The Marathon, the Sprint
Friday, June 19, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
For many poker players sitting down in a WSOP event is a lifelong dream come true. Maybe they won a satellite, maybe they plundered the bankroll and decided that this would be the year they play in the World Series of Poker. Every day scores of players walk into the tournament rooms at the Rio to play their first (and sometimes only) WSOP tournament.
But the situation is totally different for the professionals. The World Series is their busy time, their Christmas season. With 57 tournaments packed into seven weeks, millions of dollars at stake, and the chance to win the ultimate prize in their profession (a WSOP bracelet), the pros press the pedal to the floor and don’t let up. Bust from one tournament, there’s another one starting in a few hours. Still in a tournament, another starting that you don’t want to miss? Play in them both. Watching well-known poker players rushing from room to room during breaks is so commonplace now that it barely warrants attention.
One player who doubled-dipped last night was Team UltimateBet’s Michael Binger, who played (and is still playing) in the $2,000 No-Limit Hold-Em event while also signed up for the $10,000 Stud/8 World Championship. Binger busted from that event last night, but he made the money in the Hold-Em event (and just doubled up, as well).
Phil Hellmuth survived several all-ins during the first hour of the $10K Stud/8 restart, but eventually he succombed and was eliminated. Out, but not down, Phil got a massage, had some lunch, then headed over to his seat in the $2,000 Limit Hold-Em tournament that started at noon.
Annie Duke also returned for Day 2 of the $10K Stud/8, but hers would be a short stay as well. The cards didn’t cooperate and she was eliminated, and this time Annie decided to call it a day (and a hot day it is, as she just tweeted that she’s sitting out on a curb waiting for her ride and that the curb is, like, really hot). But tomorrow is another day, with two more tournaments starting, including a $1,500 No-Limit Hold-Em event that will no doubt see hundreds of first-time WSOP players in the field. The first-timers, the old-timers, the all-the-timers, all playing the same game.
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Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, Annie Duke, Michael Binger, Phil Hellmuth, ub, ultimatebet, world series of poker, WSOP
