Event #39 $10,000 NLH Championship Event & #41,#42,#43 $1500 NLH Freezeouts

When I selected Day 1c to be my first day one I though it would be nice to have let a few people get knocked out before I’d even started. It would give me a chance to feel superior to a large number of people for a short while. If I survived I could then be smug towards anyone who hadn’t started. "about $68,000." I planned to answer nonchalently "little dissappointed I lost a big pot to get to $130k right near the end."

Instead I spent Sunday and Monday skulking around (one of my few great talents) worrying about my pitiful stack and knowing that people who said: "It can all change so quickly, you just need a quick double up." were just being nice.

Things did change quite quickly on Tuesday and I’d soon gone from $11k to $15k. I was playing well, had a couple of reasonable hands and really liked my table. Then a bloke called Jamie Gold sat down with $160k. I immediately began to panic that I didn’t have enough chips and overplayed a pair of 9s. It was a situation I had been preparing for the day before, and I completely abandoned my carefully thought out plan. I then did something I never normally do and I gave up. I knew that it would take a miracle to get into contention from here but I didn’t give the miracle a chance to happen. I know that you can only play the people on your table and respond to the situations that come up, instead I wasted time worrying about the enormous field and how many showdowns I’d have to win just to get a playable stack. Before I knew it my 13bb were in the centre with just a pair of deuces. The bloke with the queens wasted little time in calling and I gained a nauseous sensation that hadn’t been there up ’til then. I gloomily went to play some cash without really enjoying or getting involved in the game.

On Thursday I felt a little more cheery. I told myself there wasn’t much point worrying about it and went off to The Wynn to play their daily tournament. The $330 Freezeout had been attracting big fields throughout the WSOP and the day before it had got a record 180. Tristan’s win in that inspired me, and I played really well to make the final out of 144 starters. Things didn’t quite work out as planned, but I did manage 7th place for $1500. It seems a shame that my lucky casino was built 5000 miles away from where I live. The timing of my exit was actually perfect as it meant I could be right on time for a nice meal at the sushi restaurant with The Lizard, who was just starting to think about his plan for day three, and friends.

By going to The Wynn I’d avoided playing the $1000 bracelet event (#40), as I just couldn’t face The Rio. I didn’t really fancy it on Friday either and the evening was spent watching some bands and spending some time in downtown’s bohemian district, while I tried to cheer up a knackered and dissappointed Barny who’d just gone out. I wasn’t really in top form myself so I don’t think I made a great job of it.

By Saturday morning I was cheered right up though. I couldn’t have been happier than to hear that my good pal Praz Bansi had won a bracelet. I always knew he had a lot of talent and I’ve seen him grow as a player over the last couple of years. He had won the tournament at Ceasar’s two weeks ago when fresh off the ‘plane, had done well in the big Bellagio tournies as well as getting a couple of WSOP cashes. I was only dissappointed I wasn’t there to witness it.

Praz’s success filled me full of new enthusiasm and the next three days were spent grafting at The Rio. Saturday was a 1007 runner $1500 NLH tournement and I can honestly say I have no idea how I lasted so long without ever having chips. When we got to the bubble I had the same 4000 that I’d had for 5hrs. With blinds at 400/800-100 I stuck them in over and over while others were waiting for their payday. I actually had a decent stack for a short time. If I was better at winning races I might have finished higher than 60th.

I was delighted with my play on Saturday and so I immediately bought in for Sunday. That one only got 360 players. I think the combination of 11am on a Sunday, a lot of the internet qualifiers leaving town after departing The Big One and a tornament at The Bellagio made this one of the "easier" bracelets to win. Without really doing much I found myself still in, albeit shortstacked, with 60 people left. At that point the player next to me introduced himself. I’d often wondered who this Stuart Fox that does so well in tournaments everywhere was. He was very friendly and produced from his pocket a gift of a T-bag as the cup I was drinking looked like piss. At that exact point I had a feeling that my jacks might not be winning preflop so I waited to see a few cards. After it came 9,6,3 though I didn’t really have enough to pass and the queens were good causing me to miss the money. Total Tilbury that Fox.

