Final Table Interview: Will Givens
Will Givens began Event #33: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em as the chip leader and while he has given just a few chips back, he is still near the top. The event came into today with 10 players and it was just 40 minutes into play when the official final table was formed.
Givens has over $340,000 in live tournament winnings, with $144,765 of it coming from the Heartland Poker Tour win in 2009. We caught up with Givens as the players went to break to talk about being at his first final table, the time between his last big win and today and who he thinks his toughest opponent is.
PokerNews: How does it feel to be at your first WSOP final table?
Will Givens: This might seem like a pat answer, but when everyone says it is surreal, it really is surreal. I was sleeping last night and I woke up remembering that I was picturing this when I late regged the event. I played the $5K Six-Max a few days ago - which had a lot of tough players - and when you throw yourself in some shark tanks, then you become a shark. I was saying to myself, if I can get deep in this $1K - it’s on. I started building and it’s happening just like I pictured. You visualize it and it happens. Crazy.
It appears that you are having a lot of fun at the table with quite a bit of laughter. Is that part of your approach coming into today?
Today started kind of funny. First thing in the morning, I turned on my shower and brown water was coming out. All the water was brown in the room and the hotel didn’t know when it would be fixed. That meant I started my day with a cold shower and that sort of woke me up. So I got a late start. I came in late and decided I was going to sit back and just see what happens. I don’t have a stack where I have to make moves, I am going to see how things play themselves out and take it one step at a time.
Tell us about the last few days leading into the final table. Any key moments, any key hands?
Through out the last two days I have only been all in twice. On Day 1 I was all in on the turn with 
on 
[and] it was a weird dynamic with two other players. The guy with pocket eights called and had a set, but I rivered a spade. Then in the middle of Day 2, me and Steven [Norden] got it in with tens versus ace-king for a 100 [big blind] pot. I lost the flip there and I had to come back. That’s when I got it in three-way with jacks versus nines versus ace-five.
Besides that, it has been a cruise. It has been a big blur, everything’s working and my reads have been right on; I am losing the min and winning the max. When you have that going for you, victory is in reach.
2009 was your last six-figure score. What would a win today mean?
It means I’m back. It means everything.
Where did you go?
I was grinding. Any grinder that hits the pinnacle, then drops down and has to grind his way back up can understand how much this means. People doubt you and they say give it up.
Hello! I’m back.
Who is your toughest opponent today?
Everyone seems pretty solid. Vinny [Pahuja] is pretty tough. Don’t disregard Stephen [Norden] or Dutch [Boyd]. Even Paul [Cogliano]. I don’t know what his hands have been and I can’t wait to look at the stream. I don’t know about Chris [Sensoli], I haven’t played much with him yet. Everyone is tough, I am not taking any player for granted.