In late September, amidst the chaotic grind of the World Series of Poker Europe at King's Resort in Rozvadoz, Vivian Saliba notched her first bracelet win. After reaching the final table in five WSOP bracelet events – but falling short each time – Saliba overcame that last hurdle by closing out a win in Event #4: €2,000 Pot-Limit Omaha. Along with the bracelet, Saliba added €91,400 to her career earnings, eclipsing the $1,000,000 mark in the process.
PokerOrg spoke with Saliba about getting over the bracelet hump and what's next on her poker agenda.
How did it feel to close out a bracelet win after making five final tables?
It was a relief. Before the win, I was going through a tough phase in poker. I had a lot of close calls where I finished fifth, sixth, seventh, getting close so many times. I was a little insecure. And you start questioning yourself – 'Will this ever happen? Will things get better?'
I wasn't even playing for the money, I was just playing for the bracelet. Now, I'm even more motivated. My confidence is back and I just want to work harder to achieve even more in the future.
Were you thinking about those past close calls or just hyper-focused on playing each hand as it came?
I was definitely thinking about it. I was trying to gather all my experiences and perform the best I could. The day before we played 13 hours and then only had 10 hours to rest before playing 17 hours on the day I won. It was a real marathon and everyone was exhausted, but I was actually feeling good. I was focused. Then, I watched the stream afterwards and saw how tired I looked – I had dark circles around my eyes and everything.
I was thinking, 'This is another shot, let's not waste it. Let's play better than my opponents and be more focused.'
A win is not just playing good, it's also holding all-ins and having good cards – sometimes luck is involved. All you can do is your share of the deed, right? I can't control the outcome of the cards, all I can do is play my best and do my best in the moment.
How did you celebrate the win? What was the rest of your series like?
I won the bracelet close to 6:00am in the morning and at 2:00pm I had Day 2 of the Mini Main Event. So, no time for celebration. Of course, I was super hyped and happy, but I was also exhausted so I just went home. I took the bracelet with me, I showed it to my boyfriend, but I gave it to my dog because it's really my dog's bracelet. I really wanted to win for him, it's Napoleon's bracelet – I gave it to him as a gift. It was a little big for him, but he'll grow into it.
Afterwards, I was just focusing on the series. I've been playing poker professionally for close to 10 years now and one thing I've learned is you can't let your wins go to your head. You shouldn't be overly excited because you won something. It won't always be like this. When you win a tournament, that's the exception. Most of the time, you will bust before making the money. It was a good result, but I'm very down to earth and I know that I shouldn't be over-hyped about it.
Did the early win bolster your confidence for the rest of the series?
Not in these terms. Again, I try not to be results oriented, either for good or bad. I wasn't thinking luck was on my side now. I know that in every new hand, variance has no memory. If you run hot or cold, it doesn't matter. Every new hand you start from zero, but, of course, having a win early is always a little weight off your back.
I wasn't always like this. You learn along the way and nowadays I would say my mindset is in the best place yet.
Is pot-Limit Omaha your preferred variant?
I would say that people perceive PLO as being my main game. When I started having some success, PLO wasn't as popular as it is nowadays. I still love PLO, but the vast majority of the games I play now are no-limit hold'em tournaments. I like to play both, but for cash games I only play PLO – no-limit cash is very boring.
You passed the $1M earnings mark with your bracelet win – do those metrics interest you at all?
Oh, no. Cashes don't represent how wealthy you are or how good you're doing in poker. There are a lot of players with millions in cashes and they're not profitable players. Also, people sell action and the cashes don't represent the buy-ins. It's not too important to me. Of course, the bracelet is a nice accomplishment, but there are bracelets and then there are bracelets, right? I'm happy, but I still want to win better ones. I don't think all bracelets are the same.
What’s next on the agenda for you? Will you be at 888poker Coventry?
Yes, I'm flying to England for 888 Coventry. I might play some stops here in Austria or somewhere in Europe. Napoleon, my dog who now owns the bracelet, he's my baby and I try to go to stops where I can bring him with me. So, Bahamas and WPT would be great, but he cannot fly with me because he's too heavy for the cabin and I could never put him with the luggage.
Images courtesy of 888poker/WSOP
