As the 2009 WSOP draws to a close, the completed events are already making history. With the economy in a weakened state, many people were speculating on how the numbers for the various events would hold up to previous years and it seems we are getting a clear picture as most of the events have taken place or in action.
This year a $40,000 NLHE event was added to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the WSOP, 201 entrants played. It is true that the HORSE Event found its numbers down, the 40k event could likely be the culprit with many of the pros already in the hole early on in the Series. Also added was a $1,000 No Limit Hold em event that drew over 6,000 entrants and boosted the numbers of total entrants to a record for this year so far.
The real story so far has been the number of individual players that have excelled in bracelets and cashes. In most years we see one or two players win two events and it was 2002 since a player won 3 in the same year. Already we have seen three players win two events and Jeff Lisandro has already won three. With results from events including the Main Event, the possibility exists for more records to be shattered.
Personal accomplishments seem to be the big story and as this continues to unfold, some old and new superstars are shining. The number of established players who have prevailed has reversed the trend of the past years with a greater number of the unknown Internet players dominating many events. The line between live and Internet players is blurring with both groups crossing over.
On important feature this year has been the added Internet coverage by Bluff Magazine and ESPN of many of final tables of events that will not be shown on ESPN as part of their regular coverage of selected events finishing up with the Final Table of the Main Event.
Many players were dismayed by the decision to not cover many of the favorite events, especially the mixed games and the HORSE tourney in particular. In the previous few years there has been some limited coverage but this year 24 additional Final Tables have been covered live from start to finish. For the hardcore fan, this has been a totally awesome. The few negatives have been that the twelve events shown on ESPN360are not accessible to many in the USA depending on the cable company. Many viewers were disappointed to not see the hole cards but most of the players/fans that watch and play regularly are appreciated of the coverage we have been given and find it not lacking at all.
The additional coverage far outweighs the few complaints by some. To have this extended access to these incredible Final Tables is truly a gift.
For those of us that have not been there in person have been able to see the new stars and the established favorites.....what will we be doing in a couple of weeks when this ends...of course we will be waiting for the November Nine but the daily coverage and seeing and hearing our old favs and new ones will certainly leave us with a lot of time on our hands......maybe we will be playing ourselves or even getting some work done.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
IVEY DOES IT AGAIN.......
On Saturday, June 13 the poker world was again treated to a virtual clinic on play the reaches a level seldom seen. The forums are lighting up with excitement before, during, and since the final table that lasted well into the night in the East. The final was peppered with some of the best Jon Turner, Carlos, Mortensen, Dutch Boyd, Phil Ivey and other players not so well known mostly on the internet.
To watch Ivey play is a truly amazing sight. We were able to watch parts of a live stream of his table although the circumstances were less than perfect. A different final table of NLHE was scheduled to be broadcast and ESPN/WSOP was resistant to making a change with the excuse that the type of games, Omaha/Stud 8 are more difficult to produce. Luckily parts were shown at the beginning with one camera and no announcers. While the second NLHE table was playing, protests were being received via Twitter and Email so in the later stages of the Omaha/Stud event #25, cut aways were done from time to time and when down to three with Phil Ivey, Carlos Mortensen, and Ming Lee the players were wired up and the cameras rolled.
Jimmy Fricke and Brian Micon were announcers for the other table and switched their attention to this event as well and did a good job under the circumstances. To see this being played out in a rather impromptu way with little production was very interesting.
Ivey showed his mastery time and again as he trounced his opponents. As is usual the chip lead was passed around and on his down times, the cool Ivey just waited for his time to come and it did. When Mortensen went out in third, it was apparent it would take a miracle and total melt down by Ivey for Lee to prevail....and prevail he did.
In the interview after he won, Phil was asked about the much talked about bracelets prop bets. Ivey acknowledged the bets and stated he had "scooped" all of those bets. He also made it known that he would be happy to built his bracelet count and that it would take a while to equal or pass Hellmuth's record.
