Gene Bromberg
Sunday, January 11, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
Deep stack tournaments do not necessarily translate into interminable death-marches that last till dawn. A case in point is tonight’s UBOC Event #4, a deep-stack No-Limit Hold-Em event that started at 2:30pm ET. A total of 402 players resisted the urge to watch the NFL playoffs (though I’m sure quite a few were multitasking) and by the time we reached the final table it looked like this:
A few familiar names at that final table–Matt “WISCOMURRAY” Murray, for one. TRALAIRA, who final-tabled UBOC Event #1, for another. And they would be among those who lasted until the end, though the same can’t be said for LOLPWNU, who was eliminated in 9th place when he commited the last of his chips with pocket Tens (my lucky hand) and was called by COMPLETEDONK in the big blind holding the mighty Qd-5c. A Queen on the flop probably didn’t make LOLPWNU laugh out loud, as he went out in ninth place.
After the action was folded around to ILETURUN in the small blind he moved all-in to put the squeeze on STORER50, only to get squeezed back when STORER50 called with Ac-6h to ILETURUN’s 8s-5s. Just as they say you can never find a cop when you need one, ILETURUN couldn’t find an eight or five when he needed one and was eliminated in 8th place.
CHAUCHMEYER looked to be in good shape to double up when his Ad-Kd had ANABOOLA’s Ac-Qh. The flop and turn didn’t alter the situation and all CHAUCHMEYER had to do was fade a Queen on the river to double up. You know where this is going, right?–the Qs spiked on the river and cruelly sent CHAUCHMEYER to the rail in 7th place.
COMPLETEDONK was next to fall, shoving with As-4c and getting called by ANABOOOLA’s pocket Nines. COMPLETEDONK picked up a wheel draw on the river but the river brought no help and he was out in 6th. There are many brutal ways to get bad-beated out of a tournament, but the way STORER50 was ushered out the door is one that especially bugs me. He was all in holding pocket Sevens to ANABOoOLA’s Ac-9d. The 10h-4c-Qc didn’t threaten much, though the 10c on the turn gave ANABOOOLA a flush draw. But it wasn’t a club or an Ace that spelled COMPLETEDONK’s doom–it was the Qh, which put two pair on the board and counterfeited his pocket Sevens. ANABOOOLA’s Ace played and that lone card was strong enough to eliminate COMPLETEDONK in fifth place.
During play there had been some talk about making a deal, but discussions began in earnest when we got four-handed. ANABOOOLA had a sizeable chip lead but it was the shorter stacks who wanted a bit more bread before they’d deal. Play resumed and ANABOOOLA flexed his musclesby moving in from the small blind, and YUFOLDBSTHND called with As-5s. ANABOOOLA turned over Jd-4c, a modest holding that grew in stature when a Jack came on the flop. No Ace came to save the day and YUFOLDBSTHND was out in 4th place.
And that’s when the three remaining players returned to the negotiating table and tried to hammer out a deal. ANABOOOLA had about 75% of the chips in play and the three players went back-and-forth, forth-and-back coming up with terms that would be agreeable to all. Note to self–do some reading on negotiating tactics and the parsing of financial data. Either that or retain a CPA to assist in all dealmaking at the poker table.
But in the end a deal was made and that deal brought an end to the tournament. A situation we may see repeated in future events, or perhaps not. There’s a lot of money involved after all…but then again, that’s why they call it gambling. Congratulations to ANABOOOLA, TRALAIRA and WISCOMURRAY for a very good day’s work indeed.
Tags: Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, ub, ub tournaments, UBOC, uboc tournaments, ultimatebet, ultimatebet tournaments
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Saturday, January 10, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
I’m not one to toot my own horn, but…
Yes, that’s me knocking Shawn Rice out of today’s mini-UBOC event and collecting his $30 bounty. We’re about 20 off the money and I’m 11th in chips. Which of course means I’m gonna run Kings into Aces in three…two…one…
Cramping my style is Chris “PIMASTER” Vioxx, who is the big chip leader and sits three seats to my left. Chris won a UBOC event two years ago and I’d rather not lock horns with him if I can help it. Tight might be right.
And on CUE I lose 1/2 my stack when I run Ace-King into HOUN’s Aces. The good news is that I rivered the nut flush. The bad news is that it wasn’t the nut flush, as he flopped a full house. I will now commence the screaming and renting of garments.
UPDATE: And I’m out, three short of the money. I ran K-10 into PIMASTER’S A-2 and I didn’t improve. At least I was freerolling…yeah, that’s SUCH a comfort. It just goes to show you, the second you start talking smack, the second you start thinking things are going your way, that’s when the Poker Gods beat the crap out of you.
