Record Breakers

Roy Castle will be whooping in his grave and tooting his trumpet gaily at the amount of records the poker industry breaks these days, and the WSOPE proved no exception. With hordes of salivating poker fanatics making the now annual pilgrimage to the Empire Casino in Leicester Square, the opening event (proudly) broke the record for London’s biggest ever field with an impressive 608 entrants. Yes, that’s the whole of London, folks, not just part of it, the entire city! And how did they achieve this magnificent feat? Well, they reduced the buy-in to £1,000 of course. If numbers are what they want, then making the event more accessible to a wider range of wallets is certainly the answer (410 played last year’s £1,500 event). However, masking is an art form in media - turn a negative into a positive - and pretending the Series itself is more popular when it’s actually the change in buy-in that’s got people chomping at the bit is a useful trick of the trade they'd be foolish not to use. After all, the buy-in for the Main Event remains at £10,000, yet this year’s outing only attracted 334, down on the 362 from the previous two years.

I am, of course, nitpicking, I’m all in favour of a £1,000 event, but is the WSOPE still popular? Is it on an incline or will it one day be scrapped? Is it even prestigious? It’s a tricky conundrum, but one that I feel can be answered in the affirmative. That opening event, whether it’s £1,000 or £1,500, will always attract big numbers, and the Main Event, despite being expensive and low on online satellites, is regarded as a highly prestigious tournament and only second to the WSOP Main and perhaps the HORSE bracelet events. Obviously it helps when the cast is not only star-studded, but highly concentrated in credible names, and past winners include the likes of Annette Obrestad and John Juanda. Winning that event puts your name alongside theirs rather than Joe Bloggs who won a $1,500 donkament.

Having said that, how hard can it be to host a successful event at a location like Leicester Square? I could host a tiddlywinks competition and the place would still be packed.

Record Breakers – Part Deux

Whilst one record was being broken, another one was just about to start. But, why on earth would someone want to play for three days straight? What’s the point? Are we really fussed what Mr. Guinness thinks? “I wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t for the charity,” confessed Paul Zimbler during an exclusive interview with Black Belt Poker. “Besides, who else would be stupid enough to do it?”

OK, now I’m stumped, but despite his self-confessed insanity, Zimbler did indeed complete a marvellous feat, both mental and physical. Kicking off with legendary Super Systemer Doyle Brunson, Zimbler took on the likes of Annette Obrestad, Huck Seed, Phil Hellmiuth, Neil Channing, and yours truly (I let him win – a loss would have demoralised the poor lad!) before finally fulfilling his mission with Mike Matusow, despite being barely able to pick up his chips. What was perhaps most incredible was that he finished with his nose in front, having won 102 out of 183 encounters, although Sammy George going all in blind may have assisted that cause.

“The other day I had a dream about the whole thing, then suddenly realised it was all real. The last hour or two just felt like I was in a coma.” We’ve all had nights like that, although mine end with a kebab rather than chips. Can you be drunk on exhaustion? Yep, the proof of the pudding is in the YouTube vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkgACB7RFi8

Two-Dollar Steaks

This year’s £5,000 Omaha freezeout (a returning fixture) and £2,500 HA (new fixture) were tougher than a two-dollar steak, and pound-for-pound possibly the most talented 100 plus line-ups ever to grace the green baize. In both events, every table was smothered in familiar faces and big names, with two tables in particular a collective minefield of poker deathtraps. Thus, I present to you, WSOPE’s Table of Dooms:

HA:

Seat 1: Jeff Duvall
Seat 3: Joe Beevers
Seat 4: Padraig Parkinson
Seat 5: Huck Seed
Seat 6: Michel Abecassis
Seat 7: Marc Goodwin
Seat 8: Neil Channing
Seat 9: Roland de Wolfe

PLO:

Seat 1: Julian Gardner -- 17,000
Seat 3: Phil Hellmuth -- 19,500
Seat 4: Theo Jorgensen -- 32,500
Seat 5: Markus Golser -- 22,100
Seat 6: John Kabbaj -- 18,200
Seat 8: Andy Black -- 24,000
Seat 9: Noah Boeken -- 15,500

Value fields? Not on first glance, but then again, we shouldn’t assume that celebrated Hold’em players are equally apt at Omaha. They often aren’t, but sponsorship is a beautiful thing.

Silence is Golden

It’s true: everything in America is bigger, they super size everything, and at the World Series, everything is glossier. So, when the bracelet ceremonies made a return at this year’s WSOPE, it probably wasn’t too much of a surprise to see the Vegas sheen hadn’t made the trip across the Atlantic. Yes, Jeffrey Pollock grabbed the mic to make the presentation, and a small crowd politely gathered, but the national anthems that had been such a unique and welcome (to most) addition to the WSOP were sadly missing.

After the Kabbaj Sex Pistols debacle (I refrain from calling it Kabbaj-gate or something equally annoying and gate-like) and playing the Swedish anthem for a Finn, it was probably for the best. At least it saved Jeff Lisandro (who was officially awarded his Player of the Year) another potentially awkward decision. Italy or Australia: who will be less offended?

Hail, Caesars Cup

Near the tail end of the Series, star-struck onlookers were treated to celebrity poker squares as the Americas (yep, Canada squeezed into this “Ryder Cup inspired” event) tackled Europe in the inaugural Caesar’s Cup (Oh yes, I’m adding the fucking apostrophe!) With Daniel Negreanu and Annette Obrestad captaining the two respective teams, viewers were treated to a poker masterclass as some of the world’s greatest players tested themselves to the max with 50 big blind stacks and a 10 minute starting stack, otherwise known as a crapshoot.

But I jest, this was a showcase of faces, not a lesson in deep stack poker. Its aim was always to offer ESPN something worth filming and to ensure the people got what they want: big names playing big names. The problem from a reporter’s – and fan of the game and competitive poker – perspective was that the players just didn’t care, and any passion and pride that comes from the Ryder Cup, which poker’s version claims to be inspired by, was completely lost. In fact, you could almost see the blank expression on Phil Ivey’s face as he dreamt of shooting hoops and sinking putts whilst wondering how much alcohol was consumed before he somehow accepted the invitation.

Nevertheless, despite the lack of rivalry or sincere will to win, this was a fun filler that will undoubtedly accrue enough viewers to warrant its existence. Increasing the game’s profile is surely good for poker, no? It’s just a shame that no one sees a competitive ‘Ryder Cup of poker’ as a genuinely worthy addition to the calendar, rather than just a lucrative gathering of famous faces.

I bet Seve Ballesteros and Paul Azinger didn’t play Chinese Poker during the breaks.

to be continued...