The Main Event

So I watched way more of the Final Table of the World Series of Poker than I should have last night. Let's just say it was multiple hours and leave it at that.

For the first time, the Final 3 (which became the Final 2 after only four hands) was shown "almost live" on ESPN, with just a 15-minute delay. On the down side, showing it live has the major drawback of not being able to see the players' hole cards. But on the up side, the commentary of Antonio Esfandiari was absolutely brilliant throughout. I still can't believe how often he was correct about what cards each player was holding. I guess that's why he's a professional.

While I was rooting for the Czech Republic's Martin Staszko (who proves my theory that great chess players are now going for poker instead!), I have no problem with the victory by Germany's Pius Heinz. They both seem like entirely decent guys (albeit a little short on the charisma side), unlike some (Jamie Gold) who have won the title in the last decade. When I finally gave up Staszko still had a lead, but based on the way Heinz had chipped away at it before the close of the $1/2 million blind round, I had a funny feeling he was going to catch up.

But hey, you've got to sleep sometime.

World Series of Poker: The New Fall Classic

After 11 days of play, the final table is set in the Main Event at the World Series of Poker. The excitement is at a fever pitch, the crowd is poised to root on their favorites, and everyone who cares about poker is breathlessly awaiting the crowning of this year’s champion, which will take place…

…In November. For the first time, the final table will be held in November, presumably to allow ESPN the opportunity to score a ratings bonanza during Sweeps Month. This may seem a little like playing the Super Bowl in May or the World Series (baseball) in February, but on the other hand I can understand the thinking that went behind it (cynical as that thinking may have been). Not surprisingly, the final table is made up of relative poker unknowns, and now ESPN and the Online Poker companies (Full Tilt, Poker Stars, etc.) now have four months to turn these guys into stars. I’m not a big fan of the idea, as you can probably tell.

Of course they will deny it, but I’m sure that ESPN is crushed that neither Phil Hellmuth nor Mike Matusow, both of whom went very deep into the tournament, didn’t make the final table. Their presence alone would have guaranteed an interesting and entertaining final table. And they’re probably devastated that Tiffany “Hot Chips” Michelle came so close (17th place) but couldn’t quite pull it off. They’ll probably make her a star anyway, but she would have been a huge draw.

But, the players who are left deserve all the kudos they can get. Seat assignments, and chip counts:

Seat 1: Dennis Phillips 26,295,000
Seat 2: Craig Marquis 10,210,000
Seat 3: Ylon Schwartz 12,525,000
Seat 4: Scott Montgomery 19,690,000
Seat 5: Darus Suharto 12,520,000
Seat 6: Chino Rheem 10,230,000
Seat 7: Ivan Demidov 24,400,000
Seat 8: Kelly Kim 2,620,000
Seat 9: Peter Eastgate 18,375,000

Scotty Nguyen - King of Poker

The five-day H.O.R.S.E. championship did not disappoint. As evidenced by the list below, the tournament lived up to all expectations, with more than 40 World Series bracelets represented in the final sixteen. You had red-hot Erick Lindgren and Daniel Negreanu, you had former Main Event winner Huck Seed, you had Phil Ivey and Barry Greenstein, who would probably be the consensus choices for best all-around player at this moment, and you had 74-year old Doyle Brunson, who is only the most famous poker player of all time. Not bad.

And you had the champion, Scotty Nguyen. Nguyen is one of the greatest stories that you will find among today's poker greats. A native of Vietnam, Nguyen came to the United States at 14, and ended up being expelled from school for spending too much time around poker rooms. But as he was dealing those games, he picked up the goods - and soon realized that, as dealer, he knew more about poker than just anyone in the room. It was time to start playing. His extended family still lives in Vietnam, and Nguyen sends a good portion of his winnings to them.