On Monday I went back for another crack. I got to play a $14k pot with the average at $4k holding AK. I didn’t win it though and was out with more than 100 players left. Just before I left I checked on the final  of Sunday’s tournament. Mark McCluskey‘s performance to finish 9th is one he can be proud of and one that particularly pleased me. Earlier on in the tournament he had done something which showed him to be a true sportsman and a top bloke. I had moved all-in and while he was contemplating his actions with AQ (and a reasonably short-stack) an idiot with an Ipod passed out of turn. This caused 5 other players (3 of whom had Ipods) to all pass out of turn making Mark’s easy decision even easier. He chose to pass his hand face up as he didn’t think it would be fair not too. I can’t honestly say I would do the same and I don’t think he should of, but I know it makes him an honourable fellow.

Neil Channing is sponsored to play poker tournaments by BetUSA.com and BetUK.com

There’s nothing quite like that feeling of anticipation you feel when you wake up on the morning of the first day of the main event of the WSOP. In the not too distant past you knew you were facing an exciting days poker against a table that would typically be made up of three world class players, three tough pros and a couple of chancers like yourself; and that was the way it was going to be for days on end. It’s not quite like that anymore because you’re much more likely to be faced with one guy that you have seen before though you’re not sure if it was in the buffet or at the poker table, and seven guys you’ve never seen before and probably won’t see again. It mightn’t be as much fun or as exciting a test, but if there’s going to be close to a hundred million in the prize pool, that’s just fine by me.

I’m fed up listening to guys who say they’d much rather be playing against a table full of really good players. What a load of nonsense. Give me the Muppets anyday ! The funny thing is, that the guys who want to play against the good players generally speaking aren’t all that good themselves, or too bright for that matter. When you walk into the room, it looks like you’ve either accidentally arrived at a Star trek convention, or have stumbled into a bunch of people on their way to the beach. The sooner they ban sunglasses the better; and hiding under your jacket while they’re at it.

Card Player magazine reported that I had got a tough draw. It didn’t look too tough to me. In the middle of the announcements at the start they came up with a new one “Let’s have a big round of applause for Team Brunson” I though they were having a laugh, but they were deadly serious. I’d be the first guy to stand up and applaud Doyle Brunson, but I didn’t really see why we should have to clap at a bunch of Guys who had been paid to wear a shirt walk solemnly down the aisle in the middle of the tournament room like pall bearers at a funeral. So the guy beside me said that if I’d qualified for $14 bucks on the net, I’d be quite happy to clap what ever they told me was good all day long.

Some real champions from other sports were in the field : multiple World Snooker Champions Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry went completely unnoticed by the guy with the mic although 888’s Lennox Lewis got a warm welcome.

Everything went very smoothly from my point of view, which is completely out of character for me, and I finished the day with an above average stack. Phil Hellmuth provided most of the entertainment by skipping the first level at the feature table and proceeding to get knocked out before level three. I thought the Cheers when his elimination was announced were a little out of order, for a man who’d had a marvelous World Series, but what do I know ?

I Bumped into Dan Harrington and told him his book had got me into a lot of trouble, and should come with a warning that it should be packed in a suitcase when travelling, and not carried as hand luggage. I had innocently been carrying Dan’s book in my laptop bag as I passed through Beauvais Airport in France, when I was called aside for a security check. A routine check almost turned into an international incident when the girl decided to flick through the pages of Harrington on Hold’em. The book contains a lot of diagrams of a poker table which take the form of numbered circles all nicely connected up. The security girl jumped about a foot in the air when she saw these diagrams and shouted some instructions in French. I’m not sure what she said, but within seconds a guy with a machine gun, who looked like he was just itching to use it was at my side, and a supervisor arrived who split his time pretty evenly between looking malevolently at me, and glaring at Dan’s diagrams. A heated discussion that seemed to take minutes ensued, after which more instructions were barked at my friend with the gun. While again I didn’t understand what was said, i gathered that they had decided that the diagrams weren’t a make your own bomb recipe, and that he wasn’t allowed to shoot me just yet – which suited me just fine. Instead of sympathizing and apologizing for the hassle, Dan just burst out laughing in my face, which probably confirms his Irish heritage. I don’t know if he’d have laughed that much if I told him I still hadn’t read his damn book.

