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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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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Up Close and Personal

Sunday, October 4, 2009 - Gene Bromberg

When I cover the World Series of Poker every year I’m amazed at how many fans poker players have, and how ardent those fans can be. It’s not unusual to see some bright-eyed fan race after a well-known player and ask him/her to sign a magazine or ball cap or even their shirt. And some stars attract vast throngs of railbirds who watch and cheer them along. I never had to ask anyone where Phil Hellmuth was sitting in the Amazon Room–I just headed for the biggest mob along the rail and that’s where I’d find him.

And here in Aruba poker players/fans have a chance to meet their favorites up close and personal. There are lots of opportunities for people to talk to the players they’ve only seen on TV–at the parties, during the tournaments, even hanging out by the pool. But perhaps the best chance to meet with our pros came this morning, during our annual Poker Academy in the Radisson ballroom. Yes, you’d have to get up early–the sessions started at 10AM–but those who dragged themselves out of bed got to hear Annie Duke give a seminar about bankroll management and all-in situations.

After Annie’s presentation the attendees sat down at tables and played a few instructional hands with our players acting as dealers/teachers. Seriously, how often will you get the chance to play a little poker with Phil Hellmuth in the box?

Even the Team UB players who weren’t officially leading the sessions kept wandering by to join in the hand discussions as they played out:

Normally you have to pay good money to attend a seminar like today’s and you don’t get as much personal attention from the pros. We hold these academies every year in Aruba and if you missed it this year, plan on attending when you make your plans for next year. It’s free, it’s a good time…and you might even learn something.

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The Journey, and the Reward

Saturday, October 3, 2009 - Gene Bromberg

The comedian Louis CK was on Conan O’Brien’s show not so long ago and put our “I want it NOW NOW NOW!” culture in perspective. We live in a time of incredible technological advantage and yet so many people are, in his words, “spoiled idiots”. In particular he railed against people who complain about air travel, people who forget that modern jet aviation allows people to travel thousands of miles in the course of a single day. “Did you fly through the air like a bird,” he says, “did you take part in the miracle of human flight, you non-contributing ZERO??” The video’s well worth a watch.

I remembered Louis’s words as my girlfriend and I tried to make our way from cold, gray Pittsburgh to sun-kissed Aruba. It looked like we’d have a busy day, but after waking up at dawn we figured to be downing Balashis by dinnertime. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Unbeknownst to us there was a seven-card accident on the road leading to the airport and said road was shut down completely while police, fire and ambulance crews could respond. We left in plenty of time to make our flight…so long as we didn’t have to sit in stopped traffic for 75 minutes. Which is what happened.

When the road was finally cleared I ignored the scores of flashing lights along the roadside and drove like a madman for the airport. We still had a chance, and outside chance, to make our flight. We ran to the gate, grabbed the first person in authority we could find and presented our problem. Unfortunately we weren’t the only ones caught up in that traffic jam, and even though we’d reported 30 minutes before our flight we were told there was no one for us to board. They couldn’t hold the plane, couldn’t get our bags checked in time. In other words, we were screwed.

And I was hugely ticked. I’d done what was expected of me and now I was being told that wasn’t good enough. And a cursory review of other flights headed to Aruba led me to believe that we might not be able to get there until Sunday. And that, as you might expect, made me even more ticked off. “I have to be there for work,” I explained, hoping that the fact I wasn’t a mere tourist looking for sun and fun might help my cause.

But as I sat and stewed and made a nuisance of myself, Terry went to work. She was the US Airways person helping us out and after fifteen minutes of keyboard-clicking and phone calls to other airlines came up with a hop-scotchy itinerary that would get us to Aruba Friday night. She went above and beyond and I felt bad about all the things I said and thought and Tweeted about my selfish predicament.

We arrived around 10pm last night, the miracle of flight moving us two thousand miles before the calendar turned. Of course it was dark when we arrived but we woke up early to meet the beach and the sea and so I could introduce my girlfriend to the colors of Aruba:

It’s a little bit gray today, a bit overcast. Wait, that almost sounds like I’m complaining again. I’m not. It’s gorgeous today and it’s going to be gorgeous all week. And like many others who are making their way to Aruba today, we’re here.