It has been a joy to watch Phil Ivey in the year's WSOP and it is only half way over. In last year's WSOP, Ivey had many of these same bets but it was apparent from his demeanor that he really did not have his head in the game. It seems that Barry Greenstein can take some of the credit for getting his focus back.....that is an assumption on this writer's part.....when he asked Phil which Phil was going to show up this year. This year Mr. Ivey seems to really be enjoying himself and that is a wonderful sight to see.
Mr. Ivey......thanks for sharing your enjoyment with your fans.....gg, Sir!
To watch Ivey play is a truly amazing sight. We were able to watch parts of a live stream of his table although the circumstances were less than perfect. A different final table of NLHE was scheduled to be broadcast and ESPN/WSOP was resistant to making a change with the excuse that the type of games, Omaha/Stud 8 are more difficult to produce. Luckily parts were shown at the beginning with one camera and no announcers. While the second NLHE table was playing, protests were being received via Twitter and Email so in the later stages of the Omaha/Stud event #25, cut aways were done from time to time and when down to three with Phil Ivey, Carlos Mortensen, and Ming Lee the players were wired up and the cameras rolled.
Jimmy Fricke and Brian Micon were announcers for the other table and switched their attention to this event as well and did a good job under the circumstances. To see this being played out in a rather impromptu way with little production was very interesting.
Ivey showed his mastery time and again as he trounced his opponents. As is usual the chip lead was passed around and on his down times, the cool Ivey just waited for his time to come and it did. When Mortensen went out in third, it was apparent it would take a miracle and total melt down by Ivey for Lee to prevail....and prevail he did.
In the interview after he won, Phil was asked about the much talked about bracelets prop bets. Ivey acknowledged the bets and stated he had "scooped" all of those bets. He also made it known that he would be happy to built his bracelet count and that it would take a while to equal or pass Hellmuth's record.
It has been a joy to watch Phil Ivey in the year's WSOP and it is only half way over. In last year's WSOP, Ivey had many of these same bets but it was apparent from his demeanor that he really did not have his head in the game. It seems that Barry Greenstein can take some of the credit for getting his focus back.....that is an assumption on this writer's part.....when he asked Phil which Phil was going to show up this year. This year Mr. Ivey seems to really be enjoying himself and that is a wonderful sight to see.
Mr. Ivey......thanks for sharing your enjoyment with your fans.....gg, Sir!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Americans Not Welcome To Some Live Feeds of WSOP Unless They Have Certain ISP Providers
A couple of months ago, the hopes of poker fans all over the world were delighted by the news that many of the final tables that would not be televised on ESPN TV later this year would be streamed live on the internet. Twenty-four in all, these final events would be divided between Bluff Magazine and ESPN360. In the countries other than the USA, the ESPN360 events would be carried by PKR.com.
Probably most of us assumed that Americans could also get the PKR feed if we were unable to access ESPN360 on the Internet.......how wrong we were. While the rest of the world will be able to watch all 24 final tables, those in the USA who do not have the "right" cable company are out of luck. Many here in America do not have Verizon or the other companies that carry it. In my area, we have access to it but the switch is expensive and having this one feature would be the only benefit of making the change seems like something that should be unnecessary.
The forums have been lighting up with discussion on this issue. Seems rather arbitrary and you would think that WSOP and ESPN would like to garner as much goodwill as possible while this great event is going on so that interest would be heightened by the time it starts airing on TV.
The broadcasts that I have been able to watch so far have been wonderful........and thanks to Bluff Magazine for making those available to all of us. It was just lucky that the first night of the live feeds when Phil Ivey won, that I was able to find a link that did not block the ESPN feed. By the next day, that feed was blocked. I watched every hand for about 10 hours and loved it and if you see the numbers on the forums for that thread, it appears that the rest of the poker community did as well. Last night, watched Daniel and his quest for a bracelet on the broadcast provided by Bluff Magazine. Thank you Bluff........
