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Woods watches and learns, wins first WSOP title14 June 2011Three nights ago, Darren Woods was inconspicuously watching the final table of the $3,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em tournament (Event #14). His friend, Canadian poker pro Tyler Bonkowski, sat among the final nine. Bonkowski ended up winning the tournament and his first WSOP gold bracelet. As photographers snapped pictures and media swarmed around the new poker champion, Woods sat quietly off to the side, absorbing the moment and taking everything in. As it turned out, Bonkowski’s early victory was merely a dress rehearsal for what was to come later. Woods pretty much saw how things were done. So, the following day he returned to the Rio Las Vegas, posted the $2,500 buy-in, blitzed through a 354-player field, and captured his very first WSOP victory. On Monday night, just as Woods was rising from the final table he had conquered, he nodded to the very same members of the press and staff he had seen a few days earlier. Only this time, Woods wasn’t window dressing in a background shot. He was cast in the feature role. "We haven’t made any final tables in our life, I don’t think," Woods said of himself and Bonkowski. "Then, he makes one and wins, and then I make one and I win. It’s amazing.” Woods won the $2,500 buy-in Six-Handed Limit Hold’em Championship. He collected $213,431 in prize money. "I feel like I have a bigger chance in the Limit tournaments," said Woods. "I played No-Limit a hell of a lot as well, but if you lose one coin flip in NoLimit or just one bad beat or one bad call, that’s it -- you’re out. Where as in Limit poker there’s a lot more play involved and you don’t have to be 100 percent accurate. If you get bad beat then here’s still more hands as long as you play sensibly. You’re never going to lose all your chips on one bad beat, should you have a decent stack.” With his victory, Woods became the third British player to win a gold bracelet at this year’s WSOP. With this year’s WSOP barely two weeks done, England is back on pace to outdo its performance last year, when there were five British gold bracelet champions. The latest winner, Woods, is a 26-year-old poker pro from Grimsby, U.K. He previously worked as an accountant. Woods started playing online poker about five years ago and gradually discovered he was making more money playing what was a hobby than his real occupation. This was the third year Woods has attended the WSOP. Up to this point, he had four career cashes, all of which took place last year. Woods also cashed in the 2010 Main Event Championship (556th place). The final table enjoyed some added drama, fueled by the appearance of Kim Nguyen, who was hoping to become the first female poker player to win an open event in three years. Nguyen, a San Diego, Calif., resident, had the best chance of any female so far this year. Although Maria Ho finished second two weeks ago, Nguyen was in a much better position based on her chip count to break the invisible gender barrier that has been cast over WSOP final results since 2008. But Woods, who later revealed he's a heads-up specialist when playing online, proved too tough, and Nguyen had to settle for a $131,900 consolation prize. Samuel Golbuff of Albuquerque, N.M. was third, Moscow natives Alexander Kuzmin and Andrey Zaichenko finished fourth and fifth, respectively, and French pro Gabriel Nassif was sixth. The top 36 finishers collected prize money. Matt Matros (New York, N.Y.), who won the $1,500 Limit Hold’em event last year and finished in 11th in the same event this year, finished 12th. Tournament summary provided by Nolan Dalla, WSOP Media Director, reprinted by permission. |