WITH COVID-19 restrictions apply in almost all Europe, there was no place Arthur Conan could play in a live poker tournament. As there were limited options for the 24-year-old French, he decided to trek across the Atlantic to South Florida to play the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown in Hollywood. The series was huge, with 3 $, 500 World Poker Tour figure 2 main event, 482 players to set the record for the biggest field in touring history, almost four times the $ 2 million guarantee.
But despite the huge fields, it was Conan who stood out, making quite an impression while at the Sunshine State.
In about a week, Conan won the $ 855, 355. His first was a direct win in the $ 100,000 Super High Roller for $ 733,320. He continued this deeply in the main event, taking 10th place for $ 111,035. Two monster results have more than doubled his career earnings, which now amount to just $ 1.6 million.
This is quite an impressive round-up for a 24-year-old, especially in the modern age of poker, where the level of competition is at its highest ever. However, despite his age, Conan is not new to the game. He has been playing since he was a teenager.
"I started playing poker at 18, but I knew the rules before that," said Conan. “My father played a little and my brother played. So I started playing with my family and then I moved online. "
Arthur's brother Marius, who is two years younger, is also a pretty good player. In fact, the younger Conan defeated his brother in 2017 WPT The DeepStacks High Roller event in Cannes. Two siblings finished heads-up to take home most of the prize pool.
Conan gritted his teeth at online poker, however. But thanks to European gambling laws that allow 20-year-olds to play in casinos, it was the live event that saw Conan grind full-time. In July 2015, Conan played in the France Poker Series € 1, € 100 in the main no-limit hold'em event. Even with minimal experience at the time, especially at these stakes, Conan made it to the final table and finished fourth for € 45,000.
Conan continued to spend most of his time in online tournaments, playing live events from time to time. He was still looking for a way to navigate the poker world and even changed his preferred game type a few times before finally finding his comfort zone.
"I started with tournaments early in my career and then switched to ring games after about a year and a half," said Conan. “After about a year and a half, maybe two years, I came back to online tournaments and now I only play online tournaments. I'll play some live cash games, but mostly tournaments. "
Ever since he started playing virtual felt, Conan's transition to the live arena, from a basics point of view, was very easy. In Conan's eyes, the game looked completely different, but players who played mostly live poker lacked the technical understanding he had accumulated after hundreds of thousands of hands played.
"We've found it easier than online at the same buy-in levels," he said. “But the game was completely different than live. It wasn't necessarily easier, but it was completely different. "
For the first three years of his professional poker career, Conan stayed in Europe. He was under 21 so he would play illegally at most tournament stops in the US. But it developed into a solid regatta at European stops and built a consistent stretch of deep runs and wins.
In 2018, however, he was finally old enough to make his first trip to Las Vegas and play the full schedule at the World Series of Poker.
“I was very, very excited to go to WSOP in Vegas, Conan said. “I just turned 25 so I wanted to play as often as I could. I stayed for the whole series and it was very good. I didn't have many points, but it was very fun. "
Conan did one deep run on his first summer streak, a 15th finish in the $ 888 Crazy Eights non-limit hold'em, adding another $ 34,577 to his bankroll.
“It was my deepest run on WSOP to this point and it was very exciting, ”he said. “But it ended up badly in the end. I lost a huge pot as a huge favorite so it was tough. But then it was fine. The next day I had to go to other tournaments so that's about it. It's just like the game is played sometimes. "
While he was reluctant to admit that it was easier to play live tournaments in Europe than online, he said the US fields were much softer than the fields he had faced before.
"I have heard from other Europeans that it will be easier," said Conan. "I think it was a little easier than in Europe."
After his first stint in Las Vegas, Conan took the game to the next level. He made his first cash of € 5,000 in a buy-in tournament at the stop in Barcelona and has consistently played with a higher buy-in since then.
In 2019, it was more of the same. He had solid, consistent results, including a victory in the WPT DeepStacks Marrakech Main Event for $ 83, 918. But he has yet to score a big, career-changing result. He spent the second summer in Las Vegas on WSOP and then returned to Europe for the rest of the year before COVID - The 19th pandemic freezes most of the live poker tournaments in 2020.