Nguyen's table demeanor is one of all-out aggression, featuring a frequently hilarious stream of non-stop patter. Every sentence is punctuated by "baby" (as in "you gonna call, baby? you do, you gonna lose, baby"), but always with a smile on his face (and a beer in his hand, which is definitely one of those "don't do this [drink and gamble] at home" kind of things). In short, Nguyen is almost impossible not to like, much closer in style to Mike Matusow than he is to Phil Hellmuth, who is openly disdainful of his opponents at the table, and who thinks he is robbed from every title he doesn't win.

This is Nguyen's fifth bracelet, and his first since 2001. And even though Nguyen won the Main Event in 1998, I suspect that the Chip Reese Trophy he received for winning this tournament will become his most prized possession.

Final Standings: Top Sixteen

Scotty Nguyen $1,989,120
Mike DeMichele $1,243,200
Erick Lindgren $781,440
Matt Glantz $568,320
Lyle Berman $444,000
Barry Greenstein $355,200
Huck Seed $284,160
Patrick Bueno $230,880
Ralph Perry $177,600
Raymond Davis $177,600
David Bach $159,840
Phil Ivey $159,840
Daniel Negreanu $142,080
Joey Michael $142,080
Andrew Bloch $124,320
Doyle Brunson $124,320

H.O.R.S.E. Championship Underway

The event that is coming close to replacing the Main Event as the most coveted bracelet at the World Series of Poker (in terms of prestige, if not actual cash) is now underway - the World Championship of H.O.R.S.E.

H.O.R.S.E. consists of five games that are played on an alternating basis until the final table, when Hold 'Em becomes the game of choice:

- Texas Hold 'Em
- Omaha (8 or better)
- Razz (lowball)
- Seven-card stud
- Seven-card stud (8 or better)

With an amazing or absurd (depending on your point of view) buy-in of $50,000, the game has a short field (less than 150 this year), and invariably becomes a battle featuring nearly all of the most prominent professionals in the game today - Hellmuth, Brunson, Negraneu, Matusow, Lederer, Greenstein, Lindgren, Ivey, you name it...they're probably there. Last year the tournament was won by Freddie Deeb, and the year before that was captured by the late Chip Reese. The trophy awarded to the champion is now named for Reese, who died in December 2007.

In short, the winner of this tournament has a legitimate case for calling themselves the best player in the world. You've got to be great at all five games, you've got to be able to shift your strategy on a moment's notice, and you've got to be able to read the best players in the world. In other words, it's poker at its very best.

Negreanu Adds A Bracelet To His Collection

Just a day after Mike Matusow got back into the winners circle, another one of my favorites, Daniel Negreanu, has captured his fourth World Series bracelet, winning Event #19, Limit Hold 'Em. Like Matusow, with whom he is friends, Negreanu is a talker, but unlike Matusow is always in relentlessly high spirits. He's one of the most entertaining players in the game today, and I'm happy he's ended his four year drought.

ESPN has got to be loving this, assuming they had the cameras at the right events - two of the best TV-friendly players, winning on back-to-back days.

Mike the Mouth IS BACK!

Before we move on to some good stuff about the ongoing travails of the NBA, let's take a quick look at a sporting event with no integrity issues whatsoever - the World Series of Poker!

Specifically, the news that Mike "the Mouth" Matusow has won his first bracelet since 2002, capturing Event #18, $5,000 No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball w/ rebuys against an elite field. I'm going to be a man and admit that I don't even know how that game is played, but the combination of a high buy-in and relatively obscure game drew an incredible roster. The final table included such luminaries as Jeffrey Lisandro, Erick Lindgren, and Barry Greenstein, who would probably be the consensus choice for the best player on the planet. But in the end, Mike was triumphant.

It's almost impossible not to like Matusow, and I always root for him. As evidenced by his nickname, he never shuts up, and his ceaseless patter can be hilarious and biting. But it's the key element of his persona, and if you can't withstand it, you shouldn't be at the table with him. On TV he sometimes comes across like Phil Hellmuth, but as Matusow himself once explained to a player, "the difference between me and Hellmuth is that Phil really does believe he's the best player on the planet."

Way to go, Mike.