No, it’s not Brian Wilson, but an enthusiastic and ambitious Canadian player by the name of Jonathan Plens, whom we first encountered during that whirlwind tour of Europe earlier this year. His nickname isn’t the only thing he shares with Wilson, but a continent too… although there are a few dissimilarities in their style of play (hint: his final table heads up battle lasted over four hours).
It’s great when players get in touch with us live updaters, even when it’s to tell us that we were a little wide of the mark with a couple of details concerning a final table… In Austria, we were hard pressed to see what was going on for much of the time, and Jonathan sent us this remarkable first-hand account of it, to fill in some of the blanks. You might remember him playing hand after hand with Sigi Stockinger, pushing the conclusion of the EWSOP well into the next day, and eventually seeing the local player take the title. Who needs hole-card cams when you get the finalists telling it their way – here’s Jonathan Plens:
My name is Jonathan Plens (or 'the rookie' as I'm known at a poker club known as 'The Office' that I play at) from Mississauga, Canada and I've been playing poker for about three years. I recently started to play online for the sole purpose of gaining entry into some larger tournaments. Two months later I qualified for the EWSOP and the Party Poker Million V. As you know I was able to place second which was an incredible experience for me. And since it was difficult to see what was going on due to the elevated stage I can share some interesting hands and experiences I had in the tournament and at the final table.
My main strategy was to conserve my chips while winning small pots on the flop using my position and ideal situations. Due to the amount of chips we were each given, I was simply trying to lay traps and avoid big confrontations with marginal holdings. The strategy worked as I was never in any danger of elimination and doubled up at two key times. It's not exciting but seemed to be effective tight play.
One key hand which might interest you was between myself and Manuela who was chip leader at the time on the second day. She had around 210 000 chips and I had around 110 000 chips. Blinds were around 500/1000 and I raised her big blind to 5000 from the puck with pocket tens. She re-raised to 10 000 with AT. I called for implied odds and hoping to double up through her. The flop came A T 3 rainbow....with a J! The dealer dealt a four card flop. A flop which would have seen her lose a lot of chips. The ruling was that since the dealer couldn't determine, although everyone at the table knew, which card was supposed to be a burn card, the entire flop was dealt back in. It brought no action, but left me spinning for the rest of the day as I could have easily been chip leader after that.
The final day found me at the final table. I was third in chips to start the day at close to 400 000. I folded for almost two hours to allow the short stacks time to eliminate themselves and move up in the standings and money which was very important to me in my first major event. I lost a quarter of my stack to antes and must have looked like a mouse but 6th and 5th were eliminated during that time. That brings us to the hand you referred to in your article, but it was Tim Krank's AT (or AQ I can't remember) vs. Ernst's KK all-in pre-flop. Ersnt flopped a set which almost sealed Tim's fate which is why you saw me get up and cheer (and assumed I was in the hand) because I would have been guaranteed 3rd. But he made running flush which left me in a bit of shock. I cheered because I would have been guaranteed 3rd but also, Tim had an annoying habit of doubling up the short stacks, including Sigi who would go on to win.
After I was guaranteed third, and as you accurately heard a deal was struck, I quickly shifted gears from the mouse to a hyper aggressive player and I think it caught the remaining two players a bit off guard. I flopped a set against Ernst, betting it the whole way with pot sized bets. Instead of going for a value bet on the river I pushed 400 000 all-in into a 200 000 pot thinking he wasn't holding much and would only call if he thought I was bluffing.
The heads up confrontation between myself and Sigi Stockinger lasted 4.5 hours. It wasn't very exciting from the crowds point of view but my strategy was to win. The tale of the final table was all pre-flop action with only a few big hands taking place after the flop. I raised about 90% of all hands from the puck always twice the big blind. So when he came over the top I would fold and only have to win the next steal attempt to break even. In turn he raised most of the time from the puck but about 5 times the big blind. A number which, when I came over the top and took it down, left him needing to win his next 4 steal attempts to break even. My strategy worked. I was attempting to lure him into playing out of position while avoiding that trap myself. There was 2.4 million chips in play and over a 4.5 hour period whittled him down to 400 000 chips on four different occasions.
I had trouble finishing him. And he came back into it with key double ups on a few occasions. Especially when, 45 minutes into the final table action, in what I have to assume was frustration at my pre-flop style, he came over the top with A3 suited all-in but I was holding KK. I started the hand with 1.6 million in chips and he had 700 000. He made the flush on the turn and I went back to grinding away at him. Late in the battle with the blinds at 30 000/60 000 a couple of slip-ups left me in trouble for the first time, and as short stack from the puck (about 450 000 chips) I pushed with A6 suited but ran into his pocket sixes. I couldn't find that ace which earlier saved him. But I am thrilled at my result and can't wait for my next chance to enter a big tournament!
Regards,
Jonathan Plens a.k.a 'The Rookie'
Canada