Mad, frustrated, in the mood to commit random acts of extreme violence…yeah, that’s poker for you.
UPDATE: And welcome to lifetilt! It turns out P0ker H0 freakin’ WON the mini-UBOC event I sorta-bubbled. I’d calmed down and everything but now I’m practically biting myself.
Tags: Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, UBOC, ultimatebet, ultimatebet championship
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Saturday, January 10, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
There were several familiar faces at the final table of last night’s UltimateBet Online Championship PLO w/rebuys event-Mark “P0ker H0″ Kroon being one of them. As we got down to the money bubble H0 was the shortest stack left and I thought he’d get his chips in sooner than later. I’ve never seen Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster, but last night I witnessed something almost equally remarkable–P0ker H0 playing tight on the bubble. But when the bubble burst (CUTEFRECKLES, sadly was left out in the cold) H0 shifted gears and planted his foot firmly on the accelerator, grabbing pots left and right until he arrived at the final table third in chips:
The first player eliminated was Matt “VENGMONEY” Vengrin, who bubbled the final table of the 2007 Aruba Poker Classic. Matt went out when OUTLAWNYC1 flopped the nut flush and that was pretty much that. THEGRAPER (love that name) was sent to the rail in eighth place when he flopped a flush draw to go with his pocket Queens but failed to improve against TRALAIRA’S Aces. And then, sadly, it was P0ker H0’s time to G0. After a 2c-Ah-4s flop H0 checked and then tanked after OUTLAWNYC1 threw out a bet. H0 moved all in and OUTLAWNYC1 quickly called. Both players had an Ace but OUTLAWNYC1 held two Kings to H0’s two Queens and a King on the river sealed H0’s fate:
VBILLER was next to fall, as DANTML flopped a set against him then made the nut straight on the river to lock up the pot. TRALAIRA had the bad fortune to get the last of his chips in only to see OUTLAWNYC1 flop a full house that left him drawing dead. “I’m getting very lucky,” OUTLAWNYC1 said in chat, and after making another huge hand said, “I flop monsters!”.
Grayson “THE_DEAN221″ Nichols was unlucky to flop trip Aces, only to find that DANTML had done the same and had him slighly outkicked. Nichols didn’t catch on the turn or river and that sent him out in fourth place.
And then there were three, with OUTLAWNYC1 holding a bit more than 50% of the chips in play. There had be talk during the final table about making a deal–idle talk, for the most part. But down to three-handed OUTLAWNYC1 again raised the topic and the three players paused to discuss possible terms. Making deals at a final table is a new feature here at UltimateBet (H0 talked about making a deal because he wanted to see how it would work) and the three players chatted back and forth about possible scenarios while a UB manager provided equity calculations and made sure all three players understood the chop and agreed. It took a bit of time, but when all was said and done the three players were satisfied and UBOC Event #1 came to a quiet end.
I happen to think dealmaking at final tables is perfectly acceptable and totally reasonable. The money in the prize pool belongs to the players, they have the right to discuss among themselves if they want to alter the payouts. If history has taught us anything, it’s that no chip-lead is ever safe, and since the payouts increase almost geometrically at the top of the ladder it’s understandable that players might want to lock in a nice score and not risk losing a huge chunk of change to a horrid beat. Having a representative from UB in on the proceedings helps ensure a player doesn’t get browbeaten or bamboozled into taking a really bad deal, so this is definitely a positive step. Plus, it was geting on 4AM and I (along with several of the players, I think) were getting woozy.
So, congratulations to OUTLAWNYC1, DANTML, AND RIMMER27, who can say without fear of contradiction that they were still standing at the end of the opening event of the UltimateBet Online Championship. We have a $300+20 No-Limit Hold-Em event starting at 2:30pm ET and the $500+30 Heads-Up event at 5:30pm ET. That’s right, two UBOC events today (and two mini-UBOC tournaments as well), so don’t miss out.
Tags: h0, mark kroon, matt vengrin, P0ker H0, plattsburgh, plo w/rebuys, poker tournaments, pot-limit omaha, rebuys, ub tournaments, UBOC, ultimatebet online championships, ultimatebet tournaments
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Friday, January 9, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
“It” being the third UltimateBet Online Championship, which kicked off this evening with a $100+9 Pot-Limit Omaha with rebuys event. Whew, that’s a mouthful. They say that a rebuy tournament doesn’t really begin until the rebuy period comes to an end, and that happens in about…20 minutes. We’ll be keeping an eye on things as the tournament moves along and posting little updates from time to time. Here’s one–P0ker H0 and Debo are currently in the top 20. Which of course means absolutely nothing. But it’s something!
