The Bernard Lee Poker Show 11-11: 2018 WSOPE Champ Jack Sinclair, Pt 2

Bernard Lee
Contributor
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In this episode of The Bernard Lee Poker Show on the PokerNews Podcast Network, Bernard Lee continues the second part of his interview with Jack Sinclair, the 2018 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event champion.

In this week’s interview, which is Part Two of a two-part interview, Jack discusses his downswing during the 2018 WSOP in Las Vegas and, shortly thereafter, playing online. Then, Jack recalls his recent victory in the 2018 WSOP Europe Main Event at King’s Casino in Rozvadoz, Czech Republic.

Show Time Stamps

0:00Welcome to The Bernard Lee Poker Show as the show continues its interview with the 2018 WSOP Europe Main Event champion, Jack Sinclair.
0:45Bernard recaps the latest World Poker Tour (WPT) Main Event, held at Playground Poker Club in Montreal, Canada. Patrick Serda outlasted a field of 792 entries to capture the Main Event title and $668,388 (C$855,000), beating former WPT champion, Ema Zajmovic heads-up.
2:18The next RunGoodPoker Series stop is this week at Hard Rock Tulsa in Oklahoma. Bernard will be playing all week in this series.
3:22Bernard discusses the latest WSOP Circuit Main Event, held at Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant, Oklahoma. Max Young captured the Main Event title to earn his fifth WSOP Circuit ring and $263,815.
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6:39Bernard welcomes back Jack Sinclair, the 2018 WSOP Europe Main Event champion, as he continues his exclusive two-part interview this week.
8:13Jack discusses traveling to play poker after final tabling the 2017 WSOP Main Event. “I basically just started traveling to every poker tournament I wanted to play after that. The WSOP in 2017 just gave me a bankroll to start actually playing the live circuit… I realized quickly that this was very much the life for me… Being able to play poker for a living is a dream come true… I just love it.”
10:03Jack talks about making so many friends on the poker tour and how it has improved his game. “I have made friends with so many fantastic poker players and really improved my game in the last year. The difference between my game between 2016 and 2017 was (amazing), you can’t even compare them, it was such a huge jump. The jump again from 2017 to now is like an order of magnitude. I’m learning so much from these fantastic players that I’m able to talk hands with every day.”
10:51Jack lists several pro players that have recently influenced his play including Igor Kurganov, who was his 2017 WSOP Main Event coach, Mustapha Kanit and Gianluca Speranza.
13:10Jack recalls playing pretty much the entire 2018 WSOP, hanging out with Anton Morgenstern and Thomas Muhlocker.
14:20Jack recalls his continued fortune after his final table during the 2017 WSOP Main Event. “I just continued to have a crazy run after (the WSOP Main Event final table)… I continued to be a very lucky guy on the circuit and the wins were nicely spaced out.”
15:45Jack discusses playing 2018 Spring Championship of Online Poker and his high expectations entering the 2018 WSOP. Jack also admits he didn’t have as good of a mindset this summer compared to last year and definitely partied more in 2018 than 2017.
18:45Jack summaries that “Vegas (WSOP) 2018 was an absolute bloodbath for me. I lost a great deal… I wanted to use that as a motivation to work on my game more.” Unfortunately, the downswing continued for Jack after the 2018 WSOP while he played online poker.
21:07Jack discusses trying to overcome this downswing. “I decided that I’ll do what I did the last time I had a downswing, which is to get some coaching.”
23:19Jack explains his mindset and preparation before this recent WSOP Europe. “I took some time off before hand, just reset (and) chilled out. When I came in, I put a lot of focus on my mindset. I was meditating before playing every day. I am kind of annoyed that it worked so well because now I’m going to have to mediate all the time (laughs)… I was quite keen to focus on performing to the best of my ability on this tournament. I really think that this was a key difference in this one.”
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25:37Bernard concludes his exclusive two-part interview with Jack. The 2018 WSOP Europe Main Event champion explains how he almost didn’t play in the WSOP Europe Main Event, but he had about €11,000 in King’s Casino chips per his last visit there and also he discovered a direct flight to Prague.
28:48Jack describes how the 2018 WSOP Europe Main Event went for him. “This tournament was very, very smooth. I had a really rough start. I got down to 60% of starting stack very early on… but towards the end of Day 1, it all turned around. I got one double up versus Laszio (Bujtas, who finished runner-up)… From that point on, I completely controlled the table for the rest of the day. Just had all the right spots come up and played pretty well. And then just sort of continued like that for the whole tournament… I had a lot of tough decisions but always seemed to be able to make the right one.”
31:07Jack discusses a big double up versus Laszio Bujtas when Jack had an ace-high flush on a paired board that started a nice run for him on Day 4.
32:28Jack recalls hearing the hand that Igor Kurganov was eliminated in 22nd place when his pocket aces were cracked by pocket kings.
33:04Jack discusses how the WSOP Europe Main Event was ahead of schedule every day of the tournament.
34:50Bernard asked Jack what his strategy was entering the WSOP Europe Main Event final table. “Basically, play tight and not get too much money in pre-flop was the plan, which is pretty much what I stuck to and it worked out. I was very lucky, I got aces versus queens for a 90-big blind pot, which was pretty huge. And then, the short stacks busted without too much trouble, so the final table was much like the rest of the tournament, just sort of smooth sailing. I was able to chip up without being in too many risky situations.”
38:44Jack remembers playing with Ryan Riess, 2013 WSOP Main Event champion, at the final table and the focus being primarily on him.
39:49Jack recalls the heads-up action versus Bujtas. “I had 27 million, he had 26. And we were both really deep… and we both had over 100 big blinds… We were basically even. You sort of just have to brace yourself. It was like going to the dentist, you know you’re not going to enjoy it but you’re going to have to get through it… I say that but I did enjoy it quite a lot because it was a huge moment for me… But in terms of the poker, I knew it was going to be a grind and I had to play really well to give myself a shot at winning it.”
41:29Bernard and Jack discuss a pivotal hand in heads-up play where Jack picked off a big bluff by Bujtas.
45:00Jack describes how important it was to capture his first WSOP bracelet. “It’s an amazing feeling to actually win a bracelet. It’s obviously been one of my goals since last year. It’s just incredible. It definitely feels pretty special at this point.”
45:00Jack discusses his poker future after his momentous victory in the 2018 WSOP Europe Main Event. “I just want to keep playing. I love this lifestyle and I just want to keep grinding at this point. I’m really enjoying it. I want to keep improving and hopefully play even better in the future.”
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You can follow Jack Sinclair on Twitter @jackincredible.

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