MILLIONS Grand Final Barcelona runner-up Adam Owen talks to the partypoker blog

The United Kingdom’s Adam Owen is a professional poker player with a glowing reputation. Owen was already regarded as one of the UK’s top mixed game players, but after his runner-up finish in the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Grand Final Barcelona Main Event, people may take more notice of his no-limit hold’em skills.

Owen discovered poker while on a school skiing trip when he was the ripe old age of 13-years-old. It was a variant of 5 Card Draw to whet Owen’s whistle and he was soon playing £5 buy-in home games with friends.

“We’d use every chip in the case, play 1000s of big blinds deep and make a sit-n-go last a whole day on our mothers’ kitchen tables,” explained Owen. “Later, I found freerolls online and span up a bankroll from there, learning all the games along the way. Nowadays I regularly play 10/20 to 40/80 limit games but have taken shots as high as 400/800 as well as a broad range of MTT buy-ins both live and online.”

Now 25-years-old, the former Politics and Economics Bath University student is based in Mexico, a whole world away from his roots back in Folkestone, Kent. Despite the huge travel distance, Owen was always going to play the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Grand Final Main Event in Barcelona.

I booked my flights and accommodation the day that the event was announced

“I booked my flights and accommodation the day that the event was announced. I love the city of Barcelona and have been lucky there previously so decided to go for it immediately. I did later win a package at the first attempt which is always a great feeling.”

“Been lucky before” equates to a €646,250 score Owen secured for finishing third in a €5,300 no-limit hold’em event in Barcelona during August 2016.

Adam Owen in action in Barcelona

Owen is the first to admit that he ran well during the €10 million guaranteed MILLIONS Grand Final, but you have to be on the right side of variance to win a tournament of this magnitude. Running hotter than the sun aside, Owen was more than impressed with the entire setup in Barcelona.

“I loved the fact that the floor allowed a strong railing presence to enjoy the event. My rail was fantastic and I enjoyed every minute of the final table as their harmonious tones became louder and more frequent. I like the single ante concept, it really speeds the game up – however I would switch from a button ante to a big blind ante. The big blind is always present so you don’t end up having situations where there isn’t an ante if a player busts. You also require a third less people to be paying attention and posting, which is the main point in the first place. It’s a very small thing but I don’t think it’s close as to which is better.”

Unsurprisingly, the aforementioned €646,250 score was the largest of Owen’s career at the time, but he more than doubled that princely sum by finishing second in the MILLIONS Grand Final Barcelona Main Event, a result that netted Owen €1,300,000. Owen now plans to head to Las Vegas in the summer and may chase the Player of the Year title thanks to having a little less financial pressure on himself.

I did have another deep run in a Barcelona main event a couple of years ago which allowed me to buy an apartment. That was always my goal from poker and with less pressure on living costs, I’ve been fairly aggressive with my bankroll since then – with mixed results of course.

“I did have another deep run in a Barcelona main event a couple of years ago which allowed me to buy an apartment. That was always my goal from poker and with less pressure on living costs, I’ve been fairly aggressive with my bankroll since then – with mixed results of course. I’m going to fire the WSOP rather hard, at least at the beginning. If I get off to a good start I may shoot for Player of the Year as I play all the games and enjoy the challenge. I sold and swapped a decent amount of action for the big score in the MILLIONS event, I’m happy to have made some friends a bunch of money too.”

Although mixed games are Owen’s fortay, this massive result in hold’em goes someway to rove Owen is one of the best poker all-rounders. Does it mean he will be playing in more no-limit hold’em events?

“I’ve played a lot of mixed tournaments including the 50k Poker Players Championship 8-Game in Vegas a few times. On some tables there I feel like Hold’em is my best game in the mix against the lineup and on others I feel I’m clearly the weakest at it. I generally prefer games without a flop but I have improved steadily in my weaker games over the last couple of years I think. When I’m in tune and playing my best I feel I pick up on people’s emotions and thought processes pretty well, regardless of the game. I guess that can help to negate some technical shortcomings I might have in a given game. I’ll pick and choose some NLHE tournaments during POWERFEST I imagine and will probably play a reasonable amount in Vegas but I’ll definitely be prioritising the mixed events as always.”

Speaking of the POWERFEST, Owen was kind enough to give the partypoker blog readers his three tips for enjoying a successful festival.

Check out the satellites. I’ve been really impressed with partypoker’s satellite offerings. Sats are a great way to get into big buy-in tournaments that you wouldn’t usually play – with ridiculous guarantees on them.

Pace yourself. Grinding online series is one of my favourite things to do. Whilst it pains me to take days off with so much value floating around, it really is necessary. I wish I could listen to my own advice for this more strictly.

Take the shot! Whilst I recommend above all to play responsibly, this is the time of year to take your shots and play the higher end of your buy-in range. The fields are huge and the variance is bigger and of course the odds are stacked against you. But these are the times to go for the career-altering, potentially life-altering prizes. As long as you prepare for the worst and are ready to grind it back afterwards, why not give yourself a chance at the big boy payouts?

Put Owen’s tips to the test in the $40 million guaranteed POWERFEST, which runs through until May 20th, 2018.