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Run Good, No Good

Thursday, October 1, 2009 - Gene Bromberg

I’m not breaking news when I say that to win a poker tournament, especially one with more than a thousand players, you have to run good. You have to run really good. You have to avoid the obvious coolers (my Kings, your Aces) as well as the trappy hands that would lure even Stu Ungar to his demise. Situations like set under set, flopped straight to top pair/nut flush draw, etc. Of course one of the ways truly skilled players avoid these nightmare scenarios is by never getting involved in them in the first place. If you’re holding Ace-Queen and an Ace flops and you get your 300BB stack in the middle and find you’re dominated by Ace-King, maybe that’s a bit of bad luck but possibly it’s more bad play.

In a freeroll tournament (like, say, our Pocket Card Challenge Freeroll last night) folks are bound to play a bit more loosey-goosey. Especially early on players are more likely to gamble it up, try to accumulate a big stack early on or just be done with it. Kinda like Phil Ivey in a $10,000 event. And at my starting table last night there was a player named HANKSKY who was doing just that–gambling it up. He was raising just about every pot, not letting the limpers and callers see a cheap flop, and splashing chips all over the place. What he didn’t know was that there was a new sheriff in town–me. Because I too was willing to mix it up, put my chips in the middle, come home with my shield or borne upon it. HANKSKY was sitting to my right and when he made his usual raise I re-popped it with A-Q. The flop came Q-6-4 and fast as you could mouse-click our chips were in the middle. My top-top had his mighty deuce-four in big trouble and for once the better hand held.

My stack took a hit a few hands later when I flopped top two pair holding Ace-Queen. That’s good. What’s not good, what’s bad even, is that UNIQUELADY flopped Broadway holding K-10. All the chips went in and when I didn’t boat up my mighty stack was dented. “Nice flop,” I seethed, and she said “Yup,” in agreement. But not long after that t I doubled again, this time against JHUB420 when I held Big Slick and flopped a pair to his open-ended straight draw. The draw whiffed and suddenly I had one of the top 20 stacks in the tournament. And I may have cracked the Top Ten when I took most of JHUB420’s remaining chips when I was dealt pocket Aces. “I’m going to win this (deleted) tournament,” I told myself as the first break arrived. “I’m GOING TO WIN!”

I was eliminated three minutes after we returned to play. I three-bet VEGASRIVER8 while holding Big Slick again and when he shoved I came along. He had Jacks, we raced, and I lost. Lost about 85% of my stack, too. I open-shoved with Q-J the next hand and was called down by a medium Ace. Which held. And I was out, in 235th place. Which, obviously, is a long way from first.

“Oh well,” I sighed.

“Lost a race,” I sighed.

“Sigh,” I sighed.

I’d run exceedingly good in the tournament, holding Aces, Ace-King twice, Ace-Queen twice (and hitting the flop with each of those hands). I also flopped a set and got paid off. All that, and I was out 235th. If I’d won that race with Ace-King…who knows? I might’ve finished…112th or something. “Crap,” I sighed.

So it isn’t enough to run good–you gotta play good as well. And as I watched the tournament play down to the final table (my nemesis VEGASRIVER8 finished 30th, nine off the money) it looked like the extremely short-stacked 44NIGHTMOVES would be the final-table-bubbler, as he had about a blind plus an ante left before him. But after pushing his handful of chips forward and telling the table “gl guys gg” he managed a desperation triple-up to reconnect his life-support machine. But for just a few hands, as his pocket nines were beaten by another player’s Jack-Nine when the paint card spiked on the turn. Still, he almost made the final table, because as I was watching that hand play out CUZZ59 was being bounced on the other table. But stack sizes come into play when eliminations are ranked and so CUZZ59 gets to put the Pocket Card Challenge Freeroll final table on his resume, while 44NIGHTMOVES was left to lament that blasted Jack. At any rate, here’s what last night’s final table looked like as battle was joined:

