This week, the PocketFives.com Podcastwelcomes recent PokerStarsSpring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) Two-Day Event winner Mohsin chicagocards1 Charania. The Illinois native banked $380,000 for outlasting the field in the $2,100 buy-in tournament and recorded his largest online poker cash to date. More importantly, he received a much-needed momentum boost heading into this month’s World Series of Poker (WSOP). Charania chats about his monumental win, the state of Illinois poker, and the future of the Chicago Bulls.
The SCOOP Two-Day event, the 20th of the schedule, featured a field of 1,088 players and a prize pool passing $2 million. When the smoke cleared, Charania defeated Josh jotagran49 Tekesky heads-up for the win. Charania recalled his ride through the tournament: “It was a grind. It went 12 hours on Day 1 and about eight hours on Day 2. It was a tough field. I lost half of my stack in the first hour and then started running really good and getting cards. I was top three until we were on the money bubble and then I got coolered. I doubled up twice, came into Day 2 really short stacked, and ran really good.” Charania came into final table with the chip lead.
Charania has a bevy of live experience, including cashes on the World Poker Tour (WPT), WSOP, and PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. He commented on his edge in the SCOOP Two-Day Event, which in some ways mirrors the live poker experience: “Early on in the tournament, my starting table was tough and it was so deep stacked, so I don’t know how much of an edge I had. Later on, a lot of really good players started falling out when we got down to two tables. Once they started getting eliminated, I felt like I was probably the best player alive. That’s when I felt I had a huge edge and could take control of the tournament.”
The Illinois Sliding PLBreads like a “who’s who” of the poker world. The top five on the state’s leaderboard are Ravi govshark2Raghavan, Steve Illini213Barshak (pictured at left), Charania, Tyler dabears87Reiman, and Jason jdpc27 Wheeler. Charania admitted, “The whole state is pretty stacked. I think govshark2 was the first person I played with that was really good through college. I met Illini213 in Champaign when I was visiting a couple of months ago. I think they’re really good and really aggressive. They never seem to be letting up and they’re always getting big scores.”
Charania took tenth in the $10,000 World Championship of Pot Limit Hold’em during last year’s WSOP for $57,000. This year, he has his sights set on a final table: “What’s on my mind is to make my first major live final table. I’ve been playing live since December 2008. I hate finishing in the final two tables. Once I make it, I think I’ll be able to close it out.” Charania also finished in the money in $1,500 and $5,000 No Limit Hold’em tournaments at the WSOP in 2009.
Charania will bunk at the Rio during this year’s festivities, but told the PocketFives.com Podcast that staying in a house is deal for first-timers: “A house is a lot better, especially if you’re going out for the first time. Having other poker players around that are very good and can go over your bustout hands, having your own bed, having your own groceries, and having your own car just make you feel a little bit more at home.” The Rio is located off the Strip on Flamingo, but shuttles from various Harrah’s properties link it to the rest of the gaming action.
The Chicago Bulls ended their 2009-2010 season by bowing out in the first round of the NBA Playoffs to the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games. The team promptly gave coach Vinny Del Negro his walking papers. Charania shared his hopes for the storied franchise: “I don’t care about LeBron James [signing with the Bulls in free agency], but I think Derrick Rose (pictured at right) is awesome, so I hope that Chris Bosh or Dwyane Wade or some high-profile free agent comes to Chicago so I can finally watch Bulls playoffs games live with the expectation that they’re going to win an NBA Championship.”
Check out the rest of this week’s PocketFives.com Podcast.