There is a lot of interest here by the poker community and think that ESPN is really missing the boat on this one. Instead of building favor and possibly an even larger market for poker on TV, they are just pissing a lot of people off. The community I am speaking of was already ticked because of their decision to carry only three events on TV, and cutting out some of those most favored by the poker players. We were thrilled by the trade off of these events being streamed live but that excitement was torn away from many of us with an exclusion determined by our ISP provider......
If the other countries are being accommodated by the PKR link, why do Americans not have an optional way to access? Why not offer it to us for a fee? It seems that Americans are not being fairly treated here. Is our goodwill just not that big of a deal?
Probably most of us assumed that Americans could also get the PKR feed if we were unable to access ESPN360 on the Internet.......how wrong we were. While the rest of the world will be able to watch all 24 final tables, those in the USA who do not have the "right" cable company are out of luck. Many here in America do not have Verizon or the other companies that carry it. In my area, we have access to it but the switch is expensive and having this one feature would be the only benefit of making the change seems like something that should be unnecessary.
The forums have been lighting up with discussion on this issue. Seems rather arbitrary and you would think that WSOP and ESPN would like to garner as much goodwill as possible while this great event is going on so that interest would be heightened by the time it starts airing on TV.
The broadcasts that I have been able to watch so far have been wonderful........and thanks to Bluff Magazine for making those available to all of us. It was just lucky that the first night of the live feeds when Phil Ivey won, that I was able to find a link that did not block the ESPN feed. By the next day, that feed was blocked. I watched every hand for about 10 hours and loved it and if you see the numbers on the forums for that thread, it appears that the rest of the poker community did as well. Last night, watched Daniel and his quest for a bracelet on the broadcast provided by Bluff Magazine. Thank you Bluff........
There is a lot of interest here by the poker community and think that ESPN is really missing the boat on this one. Instead of building favor and possibly an even larger market for poker on TV, they are just pissing a lot of people off. The community I am speaking of was already ticked because of their decision to carry only three events on TV, and cutting out some of those most favored by the poker players. We were thrilled by the trade off of these events being streamed live but that excitement was torn away from many of us with an exclusion determined by our ISP provider......
If the other countries are being accommodated by the PKR link, why do Americans not have an optional way to access? Why not offer it to us for a fee? It seems that Americans are not being fairly treated here. Is our goodwill just not that big of a deal?
Daniel's Series of Unfortunate Events
Last night spectators were a witness to a serious meltdown by a great player and there was nothing he could have done to stop it anymore that the winner, Brock Parker, could have played differently to make a different outcome. This one was truly in the hands of the Poker Gods.
Daniel Negreanu began the final table as the chip leader in the Six Handed, Limit Hold'em Event #14 of the 2009 WSOP. As the hours passed and the field dwindled, he was in the lead most of the time with some shifts from time to time but while watching, you always had the feeling that he was in control. Being a Limit tourney, dramatic plays were seldom and skill and finesse were the order of the day with all the players on top of their game......of course the top of the game for some is not the same as for others but that said, they all played well.
When the play got to heads up, the first part was pretty routine with Brock and Daniel winning pots and the stacks going up and down. Brock Parker proved to be a very, very good player and has online stats to back it up. Daniel always seemed to be in control and just played masterfully.
After a while the wheels started to come off for Daniel. There was nothing that could be done. He had to play the hands he was dealt.....on a hand that he had QQ and dominated, the board produced a straight and the pot was split. When he played his AJ against the J4 of Brock, the 4 fell and he lost. In the last few hands, Daniel's opponent had an A in almost every hand and every flop/board had an A. Daniel had JJ.......no cigar, an A came and Brock had one in his hand. The shame was that each time Daniel got a piece of the flop and bet/called. His stack started to drop like a rock....it was really painful to watch...It ended this way and the only good thing was it ended quickly.