Actually, not sure if I noticed this at first, but H0 and Debo are sitting at the same table. So that’ll make for some interesting conversation.
UPDATE: OK, the rebuy period is over and we have some final numbers. UBOC Event #1 started with 221 runners, who made 271 rebuys and 228 add-ons. That created a total prize pool of $72,000, which will be divvied up thusly:
1st $18720.00
2nd $11160.00
3rd $7920.00
4th $5760.00
5th $4716.00
6th $3960.00
7th $3240.00
8th $2520.00
9th $1800.00
10th – 12th $1080.00
13th – 15th $864.00
16th – 18th $612.00
19th – 27th $504.00
UPDATE: Michael Binger is hosting tonight’s PLO w/rebuys event and for the moment he’s the host with the most. Well, almost the most…chips I mean. He’s in 4th place right now, with P0ker H0 and Debo both in the top 15. If you knock out one of our pros tonight you get your buy-in back, but so far Michael, H0 and Debo have refused to cough up their chips and the hundred bucks.
UPDATE: There’s a running joke among my gang that my friend Ted is the Worst Guest Ever. He’s a powerlifter and goes about 285, so when he sits on the couch he tends to take up about 80% of it–and that’s before he lays down and stretches out. He also never wears socks with his shoes (and usually wears shorts in the dead of winter) so you’ve got this big dude rubbing his smelly feet into the microfiber suede. He also brings his own food when he comes over, since most households aren’t stocked with enough protein to stoke his furnace, and watching him joylessly stuff hunks of “meat” (he never bothers to check whether he’s eating chicken, pork, groundhog) into his maw doesn’t do wonders for your appetite. Then there’s the fact that all that protein usually gives Ted some manner of gasterointestinal distress, which he has to work through in your bathroom. Woe betide the host who doesn’t stock up on Lysol when Ted pays a visit.
Anyway, this long-winded and seemingly pointless blather does have a purpose. It would seem my friend Ted has some competition as Worst Guest Ever, as Michael Binger (the host for tonight’s UBOC event) was just eliminated by PHAT_CAT. Who wins his buy-in back despite shoving Michael out the door. Doesn’t seem quite right but, well, that’s poker.
We’re just a few spots from the money (top 27 pay, remember) and both P0ker H0 and Debo are still in the running.
UPDATE: Someday a Ph.D candidate in linguistics or the social sciences is going to write a book about the etymology of online poker names. Anyway, the money bubble just burst in tonight’s UBOC event, and the unfortunate who went out in 28th-place was CUTEFRECKLES. Curious to know how that name came about. H0 and Debo are still around but their stacks are about half the average and so their work is cut out for them.
UPDATE: We’ve reached the final table and P0ker H0 is still very much alive. He arrives at the final table third in chips (Debo went out 17th, alas) and I’ll be following the final table the rest of the way to see how things play out. I’ll be posting a recap tomorrow morning…provided the tournament ends by tomorrow morning. And here’s the makeup of tonight’s final table:
Tags: online tournament, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournament, poker tournaments, pot-limit omaha, UBOC, uboc3, ultimatebet online championship, ultimatebet online championships
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Thursday, January 8, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
Congratulations–you survived the holidays. You ate the turkey, wrapped the presents, drank the champagne. You’re no longer culturally obligated to gorge yourself stupid, drink yourself silly, and spend hours of quality time with your in-laws. After the five-week sprint from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day you deserve a little breather.
And I hope you enjoyed it. Because it’s over.
Your lazy days and quiet nights come to a blessed end this Friday, when the third UltimateBet Online Championship kicks off. We’re hosting twelve huge tournaments over ten days with over $2 million in guaranteed prize pools. And no matter what your favorite game is–Omaha, H.O.R.S.E., good old-fashioned Hold-Em–you’ll find a UBOC event that fits your particular bill. Here’s the schedule of events:
As you can see there’s gonna be some gambling right off the bat, as the opening UBOC tournament is a Pot-Limit Omaha event…with rebuys. 8:30pm Friday night will not be a good time to be channeling your inner nit. In fact, if you look over the schedule you’ll find just two “normal” full-ring No-Limit Hold-Em events–and one of those is the $1 million-guaranteed UBOC Championship. If that fits your definition of “normal” then you run in much faster circles than I do. But with several deep-stack events, a 128-player heads-up tournament, a sniper event…they say variety is the spice of life, and UBOC3 will…no, I am not going to make a Taco Bell joke here. Let’s just say that every night will bring a new and exciting challenge for the best online poker players on the planet.
