Saturday, July 25, 2009 - Phil Hellmuth
Many years ago my license plate in California was 7poker7 and Phil Ivey had just won his third World Series of Poker (WSOP) poker tourney. My hats off to Phil, he always plays great poker and takes advantage of some really good luck. He is after all at the final table of the 2009 WSOP. Layne “Back to back” Flack was having a great tourney as well, he has won the first two no limit hold’em events that year (back to back!). Johnny Chan took the all-time money lead at the WSOP from me and TJ, and Johnny were having a great years as well. TJ was having a great year, and if his As-Ks would have beat Layne’s 9-9 (they were all-in before the flop for about $350,000 apiece), then he would have the all-time money list lead instead of Johnny (Johnny finished second to Layne, and TJ third in the last no limit event).
In 1993, I won the first two no limit hold’em events, and three WSOP titles that year. Then I went on and took the all-time money lead at the WSOP. Ah, the past…unfortunately the past isn’t all that it is cracked up to be in today’s “what have you done for me lately” society. The WSOP is a tough tournament to digest when you’re a little bit off of your game or the cards refuse to let you win (personally, I’ve been a little bit off of my game for the most part, and a little bad luck at the wrong time has cost me some final tables as well). Five weeks of WSOP futility is enough to drive you stark raving mad! Wait a minute though, I thought to myself, I still have a full week left at the WSOP, and the “Big One” to play in before my year is blown (not to mention the Bellagio’s $10,000 buy-in event). Believe me, I’m ready to turn things around soon I thought.
How do I make seven top fifteens back then in 24 events, and then only one top fifteen in the first twenty two events the next year? How does Chris Ferguson do roughly the same thing (six one year followed by 2 the next year)? How does Men “the Master” Nguyen fan (without even cashing once!) 80 tournaments in a row, and then explode at the Taj Mahal and finish first, second and first in three consecutive days (and make seven final tables)? I believe that there is some bio-rhythm like element in poker that is often over looked by us poker players. Some days I can sit down in a tourney after not playing poker for a month, and just play so well that I am shocked. When this happens, then I know that I will play great poker for the next 40 days or so (experience has shown me that this is the case for me). Other times, I can’t seem to execute my game plan very well. In both cases – stellar play and sub-par play – I keep roughly the same routine as far as exercise, sleep, diet etc…
If my theory is right (and I’m pretty sure it is based on the “streaks” that most great tournament players fall into), then I can only hope that this period of sub-par play is about to end I thought. I had been playing sub-par from April 9th till May 12th that year, isn’t one month enough to suffer from “bad bio-rhythms’?” All I wanted to read was “Phil Hellmuth is the 2002 WSOP match play Champion” and “Phil Hellmuth is the 2002 World Champion of Poker”. My California license plate 7poker7 (the “7” represents seven WSOP wins) at the time but I was hoping to change it to 9poker9 or 8poker8 real soon. I just hoped that my bio-rhythms changed soon enough for me to get the California license plate 9poker9 in 2002! Well now that the WSOP is over for another year, I’m hoping that in 2010 my license will read 12poker12!
Tags: Bellagio, Chris Ferguson, johnny chan, Layne Flack, phil ivey, Taj Mahal, WSOP
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Saturday, July 4, 2009 - Phil Hellmuth
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As we approach another WSOP in Vegas – I look back and recall WSOPs from years gone by. Here is some commentary from years ago. Hope y’all enjoy.
I would like to say that I am proud of the WSOP itself. Does that sound kind of stupid to you? Then let me explain–if only you could have seen the final six in the Big One in 2000. Discovery channel had a wall of technical equipment and at least four cameras surrounding the action. There were two separate live internet audio broadcasts going on at the same time.
Let’s not forget that we had over 510 players put up ten thousand dollars each to play in the final event! As Johnny Chan said, “I don’t know about the rest of the country, but there sure were a lot of people wandering around the Horseshoe with ten thousand dollars in their pockets!”
The worldwide press was out in full force for the WSOP. It was amazing to watch the cameras going off when the WSOP’s 2000 winner, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, was posing after the event ended. To the point about the worldwide press, I personally was interviewed during the WSOP by Geraldo Rivera (NBC), E! Entertainment, the Discovery Channel, and many magazine writers as well. Also, I am proud of Chris “Jesus” Ferguson and T.J. Cloutier for the way that they played poker and handled themselves throughout the final two days. In my opinion, they both deserved to win the World Championship’s this year. These are just some of the reasons that I am proud of the 2000 World Series of Poker.
