final Tables PokerStars Sunday $100 Rebuy
Last week, David D RoRowan (pictured) came away with a third place finish in the weekly PokerStars Sunday $100 Rebuy. The tournament drew more than 1,200 players and well over $400,000 was given out, nearly double the event’s guarantee. Rowan collected $41,000 as his reward and is nearing an amazing $2.5 million in tracked cashes in his PocketFives profile. How’d he do it? PocketFives virtually traveled to his home to find out.
The final table was full of veteran poker talent, including Sorel Imper1umMizzi, U.K. player Rick TheClaimeerTrigg, Germany’s pappadogg, and recent Triple Crownwinner LiroLa, several of whom are in the top rungs of the PocketFives Poker Rankings. “It was a tough table for sure,” Rowan said of the group. “I didn’t have any significant history with anybody. Sorel gave me a hard time three-handed and it seemed like I was always adjusting a second too late. Otherwise, I didn’t get into too many battles or confrontations.”
On his last hand, Rowan jammed his final 13 big blinds with Q-7 offsuit and received a call from an opponent with K-J in a blind-versus-blind confrontation. Rowan flopped a queen to grab an early lead, but his opponent hit Broadway on the river for the win. PokerStars member paulitschMCultimately took down the entire tournament for $76,000.
Also ongoing on PokerStars is the annual Spring Championship of Online Poker, or SCOOP. The series wraps up on May 20th and Rowan was looking forward to the “straightforward” events: “I’m looking forward to all of the regular and Turbo No Limit ones. I’m kind of put off by all the gimmicky stuff. I don’t mind rebuys and tournaments like that, but the Action Hour thing was ridiculous and a Super Knockout – I mean they’re cool and force you to adjust and all, but I think PokerStars would attract more players with more straightforward tournaments.”
Rowan had played in an Action Hour event just before PocketFives caught up with him and discussed why he wasn’t enamored with the structure: “Basically, there is and hour-long rebuy period that plays like a Turbo. Then, the blinds reset after the add-on. The last level in the rebuy is 150/300, and it typically resets to 40/80. Tonight, it reset to 5/10 and they didn’t miss a level from there.” Only one Action Hour tournament was on the 2012 PokerStars SCOOP docket.
The poker community has made significant adjustments following Black Friday in 2011. For Rowan, relocating and taking a staking deal were the consequences of the U.S. Department of Justice’s actions. “I took a staking deal after relocating,” Rowan recollected. “I’m looking to get back to playing on my own as soon as possible. I need to get my bankroll to a point where I feel I have a very small risk of ruin playing a normal high-stakes MTT schedule full-time.”
He added, “This year, I’m looking forward to getting back to playing on my own dime and always striving to find the life/poker balance.”
Besides SCOOP and the one-year anniversary of Black Friday, one of the other hot topics in the poker community right now is the rumored PokerStars purchase of Full Tilt Poker, which neither party has commented on officially. “It seems like everyone wins if it happens,” Rowan observed. “It was definitely pretty low on the list of possible scenarios I pictured playing out. The GBT deal seemed promising. It seemed like the only option on the table, so of course I was optimistic about it.”
Other recent scores for Rowan include a second place finish in the PokerStars Bigger $162 for $32,000 and a win in the site’s $109 Cubed for $11,000. He’s at #190 worldwide in the Rankings and has been a card-carrying member of PocketFives since 2007.
