Interview with WCOOP Super High Roller winner bencb
We chat with the only man who could beat Fedor Holz and he did it in the biggest buy-in tournament in history for $1,172,360.60.
Why did you play the $102,000 Super High Roller as its obviously a very tough field? What made you think you had an edge?
bencb: The fact that most players didn't know anything about me and my game gave me a little advantage I think. I expected that the field would be very small and hence the tournament would be more or less a multi table sit and go with a very common payout structure for me. Nevertheless, it was a very tough, if not the toughest tournament ever.
We know you mostly as a SNG/Hyper regular, what type of player does the WCOOP Super High Roller suit more? Obviously there were high stakes cash guys and live Super High Roller MTT regulars in this event too and it perhaps seemed more suited to them?
bencb: The early game when playing more than 100bb does apparently suit the cash game guys more than MTT or SNG grinders. Yet most of the time average stack sizes were around 50 big blinds. But I really enjoy playing more deepstacked as well, but since I am not playing it regularly, guys like 'otb_redbaron' or 'Trueteller' definitely had an edge on me when playing deepstacked. 

In general I would say it more suits the cash game guys even though they might make some mistakes here and there when playing shorter stack sizes. But I have to mention that they are really good at adapting when it comes to shorter stacks. For example 1-2 years ago I saw many cash game regulars doing horrible mistakes when playing shortstacked. But these days, especially all the Super High roller Regulars, are able to play their shortstack very well.
"I watched Mercier's Twitch stream"
Did you watch either of the two streams by Doug Polk and Jason Mercier? How did they inform your decisions?

bencb: I watched the Jason Mercier's stream since he was on my table. It did not really affect my decisions though. He busted quite early anyway, so I couldn't turn it to my advantage.
You stay under-the-radar compared to the streamer guys, do you think being anonymous is an important trait at high stakes? How minus EV is it to stream an event with such a small field?
bencb: To be honest, I haven't really thought about it yet. But I don't think its -EV to stream. You will definitely play with more focus and bring your best A-Game to the table. It really depends how you use your own image and how your opponents perceive you.
But I think everyone in a 100k Super High Roller will play with 100% focus and bring their best game to the table so it's not a big difference.
Did the size of the buy-in have any impact on your decisions? Was it tougher/more pressure?
bencb: In the beginning I definitely felt more pressure than usual. Especially competing with the best in the world and standing my ground at all costs created the pressure. But it didn't have any impact on my decisions. I just stuck to my game and if I felt a certain play might work I went for it. After a couple of hands I got used to it.
"Fedor is the #1 MTT player in the world"
Is Fedor as good as his recent run of results suggest?
bencb: He is definitely one of the best tournament players in the world. No sorry, he is the number one. And not just because of his recent success. I would have said the same if he had not won any tournaments this summer.
His abilities are just insane and he deserves all the success. He was working very very hard for it. Nevertheless he is running very hot, which you obviously need to take down so many tournaments in such a short period of time. 

Does winning the biggest buy-in event in poker history tempt you to put yourself in the spotlight a little more and enjoy poker fame?
bencb: Not really. Obviously I was happy that so many people came and congratulated me. But I'd rather stay under the radar.
What are your plans for the future (and winnings)?

bencb: I will probably move either to Vienna or Dublin. But other then that I don't have any other plans. My plans have not changed because of this result.
Thanks Ben, congratulations on your big win
If you are interested in learning more from bencb you can check out his PokerStrategy.com videos or purchase some of his premium coaching videos.