"I was less distracted during the pandemic," Conan said. “I moved to London so I just played more than I used to and brought all my grind online. I just played for eight months directly on the internet with a lot of volume during that time. "
Crossing borders during a pandemic was not the easiest process for him and his friend and travel mate Sonny Franco, who finished fourth in $ 3,500 WPT main event for $ 438, 500.
"We had to spend two weeks outside of Europe," said Conan. “We couldn't go directly to the United States from Europe, so we did two weeks in Morocco before that. Then we went from Morocco to New York and from there to Miami. '
Ultimately, the process was so burdensome that he doesn't think many foreign professionals will travel to America until border regulations are relaxed.
a bit complicated so I don't think many European professionals will do the same, ”Conan said. "For WSOP (scheduled for October) there will be Europeans of course, but I think it might be reopened by then. "
When Conan arrived at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, he started playing at rates he had never tried before. One of the first events he registered for was the $ 50,000 Super High Roller no-limit hold'em event. Although he had never played in a tournament with such a large buy-in before, he had some experience playing high-stakes live tournaments.
"This was my first $ 50K buy-in," admitted Conan. “I already played the $ 25K [PokerStars Players Championship] two years ago, but this was my first $ 50K .. I was a bit nervous, but after a few hours of play it was fine. "
He followed his way through the 42nd entrance and secured his seat at the final table. Several high-stakes regulars joined him, including runner-up Sam Soverel, Christopher Brewer, Seth Davies, Sean Winter and Jeremy Ausmus.
The final table was anything but soft, but the lack of some famous international pros who normally play these stakes made Conan feel more comfortable than he would normally expect at the final table.
"All the best American pros have been on the pitch, and professionals from Canada and Europe who are used to this type of event were gone," he said. "So I think the field was quite soft [for a $50K] but still tough."
It was not a smooth sailing at the Conan final table. With four players, he made a massive bluff with Davies who was one of the top two stacks. It didn't end well.
"He raised pretty little from the small blind and I called from the big blind with 9 -7 outside the suit," Conan recalled. The flop came Q - 10 - 6 flush draw. He bet two-thirds of [the size of the pot] and I called. There was a jack on the turn, resulting in a backdoor flush draw. He raised on the turn, but it was very small. I raised and he called. The river was blank but brought a flush draw on the front door. He checked and I [moved] all-in with the exception of one big blind. He fired and called me with two couples. "
But then one of the biggest comebacks in poker history followed. On the next hand from the small blind, Conan doubled four times and doubled again a few hands later. Before he knew it, he turned that single chip into a 20 - big blind stack.
"I think I had some hope when I got to the 10 big blinds," Conan said. “So after two or three doubles up, I knew it was possible to win again. When I only had one blind, I knew I was almost out. "
Brewer eliminated Davies in fourth place and Conan sent Brewer to pack in third, leaving only Soverel standing in his way. Conan eventually won a pocket fives flip against K-9 Soverel to finish the job and take home the $ 733, a 320 first-place prize.
But he's not finished yet. The day after winning the Super High Roller, Conan jumped into 3 $, the 500 main event. He played for a few more days, breaking through the huge field, and before he knew it, he ran to the second final table in a row.
"After this win, I had a lot of confidence in the main [event]," said Conan. "I was just playing my game ... and watching what happened."
What happened was another deep run and he ended tenth place after losing a flip to AQ against Erik Cajelais and his pocket jacks. He took another $ 111.035 for his efforts.
"I think [the money] can be an incentive to continue playing high-buy-in events," Conan said of his new capital. “But I'm not sure if I will play them all just for the sake of the score. I will definitely play more with the $ 10,000 buy-in. Money doesn't change my career that much, but it's nice to have a boost and [get some attention] from the media.
Conan left South Florida with overpriced capital, but did not return to France. Instead, he has decided to head west to Las Vegas, where he will continue playing live for the next few months, while Aria, Venetian and Wynn plan to run a series of tournaments throughout the summer.
"I'll play some $ 10 Ks and maybe some $ 25 Ks at Aria," said Conan.
Watch out for the players, Arthur Conan has arrived.
Photo credits: World Poker Tour / PokerGO / Seminole Hard Rock