Friday, August 14, 2009 - P0ker J0
How the heck are ya? Well I actually am doing my BLOG early this week. I’m not sure if it is a full moon or if I should just go out and buy a lottery ticket but I’m feeling almost (and I say almost) organized and ready to rumble.
Not too much is new to report – it is almost like the calm before the storm. And when I say storm I mean in the tropical sense referring to Aruba. Only 6 weeks away. We are knee deep in the planning and this 10th birthday event should prove to be fantastic. I have some fantastic news on the entertainment. I can’t quite yet let it out of the bag – but OMG – it will be awesome. Stay tuned next week for more!
So we have a couple of new Team UB members who I’m loving working with. Bryan Devonshire is now officially on the team and you will see him in Aruba. He has started blogging for us too – so look for his weekly blogs here on UB. Yet to be formally announced – but about to be blasted everywhere is Billy Kopp. If you followed the WSOP this year, then you know this name! Stay tuned to read his blogs here on UB. What a great team we have! I couldn’t be more proud 
As you know Liv Boeree moved over to UB and she has been actively blogging about her last few weeks in the rock world. She is about to head to Macau to play some poker (and I heard rumours about a movie too!) That will be awesome!
Well I think that is all she wrote this week. I’ll be back next week with some fantastic news on many fronts.
Have a great week!
P0ker J0
Tags: -billy kopp, -Bryan Devonshire, Aruba, Liv Boeree, Macau, Poker Jo, ub, WSOP
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Thursday, July 16, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
Not that the action wasn’t exciting before the dinner break, but upon our return things got really interesting. Actually we had an interesting encounter on the way back from dinner–a gentleman in a blue shirt with ITALIA printed across the front was being handcuffed just down from the Sao Paulo restaurant. Apparently he’d staggered into the Amazon Room, drunk as the proverbial skunk, and refused to leave. Apparently the arrival off officers from the LVPD motivated him to action and he got halfway to the casino before he was apprehended. There’s something about the sound of handcuffs going click-click-click…
And then once we took our seats and play resumed it was Jamie Robbins who showed the crowd what it takes to get out of jail. All in with pocket tens to Joe Cada’s pocket Aces, Robbins needed to hit a two-outer on the river to stay alive. The dealer duly slapped the 10h on the felt and the crowd went “OOOOOHHHH!” en masse as Robbins’ sucked out at the best possible time. Seriously, how many two-outers does on hit on the river in one’s lifetime? And one time that you do it’s when there are 14 players left in the Main Event. Wow.
And that two-outer ended up being worth $263,708 (at least) to Robbins, because shortly after that hand both Ben Lamb and James Calderaro were eliminated and the surviving players hit another pay jump. Robbins may be shortstacked, but he’s now guaranteed at least $896,700.
Eric Buchman is the chip leader with 33.8 million, followed closely by Steven Begleiter with 30.3 million. Billy Kopp, who was the chipleader at the start of play, sits with almost 19 million after slipping badly during the day. And Phil Ivey, perhaps the most feared poker player in the world, bides his time with 6.1 million. Waiting. Waiting.
Tags: -billy kopp, 2009 main event, 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, jamie robbins, joe cada, phil ivey, world series of poker, world series of poker main event, 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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Tuesday, July 14, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
This is Day 7 of the Main Event, though we actually started play 12 days ago. Twelve days of poker to reduce 6,464 to the 54 who are still alive. 54 players, 54 names that might be the next to join the Ring of Champions that line the Amazon Room walls. The ESPN camera teams are swarming around the truncated playing floor, swooping in every time a dealer shouts, “All in and call!”
Media access has been severely restricted, pretty much only ESPN and PokerNews are allowed on the floor and the “moat” for media that’s just inside the spectator rail means we can’t catch the action or take the sort of photos we’d like. I did get a picture of Billy Kopp, and if you’re not sure who that is you might want to start doing some research, because he’s the chip leader at the Main Event with almost 14.5 million.
Kopp has had a great World Series, final-tabling the $5,000 No-Limit Hold-Em event (he finished 8th) and nearly making a second final table when he finished 11th in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold-Em tournament. Kopp has nearly a four-million chip lead over his closest pursuers, and we’re just deep enough now that can’t help thinking that Kopp will be there at the end. But we’re not so deep that Kopp is even a lock to make the November Nine. Still too much poker to be played, the money is starting to get big, the pressure as well, and there are 53 other players in the field who think that before too long, they’ll be where Billy Kopp is right now. At the top.
Tags: -billy kopp, 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, ub, ultimatebet, world series of poker, WSOP
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