Well, that was day one – except for the announcement on the ESPN website that pre-tournament favourite Phil Gordon was out. I come to Vegas a lot and for the last couple of years there’s been a lot of talk about an inevitable water shortage crisis. USA Today had stated that Mr Gordon’s regime for the WSOP included drinking a bottle of Water every hour during the Main Event, whether he was thirsty or not, so his untimely early demise must have come as a relief to at least some of Nevada’s more concerned citizens.

Annie Duke was taken out by Jeff Lisandro who has been working his way through the field accumulating chips each day and starts day 7 on $3,715,000 – Duke cashed $51,129 for 88th place. Paramjit Gill was up into the next payout level and took $65,973 for 78th. Moving up one more level Marcello Delgrosso was first to cash $90,713 for 72nd. The last female remaining this year, leaving Amarillo Slim‘s neck safe once more (and yes, I am aware I am referring to a misquote) was Californian Full Tilt Poker qualifier Sabyl Cohen.

The pain. It’s the final week before the big one. Everything has changed and nothing has changed. A few short years that seem like decades ago, the World Series was everything for the poker pros. The biggest tournaments but also the best cash games. You had about three weeks to make a big score in a tournament or have a good trip in the cash games. How it panned out determined whether it was easy street or grinding for the rest of the year. The guys who’d all come into town in high spirits and full of bonhomie were either caked up and ready for the shot at a million or somewhere in the middle of a long queue for the last two super-satellites in a desperate attempt to salvage something from the wreckage. It doesn’t take long to take away a man’s dreams.

Of course it’s all a lot bigger now. The stakes are higher but so are the falls. For some it’s not about winning any more. It’s about being perceived as being a winner. I’m not talking about the prestige of being rated by your fellow pros, it’s way bigger than that now. Sponsorship deals, endorsements, stock prices, TV stuff, that’s where it’s all at now. You’ve got to talk the talk to get into this game but if you can’t walk the walk things can go horribly wrong. It’s not like you can fall down, pick yourself up, go back to where you came from and come back again next year for another shot. If you fall down now, you’re liable to be trampled on.

I’ve been here from the start. I’ve heard the talk. I suppose one or two guys wish they’d promise less, they might have accomplished more. But that’s the game now. Poker can be a cruel game. It can find out some of the jokers, you know, the guys whose self-promotional skills far exceed their genuine ability. I suppose that’s fair. But they are often joined in the losers enclosure by guys who just don’t deserve to be there, even by some of the greatest players in the world. I suppose that’s why they call it gambling.

For a competitive game, there’s a lot of really genuine friendships between rivals. Maybe it’s this camaraderie that makes the game what it is. I hate to see guys hurting, especially guys with heart. Nobody tries harder than Barny Boatman. His play may be a little unorthodox but there’s often a method to the badness (so he tells me). He’s played a zillion tournaments this trip and hasn’t cashed once. The deck has been hitting some guys in the face and Barny can’t catch a break, I doubt if he could catch a bus! He’s gone really deep time after time, which means he must do something right. But like Cinderella, midnight, or bubble time as we call it here, is not his favourite time of the day. No ball for Barny. We had dinner with the Hendon Mob the other night. As the waiter offered Barny the dessert menu, I told him not to give it to him as Barny was due to be knocked out just before the end of the main course! It’s a tribute to his great sense of humour that he managed to laugh.

Jessie May is in town. For a guy who can play the game as well as he can it’s strange that he seems like he prefers watching. That’s until you realise how sick he is and what he’s really looking at. This week the seven high-lo and the limit holdem shootout were on at the same time and he couldn’t wait to see who was playing in both. Evidently his theory was that at least a few guys would be playing both, who really shouldn’t be playing either. It all comes down to the pain. This was followed by the five thousand deuce to seven no limit tournament with rebuys. I don’t know how many guys where in this that really shouldn’t have been but Jesse figured the first three hours would be way more fun for the spectators than the final table! I’m sure he was right but I didn’t join him on the rail. I felt the pain. I don’t need to see it.