CMILLET81 had the big chip lead and he made it a lot bigger as the also-rans fell by the wayside. TOD38 was first to go, out in 8th, followed shortly thereafter by the cooly-nicknamed TANGENTMEMORY. It looked like THEMECH222 would be next to go, as he was down to just 22,000 and all-in with 2-4 against ANDYZHU888’s Ace-Queen. But where HANKSKY wasn’t able to turn the tables on me when we held those hands, THEMECH222 turned a four and doubled up. He then went on a tear, boosting his stack all the way up to 200,000 after he knocked out the aforementioned ANDYZHU888 with a straight. INDY29 was next to go when he woke up with Ace-Queen and moved his short-stack to the middle. Alas, he was dominated by LBKJOS’s Ace-King, and that was that. And then THEMECH222’s run abruptly came to an end when he bluffed with Ad-8c after a 5h-7h-4d flop and LBKJOS made a hero call holding 5s-2h. That gutsy play sent THEMECH222 to the rail in fourth place and boosted LBKJOS’s stack up over 400K.

With six players left CMILLET81 had held more than 50% of the chips in play, but LBKJOS’s reign of terror brought their stacks almost equal. SLICKWILLY14 trailed them both with around 150,000 and chose to sit back and let these two titans battle it out. And after LBKJOS took over the chip lead he and CMILLET81 played a huge hand where LBKJOS got a wee bit lucky. Well, he got a whole lotta lucky–after a 5s-10h-5d flop CMILLET81, holding Ks-10d, led out for 54,000 and LBKJOS check-raised to 124,800. CMILLET81 called and the nine of clubs on the turn probably seemed a totally innocuous card. It was not, because LBKJOS was holding 9c-10c and the turn was one of three cards that would give him the pot. LBKJOS shoved, CMILLET81 called, and when no King nor five came on the turn CMILLET81 was cruelly ejected and LBKJOS was the big chip leader going into heads-up play.

With about a 3-1 chip lead LBKJOS looked to be in good shape to take it down, and a few hands later his victory looked a lock as his Qh-Jc outflopped SLICKWILLY14’s Ad-9d. The money went in and LBKJOS needed to fade a nine or an Ace to win. I’ll let the picture tell the story:

But LBJKOS was undaunted, he pulled out his cudgel and bashed his way once more to a 3-1 lead. Once again all the money went in, this time with LBKJOS holding 7-2 (the HAMMER!) and a flopped pair of sevens to SLICKWILLY14’s Kc-Jc, which gave him two overcards and a gutshot. Those particular outs proved important as an eight on the river gave SLICKWILLY14 his straight and another lease on life. “Again on the river,” LBKJOS groused, understandably so.

The grousing no doubt increased in volume when the two again got the money in the middle after a 7s-Jh-3d flop, with LBKJOS holding 3c-6s to SLICKWILLY14’s Ac-5d. But here’s the thing about WILLY–he’s SLICK. He turned an Ace, rivered a five, and once again came from behind to frustrate LBKJOS.

Even after all this, all this, LBKJOS clawed and scratched his way back to a small chip lead. But the two played a massive pot where, with the board reading 3c-10c-10h-6c-Qh, LBKJOS bet 126,000 and SLICKWILLY14 shoved. LBKJOS made the call for almost all of his chips and saw SLICKWILLY14 turn over 4c-8c for the baby flush, one LBKJOS couldn’t beat. We never got to see LBKJOS’s cards, I can only think he had a ten, or maybe an smaller flush (tho there weren’t that many small clubs left).

But it must’ve been a bitter pill to swallow, and on the next hand swallow it LBKJOS did. His last few chips went in with him holding 5d-8c to SLICKWILLY14’s Js-9h, (and sorry to spoil the suspense, but those are the pocket cards of the final winning hand). You’d think that maybe LBKJOS might catch a break and turn the tables just this once–you must not play much poker. No, on this day the table was tilted in one direction, as both players flopped a pair but WILLY’s Jack was better than LBKJOS’s five, and when the board bricked out it was LBKJOS’s collecting $49.23 for finishing as our runner-up and SLICKWILLY14 securing a seat in our $200,000 Sunday Guaranteed Tournament. If he can keep that run good thing going…look out.

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