Joe Cada Comments on WSOP Main Event Victory

Poker News Daily: Congratulations on the big win in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. How are you feeling after the victory?

Joe Cada: It hasn’t quite hit me yet, but I’m feeling really good.

PND: How were you able to handle the busy schedule prior to taking to the felts?

Cada: Before the final table took place, there was a long gap in between and I tried to not think about it too much. Instead, I tried to continue my normal lifestyle. Fortunately, I ran really well and, going into heads-up play, went from a big underdog to a big favorite.

Darvin was playing great poker and took over the chip lead relatively quickly. I came in with a game plan of playing a lot of hands in position and playing a lot of small ball poker waiting for him to make mistakes. It blew up in my face. He just wanted to play big ball poker, put me in a lot of tough spots, and played really well. It was rough at the start, but I tried to remain focused and turned it around.

PND: Darvin Moon took a 3:1 chip lead heads-up after re-raising on a board of A-5-3 and you folded. Tell us about that hand.

Cada: It’s one of those things that heads-up, you’re playing a lot of hands. More times than not, you’re not going to make a lot of hands. Darvin likes to trap a lot and check-raise a lot. I never played back at Darvin during the course of the heads-up match. I raised pre-flop, the flop came A-5-3, he decided to lead out, and I took a shot. I made a raise, but every time I tried to raise or bluff, it backfired. That was another example of that happening.

PND: You doubled heads-up after calling all-in with J-9 on a board of 10-5-9-10. Tell us about your thought process there.

Cada: I raised pre-flop to the standard two and a half big blinds and he called. The flop came 10-9-5 and he loves to check-raise, so I checked behind for pot control. The turn brought a ten. The board was 10-9-5-10 with two clubs and he decided to check again. A lot of the hands weren’t checked down to the river. I bet three million into a six million pot and then he jammed all-in. I took a lot of time to make decision and didn’t see him open-jamming the way he had been playing with a ten. There were hands like 7-8, J-Q, and clubs – random hands I could see him jamming with – and I opted to go with the correct call even though I wasn’t happy about it, but it worked out.

PND: What went through your mind when you realized you had become the 2009 WSOP Main Event Champion?

Cada: I was glad it was all over. I knew how important it was, but was happy to get the match over with. I gave as many props as I could to Darvin because he played great poker.

PND: Your father told us that he wasn’t completely behind your poker career to start with. Tell us about your relationship with him and how it’s evolved.

Cada: My parents weren’t totally against it, but they weren’t 100% supportive. I worked for a long time and had a job for four years, but decided to quit since I had made a significant amount in poker over a long period of time. Once I quit my job to do poker full-time, I continued to have a lot of success. Then, I traveled to tournaments in places I could play like the Bahamas, Costa Rica, and Aruba. College interfered and I had to go one way, so I put money aside in case poker didn’t work out and decided to play full-time.

PND: How big was the crowd support at the Penn and Teller Theater?

Cada: Having the support of these guys was great. Some of them missed school and work and none of them have voices left. They cheered me on the whole time, whether I was down or had chips. It was great having all of that support.

PND: Tell us about signing with PokerStars and wearing a Poker Players Alliance (PPA) logo.

Cada: PokerStars is a great website. They’re the biggest known site out there. I was very grateful for the opportunity they gave me. I’m very supportive of the PPA being an online player. The least I can do is support the PPA.

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Casino poker language:

LATE BLIND - In addition to "regular" blinds, some games allow a player (particularly a new one) to post a blind bet in return for the right to enter the game immediately and act last on the first betting round. The amount of the blind is determined by house rules, usually somewhere between the last blind and double the last blind. It is frequently a LIVE BLIND.
SEVENTH STREET - The seventh card dealt in 7-card stud.
LOOSE - Playing more hands than the norm. Antonym: TIGHT.
ON TILT - Playing worse (usually, more aggressively) than usual because a player has become emotionally upset.
HIT - To make a hand or catch a card or cards that improves one's hand. "I hit a gut-shot draw on the river."
PASSED OUT. - A hand in which nobody opens. What happens next is a function of the game being played.

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