Since the beginning of this PokerStars.com EPT Budapest event there have been a few players we've kept our eyes on. Will Fry is one of them. We first noticed him because of his colorful hair, but we kept paying attention because of his skill.
PokerListings chatted with Fry and got the scoop on a controversy he was involved in earlier in this tourney, and on his plans for the cheddar he's set to unwrap.
Hello Will. We haven't seen you at tournaments before and we'd actually heard you were primarily a cash-game player. Tell us a bit about your poker background and what brought you to Budapest.
Yeah, it's true I am a cash-game player. I've been playing for about eight years and professionally for the last three. I started on the really low stakes, actually free money to begin with, then put in like $50 and played 10¢/20¢. Then I just started moving up. I moved from micro- to low stakes and all the way up to about $10/$20 where I'm playing now.
It's been a crazy ride. I think I caught poker just about the right time, when there was enough money to be made. I've never really ventured into tournaments, so this has been a really interesting experience.
Do you have any tournament experience at all?
I have played a few tournaments down at my local casino and I've played a few small tournaments around the world but this is the biggest event I've played by about tenfold.
Do you think you'll be getting into tournaments more given your success here?
You know, I've always been a bit skeptical about big buy-in tournaments because I always assume there's going to be a very high standard of play. Having said that, because they are expensive you do get some rich businessmen and some of the local players who might want to take a shot, so there is some dead money.
So I was happy with the field, although it has gotten tougher deeper in the tournament.
Earlier in this tournament we reported on a bit of a controversy over a decision made by the floor. Basically you intended to call an all-in and they ruled it a fold. You probably should have doubled up there so how do you deal with those kinds of obstacles, whether it be a situation like that or a bad beat?
Normally I think I do deal with tilt well but in this situation it was really hard. A lot of the time I just get a bit more aggressive when I tilt, which isn't always a bad thing. My tilt control has gotten better over the years. Sometimes you have terrible days but that's just part of it.
But after that happened I just went for a bit of a walk and realized I still had a decent stack. I just want to say one thing. I have nothing but respect for the tournament staff here. They have a really difficult job. They made their call and that's not what I was mad about. It was the player I was up against in the hand who was just lying through his teeth about what happened.
If he had told the truth there's a good chance they would have made the same ruling but it hurts when people aren't honest in those situations.
We had heard you were giving away part of your winnings to charity. Is this true?
It is. I'm going to donate a good chunk of my winnings from this event. I'm trying to raise awareness about poverty in the Third World. I still haven't decided what organization I'm going to give to but I've been doing a lot of research.
So many charities are so finite. They're very narrow in their scope, which I do understand, but it's hard to decide on one thing.
I really want to raise awareness within the poker world because there's a lot of money and there are a lot of businessman and rich people with money to spare.
That's great to hear Will. One last question, are you looking to move up the ladder or are you really playing to win?
I'm just going to sit tight. I'm not going to make a whole lot of moves. I know some of these players are going for the top three or even the win, but right now I'm shooting to make it to the top six. I have enough chips to tighten up a bit and make it deep.
The money really is important to me. My financial situation is okay right now but winning €100,000 would be life-changing for me. I could pay off my mortgage and do some good things with it.
Thanks so much Will and good luck tomorrow.
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It seems philanthropy is making more and more inroads into the poker community. Players like Will Fry are leading the charge, so we wish him the best of luck at tomorrow's final table.
Head here for the day's live updates, here for the end-of-day counts, and check here for the recap blog which will be up soon.
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