Ka-Ching for the Chingster

Lee Davy

If you are interested in poker and follow the live poker circuit in the past few years, you will have heard of many big names hitting major results, bad beats on the bubble and much more, always with a witty twist. Quite a few stories and interviews from the sidelines were brought to you by Lee Davy, who happens to be a poker writer and blogger that hails from Cardiff, Wales. Those that don't know him, at first glance he appears to be a very calm and fully focused person while writing down hand histories on a memo pad – short, precise and in a language that only he can decipher. At the very same time he catches all the action from the table while you barely notice his eagle eyes in the background. Never one to toot the horn, jump in front of cameras … the typical hard and dedicated worker behind the scenes.

When everything kicked off with a rather harmless Facebook post that barely caught any attention due to being disguised nicely in a huge understatement, it came as no surprise as this fits perfectly to his style.

"There is a writer on the final table of the #MiniFTOPS #9 with the chip lead? Wonder who it is?"

Thinly veiled social media outburst: Some random internet hero will soon emerge, just like one of those online Qualifiers in a Main Event of the World Poker Tour that you have barely ever heard from before. But wait, not even one hour later the very same person has the following to say:

"I have just won ‪#‎MiniFTOPS‬ #9 for $5k. But who cares about the money I just won a MiniFTOPS event!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Again very precise start with the proper usage of the #hashtag to show up in the news feed of a larger audience. But the excitement finally kicks in when the exclamation marks hit the roof at the end of the status. Immediately all the other peers of the online and live poker circuit rush by to see what happened, a situation very similar to an all-in and a call when the money bubble looms.

Time for a recap, just like Lee typically does at the end of every tournament day.

MiniFTOPS Event #9 started at 11:04 server time and the $20 + $2 5 Card Pot Limit Omaha tournament drew a total of 1,228 participants. Little did we know that seven hours later chingster23 would play an important role for the win after entering the Final Table as Chipleader. With 5 players left a five figure payout was already guaranteed and no thought of a deal must have crossed his mind because there is no such agreement to be found in the final screenshot:

For poker players you know the standard questions, but which ones actually apply for someone that has asked them all so many times already? How do you feel? When did you think there is a chance to take it down? Nahh, that would be way too easy. How about this:

Lee, first of all big congrats on that score. Can you tell us where the nickname "chingster23" comes from?

When I was around 8-9 years of age I remember sitting down in a field, with two other friends, debating what nicknames we would have. I am half-Chinese and so we decided I would be called Chingy. It stuck so much even my Mum called me Chingy when she used to come and watch me play football when I was younger. At the age of 10 I moved to South Wales and the kids at my school dropped the ‘Y’ and just referred to me as Ching. There are still so many people I am friendly with that call me Ching – some don’t even know my name is Lee. It was a close friend of mine who first called me the Chingster. I added the 23 because it was David Beckham’s shirt number at Real Madrid and Beckham is one of my heroes.

Was this your biggest payday at online poker so far?

It isn’t actually. I once won over $10k in an $11-rebuy tournament. That event cost me $21.

This tournament was actually played as 5 Card Omaha, a poker type that has been implemented on Full Tilt Poker not long ago. Do you think this has given you better odds at winning?

Six-card PLO is the most common form of cash game poker in the Welsh Valleys, so I’m used to playing a lot of post flop poker with plenty of cards in my hand. I do think it’s easier to win a PLO tournament than a NLHE tournament, but that’s just personal experience.

Is there any general advice that you want to hide from all aspiring players and bloggers that will now undoubtedly start playing 5 Card Omaha as well?

The biggest piece of advice to give to all bloggers is to use the skills and experience of the players who become their friends. We sometimes forget that we are mixing with some of the best players in the world. Talk strategy with them and ask them to help you with your game.

What live tournament is next on your agenda and will we see Lee Davy also playing on the circuit as well any time soon?

I have actually cashed in my last two live tournaments. I came 19th in the Road to Old Trafford event that Sam Trickett won, and finished 18th in the last Multi-Prize Pool (MPP) tournament organised by Roberto Romanello at Dusk Till Dawn, so I’m on a mini-roll. I might play at GUKPT Manchester in a week's time, but only if I can get some people to buy a few pieces of me, because £1k is a lot of money for a blogger

And the moral of the story? These poker writers and bloggers can also play poker as well! One who already demonstrated it earlier this year at the World Series Of Poker was Chad Holloway, who took down the Employees Event and grabbed one of the Golden Bracelets. Follow the adventures of Lee Davy as he travels the circuit for the European WPT Events and stay tuned for more of his stories and interviews on CalvinAyre.com.