Chip Leaders

Wednesday, October 7, 2009 - Gene Bromberg

Via our friends at PokerNews, here are some of the chip leaders at the moment:

Robert Mizrachi – 276,000
Jon Favaloro – 235,000
Matt Ross – 220,000
James Czarnecki – 205,000
Eric Baldwin – 165,000
David Perkins – 165,000
Alessandro Nocerino – 145,000
John Clancy – 145,000
Scott “yaboystu” Stewart – 120,000

Matt Ross vaulted up the leaderboard when he won a huge hand holding Ac-Kh to his opponent’s Kc-Ks. The flop was all clubs, the turn the 4d, and Ross check-raised for over 100,000, a big overbet. He got the call and needed a club or an Ace to take down the huge pot. And it was the 5c that hit, sending Ross into a Mattias Andersson-like explosion, screaming “JAAA!!!” or some Euro-sounding ode to joy as he stormed away from the table in triumph. He also bent the one card he held, earning a light rebuke from Tournament Director Matt Savage that quickly calmed Ross down. Still, he’s among the chipleaders as the field has dwindled to 97.

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The Once and Future Kings

Wednesday, October 7, 2009 - Gene Bromberg

A player I’ve neglected to mention so far in our updates is Travis “TravestyFund” Rice, who won the Aruba Poker Classic back in 2007. That week he put on a clinic of big stack poker, first accumulating that stack and then battering his opponents with it over the course of two days.

Finishing 2nd to Rice in 2007 was James Mordue, who actually had Travis dominated with A-K to K-10 on the final hand. If Travis hadn’t turned that ten, who knows what Jim might’ve been able to do with that double-up?

It’s way, way, WAY too early to be anointing a champion for this year, but a good bet to make a deep run (perhaps very deep) is Robert Mizrachi, who has separated himself from the rest of the field with a stack around 240,000.

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Attrition Comes to Town

Wednesday, October 7, 2009 - Gene Bromberg

Here’s an adjective I don’t think I’ve ever used here in Aruba–gloomy. But that’s the weather we all woke to this morning–gray, overcast, raining. Gloomy. Went for a walk on the beach (it’s not ALL bad) and it looked like blue skies were on the way, but then another front moved in and we had another downpour. When play began today the rumble of thunder echoed through the Radisson hallways, an ominous harbinger of things to come.

For some players, anyway. We started with 263, and after two levels we’re all the way down to 175. This is where I normally say something like “Oh well, at least there’s the beach and the pool and the wondrous beauty of Aruba!” to comfort those who get knocked out. But when you get knocked out of a poker tournament in a tropical paradise, and you go outside and are greeted by sheets of rain, you have to start thinking that someone’s really out to get you.

But for those who are out of the Aruba Poker Classic, never fear–the rain gonna go away, and we’ll doubtless have a spot of brilliant weather before the day is out. For those anxious to get back in the game there’s the $2,000 No-Limit Hold-Em event that started just a few minutes ago (you can still sign up for the next two hours). And for the players who are still in the Aruba Poker Classic, well, who cares if it rains, if it pours? There’s work to be done indoors–the sun can wait.

Here’s a few of the players still in the hunt today. One of whom is defending champion Matt Brady, who has around 40,000 in chips:

Complicating life for Brady is the player seated on his immediate left, Team UB’s Adam “Roothlus” Levy, sporting a Barcelona away strip:

Phil Hellmuth is still very much in contention and as he tweeted last night, “I have rededicated myself to winning poker tournaments! My legacy is about poker!”. He looks to be all business as he tries to make a deep run here in Aruba. He’s sitting with around 50K right now.

Tiffany Michelle lost nearly all her chips yesterday before battling back to an average stack as play resumed today. She was briefly seated at the same table as Phil and the two of them chopped a pot before their table broke and they went their separate ways.

It’s important for poker players to honestly assess their play and take steps to correct their errors and thus improve their game. Perhaps Gary “debo34″ DiBernardi is being a bit too self-critical:

Matt Vengrin built a little chip castle before Tournament Director Matt Savage played Zoning Board and told him to disassemble it. I stopped by a bit later and Matt had quickly reconstructed a reduced version of his previous work. “It looks smaller,” I said. He shook his head, “Fewer chips, but bigger ones.” Ah-ha. He has around 120,000.

More pics and posts to follow. The internet is still something of a waking nightmare right now, but we’re still able to access Twitter without much problem and if you follow UltimateBet on Twitter you can keep up with the action even when the Internet’s going kablooey.

