Danielle "dmoongirl" Andersen Living the Tournament Life Deep in the WSOP Main Event
Danielle "dmoongirl" Andersen is best known as a cash game pro, but there are a couple events each year that can draw her to the tournament tables. Andersen usually takes time away from her cash grind to participate in the $1,000 Ladies Event and the $10,000 Main Event at the World Series of Poker, two tournaments that are unique in the tournament realm.
"Yeah I pretty much only play the Ladies event because it's fun and I play the Main because it's also fun, but also because it's a little more conducive to my cash game style with deep stacks. Plus it's just a can't-miss tournament. It's like, my lottery ticket."
"I'm just trying to minimize mistakes and try to stay focused...the rest is out of my control."
All three of Andersen's WSOP tournament cashes to date have come in these events and this will be her second time cashing in the Main Event. In the 2017 Main Event, Andersen made it to 402nd place, cashing for $31,170 which remains her biggest tournament score. She's already guaranteed to best that finish this year after making it to Day 5.
As far as adjusting her play to fit with the demands of a long tournament, Andersen only feels she needs to make minor tweaks.
"It's just a different mentality. It always takes me a little bit to settle in, but because of the deep structure here, like I said, it just resembles a cash game a little bit more... I just make sure that I'm taking my time making decisions because - it's a different game."
As a cash game player, Andersen has extra appreciation for playing in the Main Event.
Andersen's Main Event Journey
Andersen had a fine Day 3 herself. After bagging 102,000 on Day 1 and 182,000 on Day 2, "dmoongirl" padded her stack well on Monday to finish with a healthy stack of 690,000.
She carried that momentum into Day 4, finishing the first level of the day with over 2 million chips.
Sooooo.... that was a good level. #Legooooooo #WSOPMain https://t.co/2v3fRBtzwP
— Danielle Andersen (@dmoongirl)
Andersen filled us in on the biggest hand that propelled her early on in Day 4, which involved a big stack opening under-the-gun and her flatting in the next position with pocket aces.
"The flop came king-two-three and he bet, I raised and he re-raised. I called and the turn was a queen. He bet like 240k which was like half my stack - or close to it. I called and the river was a two and he jammed all in, and he was just stone bluffing. He had ace-ten."
"I just want to be able to have peace about whatever my decisions are."
Though the result was a great start to the day, having to call off for your tournament life in the Main Event is sure to get the heart pumping.
"Coming in with like 700k and then 30 minutes in being put to the test for my entire stack was a little bit crazy - a little bit of an adrenaline rush there. But yeah, it just worked out for me and in the end, his hand just doesn't make sense and I found a call so, it was pretty sweet."
While the rest of the day wasn't as friendly, Andersen still put chips in the bag for Day 5, making it her deepest Main Event run yet. She'll be one of 354 players returning on Wednesday with a payout of $34,845 locked up.
Poker can be so funny. Ran like the sun the first two hours today, then went ice cold the next 8 hours. Happy to ha�� https://t.co/MbCJrkPICJ
— Danielle Andersen (@dmoongirl)
About her approach going forward, Andersen shared: "I don't have any results-oriented goals...When I go to bed at the end of the night, at the end of this tournament, I just want to be able to have peace about whatever my decisions are. So I'm just trying to minimize mistakes and try to stay focused and that's about it - the rest is out of my control."
You can find out how Danielle Andersen and others are doing in the WSOP Main Event as PokerNews brings you all the live updates from the tournament floor in the Rio.