Event #39 $10,000 NLH Championship Event

I arrived nice and early for my first day, Day 1c and had a quick scout around my table. I didn’t recognise anyone. Nor could I see anyone I knew on any of ten surrounding tables. This is my 10th WSOP, the fifth time I’ve played the Main Event and may be my 30th visit to Vegas and I’d never seen ANY of them.

Before falling asleep I’d worried that I’d get a massive hand and be outdrawn early. Luckily you can’t do that if you get no hands at all. Instead I settled into watch and enjoyed seeing my neighbour sweat over calling $8000 more on a KcQcJs board with AdAh. He took five minutes to fold. I discussed openly with the table what a tough decision it was, in order to guage their reaction. They were probably thinking : "The English idiot thought that was hard." but they all pretended it was very tough.

After 30 "hands" I decided to start working with the tools I was given and got a bit involved. By dinner we still hadn’t busted anyone but I’d managed a relentless climb to $17,500. There was only one other guy with chips who I now remembered as Bob Hume – a nice fellow who understands the game. The only two of the others who worried me were now a bit low.

Dinner was spent burning Vicky’s $10,000 receipt while "The Elegance" and I tried to play down our good fortune. She bounced back well though and managed a smile or two after the Bucks Fizz dose was upped to the correct level.

My plan was more of the same now but the other bastards didn’t read the script. I did get to $20k for a second or two but by now we were losing players and somebody somewhere decided that our table needed to get a bit harder. The arrival of Hans "Tuna" Lund was a mixed blessing. On the one hand it was an absolute pleasure just to sit next to and chat with a TRUE total legend of the game. This man has a 2nd a 3rd and a 19th in the Main Event, despite taking about six years out of poker while his kids grew up. I joked with him about the crowds of autograph hunters. He says he has never been asked once despite being ten times the player of some new "TV celebrities". Despite all the joviality though there were people I would rather have seen on my table.

I did make an excellent laydown of JQ on a J,J,9…10 board (Bob showed me KQ) but soon I fell back to $10,000. I needed something good to happen soon. Flopping a set certainly fitted the bill and on a 9,6,2 rainbow I felt check-raising my sixes could be the play. When the geezer called and a seven fell off I though things would be alright. It looked like the sort of card that didn’t change much but might induce a bluff. We got the money in and I needed a 2 on the river to beat his 8,10.

From 22k now I was looking to kick on when, with 150/300 blinds and a 25 ante, the utg player made it 2000 to go. Everyone passed and I called from the big blind with QQ. I thought it was either AK,AQ or a small pair. The flop was J,6,3 and he bet $4000. I set him in for $11,000 more leaving me just $6000 and he called instantly with KK. I’ve no idea whether I should get away from this but I did know it left me in danger of going out on day 1 for the first time in my WSOP career.

One pair of players who fell at around this time (10.11pm) were the two on my next table who had registered for the tournament but never showed up leaving an eight handed table to squabble over their chips.

I did go back to $3500 at one point before a short rush got me up to $11,000 by the end. I had very mixed feelings as I left The Rio. I felt I had played pretty well and was glad to survive on the one hand, on the other hand I may not get very far with the average at over $25,000. Although I was pleased to get that good start early, I wondered long and hard over the QQ/KK hand. By the end I was absolutely knackered, which is unusual for me as I’m usually starting to wake up, maybe I’m getting old.

I was able to have a nice couple of days rest and have had plenty of time to think since. On the whole I’d rather be going back with lowish chips than none and I’m sure there are plenty that would like to swap. If anyone is stopping by The Rio, I hope you will find me on table one.

On Monday I won a few quid at PLO which, the way I played it, doesn’t count as poker and spent a great evening in wonderful company watching "Love", the new Beatles Cirque du Soliel Show at Mirage.

Today I was delighted that the Treasure Island Housekeeping team don’t understand the basic concept of Do Not Disturb as it gave me extra time to head to L’Arc de Triomphe at Paris and The Secret Gardens of Seigfried and Roy at Mirage for some heavy duty contemplating. The latter was a poignant experience as, after a pretty decent 59yrs, they  now have a large space in the elephant enclosure.

