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Woody Vanstratum
On A Journey To Becoming A Pro
By Tom “Chips” McGee
Woody Vanstratum wholesales copy machines, spends as much time as he can with is wife and children, and plays poker.
“I just started playing more in the last year. I played in the WSOP the last two years. When I go to a tournament, I try to qualify in a couple of satellites. If I don’t, then I won’t play in the main event, unless it is a big event that pays down to 100 players or so, then I pay the entry fee to get in.
Woody finished in the top 12% in this year’s WSOP, right on the bubble. The WSOP paid the top 10%. “I got beat with a flush with the nut flush. The World Series was so big this year. It has gotten to the point that with that many people there is a lot of luck involved. The top pros don’t get there by luck. Guys like Daniel Negreanu are just so talented at reading people. You may play in a thousand hands but it all comes down to three or four key hands. How you react and how you play in those hands will make a difference in where you finish.”
Woody had played in live games for several years, but when Chris Moneymaker won, who is also from the Volunteer State, Woody began concentrating on tournaments. He travels about one week out of the month to play. Last year Woody played in seven or eight tournaments. This year his goal is 20.
Woody only plays tournaments now. He believes there is such a huge difference in the way you play them, he wants to concentrate on that style. “I am a better single table tournament player than multi-table. When you are multi, you get moved around five or ten times. You have to start over every time. I’ve cashed more in single tournaments. When the pros are playing cash games, I will play in 15 or 20 single table sit-and-goes.”
“Playing in tournaments is exciting; I love it – its fun. I feel like I am getting in the grove. The money doesn’t matter that much. If you have a million you want $10 million. If you have $10 million you want $100 million. It’s about the game and about winning.”
At this years Tunica tourneys, Woody made two final tables and cashed high in the $1,500 no-limit tournament at the Grand. “I qualified for the $10K event at the Gold Strike on the last qualifier of the night. I was playing good. I got into a big hand with Eric Sidel, he drew out on me.”
The next day Woody found himself sitting at a table with Jeff Shulman and Chris Moneymaker. “Third hand with pocket 9s, I have $33K Shulman has 24K, he goes all in on me. He has pocket 8s and hits runner runner to make a flush. I have about 12K left, and I go all in with pocket Js – got beat with pocket fours that made a boat on the river.”
Getting deep in a tournament is Woody’s key to finishing in the money. “Glynn "Ratchet" Banks has been a mentor to me for the last few years. He told me you can’t win a tournament on the first day, you can only lose it. You have to be patient.”
Woody prefers to play close to his Cookeville, Tennessee home, especially at the Gold Strike in Tunica, “Johnny Grooms always manages to run a great tourney and if i lose it is only a few hours drive home.”
But if you want to be a pro, you have to travel to Vegas. “I enjoy playing at the Bellagio, but I don’t like the flight to and from Vegas. I feel more at home and have better luck in Tunica at the Gold Strike.”
The last big tourney Woody played in was the WPT $10,000 event at the Borgata. “I was an alternate so I started an hour and a half after the first deal. The first hand I played I made a straight flush on the river. My opponent made a full house. I bet half my stack into a large pot and my opponent moved all in. I doubled up on the first hand I played. I was around $120,000 in chips after the first day after making quads on one of the last hands of the night.”
The next day was a completely different story for Woody. “I hung around $120,000 for half the day watching the field’s chip counts go up. I made a move on a large pot against Steve Danneman (2006 WSOP runner-up) and he called. I missed my open ender and doubled him up. Late that night I doubled up to around $80,000 when average stack was $130,000. I raised six-times the big blind from the button with pocket kings, and Vanessa Russo calls with two players behind her. With a 10 high flop I moved all in and she calls and knocks me out around 100th place with a set of sixes. It was a good tourney with a tough field. I ran into some tough luck at the end, but that’s gambling.”
Woody feels so good about his game, he plans on turning pro. It is just a question of when. “I am semi-pro now, and I plan to work another few years. But if I cash big, a million or better, I may go pro this year.”