There were some great surprises at the 2000 WSOP, including Jim McManus and Jeff Schulman. Jim McManus is a novelist/poet/writer who was sent out to the WSOP to cover it for Harpers magazine (and eventually wrote a 16 page article on it, which turned into his book, “Positively Fifth Street”). Jim decided to play some satellites for the Big One and whoosh–he finished fourth in the main event. Jeff Schulman played a fantastic game of poker throughout this year’s WSOP. Maybe because Jeff hasn’t been there before, he was moving $200,000 to $1,000,000 stacks around like they were water. What Jeff lacked in experience, he more than made up for with fearlessness and great ‘reads’ on the rest of the field.
Here is a hand that came up between Jeff Schulman and Chris Ferguson with seven players left on poker’s biggest stage (WSOP 2000). Remember, when the WSOP gets down to six players, they end for the day and come back the next day to battle in front of the world for fame and fortune ($1,500,000 for first place). Jeff had been moving his chips around beautifully, he was raising and re-raising (presumably when his opponents had nothing) almost every hand. The blinds were $15,000-$30,000 and the antes were $3,000 per player, when Jeff opened for $200,000 on the button with 7-7. Chris Ferguson decided to move all-in from the big blind with 6-6 for about $860,000. At this point, Jeff was the chip leader with over $1,500,000 and Chris was second in chips with his $860,000. After less then 20 seconds, Jeff decided to call Chris for all of his $860,000.
Wow, Jeff would start day four with over $2,300,000 in chips, and T.J. Cloutier in second place with only $600,000. Chris would finish in seventh place, but wait a minute, they didn’t flop the cards yet. Jeff wasn’t home yet—he was, however a 4 ½-to-1 favorite to win this hand. The flop was 3h-6h-10h, giving Chris the best hand, but giving Jeff a flush draw. The next card was the 5c to also give Jeff a straight draw. Now Jeff needed a heart (excepting the 5h), a seven or a four to win the pot. Chris called for (out loud), and received, a ten on the river, to make the final board 3h-6h-10h-5c-10s and give Chris the winning hand (a full house 6-6-6-10-10). Too bad for Jeff, but he kept his composure (much like I would have [Yeah, right!]) and still was in second chip position with roughly $700,000.
The rest of the story is even more brutal for Jeff–as if losing this pot wasn’t tough enough. About one round later, Jeff picked up pocket kings in the small blind and moved all-in after TJ opened for $300,000 with pocket jacks. Chris picked up pocket aces in the big blind, and Jeff ended up finishing in seventh place. So he went from 2.3 million and the chip lead going into the last day to being the next player out. Seemed like Jeff deserved better than that, but that’s poker.
Anyway, back to the 7-7 vs. 6-6 hand. (The aces versus kings is pretty natural.) I love the way that Jeff played this hand. He had been raising a lot of pots, so he opened for a huge over raise of $200,000 to send a message to Chris that he had something. Then when Chris moved in, Jeff correctly deduced that his pocket sevens were the best hand. As John Bonetti would say, “He had Chris by the throat.” It is hard to be 4 ½-to-1 favorite for all of the money, but Jeff put himself into this great position for the most important (and biggest pot) of his life.
How about the way that Chris played the hand? I don’t like his play very much, but it’s certainly not too bad. On the one hand, I like the aggressiveness of the all-in move with the pocket sixes. Chris was trying to stop Jeff from running over the table with this move. On the other hand, Jeff did send a message with the size of his raise, and Chris was in second chip position, so I could very easily see him fold his hand here and wait for a better spot to risk all of his chips. I probably would have folded the 6-6 in this situation just because it was for all of his chips and he still would have been in great chip position. I mean, why risk all of your chips in second chip position with seven players left at the WSOP?
Tags: Chris Ferguson, Geraldo Rivera, Jeff Schulman, Jim McManus, johnny chan, Phil Hellmuth, t.j. cloutier, WSOP
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Saturday, June 20, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
I spent about 90 minutes watching the final table of the $10,000 Stud/8 World Championship, in part because Doyle Brunson was at that final table and he had a chance to tie Phil Hellmuth for most WSOP bracelets. In those ninety minutes not one player was eliminated and I heard the phrase “let’s chop it up” about 137 times, so I withdrew to download some photos. Doyle was actually eliminated in seventh place just a few minutes ago, so he won’t be tying Phil’s record tonight.