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Day 2 Chip Counts

Wednesday, October 7, 2009 - Gene Bromberg

Day 2 of the Aruba Poker Classic has begun and 263 players braved the rain to return to the Radisson tournament room. Among those who are still in the hunt for the title are several members of Team UB, including Phil Hellmuth, Adam Levy, Michael Binger, Brandon Cantu, Bryan Devonshire, Shawn Rice, Gary DiBernardi, and Tiffany Michelle. We’ll play five 90-minute levels today, the same as we did during the opening days of the tournament. And here’s where the chip counts stood at the start of play today:

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In the Field

Tuesday, October 6, 2009 - Gene Bromberg

Can’t be sure if this’ll actually post what with our ‘net issues, but let’s be optimistic!! Here are some of the players who are/were in the field today.

Defending champion Matt Brady:

Last year’s runner-up Johan Storakers:

And last year’s 4th-place finisher, Allie Prescott:

James Van Alstyne, who won a HORSE bracelet at this year’s World Series and came in 2nd in another HORSE event, is sticking with just one game here in Aruba:

Jean-Robert Bellande, like Tiffany Michelle and Annie Duke a veteran of reality television, is keeping it real here in Aruba:

As is Layne Flack:

Jeff Madsen was one of the earliest eliminations of the day, as he flopped a set of fives and then got all the money in the middle when a King fell on the turn. His opponent snap-called with pocket Kings and that sent Madsen to the beach:

Another early elimination was the newest member of Team UB, Joe Sebok, who started off well but lost two big hands holding pocket Kings–once when he ran into Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin’s Aces, another when his opponent made quads. And that was that for the PokerRoad honcho:

Still in the tournament is Joe’s PokerRoad co-host/conspirator Gavin Smith:

And Robert Mizrachi:

P0ker H0 was another early casualty, losing most of his stack before the first break and busting out when he shoved with Q-9 and got called by a player holding Ace-King. Big Slick held up and H0 would not repeat his deep run of a year ago:

Hoping to escape H0’s fate and make the money again this year is Debo34:

While Liv Boeree is out, her pocket Tens bested by pocket Queens.

Bryan Devonshire has been holding fairly steady during play today:

As has Matt Vengrin:

Tiffany Michelle saw her stacked whacked when she lost a race with QQ vs. AK, but after being down to 2,000 she ground her way back to her starting stack of 15,000:

And still in the field as the final level of the day begins are Brandon Cantu:

Michael Binger:

Billy Kopp:

Shawn Rice:

And, last but never least, Lacey Jones:

Annie Duke will not be back for Day 2. Even though she was dealt pocket Aces seven times during play today (and getting Kings and Queens to boot) Annie lost time and time again with those big hands and went out when she flopped top two to her opponent’s bottom set. Sometimes it’s just one of those days, and now Annie gets to spend the rest of her trip enjoying Aruba…which is doubtless not what she wanted.

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Day 1B

Tuesday, October 6, 2009 - Gene Bromberg

Day 1B is just about to begin here at the 2009 Aruba Poker Classic, and we’re expecting a lot more people today than the 188 who took to the felt yesterday. Split starting days are common now on the poker tour and there’s always that question of whether you should play on the first day or the second. The latest possible starting day is usually the most crowded, and so there might be more dead money in the field that day. Then again most pros seem to prefer playing on the later dates, so that might complicate matters. Playing the first day means you have the whole week to enjoy the beach if you get knocked out, but you also have to be ambulatory by noon the day after the Welcome Banquet. A tall order for some, an impossible ordeal for others.

So it all comes down to your own personal preference. In a way it’s like a Rorschach test, there are no right or wrong answers. Unless you look at that inkblot and see Grandma throwing Santa Claus down a flight of stairs. ‘Cause, like, that’s SO wrong.

And with that Tournament Director Matt Savage has instructed the players on the rules, told the dealers where to put the button, and we’ve heard the call of “Shuffle up and deal”. Pics of the players in the field today to follow.

Tags: Aruba, Gene Bromberg, poker tournament

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Behind the Lens

Monday, October 5, 2009 - Gene Bromberg

I don’t have much experience shooting video but I thought that this year I’d give it a shot and maybe post a few vids to the ‘ol blog here. One idea I had was to record Phil Hellmuth’s customary late entrance and see if he took the mic from Tournament Director Matt Savage and make his traditional round through the room. I didn’t see Phil come in (of course he’s much more low-key in Aruba than he is during the WSOP, though just as tardy) but instead of broadcasting his walk through the room Phil was apparently recording it using his iPhone.

While he did this there was a film crew following Phil around recording him doing that. And so, not for the first time, I found myself in the postmodern position of filming someone filming someone filming. That’s a bit too meta for me, so I just took a couple of pics and we’ll see if Phil stops by tomorrow to show off his emceeing chops.

