Friday, November 20, 2009 - Annie Duke
There have been so many transitions the last two weeks around here. Obviously, the main transition as far as UB is concerned is the big rebranding. Ultimatebet.com is now UB.com and that is really exciting…mainly because everyone always called Ultimate Bet UB anyway and, honestly, there are fewer ways to mistype it in your browser now! Seriously, that is not for nothing because I am the worst with the typos because I type so fast. There are so many ways to screw up Ultimatebet: Utlimatebet, Ultimeatbet, ultimatebte…you get the piture. How am I going to screw up UB.com? Especially now that Firefox automatically corrects misspellings of “com”!
Anyway, I am really exciting about the rebranding. I think it is such a positive change for UB.
On the not so positive side, I am really sad about Jeffrey Pollack’s departure from the World Series of Poker position. Jeffrey has been Commissioner there since 05 and has really done amazing things with that brand. I don’t think people remember what the WSOP was like before Pollack got a hold of it. Of course, prior to the brand being bought by Harrah’s, the WSOP was being run at Binion’s by the Behnen family who had acquired it from Jack Binion. When Jack ran the WSOP it was amazing in terms of how player friendly it was. I mean, sure, the structures sucked but tournaments were being completed in one day then so they kind of had to. But juice was incredibly low, less than 5% and the main event had ZERO juice. Comps flowed freely as well. If you were playing the events you basically never paid for any food during the whole tournament and that included at the yummy Binion’s steakhouse. Those were the good old days for sure (except that hardly anyone was playing poker tournaments back then lol).
When Becky Behnen took the tournament over from Jack the player friendly days were over. Juice went up and up and up. Comps no longer abounded. I was so upset personally about the direction the WSOP that I didn’t even play in 2002 except for exactly just the main event. It would take an army to keep me away from the WSOP and that year there is apparently an army keeping me away because of the way I thought players were being treated.
Now in walked Harrah’s and right from the start it looked bad. Still no comps, higher juice, no relationship with the players and, here was the worst thing, all of a sudden every tournament at the WSOP was No Limit Hold’em. Every day it the tournament was NLH and in the $1500 buy-in range. It was like Harrah’s knew nothing about poker at all and was taking its lead only from what was on TV. The rich tradition of the WSOP is supposed to be about all of poker, not just the small part of it that is NLH. We were losing the ability to reward Omaha play, split game play, limit play and all the other games that make up the rich world that is poker. For all intents and purposes, the WSOP might as well have been called the World Series of No Limit Hold’em.
Now, at the same time as this was happening at the WSOP, the WPT was also acting as a very poor partner to the players. At the time, the WPT set structures at the final tables to accommodate 6 hour windows (apparently after 6 hours they would have to pay overtime). Setting structures by how long you want to film rather than what is good for the players who paid the entries and the fees is preposterous, of course. What that meant was that you could have a tournament that leading into the final table had smooth 90 minute levels with no doubles ever and at the final table the levels would revert to an hour with the blinds doubling each level. At heads up, the levels went to 30 minutes. That is as player unfriendly as it gets and was directed by the WPT’s attitude that the Poker itself was the star of the show and the players were completely interchangeable. With that attitude there is no reason to treat the players well at all and it showed in the way they treated us.
So enter Jeffrey Pollack. Jeffrey had a completely different idea, a revolutionary idea even . He felt that the WSOP could not succeed without the players. That when folks watched the coverage on ESPN they were there to see the players and their personalities and that could not be disconnected from the poker. He understood that the folks who actually buy-in and pay those entry fees are human beings, poker players even. So he reached out and really created a partnership with the players, most notably by forming the Players Advisory Council, which I was proud to be a member of. The PAC had tremendous say in the schedule and the structures of the tournaments and I think the WSOP now has a schedule that really represents the whole of what poker is with structures that are amazingly player friendly. Jeffrey, with the PAC, really brought the WSOP back from the brink of becoming the World Series of No Limit Hold’em.
Outside of his hand in insuring that the poker at the WSOP was great, he always worked hard to make sure the experience of the players was great, too and that the players who had endorsements could fulfill their obligations and the ones who didn’t could still get a logo deal if they were lucky enough to get to a final or featured table. That, of course, is all good for poker. Jeffrey really has been a generous partner to the players and, in a very real sense, the players’ protector and defender at that brand. So I am sad and a concerned to see him leave the brand. I fear for what the relationship with the players will look like in the future if the people remaining at the WSOP don’t take the lesson from Jeffrey that success at the WSOP must be a partnership with the players.