Past UBOCs past have seen some remarkable displays of poker prowess. Brock “Maria Nuccia” Parker, a well-known and well-regarded online pro, took down the first UBOC Main Event and won a silver bracelet to go with his $168,450 first prize. Last year saw one of the most astonishing performances in online poker history, as Greg “Wild Duck” Hobson won the $100+9 No-Limit Hold-Em with rebuys event…and then won the $200+15 No-Limit Hold-Em event the next day. Oh, and the day he won his second UBOC event? Greg also final-tabled the $500+30 NLH event that started later in the afternoon. That’s two wins and a final table in about 24 hours. Not that the cake needed icing, Greg also finished fifth in the $500+30 shorthanded NLH event. Back in 17th-century Massachusetts such an extraordinary performance might’ve gotten Hobson burned at the stake. We anointed him UBOC Player of the Year instead. That’s progress.
Now, maybe you’re looking at the UBOC schedule and finding the buy-ins a bit steep. Maybe you invested your bankroll with Bernard Madoff and, well, we know that story doesn’t have a happy ending. But that doesn’t mean you can’t join in on the UBOC fun. If you look at the far right of the schedule printed above you’ll see the “Mini-UBOC” list of tournaments. Every UBOC event (save the six-handed Hold-Em event and the Championship) is mirrored by a tournament with one-tenth the buy-in. Dying for the chance to play in a big H.O.R.S.E tournament or chomping at the bit to join in some rebuy madness? You can jump into a mini-UBOC event and play for a tidy guaranteed prize pool. I think that’s where I’ll be investing my soon-to-be-depleted bankroll.
And it all starts this Friday at 8:30pm ET. We’ll be covering each and every tournament here at the UltimateBet Blog so be sure to follow along with all the action…and maybe you’ll be the player making the big splash during UBOC3.
Tags: Brock Parker, DuckU, greg hobson, Maria Nuccia, t sorprano, ub, UBOC, uboc events, uboc tournaments, uboc3, ultimatebet, ultimatebet championships, ultimatebet events, ultimatebet online championship, ultimatebet tournaments, ultimatemet online championships, wild duck
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Sunday, January 4, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
For most people the holiday season ends on January 2nd, as most folks have recovered from their New Year’s hangover and have to get back to work. It’s a bit different for me as my birthday is January 3rd, so the good times keep on rolling for a few days more. This birthday was a biggie, the big 4-0, and my “friends” decided I should celebrate by drinking whatever they put in front of me. Which was usually something noxious in a shot glass. Let’s just say I spent much of my special day on the couch, in my flannels, gobbling Advil.
But I wanted to post a few final photos from the year that was 2008, especially those from this year’s Aruba Poker Classic. I don’t know where you are, but here in Pittsburgh it’s about 30 degrees, overcast, with a 40% chance of snow. And that’s gonna be the forecast until St. Patrick’s Day. So what better way to chase away the endless winter blues than reminding yourself that there there are Paradises upon the earth:
In life there is time for work, time for play. The Aruba Poker Classic is a time for play:
And when you’re not playing yourself you can watch other people play…like Scott Ian and Pearl Aday:
That last pic came at the farewell party, and in between that and the welcome part there was actually, like a poker tournament. The reason why everyone flew to the island in the first place:
One player who wasn’t able to fly to Aruba in a timely manner was Phil Hellmuth, who was playing in the World Series of Poker-Europe as the Classic got underway. It isn’t that easy to get from London to Aruba and as Phil winged his way south his chips were slowly blinded off. And everyone had a bit of fun with Phil’s doppleganger:
Phil didn’t make it before he was blinded out, but both P0ker H0 and Gary “debo34″ DiBernardi made deep runs. H0 and entered the next-to-last day near the chip lead…before getting a bit frisky in two big pots with Matt Brady. Pots that both went Brady’s way, leading to H0’s sudden and surprising exit. And I’m sure he’ll be thrilled that I brought that up:
When the final table was set the plan was to hold it outside, as is custom at the Aruba Poker Classic. And as the final touches were given to the stage built over the Radisson swimming pool, it looked like this would be a stupendous venue:
Mother Nature, alas, had other ideas. Some clouds rolled in, and then it got dark, and then it started to drizzle, and then an Old Testament-caliber downpour inundated the stage and sent everyone scrambling inside:
OK, it doesn’t look it’s raining too hard in that picture but it was coming down pretty good. And it’s a bit hard to play poker when the whipping wind sends cards flying into the pool and raindrops are splattering on the chips. So we went inside to see who would win the Classic and take home the $1 million first prize:
And in the end it was P0ker H0’s nemesis Matt Brady who endured a long three-way battle with runner-up Johan Storakers and Jeffrey Papola to take down the title. And the bracelet. And the mounds and mounds of yummy, yummy greenbacks:
And with the tournament over it was time for a relaxing, low-key, dignified end to the week:
So, that was the year that was. One of my resolutions is to get better at this photography thing and take better pictures. So hopefully The Year in Pictures 2009 will be bigger and (much) better than this year. If you’d like to see more pics from the World Series or Aruba you can click the links and find those sets at my Flickr page. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna take two more Advil and see if I can fully put my birthday party behind me.
