We are catching up with the Season 4 champions at the season-ending WPTDeepStacks Championship to get their thoughts on the title they won this season, and hear what they think about this $2,500 buy-in Main Event as well as all the festivites surrounding it to finish the year in style.
Rex Clinkscales (en la foto) ya tenía una impresionante colección de resultados en eventos WPTDeepStacks before the start of Season 4, but he took things to the next level this year, and has all but locked up the Season 4 WPTDeepStacks Player of the Year award. Clinkscales topped a field of 704 players to take home the WPTDeepStacks Tampa Main Event title back in June (pictured below), and he scored $162,354 in prize money. Clinkscales became the first two-time champion in the history of the tour a few stops later when he topped a field of 412 players to win the Battle of Alberta Edmonton Main Event (pictured above), which was good for $65,147. In addition to securing his run to the POY title, Clinkscales will be looking to add to his career earnings of $1,307,648 here in Northern California.
Pilas profundas de WPT: Con el don de la retrospectiva, ¿qué significa para ti ser el primer bicampeón en la historia del Tour?
Balanzas de tintineo: "It's really cool. I'm glad to be the only player to accomplish that so far. There are a lot of great players that play so somebody else will catch me soon. Hopefully I can make it three in the championship."
Pilas profundas de WPT: You have been the dominant factor in the Player of the Year race for most of the season. Has your spot at the top of those standings factored into your play and decisions down the home stretch of the season?
Balanzas de tintineo: "Crazy things can happen in poker. Somebody could catch me, it's unlikely, but you can't take it for granted. You just have to play your best and sneak into the money."
Pilas profundas de WPT: How was your experience at the Season 4 Champions Dinner?
Balanzas de tintineo: "That was a whole lot of fun. The staff here is great at Thunder Valley, I like the property. I was able to bring my mom, and my girlfriend. I really enjoyed it, it was a great atmosphere. I had a lot of friends there, I enjoyed it."
Pilas profundas de WPT: Fue un año loco para ti tanto dentro como fuera del campo. Ganaste dos títulos, te quedaste atrapado en Houston durante el huracán, el evento de Immokalee que planeabas jugar fue cancelado por otro huracán. ¿Cómo mantienes tu enfoque en el póquer cuando tu vida se está volviendo loca de esa manera?
Balanzas de tintineo: "This whole year has been a whirlwind. I was actually here playing the WPT Rolling Thunder in March, and I was going to fly to Calgary right after for your event, but I didn't have my passport. I flew back home and my house had been robbed, and my passport was stolen so I didn't get to make the trip to Calgary. And as far as the hurricane, my daughter lives in South Texas so we were down there, and they we went to Houston and we were stuck in the flood for a few days. And then I planned on going to Immokalee after I won in Tampa but it was cancelled by the other hurricane. At one point I had only played two events this season, but I won both of them. So then I went to Oklahoma and bricked out. I've only played three events this season, but I've had some good success."
Pilas profundas de WPT: ¿Los locos acontecimientos de la vida te ayudaron a poner el póquer en perspectiva?
Balanzas de tintineo: "I just take it as it comes. There's a lot of things in life we can't control, just like poker. You can't control the cards. You play one hand after another and just move on."