Stephen Chidwick Enjoys Dynamics of the Poker Masters

Stephen Chidwick returns to Day 2 of the $100,000 Poker Masters Championship event short on chips, but his experience in these fields evens the odds a bit in his favor – plus the newly-married pro has honeymoon rungood on his side. Though he bricked the early events, Chidwick enjoyed each day contending for the Poker Masters Purple Jacket™.

“Married life is pretty similar to what is was before, we both knew for quite a while that’s the direction things were going,” Chidwick said. “I seem to be running a bit better, I had a good Barcelona and things are going well.”

Chidwick played all the $50,000 preliminary events but missed out on cashing. “I’ve had a lot of fun and I’m happy how I’ve been playing,” he said. “I’m feeling really confident, I’ve made a few stacks and then gotten unlucky in a couple big pots. But overall, I think it’s been a really good Series and I hope they do it again.”

“I really like everything about the Poker Masters. It’s really fun playing against the same players for a while, which is something you don’t really get in tournaments,” Chidwick added. “That’s more something you’d find in cash games – facing the same players and building dynamics.”

“These fields specifically get a lot of pretty cool people and the atmosphere is usually very light and jokey. It’s shot clock poker and you get put in lots of tough decisions, so it’s fun figuring out what to do,” he said. “It doesn’t feel like too much of a grind being in this room for 12 hours a day.”

Stephen Chidwick enjoyed his time in the ARIA Poker Room during the Poker Masters. (Photo: Danny Maxwell/Poker Central)

“It’s partially the familiarity – everyone knows everyone. You don’t get really new faces so you get deeper conversations about different things instead of surface things with people you don’t know,” he said.

“All these guys have been around playing high stakes for a long time, so everyone’s comfortable with the swings,” Chidwick continued. “For the most part, people aren’t getting too tilted and people understand that the game is the game.”

Chidwick doesn’t base any judgements on some plays he’s seen. “How you perform in one hand on any given day, in any given tournament, doesn’t really define too much,” he said.

“I’m really happy to see Steffen doing really well,” he said. “I’ve played with him a lot online and have a big respect for his game. He’s had a lot of close runs live before but hasn’t put up the results of other players or what I think he deserves.”

Follow Chidwick’s progress on Day 2 of the Poker Masters exclusively on PokerGO at 5:30 pm ET until the field reaches a final table.