All eyes were on Shaun Deeb yesterday as he dodged, bobbed and weaved at the $100,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller final table. It was a masterclass in survival which ended in a heads-up battle with PLO phenom Ike Haxton, and Deeb ended up with the title, the bracelet, and a whopping $2,957,229.
When the cheers subsided for the fan favorite from New York, Deeb would score his seventh WSOP bracelet and snatch the WSOP Player of the Year (PoY) points lead from Martin Kabrhel, Benny Glaser and Scott Bohlman.
PokerOrg invited the future Hall of Famer over to our Lounge at the Horseshoe to find out Deeb’s devious plan to multi-table events as the series winds down, in a bid to add a second PoY win to the title he first won in 2018.
'If I do play the Main, I'm going to multi-table'
What’s your plan to capture the PoY title this year?
I know what I have to do. I need to get more results and more scores because, unfortunately, it’s the top 10 scores system.
If we were still on the old system, I’d be 98% to win at this point.
Are you the reason the system was changed?
Yes, that's part of the reason why the World Series changed the rules on me. To hold onto the PoY lead, I have to get a lot of chips. I can't just min-cash, I have to be in there deep as the point system is top-heavy.
Will you play the Main Event?
I probably will skip it. If I do play the Main, I'm going to multi-table. There's nothing on the schedule on Day 1D besides the Main Event, so I might play it. I’ll reach 500,000 chips, or I’m out. It will be for the fun of it.
I always love it when I multi-table, and some of the stories that come out of that. It’s fun. I'll rarely have a shot this good at PoY.
'Hey, who wants to do Martin Kabrhel a favor?'
You’ve got some stiff competition: Martin Kabrhel has been crushing it, and Benny Glaser has won three bracelets.
Benny and Martin have had a great year, as has Scott [Bohlman]. I love that people are learning all the different games, even Martin.
Martin reached out to me yesterday before my final table and asked if I could explain some of the games in the Eight Game event. I texted some friends: ‘Hey, who wants to do Martin Kabrhel a favor?’ That is something you usually don't ask, but it was great. Obviously, I was busy, but I tried to set him up with someone.
Martin is great for the game. One of the things that Martin does, which I try to control in some way, is his tendency to stall. His tables see 50% fewer hands than everyone else, which is funny. I tell him, you're winning more chips per orbit playing fewer hands, your ICM improvement is not offset by missing that many hands.
If you’ve ever watched me play, the softer my table, the faster I play. My brain is hyper-fast from all the online multi-tabling, so I can play very quickly.
Martin does say some stuff to the players that crosses the line sometimes, but I don’t think Martin's doing it maliciously. He's doing it to get under people's skin, to make them play bad, to make them think he's either tighter or looser than he actually is.
I enjoy spending time with him. I actually randomly ended up at a Shakira concert with him and a bunch of other people. And I hate that music.
'I think I'm a pretty strong candidate for the Hall of Fame'
You had a huge rail supporting you at the final table. Did that pump you up?
I appreciated all the support. I think like if you scan the videos of the other three players at the table and the crowd, their rails were silent. Mine was screaming.
At one point, when Ike and I were heads-up, I think I had 25 people cheering me when I won any sized pot. Then, when Ike won a massive pot, there was dead silence. Obviously, Ike is an amazing player, it didn't affect him at all; he's probably happier when it’s quiet. But yeah, I definitely felt the momentum every time I spun back up.
It's great to battle but also to make new friends. I've made so many different friends this year. Some people I might have been only kind of friendly with, now it's 'Let’s go to dinner or hang at the break'. Every year, it seems to shift who your social circle is, and happily, mine just keeps growing and growing.
I've also improved a lot of relationships, specifically with Daniel Negreanu. I think he and I are a lot better. We both have fun at each other's tables, we needle each other, but there's a lot of mutual respect there, as there should be.
What does this huge win mean to your career and future goals?
I hope it's the cherry on top for the Hall of Fame (HOF) next year, I think I'm a pretty strong candidate. That’s no slight on anyone else who's qualified or deserves to be in.
However, this win is a remarkable career achievement that will be highlighted for a long time, primarily because I never play for $3 million, except for the WSOP Main Event. I definitely want a few more accolades on my bio sheet by the time I'm there for the HOF.