Here’s hoping the powers that be at the WSOP and Harrah’s have taken note of the legacy of Jeffrey Pollack. His success comes from his bridging the gap with the players. His egacy is that of a great friend to the community and that is an amazing legacy to leave.
Tags: espn, Firefox, harrah's, jeffrey pollack, NLH, Players Advisory Council, Poker Poker Poker, ub, ultimatebet, WPT, WSOP
Comments (0)
Sunday, November 15, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
It seems with poker that every time we get good news it’s countered with some bad news as well. And that happened this week as well–just a few days we all tuned in to ESPN to watch Joe Cada win the Main Event WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack announced that he was stepping down. Pollack helmed the World Series of Poker the past four years and in that time the WSOP enjoyed record-breaking attendance every year, even in the face of the UIGEA and a global economic meltdown. More than just about anything poker players love to complain, but the last two years people were often hard-pressed to come up with something to bitch about. Pollack always seemed to keep an open mind and was receptive to new ideas, proof of which can be found in the positive changes that took place under his watch.
First and foremost of those changes was the decision to delay the Main Event final table until November. That wasn’t exactly a popular move when it was announced (I wasn’t a fan at the start) but there’s no denying that the November Nine brought far more attention to the final table than it enjoyed in years past, the TV ratings jumped dramatically, all the players who made the final table got to enjoy a flurry of media attention (and the chance to score some endorsements) that were often enjoyed by just the final few at the end. There are still those who don’t like the delay but Pollack and his team took a chance, tried something different, and from the scene at the Penn & Teller theater you can’t deny that it generated a lot of excitement.
Pollack often stressed the word “WORLD” when discussion the World Series of Poker and he helped take the brand international with the World Series of Poker-Europe. Moving the WSOP across the Pond was another controversial move that has paid big dividends, with stellar fields and huge prize pools that attracted many European pros who don’t come to Vegas for the Series. Not that fields at the Rio lacked an international flavor–during last year’s Series players from 115 different countries took to the felt. Those countries, and their triumphant native sons and daughters, were honored thanks to another change that occurred under Pollack’s watch, the daily bracelet ceremony where the previous days winners were brought up on a dais in the middle of the Amazon Roo, introduced to the crowd, and then everyone stood for their national anthem. It was a cheesy-sounding idea that ended up being, to my mind, a huge success. It gave the fans a chance to take pics and gawk at the latest poker champion and when the anthems were played just about EVERYONE stood. Don’t discount how remarkable it is to see 2,000 poker players doing the same thing willingly, especially an act of respect.
But for those who aren’t as enthused about such touchy-feely moments Pollack oversaw some changes that had some real meat to them. A few years ago some players complained that the WSOP was turning into the “World Series of Hold-Em” many non-Hold-Em game were added to the slate, including the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event. There were a number of mixed-game events, some of them with low buy-ins to attract more players to these games. If I recall correctly the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event (where my friend Lana bubbled the final table) had close to 800 players. 800 players for a H.O.R.S.E. tournament, that’s remarkable.
From a personal standpoint Pollack was always a friend to the poker media. Many poker scribes have a slightly, ah, irreverent take on the poker world, yet Pollack not only let us do our thing, he actually seemed to enjoy the freewheeling aspect of much of the coverage. And he wasn’t one to duck the media when things weren’t going good–on what Pollack described as the most difficult day of his career, the day when Harrah’s had to turn away hundreds of players on Day 1D of the Main Event, Pollack walked over to Media Row after the contentious meeting with the shut-out players to chat with us about what all went on. He talked about the decision to not allow alternates, or an impromptu “Day 1E” at night, or to squeeze the players into any open space they could find. And he was very resolute when he said, “This will not happen again next year. We will find a way to fix this”.
