The winner of the Welsh Amateur Poker Championship was Lee Mulligan from Southampton. He kindly gave us some time to answer some questions for APAT members:TightEnd: Tell us about yourself...
Lee Mulligan: I'm originally from the Blackpool area, but live down in Southampton as I'm in the Army. I have a wife, Lucy, and two toddlers - Jay (3) and Ellis (19 months). Work and family keep me busy, so Poker is my time to switch off and chill out.
TE: How did you hear about APAT?
LM: I saw an article pre-launch on Inside Edge's website. I joined straight away! I was back from Iraq and looking for cheap, large field tournaments with deep stacks and slow clocks.
TE: What is your poker background?
LM: I played various versions over the years, but only really started playing in about Feb 06. I dabbled online play money games, then realised I would not get a serious game and so moved onto MTT's. It really took off when I deployed to Iraq/Qatar in June 06. I bought Harrington on Hold Em, read it on the flight out and was really lucky to find that the US Forces had 120 player tournaments every couple of days. They are mad about their poker and there were some good players - and a couple of guys that were previously dealers in Vegas.. From there on in I was hooked on live poker. I have played loads of internet poker, but have never set the world alight and have now decided only to play the APAT online events.
TE: What are your major poker achievements?LM: The APAT Welsh Open! I must have played about 20 tournaments in Iraq and final tabled 90% of the time - of which I won 4 times. It was great - free entry and $150 of the US tax-payers money each time!
TE: Tell us about your thoughts on the structure of the competition?
LM: Fantastic! I hate internet poker because I'm always racing the 15 minute clocks and don't get time to pick my space for a fight. In APAT you can happily lay a good hand down, forget it and reassure yourself that another will be along in the next level or two.
TE: Did you have any particular strategy entering the competition?
LM: I had nightmares about getting AA/KK and pushing early on and getting busted - so I prayed not to get them! But my only real overall strategy was to play tight and survive day one. I knew that if I got any good hands I would have to play them aggressively and hope to get some value. I was amazed to get through day one, as it felt like a bit of a bloodbath at times. I knew day two would be the day to start thinking of attacking, but I really did not expect to get there.
TE: You ended the first day amongst the shorter-stacks of the 32 remaining players. What were your thoughts entering the second day? What realistic expectations did you have?
LM: At the start of the day I was nervous and didn't hold out much hope. My only positives were that I have always been extremely short stacked prior to winning a tourney. I expected to be out before the bubble. I was fortunate as there were several short stacks on my table. I wanted to push with a decent holding, but did not really get anything early so had to let the blinds go by. Once I hit 20000 chips I knew I had to do something. Nothing was coming, so I decided to go against all my beliefs and attack another short stack with 7h 3h. I got lucky and then kept attacking the other short stacks. After that it was a case of attack relentlessly and “Death or Glory” was on my mind a lot of the time. I wasn't interested in the bubble, but once I got through it the pressure came off. I decided that I had some money and I should play for the win.TE: You must talk us through your call in the big blind with 54 (for all your chips!) against Linda’s push with eleven players left?!
LM: She had played as a rock but suddenly began getting greedy and bullying. I took a look at her and decided she had nothing. I nearly fell over when I saw she had 9/10!!! But I looked down and saw 4 sp 5 sp. I decided that I had plenty of outs and that as I thought Linda had nothing that it would be any 2 live cards. I knew that if I doubled up it would pull me clear of the push fest too and that the win would become realistic. I had a gut instinct and 'death or glory' was rattling in my head along with 'play to win'. I really wasn't interested on losing £450 if I didn't hit the final table.
TE: After that hand you entered the final as the chip leader, yet blinds were big. The draw put you
alongside Roberto Romanello. You must have been quietly confident by this stage?LM: No! I have never really handled being chip leader all that well. I must thank Chris Barnes though because I was going on a rampage and he reminded me I didn't have to personally knock everyone out. It was the voice of reason that warned me to cool it. Thanks Chris! I was also genuinely fearful of Mark Donnelly and Roberto. I'd not been able to get any reads of Mark on a previous table or any chips - he's one hell of a player! I was also worried about Roberto as he had so many chips and you can see he knows what he's doing. If I hadn't been able to get any chips off him the table beforehand on a big hand then I would have been petrified of entering a pot with him.
TE: Then Roberto pushed for all his chips and you looked down at?
LM: Ah Kh! I could not believe my luck. I took a look at Roberto and knew he had something big. I knew that even though I had him covered, I'd be dead in the water if I lost. I'd tried baiting him to call in the previous big hand by telling him whoever won the hand could win, so he should call me. I thought back to that, and again 'Play to win' came to mind. It was only fair that I should follow my own advice from previous. Thankfully he didn't have pockets and nothing came on the board for him.
TE: So now we are three handed, you pick up J10 in the small blind, you raise, Graham pushes all-in. What are you thinking? How do you work out to call?LM: Graham had changed gears amazingly and was storming in 3 handed, but I had an inkling that he had been bluffing on several hands. Originally I thought he might have a decent holding, but I thought I'd leave him to sit for a while. He was just too cool and calm for my liking. I also asked for a chip count. I thought he had me covered as I'd only just made a bit of a comeback and he had been chip leader. I took a double take when he told me he only had about 400k. It meant I could lose and still have 350 k to go on the attack. I also figured that J/10 suited was strong 3 handed and it also gave me loads of outs. I was relieved to see his holding! I have to say that it was a really gutsy play by him at that stage of the competition. It shows that he was doing the right thing and playing to win.
TE: After the one heads-up Hand you triumph. Now after the event what are your thoughts on the weekend? More importantly, can you get the time off work to go to Dortmund?
LM: It was amazing! It was one of the best days of my life.. I really enjoyed the poker but was especially impressed by the organisation and staff. I really loved playing against good players who, at the same time, were decent people. I feel I have made some good friends.My work roster was massively shaken up but I am now confirmed for Dortmund! I'm a little nervous in anticipation of all these Scandinavians I have heard about. I know they're barking mad at the best of times, so can't imagine them at a poker table! I just hope to give all the APAT members a good showing and just pray I don't bust out early. After that I'm playing to win.
TE: Thanks for your time!
LM: You’re welcome.