Q & A with David Singer

Cardplayer magazine caught up with David Singer at the first break of day one of Event 33 – the $5000 World Championship Seven Stud High-Low Split 8 or Better, which he had joined shortly after his 5th place finish in Event 29 ($3000 NLHE).



Ryan Cadrette: First of all, congratulations on the bracelet and the kid. You must be feeling pretty good about both right now.



David Singer: Yeah, I'm a pretty lucky guy. I feel kind of bad about how I played at the final table today. I didn't play my best, but overall I'm the luckiest guy in the world.



RC: How do you think the difficulty of the fields in events like Stud 8OB compare to the hold 'em fields, which have been getting much bigger? Do you think the average player is relatively weaker or stronger?



DS: Usually in the Stud events, and I was just talking to Chad Brown about this who is a pretty good stud player, every year in the biggest stud tournament you see so many people who you would pay to play against. They just have no idea how to play. Not that there aren't a lot of good players, but I just saw at my first table in the $10,000 Stud, one person limped in with 3-4-6 under the gun, and another person called a raise with the same hand. Those are just really terrible starting hands, especially for any game above $5-$10. Even at a $5-$10 you wouldn't see that. So obviously some of these fields are pretty weak.



RC: So do you think you have a greater skill edge at the stud tournaments than you do in hold 'em tournaments?



DS: I guess, but it varies quite a bit too. I just got 5th in the $3,000 no limit, and with five tables to go yesterday, I had 10% of the chips in the tournament. And then I just had a really bad run. People were playing badly, and I'm not trying to say how bad my luck was, but the tournament played like a $10 or $30 nightly tournament at the Orleans. People played so bad. The field was like amazingly bad. One guy bet 10,000, I made it 50,000, and he had 48,000 left. He called all in with 3-5 suited. And he got there. But you don't usually see that unless its in like a $10 tournament. Another guy doubled up one of the guys who got to the final table. He raised with 7-8 suited, a super tight player reraised with A-Q, and the guy calls him with 7-8 suited and doubles him up. That's something you don't usually see in a no-limit tournament. It's like a midnight madness or something. So it varies quite a bit.



RC: Even though you have this greater skill edge, do you feel that you become more card-dependent in stud tournaments, especially as the blinds get higher?



DS: When they get higher, yes. For instance, last year going into the H.O.R.S.E final table, during the last two tables I was in good shape. There were some people who didn't even play stud, usually, who were pretty weak at the game, but there wasn't enough play to it. So I lost a couple hands, I went to the final table with a medium stack, and I got unlucky in one hand in razz, and the way they had the structure of the tournament, even though I was a medium stack, I only had one big hand to lose. So after that, I pretty much had nothing. I've heard this year there's more play toward the end, but obviously in a situation like that you're more card dependent. But overall I don't worry about it. The fields are really good in this tournament, and if I catch my share of cards I have faith I'm going to do pretty well.



RC: You regularly play in the highest stakes stud cash games, right?



DS: Not that they have them very often any more, but when they have them I do play in them. I've been playing a lot of high stakes H.O.R.S.E online, and a lot of $1000-$2000 stud eight-or-better online at Full Tilt.



RC: When you're playing a table like the one you're at right now, with players like Chad Brown and Cyndy Violette and Alex Kravchenko, do you think that sort of experience gives you an advantage against other pros who perhaps don't play the game as often?



DS: I think it does, but you know all of us poker players probably have more faith in our play than we should. But the player in the one seat just complimented me. He said he plays the game a lot, and that I just made three great plays. So I feel like I'm playing pretty well. Chad plays really well, but he's not a wild player. He's pretty straightforward. Cyndy plays pretty straightforward, and with the other players, I don't think stud eight-or-better is their best game. So I like my chances here if the cards break even.



RC: And one last question – do you have any money riding on tonight's game?



DS: (laughs) No. I don't usually sports bet. I do it a little. I used to do it more often. I had two friends who did it for a living and were very successful at it. So they would give me picks and I would bet some things. But unless its a situation where I'm pretty sure I have an edge, I stay away from it.

Cardplayer's Live Player Database – David Singer



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