And so it’s too bad that Pollack won’t be around next year to see that those changes are made. In their initial statement Harrah’s said that there were no plans to replace Pollack, which to my mind in ominous. As I’ve already said Pollack was always open to new ideas and was responsible for some of the major positive changes to the WSOP over the last four years. If there’s no plans to replace him, that could mean that Harrah’s either thinks that the WSOP is good enough as it is and is content to coast, or that they think innovation isn’t something the WSOP no longer needs. Jeffrey Pollack brought more than an almost Continental-chic to the role of WSOP Commissioner, he brought a creative and entrepreneurial attitude to a game that is often quite hidebound. In an interview he did with Wicked Chops Poker Pollack said he wasn’t sure if he would stay in the poker industry, and it sounds as if he won’t have to wait long before taking on whatever challenge catches his fancy. Hopefully the World Series of Poker won’t find itself missing Jeffrey Pollack more than he misses it.
Tags: 2009 wsop, jeffrey pollack, jeffrey pollack steps down, world series of poker, world series of poker commissioner, WSOP, wsop commissioner
Comments (0)
Friday, October 23, 2009 - Shawn Rice
This past Trip to Aruba was my 7th straight year, For those of you that have not been and enjoy playing poker this is true paradise. I always look forward to seeing all the many friends, and people I work with and many of the people that I play online with. I decided that this year I really want to play more of the preliminary events this year as I rarely ever play those because I am in paradise and would rather do other non poker related stuff. I know my girlfriend was flying out later in the week for the final few days and the closing partys, So I wanted to play a little more live this year than previous years. I flew in about 10pm met up with a few friends and really wanted to take it easy that night, went and paid my way into the $540 for the following day so I knew I could not get wasted that night. I did play a little sit & go with Ho, Debo, Debo’s wife Erin, Mamma Ho and Susie Q, I think I chopped 2 of them and lost the last one and ended up in a cash game. Ho was ordering drinks and before I knew it I was double fisted drinking double crown and cokes and then Debo is ordering shots, so much for taking it easy in Aruba.
After the sit & go’s Ho jumped into a cash game and let me tell you he can liven up a cash game, ever pot was raised and reraised before the flop, I think I got lucky with AJ and beat AK for about a $900 pot, I was no way folding top pair in that game and I got lucky and hit. I won a little playing the cash game, I think Ho started out losing a few thousand and ended up killing them. He played his image so well and is a master in talking other players into do what he wants them to do.
I get to bed around 6am which is ok because my tourney does not start until 2pm. When I got to my table I could not have asked for a better table, everyone was limping and at early levels I don’t like to punish the limpers til the blinds get higher or the antes kick in, I like to let them know I am totally ok with them limping. within the first 2 rounds I had already doubled my 3k starting stack with no real risk. The players at my table were calling my raises with really wide ranges. I then look up and find that Ho, Jon Green , Debo and Mike “WiscoMurray” are all out in the 1st level. I must say I was really shocked to see that. I was a little pissed at myself because I forgot to ask Ho for the usual $500 last longer bet. I am about a 20 to one favorite when I make this bet, I think I have lost it once or twice in the many years we have made this bet, I always remind him of that time he beat me and he is always ready to try his luck again. I got out of the gate pretty quick and had some chips early but as it got down to the final table I was near last in chips, Only the final table got paid there was 95 players who started, I did make one move with 7s8s when I reraised the botton when I had about 14 times the big blind and he called my reraise all in with A 10 I out flopped him and doubled up to over 30x with a shot to win this thing.
It got down to 3 players, the final 3 deserved to be the final 3 in my opinion as my other two opponents were very skilled players, One of which being Frank “gator93″. Gator has won like well over 400k online in recent months and I know he wanted the win more than the 15k first prize, Frank raised 5x on the button 3 handed, small blind folded and I look down at my all time favorite hand, 2 black aces, I know if I reraise him here I will most likely get a fold on many hands in his range, so I decided like I had a little bit of a tough decision and just called, knowing he was going to continuation bet the flop, the flop come King high and 2 rags and to my shock he check it, the turn was another club making a possible flush draw, I bet into the flop and as I was putting chips in Frank yelled he was all In, I called he had raised with KcQc and had top pair and a flush draw to my to black aces, He bricked the river and I had a monster chip lead heads up, I had close to 200k in chips and my opponent had a little over 100K and we agreed to a chip chop and ended the night. The 13k was a great start for my drinking tab in Aruba. I took the next day off as I know I would play day 1b the following day. I spent lots of the next morning doing photo shoots and video interviews for UB and would be in the UB Icon suite checking up on my friends whom played day 1a, Later that night I went out to eat at a wonderful steak house in Aruba called El Gauchos with Frank. I took it very easy that night as I take a day before a major tourney very serious.
