WPT is gearing up for the kick-off of the inaugural WPT500 at Dusk Till Dawn this weekend! And now the £1,000,000 guaranteed event gets even more exciting with the appearance of Nottingham local sporting hero Carl ‘The Cobra Froch’. Taking his boxing title out of the ring and to the felt, four-time world champion teams up partypoker pro Mike Sexton to call shuffle up and deal and then play the partypoker WPT500 at 12pm GMT on Saturday November 15.
WPT caught up with Froch ahead of the event with a quick Q&A about WPT coming to Nottingham.
WPT: How does it feel to have the might of the WPT in your home city?
Carl Froch: “It’s fantastic to have the WPT come to my hometown of Nottingham. It’s a brilliant city and one that the players are going to love exploring when they are not playing, but they will also see that the great people here and at DTD love their sport, their poker and will welcome them with open arms. We’re a proud and competitive bunch here and I am sure that will rub off on those playing; it will be a fantastic couple of weeks here.”
WPT: Are there any parallels between poker and boxing — perhaps bluffing, keeping calm under pressure?
CF: “There are a lot of similarities in the mental side of boxing and poker. Sometimes, when I watch a heads-up game, I think about being face-to-face with an opponent in the ring and like the poker players, you are looking into their eyes to try to get into their heads, see what they are thinking: do they look scared, confident, intimidated? You can take read a lot into another fighter from that and of course, being able to successfully read an opponent is a massive plus in poker – and of course, concentration is huge has make one mistake in both and you can be knocked out.”
WPT: Who would win in a heads-up poker match, Carl Froch or Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr?
CF: “Come on, there’s only one winner – The Cobra! I think that a heads-up game with JCC would be just like a fight with him, two warriors who aren’t willing to give an inch. It might not go on that long as we’d both stand our ground and not be bullied by the other, we’d probably both move all-in with some rubbish just to prove a point – that we can beat the other one no matter what! You can bet your life though that we’d both fight as hard with the cards as we hopefully will if we can get it on in the ring.”
WPT: Who would you rather fight in the ring, Stuart Pearce of George Groves?
CF: “Well George is a top fighter but I’ve got to go with Psycho – he’s a Nottingham legend and a proper hard man, just like me! He’d be able to take the best George can throw at him and come back with more. I’d probably teach him how to throw that big right hand too!”
WPT: Any tips for keeping focussed at the tables for a long time?
CF: “Again, like in poker, focus is so important in boxing. I’ve experienced first-hand against George Groves that an opponent can get you off your game before you have even begun. Everyone is different of course, some people can talk and talk yet remain in control of their emotions and their tactics, whereas others have to concentrate 100 per cent and not engage with other players. Winners are always the ones who are able to execute their game plan even if others are trying to disrupt them.
Key facts:
Tournament info-
- Carl ‘the Cobra’ Froch will be playing the turbo heat from 12.00 GMT on Saturday November 15
- partypoker presents WPT500 at Dusk Till Dawn will feature seven day 1’s scheduled Sunday November 9- Friday November 14.
- WPT 500 day 2 is on Saturday 15 with Final Table on Sunday 16.
- The buy-in is £500 (10% withheld) with one re-entry per day allowed.
- The full partypoker WPT UK festival live schedule starts this Thursday November 6 at 12.00 GMT with warm-up action and 100 WPT500 packages guaranteed!
- Dusk Till Dawn are also holding a £3,000 entry WPT Main Event from November 18 – 23 and they will be running nightly live satellites for this from 6 – 18 November, all of which start at 21.00 GMT and will be either £50 or £100 re-buys with between 1 and 5 £3000 seats guaranteed
- Final online qualifiers on partypoker for $5,000 Main Event packages take place this Sunday at 21.20 GMT
- For the full partypoker WPT UK festival schedule see: http://www.worldpokertour.com/Shared/Tournaments/Seasons/Season_XIII/partypoker_presents_WPT500_at_Dusk_Till_Dawn.aspx
Knockout Players Party-
- On Saturday November 15 at 21.00 GMT, DJ Spoony will host the official event party
- Win a signed pair of Carl Froch boxing gloves
- Entertainment including pool tournament, quizzes and boxing games with exciting prizes to be won