Taylor Rides $20 Satellite to Las Vegas and WPT World Championship Cash

WPT Global: Last time we saw you was (at Playground) in Montreal. What have you been up to, and how are you feeling being in the money of the Wynn WPT Championship?

Brant Taylor: It's awesome, it's always a great tournament here. I love it here at the Wynn, it's always more comfortable than other tournaments, and I'm really enjoying myself. Being in the money is amazing, so I will just keep laddering up and see if I can get some momentum going.

WPTG: Your largest previous cash was for a little over $20,000, so how does it feel to already have more prize money than that booked here at the WPT Championship? 

Taylor: Especially satelliting in for $20 on the site so it's incredible. It's good. I just hope it keeps going.

WPTG: What was your path into the tournament through the WPT Global promotions and satellites?

Taylor: I just made a small deposit on the site, and I just started playing the $5 and $20 satellites. And then I just laddered up to $200, and then $1,000, and then got the seat. I saw you guys in Montreal, and then I went home and tried again and won another seat. I sold that to my buddy, but he got eliminated unfortunately so I have bragging rights this year. 

WPTG: Could you have ever imagined getting this far into the tournament when you were playing those satellites?

Taylor: I feel very fortunate for sure.

WPTG: Canada has a really strong poker player community from Montreal to Vancouver and all across the country. How do you adjust your play against opponents here in the states to how you would play back at home?

Taylor: I don't really know that I adjust it. Maybe more where things are in the tournament to where the players are from, but we definitely have a lot of international players here so that changes things a little bit. Like you said, we've got a great crew back home, and we just play our tournaments back at the local poker place. We've got some really good players. It would be nice if we had some more poker tournaments back home. Maybe the WPT can consider coming up there some day. We've got a lot of good interest and players there.  

WPTG:  How has your path through Day 3 been going so far?

Taylor: I started out short, and I got up close to the average. And then I've kind of fallen back. So now I've been scrambling, I'm kind of short, I've got about 13 big blinds.

WPTG: So how do you adjust your play when you're in short-stack ninja mode like you are at the moment?

Taylor: I try to not leave any chips on the table and just try to conserve. I've been pretty much doing that all day actually. I'm just trying to look for good spots and be patient.

WPTG: Have you been telling your poker friends about the tournament and those qualifiers you were playing on WPT Global?

Taylor: Oh, for sure, I'm part of a poker club back at home. It's fully legit, it's a die-hard poker group, and there's 100 players who play once a month for prizes. I've been telling them all week that we should have the option to come here as a prize. But yeah for sure I've been telling a lot of people that I've been having a great time, and it's super for me obviously. It's been a lot of fun. I joined the site a few months ago, and I've really been impressed with it. It's really good.

WPTG: Who all is rooting for you back at home as you make this deep run in the WPT Championship?

Taylor: My friends back home in the league, and my family, and my girlfriend and her family back home are cheering me on. I've just really been having fun with it.

(Rachel Kay Winter, World Poker Tour photo)