QUALIFIERS - Adam Mills

What's your home town?
I live in Montgomery, Ala. for school.

How about your education?
I am 21 years old and am a senior at Auburn University studying electrical engineering.

What's your marital status?
I am in a serious relationship.

How long have you been playing poker?
I started playing poker about six years ago, playing casually with friends. I enjoyed the competition and mental complexity it takes to play the game. I started playing online about four years ago. My friend and I played freerolls at another site. We both played under the same alias. We won a few, then started playing the real money tournaments. We built a bankroll of over $2,000 in about three months, then decided to cash out and split the winnings. I took my share and moved to Bodog around 2006, and have predominantly played there ever since.

Tell us about your best poker win...
I would have to say that the best poker win I had was winning this WSOP* seat.  I started out the day by playing a $27 Main Event Last Chance Qualifier, and won a seat into the Main Event Semifinal. In the Semifinal, I doubled up twice early in the tournament and held the chip lead for about the first two hours. Eventually, other players caught up and passed me. I found myself at the final table about midway in chips. I hung back and played very conservative and let the bigger stacks beat up on each other.
 
Then I started getting some cards, doubled up two or three times and found myself heads up against Bodog's own Smith (nevertilt22) Collins. I had about a 4-to-1 chip lead. Twice I had him on the ropes and twice he managed to hit a card.  

I was now a 3-to-1 chip dog. I fought back a few hands to get to almost even, before raising with pocket 7s and then being reraised. I smooth called and saw a flop of K-7-2.  I checked the flop and he checked behind. The turn was the case 7. I checked again, and once again he checked. The river was an ace. I had faith that the ace hit him so with the stone cold nuts I checked again. Sure enough he came out betting. I moved all-In and was insta-called by his A-Q. He was crippled to about 5K in chips and moved in the very next hand with 6-7 offsuit. I had pocket kings and the rest is history. I immediately jumped up and started celebrating, my girlfriend wondering if I was okay. I started calling everyone in my phone book, telling them that I had just won a seat to the World Series.

What do you think your chances are of winning the WSOP*?
I think that the Main Event really is like the lottery. Everyone has a shot to win. The one advantage that I have is that I’m an unknown. None of the pros have ever seen me play, but I have had the advantage of watching how each of them plays. I will probably watch a few more reruns of the World Series and other events to study them again.

Who is your favorite poker player?
I have to say Phil Ivey would be my favorite. He is a relentless player who constantly puts pressure on you. He can have any two cards at any point in time in any given tournament.

What would you do if you won?
If I won, I would probably buy a house, maybe spoil myself and those around me a little bit, but invest the majority. I don't think I could just quit school and potential jobs to become a poker player full time... too much stress.

I've always been a very math-oriented person. As long as I can remember I've been interested in math problems and concepts. I use a mathematical approach at the table. I am constantly crunching out the math on whether or not to make a call. I find that pot odds and implied odds are very useful in deciding my course of action.  

How will you spend your time off in Vegas?
I think my family and my girlfriend's family are going to come out there with me. It will be nice to have them out there supporting me. We will probably go see a few shows and just enjoy the Vegas atmosphere.

What type of player are you?
In order to be a successful player, I don't think you can classify yourself as one type; you have to be a little bit of every kind. I tend to start out as a conservative player, take a look at all my opponents and see which type of play would be correct in that situation. Sometimes, the situation calls to be tight and play only premium hands, while in other situations it's correct to be the aggressor and try and push the table around. It really all depends on the stage the tournament is in, the chip stack you have relative to the size of the others at your table and most importantly, the type of players at your table.

Have you ever been to Vegas before? If so, any good stories?
I haven’t been to Vegas before, but I am going to be out there June 16-20 on a business convention. I may try and dip in and play one of the smaller World Series events just to get a little taste of the atmosphere, seeing as this will be my first Main Event.