Craig Marquis is the ninth-place finisher at the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event.
The Texas-based online cash game pro came into the final table seventh in chips, but saw his tournament life come to an end after less than two levels of action, running a pocket pair of sevens into Scott Montgomery's A-Q and seeing the Canadian make a runner-runner straight to finish him off.
PokerListings.com was front and center in the post-game scrum and here's what Marquis had to say for himself:
Can you talk about how your day went?
Today was - at first I was a little bit frustrated, because I was a bit card dead. That last hand, obviously, was a lot of mixed emotion. The whole day was a lot of fun though. I got to play poker for high stakes that I don't normally play for and it's been a lot of fun.
It's been a lot of fun, you know, I've had a lot of interviews, ESPN came up to my house for a weekend and stuff like that, so it's been a really good time. It's kind of crazy that it's all over now. I was really hoping it wouldn't end until tomorrow, but...
Did the crazy atmosphere at the final table affect your focus at all?
It really didn't. I don't get nervous about poker at all; I was really happy to get in here and be just as calm as I expected myself to be. I played pretty much how I would play in any situation, so I didn't feel like it affected me at all.
You played the way you would normally play.
Yeah, exactly. I played the same game that got me to the final table, so I wasn't affected by the crowd, I don't think.
That was a pretty bad beat -
It's not really that bad, though, because I got it in only ahead 55%. That's how I have to look at the hand. You know, if I had lost with kings against queens it would have been a lot worse than losing with sevens against A-Q.
Obviously after the flop I'm really expecting to win the hand, having 96% equity, but it happens. That's the game we play.
Did you do anything to work on your game during the four-month break?
No. I discussed a little bit of strategy with David "Raptor" Benefield and Tom "durrr" Dwan, but beyond that I didn't really do a whole lot. I think that emulating those players' tstyle, when you're so used to your own, is going to be a mistake, and so long as you're familiar with the fundamentals of the game and know the math of everything, you're going to be fine with your own game.
Was there any advice that durrr or Raptor gave you that helped you today?
One that I didn't follow was, they said that people weren't going to bluff the river against me, so I check-called the river against Peter Eastgate and he wasn't bluffing. So that's the only piece of knowledge and I didn't end up listening, because I'm kind of a callbox.
Can you talk about the relationship that was formed between the members of the November Nine?
It's really weird. If there was a person I would have chosen to give my chips to it would have been Scott Montgomery. He's a really nice guy. I had the opportunity in London to go out to dinner with him, and so it's really weird. You find yourself in the position where you're opponents at the table with someone but you have some sort of camaraderie, you know, because you've all gone through the same sort of media gauntlet.
They're all nice guys and they're all excellent poker players. I'm happy with how things ended up.
Who's your pick to win it now?
Ivan Demidov. He's a sicko. Ivan or Yvon Schwartz. Yvon's playing really, really well today. Ivan is definitely a sicko.
Did anyone surprise you by changing up their style heading into the final table?
Yvon surprised me. I thought he was playing really nitty when we got deep, which he probably was because it was such a big bubble, but he really opened up his game today. Or he might have just been getting hands, I don't know.
But from my perspective he was playing really sick today. Ivan, obviously awesome. Peter, another awesome player. Those three guys, having chips - if they get three-handed it's going to be a really fun final table to watch, because they're all solid players.
What's next for you?
I'll probably play poker for a few years. I have enough money that I don't have to sweat the small stuff. I don't plan on going out and blowing all my money. I'm pretty conservative.
Have you bought anything special for yourself with the prize money?
The only thing I've bought is an Audi S5, which I'm picking up in a week, so I'm looking forward to that. And I bought my mom a Chevy Colorado pickup. She loves it. It's red; it's kind of her thing, and I'm really glad to have been able to do that for her.
Have you learned anything about yourself and/or the game of poker in this experience?
Um, I haven't learned a whole lot more about poker. I'm kind of impressed with myself for being as calm as I've been. I've got a pretty laid-back personality, so I thought I'd be pretty relaxed, but I was happy to see that when I came in I wasn't nervous at all. I didn't feel stressed out at all.
What was the best part of the last four months?
Just relaxing. I played 18 tournaments during the World Series and it's always nice to go home and relax, hang out with my friends and just lay low for a while. I haven't been able to do that quite as much, because I've had all of the media stuff going on at the final table, but that was the best part.
What was the worst part of the last four months?
There really wasn't a bad part. I think I would rather have played the final table in July, so that there wouldn't be quite as much build up, and I wouldn't feel quite as depressed about being eliminated as I do now. But there really weren't any bad things about it.
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Marquis, who takes "only" the base $900,670 for his ninth-place finish, was remarkably well-composed, almost cheerful during his press conference. While an early exit is obviously a disappointment, the kid can take solace in the fact that he outlasted 6,835 poker players to get here, and that he'll always be remembered as one of the original November Nine.
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