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How Tournament Player, Rob Sherwood, Turned a WPT Seat Into a $2.2 Million Score

How Tournament Player, Rob Sherwood, Turned a WPT Seat Into a $2.2 Million Score

Rob Sherwood, a BBZ Poker student from Birmingham, UK, turned a satellite entry into a $2.2 million payday at the WPT World Championship at the Wynn Las Vegas, finishing second in one of the largest live tournament fields of the year.

We sat down with Rob to talk about how four years of study helped him get there, the key hands that defined his run, and what comes next.

“It still has not sunk in”

“It still has not sunk in really. Where I was at in my poker career, I was really chasing a $100K to $300K win, so to bypass that and go straight to $2.2M just feels unreal.”

Rob Sherwood

This was not a one-time shot. Sherwood has played the WSOP Main Event 11 times, with his deepest finish this year at 488th out of 10,112 entries. He came into the WPT World Championship knowing he was more studied than most of the field, and that confidence mattered.

“When I play the WSOP Main, and this Wynn 10K, I know I am more studied than most of the field. That gives me confidence which is important. I did feel confident going into this one. Pretty sure this is the first $10K or above that I have played apart from WSOP Main.”

Rob Sherwood

The hands that defined the run

Every deep tournament run has defining moments, and Sherwood’s WPT World Championship was no different. An early double up set the tone for what became a wire-to-wire deep run.

“Got an early double up and never looked back. Then late on Day 3, won a big one with jacks versus ATs, against a guy I had battled with the previous day. That sent me to 5M with the average at 3M. When I won that I felt I had a real chance of doing something in this one.”

Rob Sherwood

With nine players remaining, Sherwood faced one of the biggest decisions of the tournament.

“With 9 remaining, I called off 88 versus QTs when I was covered. Winning that flip was obviously huge.”

Rob Sherwood

Four years of BBZ training

Sherwood joined BBZ Poker’s Daily Seminars in January 2021 and has been a consistent student for four years. He credits the training with two things that showed up at the WPT final table: knowledge and confidence.

“It has given me two important things: knowledge and confidence. I joined the BBZ seminars 4 years ago in January 2021. At that time I knew I had fallen behind, and if I wanted to continue to pursue poker I needed to study, firstly to catch up, and then overtake. BBZ has given me exactly what I needed. I am still learning, I definitely misplayed some hands, but I am on the right track and intend to stay on it.”

Rob Sherwood

Mental toughness and staying rational

Twenty years of tournament poker builds a particular kind of resilience, and Sherwood does not sugarcoat what that process looks like.

“20 years of experience of mainly being disappointed helps to build that!”

Rob Sherwood

When the pressure was highest, Sherwood focused on the process rather than the stakes.

“I think once I am in a tournament, I do not really think about what is at stake. I just want to do as well as possible, regardless of it being a $300 or $10K. When I was in big spots I just tried to think logically about the hand, and as Jordan says, stay rational.”

Rob Sherwood

Advice for other players

“Nothing earth shattering. Keep studying and playing, try to analyse your own play rather than moan about bad luck or the bad play of others. Be willing to drop in stakes on a downswing, especially online.”

Rob Sherwood

What is next for Rob Sherwood

“WPT Cambodia in February. I went deep in the main here last year and love being in Asia during the English winter. Then I will be in Vegas in June and July, and of course December again. Some events in Europe too. I see myself playing less and less online. When I am on the computer it is going to be mainly study time.”

Rob Sherwood

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