Catching up with Festival of Poker Freeroll Qualifier Andrew Cha

Andrew Cha (pictured) was one of three players to win his seat in this WPT $10,000 Main Event in the Festival of Poker Freeroll hosted by Commerce Casino during the L.A. Poker Classic poker series. Players earned points by participating in preliminary events during the tournament series, and the top 100 players on the leaderboard gained a spot in the freeroll.

Cha has cashed four times during the L.A. Poker Classic prelims to earn his way into the freeroll. Cha warmed up by taking 75th place in Event #16 on January 25, and followed that up with a cash in 33rd place in Event #30 on February 4th. He really hit his stride last weekend, taking 10th place in Event #45 last Saturday, and following that up with a runner-up finish in Event #47 on Sunday. The Encino, California resident has 13 cashes in his tournament career, and eight of them have come right here at Commerce Casino.

We caught up with Cha during the second break on Day 1 (his chip stack was sitting at 41,400 at the time), and asked him a few question about his tournament experience.

WPT: How have your first few levels of the day played out?

Andrew Cha: This is my first really grind-y tournament with the levels this long. Generally speaking in these tournaments, my edge lies in having patience, being able to pick my spots, hand selection. Having these extended levels … works in my favor for my playing style.

WPT: I see you have quite a few tournament results here at Commerce Casino, is this the main poker room where you play?

Andrew Cha: I hop around wherever the tournaments are going on down here in L.A. I’d say historically I’ve done the best at Commerce. If I had to choose I would consider it my home court. I just follow the action wherever it’s juicy.

WPT: How does it fell playing in your first WPT Main Event today?

Andrew Cha: This is my first-ever tournament above a $1,500 buy-in. It’s hard not to get a little scared with all of these big names, big pros in the field. I’ve just gotta stay confident in the game that got me here to this point. I’ve got to keep playing my game, keep picking my spots.