Tags: 2008 aruba poker classic, Aruba, aruba poker, Aruba Poker Classic, johan storakers, matt brady, P0ker H0, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Poker Poker, Scott Ian
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Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - Gene Bromberg
It was a broiling hot Vegas afternoon and I was standing outside of the Rio. Outside, where the heat stripped the moisture from my skin and my Ray-Bans couldn’t cope with the raw sunlight. “So it’s come to this,” I thought as I marinated in my own sweat. “I’m standing here with my camera on a 145-degree day waiting for Phil Hellmuth to drive up in an Army jeep.” Not the sort of thing my high-school guidance counselor could’ve predicted when it came time to discuss possible career choices. You can never be sure where life will take you.
Anyway, Phil of course likes to make a grand entrance at the World Series of Poker and in 2008 he planned to show up in a military convoy dressed like General Patton. And from across the shimmering curtain rising from the parking lot I beheld the man, the myth, the legend, launching his invasion of the Main Event.
As I saw Phil approach (his Jeep driven by P0ker H0) the first thing that went through my mind was, “Holy s***, he’s gonna sweat to death. He is going to DIE.” Buttoned-up jacket, tie, gloves, trousers bloused into riding boots, gloves…and a helmet? You could’ve filled a pot with water and boiled pasta on the Rio tarmac, and there he was wearing a helmet. But when Phil deJeeped I saw that it was a plastic helmet, not metal, and that meant that Phil’s brain wasn’t being sauteed. And then of course was time for Phil and H0 to, uh, salute:
Not that I kept my camera pointed at Phil the whole time, not when I saw who he brought along as his military escort:
And then the entire entourage made it’s way toward the Amazon Room, and as you might expect Phil Hellmuth walking toward the Rio with eleven models in tow, the whole gang followed by a dozen or so photographers and a ESPN film crew, garnered a bit of attention:
It wasn’t until we got inside the Amazon Room proper that I remembered why we were here in the first place–Phil was playing in the Main Event. And having missed the first three hours of play you’d think he’d be raring to go, but first he had to make his way to the ESPN Feature Table, be introduced to the crowd by WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack, and shake hands with his tablemates (including MMA star Chuck Liddel). It was during this rather chaotic scene that I took what was probably my favorite picture of the World Series. It was dark in there, I didn’t have time (or space) to switch to a faster lens, and Phil wouldn’t hold still. So I panned along as he walked around the table and squeezed off one semi-sharp shot of Phil in motion:
And from there Phil went on to finish 45th in the Main Event. How will he top either his entrance or his deep run? The latter is easy–just win the thing. But topping the Jeep, the ladies, the uniform? I’m thinking precision skydiving. I’m just throwing that out there. Believe me, I’ll be there with my camera to record THAT.
Tags: Phil Hellmuth, phil hellmuth entrance, phil hellmuth general patton, phil hellmuth world series of poker, phil hellmuth wsop, phil hellmuth wsop entrance
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Sunday, December 28, 2008 - Gene Bromberg
We’ve almost reached the end of 2008 and this is usually the time when people look back at the past year and remember all that took place. Trouble is that during the holidays most people spend the better part of a week staggering around in a tryptophan coma or an alcoholic stupor. I don’t know about you guys but I’m worried that I’ll have nothing left in the tank for New Year’s Eve. I’m beat. Every day it seems like I’m wolfing down a huge platter laden with ham, turkey, fish, pirogi, and various forms of potatoes. Everyone is breaking out their best cabernet sauvignons and filling the fridge with beers that don’t have the word “Lite” in their name. It’s like they say, too much of anything is bad–even excess.