After it was over and both men were interviewed, Daniel was clearly upset and knew he had received some bad breaks and he said he had gotten lucky early in the tourney to get that far and had many coin flips go his way. It is no secret that luck is a factor and this was Limit.
In his exit interview, the soft spoken, Brock, said he had played well and was "running good" which had to be the understatement of the week. There is no doubt that this guy will be around for a while. He had a great table presence, never flustered and showed little emotion.....he did a great job and Congratulations to Brock Parker.......he played great and won over a great Champion of the game.
For the viewing audience and aspiring players everywhere, there is an important lesson to be learned here.......you can be the very best and be in the best position....but on any day or as in this case, in any half hour...the Spirits of the Poker World can have their way with you.....while you can avoid some situations in the early going......in the late stages of tourney, especially in Limit, there are times when the outcome is out of your control.
For a fan, the ability to watch these final tables is a gift. While to some it is like watching paint dry, to many of us to watch every hand for hour after hour is a truly wonderful experience.
Friday, June 5, 2009
PHIL IVEY IS TRULY THE KING............
June 4th was a great day in poker. Not so surprising was the fact that Phil Ivey won his 6th WSOP bracelet....it was the way he did it and the way we as fans were able to observe this masterful display of artistry.
The day started with the final table in the 2-7 Lowball, Single Draw event. There were seven at the final table with Ivey starting sixth in chips. Soon after beginning one player was knocked out and over the next several hours, players fell and Ivey got stronger. When down to three, the battle really began with Yan Chen, John Monnette, and Phil Ivey. The chip counts went up and down for quite some time and finally Chen was eliminated. At some point, Monnette asked Phil what the difference in the payout was between first and third place and Ivey said about 3 million which was an indication of the amount of the prop bets he was involved in.
The heads up match lasted for 3+ hours with the lead bouncing back and forth and an amazing amount of skill and patience being displayed by Ivey. Monnette kept up and played extremely well but in the last hour of the match the pressure started to show. When he began to complain to the dealer and called the floor to get a new dealer, it was surely a sign to Phil that it was his for the taking. And take it he did, chipping away and then going in for the win. I had not ever seen John Monnette play before but knew the name. At the WSOP a few years ago, one of the floor reporters had reported that he had received a penalty for tearing his cards up after a hand when he got a bad beat. Since that time I remembered the name and had seen that he played regularly in events and knew he was a seasoned professional.
The most incredible thing about the whole experience as an observer was watching for nine or ten hours seeing very few cards since it was a drawing game and without any commentary. The only sounds you heard was chips, some crowd noise, the players talking and the announcer on the floor at the Rio. The forums were lighting up with viewers of the live video feed discussing the action. There were obviously hundreds if not thousands of people watching the masterful performance by Phil Ivey. At one point he was extremely low stacked and the Mixed Event was starting and he was signed up to play that one. He never lost sight of winning this event. He was not going to go that far and lose...just was not going to happen.
In the past few years, it has been obvious that Phil's head was not totally into tournament play...even last year the prop bets did not seem to motivate him he was reported to have lost a lot of money ....he still had a bad WSOP. A while back, Barry Greenstein had asked him which Phil was going to show up this year at the WSOP.....the impatient one who was only interested in getting a big lead at the very beginning or going out early, or the player, who when on his game, would fight tooth and nail to defeat all others in the field.
With this win, Phil Ivey confirms what most in the poker community know and that when he is on his game, only the luckiest has a chance. It has been reported that Phil tipped the dealers the entire first place money.....What a class act.......Great game sir!
The day started with the final table in the 2-7 Lowball, Single Draw event. There were seven at the final table with Ivey starting sixth in chips. Soon after beginning one player was knocked out and over the next several hours, players fell and Ivey got stronger. When down to three, the battle really began with Yan Chen, John Monnette, and Phil Ivey. The chip counts went up and down for quite some time and finally Chen was eliminated. At some point, Monnette asked Phil what the difference in the payout was between first and third place and Ivey said about 3 million which was an indication of the amount of the prop bets he was involved in.
