Full Tilt Poker’s Million Pound Challenge brought 80 online qualifiers to the Hellenic Centre in London for the chance to play for £1 million in September of 2008. By the time the final table played out, part-time poker pro Adam Noone emerged victorious and earned the chance to play heads up against three of poker’s greatest pros for £1 million.
While the payoff was big, so was the competition. To claim the full £1 million, Adam had to face Team Full Tilt’s Phil Ivey and Chris Ferguson as well as Full Tilt Poker pro Roland De Wolfe. However, he didn’t go to the table without assistance. Prior to facing off against each of his opponents, he received a quick bit of personalized coaching and professional advice from Team Full Tilt’s Andy Bloch, Allen Cunningham and Hendon Mob member Barny Boatman.
Here’s the advice that Adam received before he sat down to play for £1 million:
Don't back down and don't be afraid to get all the chips in there. You’ve got to play Phil Ivey fairly aggressively; maybe let him think that he can push you around a little bit early on and then switch gears and start attacking him. He just won't know what to do. I mean, the key to playing Phil Ivey – and I've watched a lot of people play against him – is just to confuse the heck out of him and keep him on his toes. Don't let him start pushing you around.
Also keep in mind that Phil Ivey's only tell is when he’s got a bad hand: he folds. That’s just about it. I mean it's really hard to pick up tells against him – you don’t want to try that. Make sure you're not giving off any tells and don't be afraid to mix it up with him.
And don’t worry about the money – just play your best game.
The first thing I want to say is that I know you're playing for a lot of money, but you're not the only one under pressure. These guys are playing for something that’s worth more than a lot of money to them: their reputations. You're the one that’s freerolling and you're the one that’s making a name for yourself; they don't want to get beaten by an unknown or a relative unknown. Also, don't think about the cameras too much; don't be thinking, “I don't want to be caught here on the receiving end, throwing away a good hand, I don't want people to see the way I play” or whatever. You never know what hands they're going to show or what the commentators are going to say – you can't control that; what you can control is the way you play your game.
Now about Roland: Roland's got a reputation for being quite wild and pushing his chips in all sorts of hands; but actually Roland thinks. Roland is much more of a thinker than you might realize. He understands the game very well and he likes to play flops. Don't let him play too many flops, especially in position against you. If you want to raise – if you really want to play – don't limp on the button. One thing I've noticed that he likes to do is to call a raise and then lead out almost anything because he knows most of the time that you've missed. I'm not saying bluff with no hand, but I think the thing that you want to do is play a hand and play it strong. Be the one to give him the decision for all the chips: get that key bet in first. Don't back off, play your draw strong and play your hand strong. It’s going to come down to one big hand.
Well, I can say that Chris Ferguson really is one of the best heads-up players around, especially in this kind of format. What I want to see you do is take as much skill out of the game as possible. The way to do this is by putting a lot of money in before the flop if you can. Re-raise quite a few of his button opens and if you get a lot of money in there pre-flop, then its going to come to luck more often on who wins, who flops the best hand or who makes the best hand. I want you to push the action a little bit more trying to get him to fold pre-flop. That will tend to build a lot of big pots which you should play for aggressively. I think that will equalize the skill advantage he may have.