Day 1b seemed to be very stacked with lots of pros. I hated my table I had 2 world class players at my table , Gavin Smith along with Robert Mizrachi (”The Grinders” brother) and I knew if I made any mistake I would be punished. I didn’t forget to make my $500 last longer with Ho this time and that’s always sweet. He lasted til the beginning of the 2nd level. Ho did very well in Aruba last year making the final few tables before he blew up and gave Matt Brady a monster stack which Matt used to win the million dollar first prize.
I have played alot with Gavin over the last 5 or 6 years and not much with Robert, But I can tell you this , he is no prize to have at your table, He plays super and I totally respect his game. I got lucky in the 2nd level beating Tony from The Best Damn Poker Show season 2 with my AA on and A63 board and Tony holding 66, Those are just sick and Tong is a world class guy and hating to see him have to go out that way. Level 2 I was catching lots of cards and chipping up really well and had about 35k at one point from my 15k starting stack, I did get down below 8k at one point and finished the day around 13k. Day 2 was a bit of a grind as well and I had Eric Baldwin whom is from Madison WI, Who now lives in Las Vegas on my table, but luckily he was 2 seats to my right and he was sure torcher to may of the players he got involved with. I also got the chance to play with Tiffany Michelle who is now starting in this seasons Amazing Race on CBS, I used to work with Tiffany when I did lots of Radio for Bluff radio during the WSOP a couple of years back, It’s so good to see she is doing well in the poker and entertainment world, She is really a sweet lady. I ended day 3 with about 24k in chips and knew I would need to get a good start on day 3 to have a shot at this tourney that had 475 entrys.
On Day 3 I could not of got a worse table draw or seat position, two seats to my left of Robert Mizrachi and two seats to his left was Eric Baldwin, I did chip up to over 60k at one point for every bit of about 2 hands then I was on the button with 88 and Robert ended up with 99 and I was back down to around 30k, I was later in the big blind with about 13 or 14 times the big blind and it was raised from mid position from a guy who the day before called my UTG raise with Qh8h from the big blind when I flopped top set and he flopped a gutter and a flush draw we played a big pot and I doubled when he bricked out. So I am thinking he could have a big range but I know if I push and play for a 60k pot I am at best 50%, So I took in the value of just calling and seeing if I hit the flop and if I do I will give him some rope but checking and let him try and hang himslef. The flop come ace high , I checked it, he bet, I reraised him he called with AQ and GG me.
The following day I played a 1k buyin tourney and never really got ahould of any chips, I lasted til about 8 pm then when I busted I went and played the charity event UB put on for a local business that helps kids and familys in need. While playing the 1k tourney this lady on my left raised UTG with TT and gets called by 99 in late position and the button reraised with JT she and the other guy both call, the flop comes T high, she the the guy with JT get it all in and the board comes running JJ for her to lose her chips and double him up. Now a few minutes go by and she is still steaming and she reraised the guy whom had JT earlier and he calls half off his stack the flop comes JJ9 and she bets the flop and he calls making him all in and she flips over AA and he flips over Jc9c she screams out “God, I wanna kill a baby” I was in total shock hear a lady say this , right then and there I knew I wanted to bet she has never had a child, don’t worry river comes an ace and she busted him. I have heard many times over the years when you need to get lucky players will hollar “Just one time” but never had I heard that, But if it does work, I think poker players will say anything to make themselfs a little luckier.
The following day 10 of us had a shot at a $62,000 Mercedes, I was the second player knocked out when my TT ran into Ryan “papaGEORGIO’s JJ, Poker Ho was still playing and got heads up and ending up doing really well because they agreed to a chop and I had a small % of Ho which added to my drinking fund.
My girlfriend Amy fly in around 10pm that night, I went with my driver for the past 7 years named Henry and we picked her up and headed off to Phil Hellmuths private party ontop of the raddison in his suite. We just missed the Dan Band play, but the party was killer, check out many of the videos on youtube.com
The next night was the closing party and both Eric and Robert make the final table , Eric finishing 4th and ended up leading the Card Player of the Year points leader and Robert ended up in 2nd place , winning this year was Brandon Hall from Pa winning a little over three quarters of a million for his efferts., Thats a nice way to enjoy a trip in paradise.