So looking back at the past twelve months through this boozy haze ain’t easy. Especially if you’d like to be somewhat accurate. Fortunately I lugged my camera around for most of this year and have a few pictures that serve to jog the memory so I can remember just what the hell happened.
This is what the opening day of the 2008 World Series of Poker felt like for me, everything a blur. And only seven weeks to go!
I was covering a different event in the Brasilia Room as Phil Hellmuth was trying to win bracelet #12 in a $1,500 H.O.R.S.E event. I ran over during a break to see what was going on and was confronted by a mob around the outer feature table. Usually there are only a handful of people around that table, but of course Phil knows how to draw a crowd. I held my camera in the air, squeezed the trigger, and hoped I got something good. This picture was taken at 12:30am, by the way, so lots of people thought the best thing to do in Vegas that night was watch Phil play poker.
Annie Duke and Don Cheadle address the crowd during this year’s Ante Up for Africa tournament. I was off that day but of course I went to the Rio hoping to get some photos of the celebrities attending the event. And so were about a thousand other people. I went to the person guarding the main opening and asked to be admitted, and he looked at me like I was something he’d scraped off his shoe and told me no way. I didn’t have the proper media pass, you see. I headed to the media room to see about getting that pass when the guy in line behind me got my attention and whispered that no one was checking passes at the Brasilia Room’s other doors. I opened the door, went inside, and no one bothered me as I took pics to my hearts delight. It just goes to show that it’s never a good idea to ask permission. Do the deed first, THEN ask for permission. Life is much easier that way.
A few pics from the Ante Up for Africa event:
While I wandered around and took photos a quintet of female masseuses were waiting outside the ropes waiting for the tournament to start. They asked which celebrities I’d seen in the crowd and I said, “Well, Matt Damon is…” and all five crowded around me and started pelting me with questions. “Matt Damon! Where? What table? Point!!” I hate Matt Damon.
Ray Romano I like. Why? I was taking a photo and someone came in from my left and nearly got in the shot. “Oh, I’m sorry,” the person said and paused while I snapped the shutter. “No problem,” I said and made room for him to get past. That’s when I saw the polite gentleman in question was Ray Romano. Who could buy and sell me a thousand times over. So I appreciated that.
Team UB’s Scott Ian, wearing one of those so-cool T-shirts that debuted at the WSOP. “I have to GET ONE OF THOSE SHIRTS,” I told myself as I circled Scott and snapped away.
Phil Hellmuth in his natural habitat–sitting at a table during the WSOP Main Event, with film crews in attendance. If I wasn’t sure where Phil was sitting in the Amazon Room, I just looked around for the boom mikes.
The most surreal part about this year’s World Series was seeing Tiffany Michelle, who I worked with the last two years, make her deep run in the Main Event. When play started I said, “Oh, cool, TIffany’s playing in the Main Event” and went back to work. Then she made it past the first few days and suddenly she had a pretty healthy stack. And then on Day 5 or so she wins some huge pots and we started thinking, “Holy crap, she could actually WIN this thing”. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be, as Tiffany finished 17th, which is still pretty freaking incredible. If you saw ESPN’s coverage you probably saw a bit where Tiffany was eating french fries at the table and catching flack from Scott Montgomery and Craig Marquis about it. Ladies and gentlemen, here is a picture of Tiffany Michelle’s fries:
When she finished the floor staff picked up her tray and put it…on the table I was working at. Which gives you an idea of how I rank out there. Anyway, the fries smelled really good, and I was really hungry, and people kept walking by my table and snagging a quick snack. But I held off, in part because at the time Tiffany still had a ton of chips and there was the very real possibility that she’d make the final table and maybe even be the next World Champion, and I was calculating how much I could sell her leftover fries for on eBay. Then I got my self-esteem back in order and had someone take the tray away.
By the time the field was reduced to ten players and one table my work was done, but of course I wasn’t going anywhere until the November Nine was locked in. I found a perch and took a few shots of the final-table play:
We finished up around 4:30am, had a few cocktails afterwards, and I got home around…noon. Before I left Vegas for good I went back to the Rio to cash in a few chips and see what the place looked like now that the Series had wrapped up. The crews didn’t waste any time breaking down the Amazon Room:
Hmm, this seems long enough already and I only posted pics from the WSOP. I think I’ll pause here before delving into the Aruba Poker Classic and whatever else I have in my folders. Because that’s going to be a marathon by itself.
