Archive for May, 2010

Let’s get to the point. Americans are fat! They are so fat that I am finding it difficult to eat myself. It is completely off putting. I am not really going anywhere with this, just wanted to state a fact before I embellish the truth a little.

Today’s event was the $2000 shootout. This is a funny game where the winner from each table gets paid and goes onto the next round. Basically you just have to keep winning your table and you become mega rich. This is the best chance to make that cash at the WSOP. Six players were on my table and at worst I figured I would have a 1/6 chance of making the cash and playing off for the big money. Problem was Kathy Liebert and Noah Boeken were both on my table (two of the best players in the world). Noah is a good friend of mine who works for PokerNews. Notwithstanding this, I was in a good position making it down to the last 3 with a healthy chip stack.

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Today was the 2k no limit hold’em event and a team of 1500 odd players decided they would try their luck. My table was the worst possible one you could draw. Directly to my right was the 2004 WSOP world champion Greg “Fossilman” Raymer. On my table there were 6 other world class players, not including Raymer, with multiple titles between them. It was a real horror draw. Once again I hardly got any cards. I went all-in on a flush draw and got called by someone with a higher flush draw (the only bad player at the table). I lost that hand and was left with only $200 in chips. However, through a combination of minor miracles and some good play I managed to build the stack back up to $5000. I really battled hard and picked my fights well. I felt I played well at a high level against the very best players in the world.

Raymer is a real piece of work. A real nice guy who constantly talks about poker and gambling in general. He has a passion for poker like none I have ever seen. He remembers 1000s of key hands and every face he has ever played against. He is truly dedicated to his work and it was no fluke he won 5 million 2 years ago. One lady took a photo of Raymer and to add a bit of humor to an otherwise dull session, I asked her if she would like me to autograph the photo she just took (as I was sitting next to him and was likely to be in the photo). She said matter of factly “kid” you are not even in the photo.

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After flying to Vegas on Wednesday I was really looking forward to hitting the tables for my first
event of the World Series of Poker (WSOP). The event was the $2500 no limit holdem (short handed). Basically, you buy in for $2500 and if you make the top 10% of players then you get paid. Each table has a maximum of 6 players playing. Most of the best players in the world had assembled for this tournament. In total, 742 punters hit anted up to try their luck.

I often describe no limit hold’em as 85% boredom, 10% mild interest and 5% terror. Today it felt like 5% boredom and 95% terror. I hardly got any playable hands and when I did, someone had a better hand. For example, I found KK at one stage raised and got a caller. This caller happened to have AA. I lost ½ my chips on that hand. Despite hardly having any luck, I managed to last 7 hours before I was finally eliminated when I had 22 and pushed all in on a low chip count. I came in about 100th sport. If I could have lasted another 20 minutes I would have made the money, but I don’t play just to make the money, I want a big payoff so I am happy I risked it all. So I managed to beat home 642 other punters, but it is worth absolutely nothing at all. In fact, I would rather have been busted in the first 10 minutes to save 7 hours of grief.

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Last months poll on favorite poker rooms yielded some interesting results. There was little surprise that Party Poker and PokerStars dominated the polling. However, it was surprising that “other” poker rooms received so many votes. I thought I captured most of the popular poker rooms in the poll. Clearly, need to so some more research to find out what these other poker rooms are and put some reviews up. This result indicates that the poker industry is not as consolidated I one is lead to beleive. Interestingly, PokerChamps, a new entrant onto the scene polled well. Notably, Paradise Poker was further down the list than I expected.

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