Neil Channing is sponsored to play poker tournaments by BetUSA.com and BetUK.com

Day 2A went a lot faster than anticipated, with players hurling their chips about with abandon and inevitably a lot of them finding themselves out of the tournament. Play was actually suspended 1 and a half hours early lest so many players go out the remainder were in probably money spots with the rest of the field still to play their Day 2 today. David Williams, Mike Caro, John Juanda , Berry Johnston, Barry Greenstein, Mike Sexton and Men Nguyen all gone, together with young guns Eric Froelich and Jeff Madsen. Phil Ivey was down to 10,000 at one stage but doubled up at the end to finish with 23,400. Yuriy Kozinskiy finished chip leader on 443,300, Jon Lave the only other finisher above 400,000.

Amonst the Europeans Garry Bush never found the cards he needed and was out midway through the day, Dave Ulliot found himself short stacked and pushed in a few times looking to double up. When he did get called he found himself with 9s against aces and didn’t make his set. Padraig Parkinson got his money in in a better situation with 5s against AQ but the end result was the same, a trip to the rail to join Noah Boeken and Mickey Wernick. Irishman Paul McCaffrey who brought a very decent stack in at the start of the day ended up halving it but didn’t lose his cool and finished with 34,600. Julian Gardner was up with the leaders most of the day but ended up without a chip to his name. Scandinavian Per Erik Loeff looked to be top European finisher with 177,500 but that wasn’t even enough for him to be in the top 30. Gary Jones had a good day too on 172,800, other European counts as follows, others still in include: 

Patrick Bueno 98,100
Tony Bloom 82,500
Carlos Mortensen 77,600
Steve Davis 58,400

The food situation has improved since last year with sandwiches brought to the media room and a couple of food and drink tents set up close to the tournament area for players and spectators. Trying to get a proper meal at the Rio during the dinner break is still nigh on impossible without a reservation. If you’ve been stuck queuing for 20 minutes to find out the kitchen can’t take any more orders anyway, spare a thought however for President James Garfield who, in hospital after being shot, was given beef bouillon, egg yolks, milk, whiskey and drops of opium. Doesn’t sound too bad you might think, except that on his doctors’ insistence he received these rectally! Makes you grateful for what you can get here even if there is a bit of a wait for it.

Today sees champions Greg Raymer and Joe Hachem play again, alongside Barny and a host of other top players, all trying to build their stacks up as high as possible as we get to within touching distance of the money.

So the final ‘Day 1’ is over and the (obviously) record field of 8773 players is over halved. The 3,500 or so who play Days 1A and 1B would still be a huge starting field for any tournament.

Let’s get a few of the 1300ish eliminations out of the way: Lyle Berman, Eric Seidel, Erick Lindgren, 2003 Champion Chris Moneymaker are all gone, along with 50K H.O.R.S.E. winner Chip Reese. Of the Americans left in, Jordan Rich would make a great Moneymaker, as it were, if he took down the just announced first prize of $12,000. In total 878 players will be paid, although with various prizes on offer for the bubble finisher (and even the 9 finishers before him or her) it’s likely they will pick up more than the guys who just make it into the official money. He finishes on $101,100. Cyndy Violette got up to 46,300 whilst Internet star Darrell Dicken aka Gigabet carries his online pedigree through to the live stage finishing on 95,025. Hung Tran finishes the day as leader with $177,475.

Outside of the States, no-one has overtaken Richard Gryko but Joe Hachem is on track for another great World Series, looking to repeat or better Greg Raymer’s attempted defence of the title last year, finishing on $86,950. Mikael Thuritz close behind on $86,050 was the top European of the day. Peter Costa has $29,075, Surinder Sundar 51,525. Tony Cascarino can play a bit and finishes on $28,850. Lennox Lewis can’t and is knocked out, together with Max Pescatori, Isabelle Mercier, Jani Sointula, Don O’Dea and Marcel Luske.