The heads up match lasted for 3+ hours with the lead bouncing back and forth and an amazing amount of skill and patience being displayed by Ivey. Monnette kept up and played extremely well but in the last hour of the match the pressure started to show. When he began to complain to the dealer and called the floor to get a new dealer, it was surely a sign to Phil that it was his for the taking. And take it he did, chipping away and then going in for the win. I had not ever seen John Monnette play before but knew the name. At the WSOP a few years ago, one of the floor reporters had reported that he had received a penalty for tearing his cards up after a hand when he got a bad beat. Since that time I remembered the name and had seen that he played regularly in events and knew he was a seasoned professional.
The most incredible thing about the whole experience as an observer was watching for nine or ten hours seeing very few cards since it was a drawing game and without any commentary. The only sounds you heard was chips, some crowd noise, the players talking and the announcer on the floor at the Rio. The forums were lighting up with viewers of the live video feed discussing the action. There were obviously hundreds if not thousands of people watching the masterful performance by Phil Ivey. At one point he was extremely low stacked and the Mixed Event was starting and he was signed up to play that one. He never lost sight of winning this event. He was not going to go that far and lose...just was not going to happen.
In the past few years, it has been obvious that Phil's head was not totally into tournament play...even last year the prop bets did not seem to motivate him he was reported to have lost a lot of money ....he still had a bad WSOP. A while back, Barry Greenstein had asked him which Phil was going to show up this year at the WSOP.....the impatient one who was only interested in getting a big lead at the very beginning or going out early, or the player, who when on his game, would fight tooth and nail to defeat all others in the field.
With this win, Phil Ivey confirms what most in the poker community know and that when he is on his game, only the luckiest has a chance. It has been reported that Phil tipped the dealers the entire first place money.....What a class act.......Great game sir!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
WSOP rolling right along. Yesterday was supposed to be a bracelet day but took so long to get to final table that it was postponed until today at 2:00pm LV time. It is good to see a "mature" player, Dan Heimiller as the chip leader of the $1K, 6,000 person field. Also will be final table for the Pot Limit Omaha, $1500 buy in.
Some of these final tables can be seen at ESPN360 and Bluff Magazine sites. Will be fun to be able to see some of these events since only a few will be on ESPN later this year.
Probably the most interest will be on the Seven Card Stud World Championship which will be decided today. With just 11 left, the most well know players are Daniel Negreanu, Hasan Habib, Jeff Lisandro, Max Pescatori, Tim Phan, and Greg Mueller. This will be a lot of fun to sweat but will not be televised at all......such a shame.
The second day of the 2-7 Lowball event will take place with 35 left of the 147 field and many favs in that one also including chip leader Layne Flack, Phil Ivey, David Grey, Phil the Brat, Mike the Mouth and Barry G among many others we know and love.
Also the second day of the $1500 nlhe event that started with 2791 players and 2 new events will be starting......
The Hag will be keeping up will all the action at Pokernews.com and Twitter
Some of these final tables can be seen at ESPN360 and Bluff Magazine sites. Will be fun to be able to see some of these events since only a few will be on ESPN later this year.
Probably the most interest will be on the Seven Card Stud World Championship which will be decided today. With just 11 left, the most well know players are Daniel Negreanu, Hasan Habib, Jeff Lisandro, Max Pescatori, Tim Phan, and Greg Mueller. This will be a lot of fun to sweat but will not be televised at all......such a shame.
The second day of the 2-7 Lowball event will take place with 35 left of the 147 field and many favs in that one also including chip leader Layne Flack, Phil Ivey, David Grey, Phil the Brat, Mike the Mouth and Barry G among many others we know and love.
Also the second day of the $1500 nlhe event that started with 2791 players and 2 new events will be starting......
The Hag will be keeping up will all the action at Pokernews.com and Twitter
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