Rounding the Horn
Monday, June 8, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
They say you need at least a little bit of luck to win a poker tournament, and sometimes the good fortune comes not in the cards you’re dealt but in the seat you’re assigned. If you sit down, don’t recognize a soul, and find that the most of the table talk revolves around subjects such as “Boy, I hope I make to the dinner break this time!”, chances are you’ve landed an advantageous draw. If, on the other hand, you sit down and every face staring back at you is familiar from TV and magazine covers, and there’s a crowd of railbirds and photographers and camera operators pressing close and you overhear a reporter describe your new home as the “Table of DEATH”, well, maybe you’ve just had a spot of bad luck.
In events such as today’s $10,000 Omaha/8 World Championship there aren’t any “easy” tables. Some are more murderous than others, but walking around the floor I didn’t see a single table where I didn’t think, “Yipe!” Still, the table Phil Hellmuth currently sits at is sicker than most, and his seat is in an especially difficult spot. Take a look at the lineup and imagine tossing out a raise from early position:
To Phil’s right is James Van Alstyne, who’s currently 2nd in chips. To Phil’s left are, in order, John Hennigan (who I still say should’ve gotten an Oscar nomination for Lucky You), Alex Kravchenko, Barry Greenstein, and Daniel Negreanu. This is the stuff of poker nightmares. Sailors from the 17th century would’ve had an easier time rounding Cape Horn than Phil will have navigating that fearsome lineup.
It doesn’t help that Negreanu is at his antic best, playing every pot, bouncing around in his seat, chattering away non-stop, and wolfing down some vegetarian snack. Daniel does have some excuse for acting punchy–according to a recent Tweet he’s played for at least 15 hours the last seven days, including yesterday where he just missed winning his 5th bracelet (before racing over to his stack in this tournament). And he might not get to turn in early tonight, either, as he quadrupled up to nearly 80,000 just before the break. That’s a bit less than Phil, who sits with 99,000, and Annie Duke, who has 105,000 at the break.
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Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, Annie Duke, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, world series of poker, WSOP
