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SPT champion Arduini: The amount of my winnings doesn't affect me, I invest most of it back into poker
First of all, congratulations on winning! Big bonus, great achievement, how do you feel now immediately after win?
"Thank you very much! I feel amazing, there is no better feeling for a tournament player than winning a tournament, so I feel great. Also, it's the first time I've won a two-day Main Event, so I'm very happy. It's probably the biggest field I've ever won in a live tournament."
When you say this is your biggest win in a live tournament, what was your biggest hit online ? Do you play more online than live?
"I play a lot both online and live, maybe a little bit more online. My biggest hit online is actually very similar to this one, I made the final table at a highroller and it was something like 55-56k."
Going back to the whole tournament, did you play any side events or just the Main Event?
"That's a funny question because yes, I did play. I came on Friday night, I wanted to play the Highroller, but they told me it wasn't open. It was late to register for the Main Event so I turned on the 200 CHF Friday Night turbo and won it!"
So you won the Main Event and the Side Event ?
"Yeah, crazy weekend, crazy festival (laughs). I'm glad I came."
We're happy too! And what was it like for you to play this tournament, did you feel comfortable, were you lucky with the seating ?
"I felt great, I like these types of tournaments, the structure was "super nice" and the overall field of players was more or less what I expected - a mix of a couple of good players and a couple of not-so-good players, which is what you normally see in this type of Main Event. I'm very happy with how I played all weekend."
Coming back to the tournament, it had three phases - the opening flights, Day 2 and the final. How did your stack evolve over the days?
"Day 1 was fast because I turned on the turbo , so I only played for three hours. At the end I had about 3x avg with no big fluctuations. So I entered Day 2 with a slightly below average stack. I won several pots at the start of Day 2, one important flip for tournament life, and then had a decent stack on the bubble. At the end of Day 2 I had a lot of ups and downs but at the end I had the avg stack I started the day with, well then it was a roller coaster again - such is tournament poker. But I was successful in the important spots, that's the main thing."
You played for a big payday, you had certainty of CHF 3,600 before the final day, and the bonus of CHF 57,080 awaited the winner, which you eventually won. Did you feel the pressure from the pay jumps ? Did it have any effect on your game ?
"No, of course it affects my game as far as maths is concerned, but not mentally, when you are in a tournament you forget about the money you already have for sure, and then it's your job to win more as the tournament progresses. I'm no longer affected by the amount of winnings alone."
You found out yesterday which players you'll be playing in the final. Did you study some of your opponents, was there anyone you were worried about ?
"To be honest, I didn't even look them up. I didn't get much sleep last night. I didn't know any of them before this tournament, and I already had some information about the ones I had the chance to play yesterday from the way they played. Other than that, I didn't do any research. And a lot of them had nicknames in the chip count so it was impossible to even find out anything about them."
You went into the final day with an average stack, and when you went to the final table it was slightly less than average. What were your expectations before the final table ?
"It's hard to have any expectations because it can change very quickly when you're shortstacked and you get into a flip, you either double up or bust and that can affect whether you win the tournament or not. But if I had to say at the start of the final table what I would expect the result to be, based on the size of the stack, it would probably be 6th-7th. 7th place. In the end it turned out much better!"
As for the TV table, it was the first time you played on stream, did it have any effect on your game? How was it for you ?
"It was probably the fourth or fifth time I've played on the TV table. You get used to it. It doesn't affect my game, after a few hands you get used to people seeing your cards. And poker is a game where everybody has an opinion on how you play, and I'm confident enough in my game that I don't really care what people think about how I play. If I do something that maybe looks weird, I probably had reasons that other people don't know about because they're not in the game. I actually like that because I go back to it afterwards and look, see what my opponents had, see if some of the assumptions I had were correct. I don't very often get a chance to see complete information about my opponents' cards, sometimes I drop out of a tournament and I don't know if my guesses in particular spots were correct."
You won without a deal. Was there a moment when you were considering a deal, do you make a habit of making deals ?
"I usually avoid making deals unless there's a really good reason. Nobody has come up with it, I wouldn't come up with it because overall I'm not a fan of it. Anyway, in heads-up play my opponent had one blind and I had about 100 bb. Just for fun, I offered him one frank for second place and he refused (laughs)."
I see you have a sense of humor.
"Yes, and my heads-up opponent was great too. He played really well, I think he was probably the best of my opponents at the final table."
So does he deserve that second place in your opinion ?
"Definitely. He also played very well, he didn't win some important spots, but that's what tournament poker is all about."
Taking heads-ups in general, how did you do ? Are you confident in them ?
"Yes, I like playing heads-ups and I believe in them. For about a year I played hyper turbo sit and go heads-ups almost every day. And I love it. It's different, you have to think about the range in a different way. And it's quite a bit about the mental battle with your opponent. So yeah, I enjoy heads-ups."
Moving on to your great win, which is more of a trophy or money for you ?
"Since I play poker for a living, definitely the money. But I'm a tournament player, so winning a tournament trophy is also great and that's also worth a lot to me."
Do you have a plan what you're going to do with your winnings ?
"Same boring answer I gave on the video - I'm going to rest for a few days and get back to poker. It's a good boost to the bankroll, but it won't change anything in my life. So I'll invest most of it back into poker."
Where are your next poker steps going, do you have any interesting trips ahead of you ?
"I was just looking at my schedule for July yesterday, but I'm not sure as some of the events overlap. I'll probably play FPS in Paris and then I'll see. Definitely the WPT in September, since I won a ticket it looks like it will be a good tournament."
Is there anything you would like to add in conclusion?
"I know some people were watching the stream and keeping their fingers crossed for me. The TV table is also good in that friends and family are watching you play and keeping their fingers crossed, people are discussing your hands."
Can you tell us who in your family watched the stream ?
"I'm sure my mum and sisters watched at least part of the stream, they're just in France."
They understand poker?
"Not at all, they understand just enough to understand when I win and lose a hand, but I think that's it. But they kept their fingers crossed for me, that's great. And then I still have poker friends who I know were watching. So I'm glad they could see me win this really nice tournament! ´"