P0KERPR033 and mattg1983: From Obscurity to Greatness
Back in November, 2005, two relatively unknown players in the online poker world met heads up in the $100 rebuy on PokerStars. They also discussed a chop, although they could not reach an agreement. Since that day, the two have evolved into the very best in online poker. This past Sunday, they dominated once again. James “P0KERPR033” Campbell took down the Sunday Million on PokerStars, while Matt “mattg1983” Graham grabbed second in the Full Tilt $750k Guaranteed.
Campbell comments on his win in the Sunday Million: “This is by far the biggest win I have ever had. I have had so much success without the ‘big’ score; I didn't know when it would happen. It was a relief to get the monkey off my back. When the tournament ended, I was still kind of in shock. I really couldn't believe I outlasted over 7,100 players. The PokerStars Million was always a tournament I basically dreamed about winning and I finally accomplished that goal. It still really hasn't set in yet.” Campbell entered the final table third in chips, but had to tighten up due to aggressive play at the table and eventually found himself in sixth. He would gain plenty of chips back on the following hand: “I had Q-10 in the small blind and about 13 million chips. It was folded around to me and I shoved the big blind all in because he only had about 4 million. He was short and was playing relatively tight. He woke up with pocket kings and the flop was jack high. I caught running tens to knock that player out in fifth and put me in contention to win.”
Three handed, Campbell accumulated more chips to set up for the win: “I was in the small blind with pocket sixes, made a standard raise, and big blind shoved all in. He had been over-betting and constantly shoving all in whenever I had raised. I was pretty sure his range was wide open and, at that point, I was playing to win. I decided to call and he flipped over A-7. I flopped a six and that, basically, was the nail in the coffin. After that hand, I was able to cruise to the win.” Campbell cashed for $180,000 and can now buy a Cadillac Escalade he has had his eyes set on.
When asked to comment on Graham’s play, Campbell responded: “Matt is one of my favorite players. He’s a great player whose game I have a great deal of respect for. He is relentless and picks his spots wisely. He is truly one of the best players on the Internet and is someone I never want to see on my left. Great job at Full Tilt.” Graham cashed for $93,879 for his second place on Full Tilt. Heading into the final table, Graham (pictured at left) was immediately involved: “I had 1.3 million chips coming into the final table. Right off the bat, I raised the button with 10-8 and the big blind, which had about 1.2 million, called. The flop came 8-J-K with a heart draw. He checked and I bet half the pot, only to be quickly min-raised. I almost folded, but decided to lose my mind and three bet here. My opponent called and the turn came a brick. At this point, he had almost exactly the pot left in his stack. He checked to me and, after a short pause, I decided to make this guy call off his chips with a healthy stack so close to huge money. I shoved and he folded pretty quickly. This pot was a huge turning point, as I had a substantial chip lead that I was able to use to build chips slowly throughout the final table.”
On his heads up play, Graham comments. “I was pretty disappointed simply because I started heads up play with a 3:1 deficit and turned it to a 2:1 advantage. At that point, I really thought I had it, so taking second was disappointing. My opponent was over-betting a lot and I just didn’t have anything I could possibly call with.” His largest cashes up until Sunday were a $26,000 chop in the $100 rebuy and a $36,000 finish in the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event. He’ll use some of his $93,879 for new furniture for his brand new home.
The two online poker unknowns that met heads up in November, 2005 have since entrenched themselves as two of the best players anywhere. Congratulations to James “P0KERPR033” Campbell on winning the PokerStarsSunday Million and to Matt “mattg1983” Graham for finishing second in the Full Tilt $750k. We look forward to continued success from each of you.
