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Today in the 3-Bet we find 2014 WCOOP Main Event winner Fedor Holz showing the power of believing in yourself, Daniel Rudd sneaks under the radar to a $770k payday and the power of the bacon jacket gets tested.
1) Holz: I Believed from Beginning
Think Lee Davy was kidding around in the latest article of his "Success Principles of Poker" series?
If you missed it last week Davy explored an often overlooked part of a poker player's arsenal that several pros, including Daniel Negreanu, Andrew Lichtenberger and Bryn Kenney, have taken to heart lately.
The idea? That the key to winning in poker is not just thinking you might - it's believing that you will.
Add 2014 WCOOP Main Event champion Fedor "CrownUpGuy" Holz to the growing list of poker players who live by that maxim.
The 21-year-old, who's only been playing poker seriously for three years but is already a major player in the staking game, outlasted 2,142 players to claim $1.3 million in the WCOOP ME last night.
As he told the PokerStars blog, it was an essential part of his mindset:
"I believed in it from the beginning. I think a big part of success is having the right mind-set. When I struggled I motivated myself by watching motivational videos and I got right back into it.
"Believing in yourself and making the right decisions is the key to winning, in my opinion."
Hard to argue with the results. Read the full interview after his win here; find out more about Holz and his inspiring background/attitude here.
2) Rudd Goes About His Business, Pockets $770k
Much to do was made about the big names battling it out on the WCOOP Main Event final table last night, and rightly so.
Viktor "Isildur1" Blom was there (albeit briefly). Faraz Jaka was there. Dylan Hortin - who final tabled the WCOOP Main Event last year, amazingly - was there. So was Elior Sion.
The only name no one was talking about? The ever-so-understated and innocently named 19Dan86, who quietly went about his business getting to the final table, chopping six-handed and claiming, oh, just $769,813.52.
So who is 19Dan86? That would be Daniel Rudd, one of the best poker players in England and an online cash-game specialist who's only recently dabbled a bit more in tournaments.
Writer Lee Davy just happened to catch up with him while on a break at WPT Cyprus last month and talked about this very thing - why no one knows his name or pays him much mind, but he just keeps on crushing poker on his own terms.
To us that sounds like Rudd has things figured out just fine. Congrats to him on an impressive showing. Follow him on Twitter here.
3) The Power of the Bacon Jacket
Can a truly hideous bacon-graphic sports jacket help you win pots?
The idea was floated on the latest episode of Poker Night in America thanks to the jacket's owner, Tom Schneider, generously sharing his threads with Gavin Smith and Danielle Anderson.
The results? See for yourself:
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