Tags: 2008 world series of poker, 2008 wsop, amazon room, Annie Duke, blog world series of poker, blog wsop, don cheadle, espn, matt damon, Phil Hellmuth, poker blog, poker photographs, poker photos, poker pictures, Poker Poker Poker, ray romano, Scott Ian, Tiffany "Tiffany M" Michelle, tiffany michelle wsop, world series of poker, world series of poker photos, world series of poker pictures, WSOP
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Sunday, December 21, 2008 - Gene Bromberg
Christmas is just around the corner and if you haven’t finished your shopping yet, you’ve got problems. Even with the economy…sputtering a bit, the malls are still crowded and the good parking spots taken before you even stagger out of bed. About ten years ago everyone in my family decided that what we wanted for Christmas…was not having to shop. Once we reached that consensus the holidays became SO much more festive. Not having to decide if my Mom would rather throw away a pair of too-small slippers or a too-big sweater dramatically increases my jollity at this stressful time of year.
But this is the Season of Giving, as years of ruthless indoctrination have instructed us, and at some point you may be forced to to exchange gifts with your fellow man. If your fellow man happens to be a poker player I have a few gift ideas to pass along that will delight even the Scroogiest:
- Just about every serious player has a few poker books on the shelf, but chances are these are instructional tomes that, useful as they might be, aren’t especially entertaining. But there are a number of fantastic books out there that every player should read, starting with The Biggest Game in Town by A. Alvarez and Big Deal by Anthony Holden. Written by two British literary lions, these books describe the poker world as it was in prehistoric times (twenty-five years ago), populated by leatherassed cowboys and smooth-talking hucksters plying their trade in smoky rooms on the bad part of town. Holden returned to the WSOP in 2005 and wrote Bigger Deal, about how the game has changed since those romantic times. Romance can, of course, have a darker tinge, and if you think that might appeal then add to your list One of a Kind, Nolan Dalla and Peter Alson’s biography of the ill-fated savant Stu Unger. Or if you think dollar signs will get your target’s attention, then The Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King, Michael Craig’s book about the biggest poker game of all time, would be an excellent choice.
- There are times when you have to break the bank and splash some cash. Maybe the person you’re buying for once pulled you out of a burning building. Or they’ve just (or are about to) become your father-in-law and you need to impress. If you don’t mind dipping into your savings and the lucky duck you’re buying for plays a lot of live poker, then I heartily recommend Bose noise-canceling headphones. Your typical cardroom is filled with distracting background noise–the clatter of chips, muffled chatter coming from the rail, televisions bleating away–and noise-canceling headphones gently erases all that racket. You’ll still be able to hear the talk at your table, but you’ll feel like you’re wrapped in a cocoon of blissful silence. It’s amazing how much mental energy you exert dealing with superfluous noise, your head jerking around and eyes darting to identify odd shouts and thuds and crashes. Your focus will remain where it should–on your table and on your opponents. And the next time that person flies somewhere, upon their return you will be showered with thanks as they describes how delightful air travel is without listening to the maddenling drone of jet engines. You will be a superstar. And that’s the true meaning of Christmas, right?
- It’s become perfectly acceptable to give gift cards as Christmas presents but forking over cash is still verboten. People want to see that you’ve made SOME effort at getting them a gift, and standing in line at Old Navy for ten minutes is several notches higher on the Grinchometer than reaching in your wallet and handing over a couple of crumpled twenties. But if you’re considering a gift for a poker player, cash is an EXCELLENT gift. Remember, to the poker player money is just a tool, it’s the equipment we need to ply our trade. You wouldn’t feel funny giving a friend interested in carpentry a really nice hammer, would you? Of course not. So giving a poker player some ammunition can be a most welcome gift. If handing over a fistful of dollars still seems a bit crass, why not transfer some money to his online account? Or present a gift card that’s good for a tournament buy-in at your local casino? Maybe even get a big group of friends/family together to chip in for a $1,500 WSOP seat? Often the best Christmas presents are those that the person really wants, but would never buy for themself. Fulfilling someone’s lifelong dream to play in the World Series of Poker could make it a Christmas they’ll never forget. Just make sure you keep a piece of the action.
Poker used to be a part of my family’s Christmas Eve celebration, once we’d eaten dinner and the dishes were cleared my dad and granfather and uncles would gather around the dining room table and play a bit, with me and my cousins peeking at the cards and staring at amazement at all those nickels and dimes. We don’t play at Christmas anymore, it seems like everyone has to run all over creation to visit other relatives, but Christmas Eve we’re going to hash out the details for our next family poker game. It doesn’t always take the holidays to get the family together. Sometimes all it takes is a poker game.