The Dan Band was awesome as there were in Vegas when they played for our WSOP party a couple of years back, Many people got into the pool and it was really a ton of fun. The opening part rocked as well with tons of people in the pool and lets just say some where wearing less than others thanks to Phil’s bribes. and NO I was not offended in any way.
I hope you are all planning on next years Aruba trip, they just seem to get better and better, I missed seeing a few of you and hope this next year can be the best ever!
I am off to go help teach the November Nine Final Table Academy in Las vegas on Nov 6th, 7th and 8th Featuring poker instructors Phil Hellmuth, Greg Raymer, Bernard Lee, Mark Seif, Mark Kroon, Erica Schoenberg. Special Presentation by WSOP Commissioner, Jeffrey Pollack. Hope to see you there as well.
Proud UB Team Member
Shawn Rice
Tags: Aruba, Bernard Lee, best damn poker show 2, Bluff Radio, Debo, Eric Baldwin, Erica Schoenberg, Gavin Smith, greg raymer, jeffrey pollack, Jon Green, mark kroon, Mark Seif, matt brady, Mercedes, P0ker H0, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Poker Poker, Robert Mizrachi, ShawnRice, The Amazing Race, The Dan Band, Tiffany "Tiffany M" Michelle, ub, UB Team, Vegas, wiscomurray, WSOP
Comments (0)
Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
The talk started from the very top, Jeffrey Pollack himself. Just minutes after the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Detroit Red Wings the WSOP commissioner twittered that the Stanley Cup might make an appearance at the World Series of Poker. Pollack and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman are half-brothers; the NHL Awards Ceremony will be held on Thursday at the Palms, right across the street from the Rio. Pollack had also twittered earlier that “the WSOP Gold Bracelet is the Stanley Cup of Poker. There 4 the Stanley Cup is the WSOP Gold Bracelet of hockey”. Knowing the esteem the Commish holds each World Series bracelet in, I expected he’d think of the Cup in the same way. And he wouldn’t kid about something like THE STANLEY CUP COMING TO THE AMAZON ROOM.
I think I mentioned the other day that I’m from Pittsburgh, I’m a die-hard Penguin fan, and I’ve been on Cloud 9 since the Pens won the Cup. Heck, I was looking at pictures from the victory parade yesterday and had to wipe away a tear or two. So I’ve had my ears tuned to the possibility that the Cup might come to me, as I couldn’t go to the Cup. And indeed, it turns out Jeffrey Pollack wasn’t kidding. Tomorrow there’s going to be a charity poker tournament starring a number of NHL superstars at the ESPN Feature table. Alexander Ovechkin (must resist giving him a knee-on-knee hit), Roberto Luongo, Mike Richards, Jeremy Roenick and many others will be playing.
ESPN will be filming the event and they’re busy right now turning the stage into, well, a rink. They’re putting up boards around the table, they’ve got a net set up, it’s kinda neat:
As is the table–they’ve removed the green felt and replaced it with an “ice” surface, complete with bluelines, faceoff circles, a logo at center ice:
The boards might look a little strange but in a certain way it works. How many times have you seen someone jumping up and down after sucking out and wished that, say, Brooks Orpik would skate in from off-camera and slam the jackass into the boards? Goodness, how much might ESPN’s ratings jump if viewers knew that some player might get a two-minute penalty for boarding Phil Hellmuth?
There’s a small, circular table standing just off stage–I wonder what they’re going to put on that? The tournament begins tomorrow at 10AM, an early start for the World Series. I may just sleep at my desk tonight.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, gary bettman, jeffrey pollack, nhl, nhl awards show, nhl charity shootout, pittsburgh penguins, stanley cup at the world series of poker, world series of poker, WSOP
Comments (0)
Sunday, June 14, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
Every day at 2:20 pm World Series of Poker Commissioner takes to the small stage set up by the Feature Table Arena and presents the previous day’s winners with their gold WSOP bracelets. The ceremony always attracts a fair number of reporters, photographers and camerapeople who aim their instruments of recordation at the dais and the latest poker champion. Today the crowd was just a bit larger than usual, because one of the players who received a bracelet is a bit larger than life–Phil Ivey, who last night won his second bracelet this year (and his seventh overall).
