Interview: Chad Stoffel at the World Series of Poker

I’m doing a short series (which may end up being an article and a blurb) on local poker players playing in this years’ World Series of Poker.

For those of you not familiar with the event, the World Series of Poker is a tournament run by Harrah’s Entertainment each year which is largely considered one of the best and most prestigious tournaments around. Held at various casinos throughout Las Vegas, poker players who win WSOP events win a World Series ‘bracelet’ in addition to cash. Some people use these bracelets as a measuring tool for how good a poker player is. ESPN started showing the World Series of Poker on TV just a few years ago, and it has become one of the network’s biggest shows. Largely as a result of its TV popularity, WSOP attendance has skyrocketed in recent years, with over 7500 entrants expected to play in this years’ Main Event alone.

This years’ WSOP is on-going as we speak, and will end August 10 with the final table of the ‘Main Event,’ which is a $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas Hold’em tournament. This Main Event is the most prestigious tournament in the world, and the winner, besides hauling in $7.5 million, will instantly turn into a poker celebrity. ESPN will be showing taped coverage of the WSOP starting on July 18.

Today, we’re talking to Denver resident and poker player Chad Stoffel. Chad, 29, will be attending the 2006 World Series of Poker in event #17, which is the $1,000 no-limit hold’em event. Below is an abridged transcript of the conversation.

Denver Sports Zone: How long have you been playing poker?
Chad Stoffel: I’ve been playing for about 10 years. I first got serious about Texas Hold’em when the first World Poker Tour [WPT] came out on TV three or four years ago.. I had played hold’em in college, but we’d only play one hand at a time, and then we would move on to another game. So I never really learned about the nuances of hold’em until they played it on TV. After that, I picked up some books and really got into [hold’em].

DSZ: Is this your first WSOP?
CS: This is my first time at the World Series. I’ve been saving money since January for the trip to Vegas. I wired my $1,000 buy-in a few days ago. It’s going to be really a crap-shoot, because you don’t get much play out of the chips you get. The blind structure is the same for every event, even though the chips are different. On smaller events you need to get your hands early, and those hands need to hold up. If I made it through the first day, I’d be happy.

DSZ: Do you have any suggestions for players who are just getting started?
CS: If you’ve already played a little bit, the free online stuff is pretty good, but it gets obnoxious. Just for the play that you get to learn and the tournament structures, the Full Tilt one is pretty good. Buy some books if you’re getting started. The Dan Harrington books, volumes one through three are probably going to be the best for quite a while as far as tournament no-limit hold’em strategy and discussion. Then there’s Supersystem 2 by Doyle Brunson and Theory of Poker by David Sklansky. Small Stakes Hold’em by Ed Miller and David Sklansky is good for Colorado readers. It’s kind’ve related to what’s up in Blackhawk. But I did read the book and go up there [to Blackhawk] with $125 and lose it in an hour and a half, so you never know. DenverPoker.com is a good site for local users. It’s fairly active, but you’re not overwhelmed by trying to read all these posts. And they talk about the local stuff, so I definitely recommend that.

DSZ: Have you ever met any pros, and what will it be like playing with them at the WSOP?
CS: I haven’t played with any of them, thank God, because I’d be broke…but I was at the Golden Nugget heads up tournament in Vegas in March, which was an invite tournament of 64 of the best pros. So I was standing at the Golden Nugget watching a cash game at the poker room, where Brunson, Chang, Johnny Chan, Paul Phillips were all sitting. It was ridiculous. I asked the foreman what they were playing, and he said “anything they want.” They were playing $2,000/$4,000 blind limit. Each one of them had $100,000 on the table. Then later, Howard Lederer was in town for a conference, and I talked to him, asked him how he liked Denver, and he said, ‘oh yeah, I had a good time.’ So he likes our city.

I’m not sure how many of the pros are gonna waste their time on the $1,000 event. And the pot limit Omaha event is that Sunday, so if they’re playing in that, they won’t be there for the start of the $1,000. And then the H.O.R.S.E event starts. So I’m not sure how many pros are going to be in the $1,000 buy-in. But it would be cool. What I love about the game is that anybody can play and be up against the best. You can’t play Michael Jordan in a basketball game or John Elway in football. But in poker, you can sit next to ten of the best players in the world and try your shot at it. Doyle Brunson said, ‘it’s a lottery, the pros just have more tickets,’ aka more experience. So I’m starting out with my first ticket, and it’s a lottery, so we’ll see what happens.

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