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Meanwhile, Back on Dry Land

Monday, October 5, 2009 - Gene Bromberg

Of course one post isn’t enough to fully capture the mayhem of last night’s party, and frankly I’m not sure if one blogger is enough. But I thought I’d post some pics of the people who managed to stay out of the pool last night and enjoy the party on the deck.

Here’s an august group enjoying the party last night–that’s defending champion Matt Brady in the middle, last year’s 4th-place finisher Allie Prescott in the baseball cap, and last year’s runner up Johan Storakers at the far right. Incidentally, don’t try to throw Allie into a swimming pool unless you and your compatriots are fully committed to the mission. It’s not easily done.

I met Jim during my first year covering the Aruba Poker Classic in 2006 and he’s back once again, this time with his entire family. Jim’s in the middle wearing the extremely fashionable Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl XLIII Champions hat, which replaced the Super Bowl XL hat he was wearing when I met him three years ago. Way to keep up with the trends!

Not to toot my own horn, but I am a good luck charm for folks playing in Aruba. Each of the last three years I’ve met someone at the party, chatted a bit, taken a photo or two…and that person has ended up at the final table. No clue if my transferable luck will hold this year, nor who my golden touch might lead to the promised land. It could be the gentleman on the left in this photo, who plays under the name “sailor42″ and qualified for his seat at UB. Could be…

Or it could be any of the people lucky enough to win a trip to Aruba and a seat in the Classic. It does seem a bit much to ask for additional luck when you’ve found a way to be here, in Aruba, to play poker in paradise.

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Shuffle Up and Deal!

Monday, October 5, 2009 - Gene Bromberg

The 2009 Aruba Poker Classic is under way…and we lost a player about 3 minutes in. That happens when you have pocket Aces and your opponent flops a set of Queens and you go all the way with them. The good thing is that this tournament might be the best event in the world to get coolered out during the first orbit. The bad news is that you’re out. A few Balashis with lunch may help ease the sting.

But there are actually quite a few folks still playing here in the Radisson ballroom and here a few of the familiar faces in the field today. Four members of Team UB managed to drag themselves out of the pool last night (well, this morning) and make the noon kickoff. One was Adam “Roothlus” Levy…

Matt Graham…

And Scott Ian:

And Hollywood Dave:

Another well-known player who’s made a splash at UB in the past is Brock “t_soprano” Parker, who won the first UltimateBet Online Championship Main Event a few years back. Parker also won two bracelets at the most recent World Series of Poker.

Jason Gray, who made the final table here back in 2007, is back again for another run:

John Strzemp, who is a senior executive with Wynn Resorts and who finished second to Stu Ungar at the 1997 WSOP Main Event, has returned to Aruba once again:

And James Honeybone, who was watching the Steelers beat the Chargers with me last night and is obviously a solid guy, is in the field today.

More pics as more players reveal themselves or make their late arrivals.

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Working (Very) Blue

Monday, October 5, 2009 - Gene Bromberg

Last week I mentioned that a lot of the action at the Aruba Poker Classic takes place around the Radisson Pool, and that after missing last year’s Welcome Banquet Phil Hellmuth would probably be in the mood to entice people to jump in the pool by promising them with piles of cash.

Uh, I had no idea how right I’d prove to be.

The UB Blog is (mostly) PG-13 and so I can’t really describe in detail much of Vinnie Favorito’s comedy routine that kicked off last night’s party. Chances are if you were within 50 feet of the stage Vinnie insulted either your race, religion, creed, gender, or face. All in good fun, of course, and especially so when the target is Phil Hellmuth.

And then after Vinnie wrapped up…well, that’s when the fun started. And it started with a group of synchronized swimmers in brilliant multi-colored swimsuits entertaining the crowd:

And then that’s when the real mayhem started. Just about every member of Team UB (including many of those who work behind the scenes) ended up in the pool. It started with Tiffany Michelle and Liv Boeree and Matt Graham and Bryan Devonshire and then before too long just about everyone wearing a logo was in the pool to stay. Some went in voluntarily, some less so, as you’ll see.

That should give you just a little idea about what the party was like. It was WAY more crowded that in years past, and the pool action was freakin’ nuts. Phil offered $500 for the first two women to jump in the pool naked and it took about 17 seconds for him to hand out a grand (as I said, this is a PG blog, so no pics. Unless someone offers me $500…).

I literally have 500 pics to sort through and develop and post, but it’s late, the tournament starts at high noon, and I promise to post lots, lots, lots more stuff about last night’s insane bash. But this should give you some idea of what was like, and if my pics and words don’t do the job then listen to what Scott Ian tweeted about the party–”It was (deleted) nuts”. Yes, PG blog, sorry, but I think you can fill in that particular blank yourself.

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