At dinner, Barny, who was at Brian Zembic’s table (that’s the guy who got breast implants to win a bet and decided he liked them so much he’d keep them!) was in good spirits on 25,000 and trying to pep up Ross, telling him he’d go on a rush soon. “Yeah – right out of the door” was Ross’ response. He was only joking of course and returned to do his best with his remaining 3,500 but it wasn’t to be. Ram had already been eliminated very early in the day, apparently not too bothered, he was probably glad to be out of the $10,000 entry tournament so he could get back to gambling for real money. After dinner Barny continued where he left off, getting his stack up to a well above average 51,700 to bag up at the end of the night, he plays again on day 2B.

One of the real lows of last year’s WSOP was the introduction of the absurd and, quite frankly, pathetic ‘F-Bomb’ rule. I don’t need to expand on my feelings here as Barny has summed up matters beautifully in his article F Is For Farce – if you haven’t read it, you really must. The only thing worse than a bad rule is a bad rule which is haphazardly enforced. That’s what’s happening this year, players are swearing (and loudly) and rarely if ever being penalised. Some players could be spending more time in the sin bin than at the tables if the dealers were taking notice. This is despite the announcement being made at the start of every tournament about it. I hope I’m wrong but I have a horrible feeling that towards the end of the tournament when the ESPN cameras are rolling someone is going to be penalised and lose a huge amount of money as a result. I hope I’m wrong and the floor has taken the active decision to drop the rule, despite the announcements to the contrary.

For all the finishing chip counts for Day 1, check here.

More big names started their tournament yesterday, not nearly so many finished. Jennifer Harman was out very early, crippled right at the start and never recovering. Mike Matusow, Steve Zolotow, Sam Farha, Phil Gordon and T.J. Cloutier amongst those falling. More? Hasan Habib, Liz Lieu, Jennifer Tilly, Jim Meehan, Antonio Esfandiari, Tuan Le, Jeff Shulman, John Esposito, John Phan, Bobby Baldwin, Steve Dannenmann…. phew, there are more, and that’s not starting on the Europeans.

Joe got off to a great start, making 7s full against an opponent with the nut flush, although the man with the flush was cautious enough not to lose his entire stack. Sat at the table behind him, Theo Jorgensen managed to get not much more than 1000 chips off his adversary having made his set of aces on a A, K, rag flop when his opponent held A,K! Theo wasn’t best pleased when he found out what his opponent had held. He didn’t make it through. 

Simon Trumper, who wasn’t listed amongst the starting players for some reason, never really got going and is out.  Harry Demetriou and Ben Grundy are out too, together with Bruno Fitoussi and Jean-Robert Bellande. Bellande was eliminated by William Thorson, who will return with 96,225. Ben had started well at the featured TV table and was up in the mid twenties for much of the day. Another who had a disappointing end to the day was Neil Channing. Neil was slowly building up and into the twenties too but finished on 11,125. Another of our friends at the Mob, Sarah Bilney, was unable to build up her chips but ended better than most of the runners, at least able to bring back 6,100 to day 2B.

Joe built his stack up into the 30,000s as play continued, aided by quads and a royal flush in diamonds, using both of his hole cards too! He still needed to ‘find a hand’ however, to get the chips which were on offer at a good table, perhaps he was looking for a fouled deck to pick up 5 of a kind. Maybe he did find another great hand, but, like the poor sod who had his quads beaten by a straight flush to be eliminated only a few minutes after sitting down, found another player with a better one. I haven’t had a chance to catch up with him yet but he was busted in the last couple of hours of play. You’re jealous of your friends who are playing whilst you can only watch, but when they bust, gutted though you are, you know it’s only a fraction of what they’re feeling, and rather glad you weren’t in a position for it to happen to you in the first place. Of course there will be just 1 player of the 9000 or so who won’t be experiencing it eventually over the next 2 weeks.

With Barny, Ross and Ram playing today, I’m hoping they can emulate Richard Gryko’s performance. He finished with 128,575. I’m also interested to see if Ram can repeat his feat of last year – getting himself all-in in the first level with a pair of twos (7 kicker). They were sooted. They held up.