As the appointed hour grew close and the media thronged around the stage a rumor circulated that Ivey wasn’t coming to the ceremony. I wanted to get a picture of the media gaggle surrounding the stage and if Ivey wasn’t gonna show, chances are much of the press would as well. But at 2:20 there was Ivey, standing next to Pete Vilandos, who won a bracelet in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold-Em event last night. Vilandos was the first to take the stage and accept his bracelet, and the players in the room stood to listen to the Greek national anthem:
And then it was Ivey’s turn to shake Jeffrey Pollack’s hand and take possession of his seventh bracelet. And time for a platoon of shutterbugs to press close (or loom overhead) to get shots of Ivey standing at attention for the Star-Spangled Banner:
I’d like to see what the media crush would be like, if, say, Phil Hellmuth won his twelfth bracelet. We still have five weeks to find out.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, bracelet ceremony, jeffrey pollack, Phil Hellmuth, phil ivey, ub, ub wsop, ultimatebet, ultimatebet wsop, world series of poker, WSOP, wsop bracelet ceremony
Comments (0)
Saturday, June 13, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
I hope you’ll forgive the brief hiatus in posts the last half a day or so, as last night my Pittsburgh Penguins played Game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Detroit Red Wings. The insane shrieks of joy you heard was me celebrating the Pens’ historic victory. You may be thinking that a hockey game has little to do with the World Series of Poker–how wrong you are!
First off, did you know that WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman are half-brothers? That’s right, there are two commissioners in the family, what are the odds? Last night Pollack watched Game 7 in the Amazon Room, sitting at an empty poker table in front of one of the many flatscreens in the room. A few days ago Pollack twittered that “the WSOP Gold Bracelet is the Stanley Cup of Poker. There 4 the Stanley Cup is the WSOP Gold Bracelet of hockey.” Last night he sent out a tweet that said that the Stanley Cup, the actual Stanley Cup, might be making an appearance at the WSOP next week. I am afraid to admit how many major internal organs I would give up just to be in the presence of the Cup and take a few pictures. If the Cup comes to Vegas, I will go to the Cup.
The hero of last night’s game was Max Talbot, who scored both Penguin goals in our 2-1 victory. Max is a huge fan favorite in Pittsburgh because he’s got a goofy sense of humor (he does these commercials for a local car dealer that are beyond cheesy) and he’s also a fearless grinder who never backs down from a fight and seems to come up with huge goals. He also likes to play the odd game of poker–in 2007 Talbot played in a tournament for NHL players that awarded a Main Event seat to the winner. And Max won. When I tracked him down in the Amazon Room that day and told him that I was from Pittsburgh he got this big smile on his face that appeared every time I stopped over to snap a picture:
Max built his stack up to around 45,000 at one point, but after the dinner break I went by his seat and found it empty. I raced out of the room to see if he was still around and he was, having just finished up a quick TV interview before heading out. He’d gotten short, pushed with A-10, and run into A-Q. “The truth is, I suck at poker,” the modest Talbot said. I remembered as I talked to him that he had a stitched-up gash over his left eye. The sort of occupational hazard you don’t deal with much in poker.
Max didn’t win a bracelet that year but he won the Stanley Cup last night. And if you see me wandering around the Rio the next few days with a dopey grin on my face, it’s for the same reason–because we WON THE CUP LAST NIGHT. Hey, there’s even a UB angle here–Pens wear black-and-gold, UB’s colors are black-and-gold. Phil Hellmuth often wears a UB hockey jersey at the tables…could be a good luck charm.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, jeffrey pollack, max talbot, max talbot poker, maxime talbot, ub, ultimatebet, world series of poker, WSOP
Comments (1)
Thursday, June 11, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
I mentioned in my post yesterday that the bracelet ceremonies held at 2pm every day (well, every day there’s a bracelet to award) have been a huge success. All eyes turn to the stage by the Feature Table arena, WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack takes the mike, introduces the newest champion, and presents the victor with a gold WSOP bracelet. Today Pollack presented a bracelet to Brock Parker…for the second time in four days. Yes, after winning the $2,500 Six-Handed Limit Hold-Em event Parker came back and won the $2,500 Six-Handed NO-Limit Hold-Em tournament. My advice is that you shouldn’t sit down in a short-handed game with Mr. Parker, especially if it costs twenty-five hundred bucks to do so. Just walk away and try another day.
