I especially wanted support him as Lawrence called me continually to get updates, when Nick "The Shrew"Whiten made his first major uk final at the Vic Club in March. Lawrence is a genuine guy, he travels the globe in search of respect in the poker world. He is mild mannered, but aggressive at the table. He is a prepared to gamble and revles in being the "table captain", he want to be the player who is making the action. I have played with him many times, and clashed with him on many occasions, but he is one of the real top blokes on the poker circuit. When and since Lawrence won today, he has accepted his prize modestly and graciously, showing little emotion, but I know HOW MUCH this actually means to him. Anyone that would travel to remote places to get a few extra European ranking points at obscure tournaments is saying, I want to be respected as one of the best poker players around. This is why I am so chuffed that he won, because I know he will be so proud of that bracelet, and the prize money, although nice, is only the icing on the cake.
I also loved the fact that when someone suggested to him that he should go and wear a certain web sites t-shirt for $10k, he said XXXX off. How refreshing in an environment when money is king and players are manipulated by a few quid (these sites only want to talk to them when they are in the final, not support them before they get there).
Lawrence's win today is the perfect example of what you need to win a tournament on one given day - you need to play exceptionally well according to your chip position and the players at your table, but you also cannot win a tournament without getting lucking at least once. When Lawrence moved in with 2c2d and the BB called with KhKs, Lawrence faced elimination in 4th place. However, he sat there, cool as a cucumber, while "Neverwin" (what a nickname!) got out of his seat and put his head in hands preying for his 90% favourite to hold up. I was sure he was going to outdraw him and this was not the end of his tournament. When the flop came 3 clubs, giving Lawrence 12 outs I was shocked a 2 hadn't come, however the hands became almost equal in win probability after the flop, and when that Qc came on the turn Lawrence showed no emotion, jus collected the chips like he had won a pot in the 20 re-buy at Gala. This was the key hand of the final for him but I was so impressed by his composure. We bought the dealer who dealt the flush a couple of drinks afterwards and he said he also had a feeling that the KK was going to lose, we all did, it was weird, normally when your mate has his back against the wall, you think the worst, but for some strange reason, there was a feeling across the whole room that the 22 were going to win, even when the club came on the turn there was no gasp of surprise which you normally happens in these final occasions.
It's almost like it was destiny for Lawrence to win today, imagine if Carlo had incorrectly called the 3 way all-in with his QQ, this would have changed the whole game, and the 22 v KK would never have happened, as Carlo would have eliminated "Neverwin" and became chip leader himself. I just think today the Poker Gods said, Mr Gosney, you are an excellent player, you have paid your dues to poker, you've had enough near misses, its your day, son, enjoy it. That's the thing about poker, its unpredictable, and any player can win on a specific day, but Lawrence has worked hard for a win like this, its deserved, he played great poker.
It's the $3000 NL tomorrow, I asked Lawrence if he was playing and he replied immediately, no, then paused and said, $3000 no limit eh.maybe!
