Wednesday, July 15, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
When play wrapped up last night the talk around the room was how long it would take to reduce the field from 27 players to the November Nine. “A long, LONG time,” was the consensus, though the particulars were up for some debate. One friend said that anyone who thought we’d wrap up before 7AM was crazy. I took the under on that, but I thought we’d still be here when the Dawn touches the Rio with her crimson fingertips.
Well, we’ve been playing for just three-and-a-half hours and we’re halfway there. We’re down to 18 players and consolidating to the two feature tables. Can they players keep up this up? The math says that as the stacks deepen, and the payouts dramatically increase, the pace will slow. The players will tighten up until the squeak. The deliberations will drag on and on and on. And last year we got down to 18 without much fuss…and Dean Hamrick wasn’t eliminated in 10th until 4:30 in the morning.
So, we shall see. The news so far is that Billy Kopp has a monster chip stack, 26.2 million to Darvin Moon’s 2nd-place stack of 18 million. Phil Ivey has slipped way down, to just 5.5 million. And Antonio Esfandiari was one of the early casualties, going out in 24th place. But all that’s happened in the first two levels–we may play many, many more before the night (and day) are done.
A few quick pics from today. The main Feature Table:
Billy Kopp, at the start of play today:
Joseph Cada:
George Caragiorgas, who was eliminated in 20th place:
I’ll be posting a lot more pictures at our WSOP Photo Gallery and posting more pics and updates on Twitter. So you can follow along with the Main Event action while you play in tonight’s Ante Up for Africa freeroll!
Tags: 2009 main event, 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, 2009 wsop main event, Main Event, world series of poker, WSOP
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Wednesday, July 15, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
We’re down to 28 players, and play will cease for the night when we hit 27. Tomorrow, we’ll play down to the November Nine, and already there’s speculation flying about how long it’ll take to reduce the field by two-thirds. A friend who covered the 22-hour WSOP-E final table and the 19-hour H.O.R.S.E. final table this year says she thinks we’ll be playing tomorrow until 7AM Thursday morning. Most of my media mates are favoring the under on that, but I don’t know, she’s an expert on super-marathon poker sessions.
Billy Kopp is still the chip leader but the field has caught up to him. Darvin Moon is just a few thousand behind, and lurking just under two million away is the fearsome figure of Phil Ivey. Stephen Begleiter has around 11.8 million, and the other player in eight figures is CardPlayer publisher Jeff Shulman, who seems to have cornered the market on the orange 5,000 chips:
After losing players every few minutes before the break and one immediatelyafter, play has slowed. We’ve had I think two all-ins but the short-stacks doubled through and now the players are hunkering down, not wanting to be the last player to see his tournament end before Day 8. And we’ll probably see the same sort of behavior tomorrow, so maybe 7AM isn’t that that outlandish a target.
But we’ll see. And here’s a bit of what I saw today. Billy Kopp, late in the day:
Jesse Haabak, stylin’
George Caragiorgas has been sitting right along the rail all day in a spot where I can’t get a good shot of him (those of us wearing red media badges aren’t allowed on the floor, limiting my angles of attack). But I did get this one:
The Amazon Room might be 3/4 empty, but the part still in use is still packed with fans straining to see the action, especially at the Feature Table:
Gotta lose one more before we shut down for the night. Could happen in five minutes…could happen just after dawn. Gotta wait and see.
UPDATE: It took closer to five minutes than five hours to get down to 27. Joe Ward was eliminated in about the worst possible way–his AK had Jamie Robbins’ AQ dominated through the flop and the turn, but the Qh spiked on the turn to give Robbins the pot and bring a crushing end to Ward’s Main Event. Here’s a shot of Ward yesterday, in better circumstances.
That’s it for tonight, play will resume at noon and not end until the we know the latest incarnation of the November Nine. Will that happen on Wednesday, or at lunchtime Thursday? Nothing to do but wait and see.
Tags: 2009 main event, 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, 2009 wsop main event, Main Event, world series of poker, WSOP
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Tuesday, July 14, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
So let’s say you’re Billy Kopp, and you’re the chip leader in the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event. You have about 4 million more than the player in second place. This is a good situation, yes? You’re already guaranteed a nice payday, but you’re in prime position to make a run at the $8,546,435 first prize and the ultimate poker glory. Now, what would be the absolute worst thing that could possibly happen? Well, how about this:
That is Phil Ivey sitting directly to Billy’s left. Phil Ivey, winner of two bracelets this year, seven overall, and considered by most to be the best poker player on the planet. Phil Ivey. With chips. In position. Watching every move you make, every breath you take.
The good news for Billy is that Ivey took a hit a bit ago, doubling up Blair Rodman and reducing his stack to just south of 9 million. The bad news is…Ivey’s still there. And he’s probably gonna be there for a good long while. This is a perfect example of how there’s more to luck in poker than how the cards play out–your table draw and seat assignments can hugely affect play. If Kopp had position on Ivey he could be far more comfortable opening pots, knowing that Ivey and his huge stack were out of the hand.
But that’s not the reality on the ground, and so far Kopp hasn’t shown an adversion to mixing it up with Ivey and putting chips in the pot. And let’s remember that while Ivey is Ivey, Billy Kopp is the chip leader. There are 43 players left, we’ll play until we’re down to 27. And then let’s see how the Kopp and Ivey show played out.
Tags: -billy kopp, 2009 main event, 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, 2009 wsop main event, Main Event, phil ivey, world series of poker, WSOP
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Friday, July 3, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
With the start of the Main Event split into four Day Ones, which day you play becomes a major strategic question for players to consider. Do you play on Day 1A, which would leave you with three days to rest up before you play again (or give you a chance to get outta Dodge early if you bust out). Or 1B, which gives you an extra day off and two days to rest should you survive. Maybe 1C, giving you the opposite benefits of 1B, two days off before and one day off after. Or 1D, so you can come in completely rested and refreshed and not having to deal with a long layoff before you play again.
The last few years Day 1A has seen the smallest fields, while 1D has had the largest (those fields swelled perhaps by last-second satellite winners). So you have to factor that in as well. Along with calculating which day will see the most pros in the field, the most first-time qualifiers…it’s enough to make your head spin.
The only member of the Team UB/AP family I’ve seen in the field today is Matt Vengrin, who’s sitting at Table 87 in the Orange section. If Matt makes it through the next two levels (we’re only playing four levels today, not the five that were originally scheduled) he’ll have three days off before resuming the fight on Tuesday the 7th. But there’s still four long hours of play before Matt extends his stay.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, 2009 wsop main event, matt vengrin, world series of poker, world series of poker main event, WSOP, wsop main event
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