It’s every poker player’s dream to be heads-up on a WSOP final table

POKERPLAYER: The $1,5000 event was huge – how did you navigate your way through so many people?

JAMES AKENHEAD: I took each day as it came. Day one went quickly and I had no trouble controlling the table, but we played for 15 hours on both the second day and the final day, which was a real test of stamina and experience. Adrenaline kept me going...

PP: During one hand late on, you lost a crucial pot with a flopped set against a flush draw for a monster pot. Mike Ngo, who folded his hand, started to call for your opponent to hit. What happened?

JA: I raised in early position with 9-9 and was called by both blinds, with Mike Ngo in the small blind. The flop was Q♥-J♠-9♠ and Mike led out, only for the big blind to raise all-in for 200k! I made a swift call out of my 250k stack, Mike passed, and the BB turned over A♠- 3♠ for a flush draw.

This pot was around 500,000 and the average stack was under 100k! As the turn came down I looked up and saw Mike Ngo pretty much on top of his chair screaming for a spade! My attention was split between focusing on what the river would bring and why this kid was calling for a spade.

The 10â™  hit and it just took off. I mean, if this guy was a close mate of the big blind or had swapped a percentage with him then it would be a little explainable but he had never spoke to this guy in his life.

PP: When you got heads-up, you raised virtually every single button and seemed to be gaining the upper hand. Any regrets about how it turned out?

JA: It’s every poker player’s dream to be heads-up on a WSOP final table. Grant went into the match with a big chip lead but... I managed to take the lead away by being aggressive. At the break Grant’s brother told him to shove all-in with any two cards the next time I re-raised him from the big blind and he did – the fact that I was destroying him made him stick his whole tournament on the line with 10-4.

The result was out of my control (the board came 10-10-4-10-x) and I regret playing an all-in pot pre-flop, but his actions left me with no choice.

PP: Have you exceeded your expectations?

JA: I had a lot of confidence, but I definitely exceeded my expectations. I’ve since gone on to chop a $2k event at the Bellagio; I feel like I’m playing the best poker of my life.