Taking down $1.1 million from FTOPS XIX’s Main event is just the latest accomplishment for poker pro Blair Hinkle. The young gun who goes by the online name of “Blur5f6” and originally hails from Kansas City, also won a World Series of Poker bracelet in 2008 in the $2,000 No Limit Hold’em event for over a half-million dollars. On top of that, he also won the 2010 WSOP Circuit Event Championship in Council Bluffs.
When asked about the FTOPS XIX Main Event, which had a $600 buy-in but allowed multi-entries, Hinkle discussed his approach. He said, “I played a decent amount of multi-entry when (Full Tilt Poker) did their Double Guarantees week. I like it and I ran good that week, and then obviously I ran good in that Main Event tournament. I think it’s good, first of all because the prize pools are a lot bigger and second, some of the fish buy-in more but a lot of the regs end up playing too many tables and don’t adjust well. I was only playing 6 tables the whole day and once I busted out I didn’t load up anything else. I just tried to concentrate on that tournament. It can be helpful or it can hurt you if you play 18 or more tables.”
When asked about only one of his six entries making the money, Hinkle responded, “Ya only one. I had one other one go fairly deep but it wasn’t like a bubble or anything so I ended up one-tabling for a long time.”
For you fans that follow Hinkle on Twitter, his account only had one line about winning which didn’t seem overly enthusiastic. To that point he said, “Well, it didn’t really set in until Tuesday night, but I went out and celebrated but it really hasn’t totally set in … once it hits my bank account it’ll probably fully set in.”
When asked about the difference in seeing success in a live event like the WSOPC or an online score like the FTOPS XIX Main Event, Hinkle said, “When you play live and win a tournament, everyone cheers and it’s a bigger moment. Obviously the money is great as well and if I had won (the online tournament) I might feel better about it. But, the live experience means a lot more to me when you win.”
