Player of the Week: Adam Friedman, Dealer's Choice GOAT
Table Of Contents
Global Poker presents the Player of the Week. Every week during the 2019 WSOP, we’ll be choosing a player who has performed brilliantly at the tables at the 50th annual World Series of Poker. This week, that player is Adam Friedman.
When the last pot was pushed his way in Event #35: $10,000 Dealer's Choice Championship, Adam Friedman stood up and backed away from the table. His hands met in front of his face and he looked like he simply couldn't believe what he'd pulled off: winning the $10K Dealer's Choice in back-to-back years.
In 2018, the Ohio native ended a six-year bracelet drought, claiming his second piece of WSOP gold by topping 111 players in the DC for $293,275.
This year, he had a run of rough cards in a tournament leading up to the dealer's choice, and he tweeted that he'd "just try and defend the belt."
Three days later, like Rocky in the third movie, Friedman did it. He got through a slightly bigger field of 122 for a payday of $312,417.
Hey it’s a match! Ty all for the love and support. I can’t believe I just did that. I will eventually get back to e… https://t.co/2VFoCQfx2B
— Ada❌ Fried❌an (@AdamFriedman119)
What It Took
While beating out a total of 233 players might not seem like a titanic accomplishment, this is still a $10,000 championship event — fields that are typically populated with tough regulars across the board. Furthermore, the versatility required to navigate through a 20-odd game mix for two straight years really showcases the well-roundedness of Friedman's game.
And when it came down to the heads-up match, Friedman had to contend with arguably the toughest opponent possible in a bracelet event: defending WSOP Player of the Year Shaun Deeb.
The back-and-forth affair saw Deeb attempting to push what he undoubtedly saw as an edge in no-limit hold'em. While Friedman obliged with some big-bet action of his own in Big O, he also sprinkled in some badacey, badeucey and his trusty stud variants — his first bracelet came in stud hi-lo.
However, it was in no-limit hold'em where Friedman would flop two pair and turn a boat, while a stubborn Deeb stuck around and made jacks up, which he was eventually unable to get away from.
No matter how it comes, taking a victory over Deeb in a heads-up match is an accomplishment worthy of praise. The fact that it came at the close of a $10K bracelet event that Friedman had won the year before made it simply all the sweeter.
Meeting His Own Expectations
Friedman called the dealer's choice "the most difficult" $10K event and said it meant a lot to him to take it down for a second straight year. He called it his second-best feat in poker after avoiding going busto over the years.
"It's just about being able to build a foundation, build enough stake, and being able to take care of myself and if I can keep investing my money along the way, which I do quite frequently, I'm pretty sure old Adam will be taken care of quite well," he said.
While Friedman may have downplayed the win in the moment, it's clear he takes great pride in his ability to play a large number of games well, which has culminated in this incredible back-to-back run. Speaking with PokerNews back in 2012, he outlined as much:
"I’ve had better mixed games results than I believe anyone on the planet, in mixed-games tournaments, the last four years," he said. "I don’t think anybody has better results than me. I may not have the biggest cashes or whatever, but no one has as many deep runs and finishes as me."
While Friedman have only had one cash over the past week, it was a doozy of an accomplishment in taking down his second straight $10K Dealer's Choice title and third overall bracelet. That's enough to make him PokerNews' pick for the Global Poker Player of the Week.