Tags: a. alvarez, al alvarez, anthony holden, big deal, bigger deal, bose, bose headphones, christmas poker, grinch, grinchometer, michael craig, nolan dalla, one of a kind, peter alson, poker books, poker gifts, Poker Poker Poker, stu ungar, the biggest game in town, the professor the banker and the suicide king, tony holden, world series of poker, WSOP
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Thursday, December 18, 2008 - Gene Bromberg
Last night was UltimateBet’s first-ever Blogger Tournament and I showed up in the mood to play. I just got back from Las Vegas, where many of my fellow pokerbloggers gathered for our yearly festival of binge drinking, reckless gambling, and prolonged sleep deprivation. We had a tournament at the Venetian where I managed to tread water for 6 hours before disappearing below the waves with barely a burble. Not very satisfying.
I was determined that last night I would play with more aggression, daring, brio. I wouldn’t sit there and fold-fold-fold. Plus the event was supposed to be fun. Get a bunch of writers and readers together to play a little poker, talk a little trash in the chat, enjoy each other’s company. We were playing for the $100 in prize money and berths in UB’s new Gizmo tournaments. And pride. One thing that’s a constant when my blogging friends lock horns, the money doesn’t matter. It’s all about winning. And how you win. Because if later on you’re going to write about your victory, you might as well have a good story to tell.
I was pleased to find 214 players sitting down when play started at 8pm ET. I was a bit surprised–nay, shocked–that by 8:20pm ET we were down to 107. Yes, in just twenty minutes we lost half the field. OK, the event was a freeroll, but I’ve seen clinically-depressed lemmings with more regard for their self-preservation. On one hand I had Ac-Qc in the big blind and folded when the action in front of me went raise, re-raise, shove. Under normal circumstances calling with Ace-Queen would be downright ludicrous. In this instance I would’ve been way in the lead, as the shover had the massive 6-3 suited and the original raiser called with K-Q. I would’ve flopped an Ace and tripled up. But you shouldn’t be a results-oriented player, that’s not the path to good decision-making. But still, crap.
A bit later I decided to complete the small blind holding 8c-6c and the big blind raised it up. Those one-gappers looked awfully pretty so I decided to call and take a flop. Which came 8d-6s-5d. Tasty. I checked–oh, how sneaky and subtlety I checked! He bet 270 and I shoved for my last thousand. He called and turned over Kh-10c for, uh, a pair draw. The board bricked out and my opponent typed “luckydonky”.
“Heehaw!” I brayed with what I thought was good humor. He then to type some words that were missing strategic letters, but you don’t have to be a crossword puzzler to figure out what “mor on” is supposed to be. I thought his language was a little huge for a friendly freeroll, but maybe he didn’t mean to be profane. I typed back that it seemed his spacebar was stuck and that maybe he should give it a clean with some rubbing alcohol. It pays to be friendly.
As we played I asked my tablemates if they had their own blogs and a few replied that they did. DETROITJAY79 even recognized my name and asked how the Vegas trip was, and I fairly blushed at all the attention. I then managed to donk off a third of my stack when I lost my mind and completed in the small blind holding 2s-8c. The flop came 2d-9d-9c and liking the fact that I connected I fired out 150. My opponent moved in for his last 480 and I had to decide if he really had a nine. Or a pocket pair. Or a bigger deuce. Come to think of it, there weren’t many hands he could have that wouldn’t have me sweating. But I’m an idiot so I called anyway. He rolled over Qh-9h and I needed some manner of miracle to take the pot. The good news is that I DID witness some manner of miracle–the board ran out 8h-8s, giving me a full house. Of course it also gave my opponent a full house, and a larger one at that. That’s pretty sick, going runner-runner and losing anyway. I cringe to think about how much luck I used up.
I ran my stack back up into the 3,000 range before I was sent to the rail. I raised with Big Slick, got two callers, and when the flop came an innocuous 9c-5s-8s I did the ol’ stop-and-go and shoved in the rest of my stack. Hopefully no one made a set on that flop, and indeed no one did. But KING_MOTU saw through my subterfuge and made the call with pocket sevens. I didn’t hit on the turn or river, and as usual my run in a blogger event came to an inglorious end.
So that means I, unlike the winner of last night’s event, won’t be playing in tomorrow’s GIZMO Main Event. Won’t have a chance to win the first prize, a Sony Vaio laptop computer. Of course the winner won’t have the glorious opportunity to write up a whiny post about how he got unlucky, how the breaks never seem to go his way, how he plays great but never gets rewarded, etc etc. Hey, what did you expect from me? I’m a blogger.
Tags: Bloggers Tournament, Gene Bromberg
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