And then the national anthem of the United States was played…and as always, just about everyone stood. I have to admit that it’s a rather moving spectacle, seeing thousands of poker players, POKER PLAYERS, doing something spontaneous and respectful and dignified. As the Star-Spangled Banner started to ring through the room there were a few players still in their seats…but that’s because they were involved in a hand. The No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven event is going on right in front of media row and after mucking his cards Mike Matusow got to his feet and yanked off his baseball cap.
Michael Binger was involved in the hand at that table, but once it was over both he and his opponent sprang to their feet. There are a few holdouts here and there, but just a few. And the same respect has been shown to winners from other nations as well–everyone rose when the Australian national anthem was played for Jeffrey Lisandro, the Russian for Vitaly Lunkin, the Finnish (well, Swedish, bit of a mixup there) for Ville Wahlbeck. Poker is a game where the individual is king, you play for yourself and the only way to win is to beat everybody else. So it’s nice to see everyone stand together, if only for a minute, before returning to the fight.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, Brock Parker, brock parker back-to-back, jeffrey pollack, world series of poker, WSOP
Comments (0)
Thursday, June 4, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
There’s a new tradition here at the World Series of Poker. In years past the bracelets would be awarded when the final table came to an end–which oftentimes was very, very late at night. And even though winning a bracelet is one of the signature achievements in poker, the actual presentation was sometimes an anticlimax. When it’s 5:30 in the morning, there’s no one in the stands, and the Amazon Room itself is 90% empty, it’s hard to muster much energy for the bracelet ceremony.
That’s now been changed. Every day at 2pm WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack and Tournament Director Jack Effel take the stage on a small dais built next to the Final Tale Arena and introduce the previous day’s bracelet winners to the crowd. Play is suspended as the newly-crowned champions are welcomed on stage, given a Harrah’s Diamond Rewards Card (an extra perq) and then, of course, are presented their gold World Series of Poker bracelets. Then the national anthem of the winner’s country is played (maybe that’s gilding the lily, a bit) and the winner given a final ovation.
It’s an outstanding idea, one that properly recognizes those who have captured poker’s greatest prize and also gives the fans a chance to see the new champions (and check out their bracelets up close). Today saw bracelets awarded to three Americans–Jason Mercier, Steve Sung, and Freddie Ellis. Ellis, a veteran of high-stakes seven-card stud games in Atlantic City, won the World Championship in that game yesterday after besting Eric Drache in a marathon heads-up match:
I’ve said a number of times before that Harrah’s seems to have this running-the-WSOP thing down, and additions such as the bracelet ceremony go a long way to making the World Series of Poker an even richer and enjoyable experience. And I’m anxious to hear the reaction in the room the first time we hear the French national anthem, the Vietnamese anthem, the Brazilian national anthem. The flags will be wavin’.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, awarding wsop bracelets, freddie ellis, jack effel, jason mercier, jeffrey pollack, jeffrey pollack awarding bracelets, steve sung, world series of poker, world series of poker bracelet ceremony, world series of poker bracelets, WSOP, wsop bracelet ceremony, wsop bracelets
Comments (0)
Sunday, May 31, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
So last night I wrote a post about how poker players have to grind and grit it out if they want the glory. How that blue-collar, lunch-pail work ethic is what really separates the champs from the chumps. So what did I do after posting that paean to the unglamorous side of poker? That’s right–I went to a wild party at a glizty Vegas nightclub!
In my defense, as I staggered from the Amazon Room last night I had no intention of going out. But when someone asks if you’d like a VIP pass to the official World Series of Poker launch party, the proper way to answer that question is, “Yes please!”. So I lugged my 30 pounds of gear up to ND’s Fuego in the Rio and fell in with a gaggle of poker media types at the bar. Technically this was a work event (and will be described as such when I write my bar tab off on my taxes) but my guilty conscience required that I perform some minor labor to justify my presence. The giant LED displays ringing the club were projecting the WSOP logo along with some wild swirly lights and I said, hey, if I’m gonna lug my camera around, I might as well use it:
They were also scrolling the names of every WSOP World Champion along the walls, waited a bit before shooting this pic:
I hope you’ll forgive the sketchy quality of these photos, it was dark in there (though the darkness was periodically erased by pulsating strobe lights) and I didn’t have my flash with me. Plus it can be hard to take tack-sharp photos when you’ve got a beer in one hand. Though I did put my beer down and put the camera to my eye when the singer and dancers took to the floor:
And…
That’s a beautiful, beautiful…dress. Wow. What stitchwork.
