Chris Bjorin: “You're Only as Good as Your Last Tournament”

“You're only as good as your last tournament,” Bjorin told PokerListings.com in Las Vegas.

It's an attitude that has to be tough in a game where you're expecting to brick more than half the tournaments you play.

Bjorin has recorded 62 WSOP cashes in his career, the fifth-most in poker history. He's won two bracelets and earned over $5.5 million.

In fact, Bjorin has cashed at the World Series every single year since 1994.

All that has been more than enough to make him the number one all-time Swedish money winner, and it's not even close. He's more than $2 million ahead of his nearest competition, Martin De Knijff.

So, if a legacy was enough to keep you at the top of the game Bjorin would have a lifetime ticket.

But so far in 2013 the Swede has been struggling. He's only cashed once, a 23rd-place finish in the $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo event.

Last year Bjorin cashed seven times for a combined total of $321,630 and he came painfully close to his third bracelet.

“You need patience in these tournaments. Sometimes you have the patience and sometimes you don't,” Bjorin pontificated.

“When things go your way the feeling is great but that hasn't been the case for me this year.”

Bigger Fields, Tougher Tables than Back in the Day

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Chris Bjorin has been on a cold streak so far in 2013.

 

When Bjorin got started in the early '90s the poker world was still in its infancy. To put it in perspective, the 1994 Main Event only had 215 players.

“When I started you knew 90 per cent of the people playing at the World Series but now you feel like you don't know anyone at your tables,” said Bjorin.

For the professionals like Bjorin it's a double-edged sword.

“The bigger fields mean you can win more money if you're lucky but if things don't go your way it's more expensive than it used to be,” he said.

But unlike a large part of the old guard, Bjorin is staying competitive in a game where the standard of play has become astronomical.

The secret to his success can be found by examining his WSOP cashes. The majority of them are in non-Hold'em events.

“In Hold'em the new generation is very, very good but in other games it's still possible to beat them,” Bjorin explained.

But Bjorin understands that mixed games are becoming more and more common, and players are getting better and better. You can't stay ahead of the game by standing still.