Poker News Daily: After you won your first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet, you told the media that you didn’t sleep very well. How’d you sleep after your second bracelet?
Parker: It’s kind of like, “OK. I’m tired. I can sleep.” However, when I lie down and start thinking, I have to make sure it really happened. I’m afraid I’m still asleep and dreaming.
PND: It’s all really surreal for you then?
Parker: It’s very surreal.
PND: When you came into the 2009 WSOP, did you expect to win a bracelet? Was winning two beyond what you’d ever expect?
Parker: Obviously, I hoped to win one someday. I play in a lot of tournaments, but I didn’t think this would ever happen.
PND: You’ve had a sizable chip stack in pretty much every event you’ve played?
Parker: I didn’t really have chips during the first event I won, but I cashed two other times and only played six tournaments total.
PND: Are you going to aim for WSOP Player of the Year now?
Parker: For sure. I’ll probably play almost the same schedule as I would have if I didn’t win, but I’ll definitely be more motivated.
PND: You’re generally a shy guy at the table. Is all of this media attention overwhelming?
Parker: It’s weird because I’m not really a big spotlight kind of guy. It’s definitely strange and I’ll have to look a little bit more presentable in the future. It’s definitely overwhelming.
PND: During heads-up play against Daniel Negreanu in the Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event you won, Negreanu seemed willing to make several calls out of curiosity. Did that factor into how you played?
Parker: Negreanu was talking a lot earlier in the tournament about making good folds in Limit, so I was thinking of trying to make bluffs in weird spots, but then I picked up hands. I was lucky if he was going to call me down every time. In Limit, you have to call a lot since it’s only one bet. I didn’t really get to do the things I was planning to do and instead just picked up hands.
PND: You’re known as one of the top Limit players online, if not all-around. Does the Limit bracelet mean more to you than the No Limit bracelet?
Parker: Not really. The Limit bracelet was better because I beat Negreanu and it was more press, but the No Limit bracelet was for much more money. Also, I wasn’t sure about my No Limit live game because I didn’t have any great finishes. I think I had proven myself at Limit, but not really at No Limit.
PND: In the No Limit Hold’em tournament on Day 2, you went on a huge tear. At what point in the tournament did you think that winning a second WSOP bracelet was a real possibility?
Parker: Not until the end of Day 2. It felt unreal. I just kept stacking and had big towers of chips. I didn’t see why I wouldn’t do really well. Anything can happen and it felt good.