A bit later Jeffrey Pollack took to the stage to officially welcome everyone to the 2009 World Series of Poker, and also to introduce a new rap video starring Lacey Jones (who was the hostess of the party). After the video Lacey took the stage and, thank God, I got one salvageable shot of her speaking to the captivated crowd:
It was about that time that I learned via Twitter than Annie Duke had been knocked out of the $1,500 Omaha/8 event in 30th place. She tagged her tweet “#iamtheworst”, no doubt her frustration was at its peak after coming up short after such a deep run. And that’s when I decided to call it a night and head for home. The hour wasn’t too late, but I knew tomorrow (today) would be a busy day. The final table of the $40,000 Anniversary No-Limit tournament, the start of the Champions Invitational, Day 1b of the $1,000 Stimulus event, and the finale of the $1,500 Omaha/8 tournament. Plus whatever weirdness happens to go down at the Rio on this last Sunday in May. It’s gonna be a long day–back to the grind.
Tags: Annie Duke, annie duke omaha/8, jeffrey pollack, jeffrey pollack wsop launch party, Lacey Jones, lacey jones wsop launch party, world series of poker launch party, wsop launch party
Comments (0)
Saturday, May 30, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
I never quite understood the saying I used as the title of my post–what else do you do with lemons aside from making lemonade? Squirt some on a piece of fish, use the juice to keep apples from browning…I dunno. Maybe I should take cooking lessons.
Know who got taught a lesson this afternoon? ESPN’s Norman Chad, who was schooled and ruled by Annie Duke in a little contest held outside the Amazon Room earlier today. The two squared off in a competition to see who could sell the most cups of lemonade to the thirsty masses crowding the Rio. With cameras and boom mikes swarming and curious interlopers pressing close, Annie and Norman chatted a bit before getting down to the serious business of cut-throat capitalism. First they had to make signs for their stands…
…and I think Annie won the artistic portion of the competion
And yes, you read that right–in addition to a refreshing glass of lemonade you’d also get a kiss from Annie. Already on the defensive Chad had to make up ground by developing a better product, but come now–who do you think is getting the most juice out of those lemons, Norm with his half-hearted one-handed technique or Annie with her double-fisted smush:
Desperate times call for desperate measures. First Chad went for simple character assassination:
But that didn’t work, as the first customer went right up to Annie, got her lemonade, and got a hug to boot:
People bee-lined to Annie, many of them with copies of this month’s Bluff magazine (with Annie on the cover) to be autographed. The situation spiraling out of control, Norm moved to childish defacement of Annie’s picture in hopes of swaying the crowd:
The crowd was decided unswayed, with Annie saying to Norm, “I’m running out of lemonade, can I have some of yours?” He was spared that humiliation when Annie’s pitchers were replenished, and a struggling Chad announced to the crowd that anyone who bought a glass from him would receive an autographed photo of Lon McEachern. Let’s just say the masses were unmoved. And that’s when the desperate Chad had a moment of inspiration:
Norman lassoed the Milwaukee’s Best Light girls, and for a moment I thought this masterstroke would turn the tide. Especially as the next customer in line was WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack–a sale to the World Series’ head honcho would at the very least help Chad save some face. But after shaking hands with Norm and his lovely assistants, Pollack said that he’d be taking his business three feet to his right. Which made someone very happy:
Norman accepted Pollack’s decision with a quiet dignity. Well, no, that’s a total lie–I think the expression of Chad’s face could be used in the dictionary as the definition of “sneer”:
In the end Annie raised $327 for her charity, Refugees International. A modest sum, but hopefully the ESPN segment showing Annie squeezing the life out of Norm will bring Refugees International to the attention of even more people. And now if you’ll excuse me, I’m suddenly very thirsty. Lemonade…that sounds good…
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, Annie Duke, annie duke espn lemonade, annie duke lemonade, annie duke vs norman chad, jeffrey pollack, norman chad, refugees international, world series of poker, world series of poker lemonade, WSOP, wsop lemonade
Comments (2)