And who knows how long eleven bracelets will be the record, because even as we speak Phil is deep in the $2,000 Limit Hold-Em event. They’re just about on the money bubble, and should Phil survive till it bursts it would give him his his record 72nd WSOP cash, and from reading his most recent tweets he’s been all over the place, nearly felted, then winning several huge pots in a row to rebuild his stack. According to the most recent PokerNews’ tally Phil has around 100,000 and is high on the leaderboard, so maybe it’s his turn to make a final table and make a run at the bracelet. Johnny Chan made the semi-finals of the $10K Heads-Up event last week, Doyle made a final table today, will Phil find himself under the bright lights tomorrow evening? A long way to go before we know the answer to that question.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, doyle brunson, johnny chan, most world series of poker bracelets, most wsop bracelets, most wsop cashes, most wsop final tables, Phil Hellmuth, ub, ultimatebet, world series of poker, WSOP, wsop final tables
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Monday, June 15, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
Phil Hellmuth, of course, holds the record for most World Series of Poker bracelets with eleven. But will he hold that record by himself by the end of the day. On the ESPN Feature Table Johnny Chan is in the quarterfinals of the $10,000 Heads-Up World Championship, and should Chan defeat three opponents in one-on-one play today he’d tie Phil with eleven bracelets apiece.
Chan was the first player to win ten bracelets, though his mark was matched less than a week later by Doyle Brunson. Phil Hellmuth then caught them both and then surpassed them when he won his eleventh bracelet in 2007. That’s the last time these three legends engaged in one-upsmanship with each other…until today?
Tags: 11 bracelets, 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, doyle brunson, johnny chan, most wsop bracelets, Phil Hellmuth, who has the most wsop bracelets, world series of poker, WSOP
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Sunday, May 31, 2009 - Phil Hellmuth
Well it’s that time of year again – the good old WSOP. I have been reflecting on previous years and came across this journal entry from a few years ago. I hope you enjoy the read as much as I enjoy reflecting back on these times.
I have been knocking on history’s door at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) for the last eight years. After a long four days of playing in the 2001 WSOP main event, there were nine players left heading into the final day. Walking into the room as one of the finalists, I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by it all. Discovery Channel was filming the finals and had cameras everywhere and it was standing room only with spectators watching monitors just so they could witness the final table. There had to be over 100 reporters representing everyone from NPR (National Public Radio) to the Travel Channel. www.ultimatebet.com and www.pokerpages.com were both doing live ‘web casts’ of the action. And the prize money, wow! 1.5 million dollars for first place, $1.1 million for second, $700,000 for third, $400,000 for fourth, $300,000 for fifth, $240,000 for sixth, $180,000 for 7th, $120,000 for 8th and $92,000 for ninth!
It was announced during the player’s introductions that I needed to finish fifth or higher in order to take first place on the WSOP all-time money list! This is an accomplishment that I have been waiting almost ten years to do! However, even more important than that was to win the WSOP for the second time and put myself down in history as the fifth two-time winner. I would just win the thing and break all of the records at once! So much for the best-laid plans of mice and men! At least I did manage to finish fifth and claim the all-time money lead at the WSOP with $2,844,850, but it’s a small lead! I’m only $26,000 ahead of TJ Cloutier and $52,000 ahead of Johnny Chan!
The final table play was very aggressive, with players raising and re-raising on pure bluffs for hundreds of thousands of dollars. A young 29 year-old Spaniard named Carlos Mortenson was right in the middle of all of the aggressive play. In fact, in one key hand that I believe contributed heavily to Carlos winning the WSOP, Mike Madisow opened the pot for $70,000, whereupon Carlos raised Mike $160,000, then Mike raised Carlos another $350,000, and then Carlos Finally raised all of Mike’s remaining chips (about $500,000) with a Q-8! A Q-8 is a very weak hand in Texas holdem! Carlos had smelled weakness in Mike Madisow, and then made his bold and courageous move! After Mike folded what he claimed to be an A-Q, Carlos showed the hand to the audience, and then the audience gave him a standing ovation, whereupon Carlos bowed, and the audience cheered even louder for him. Carlos’s play in this hand was both gutsy and brilliant, and that’s what it takes if you want to become a World Champion of poker.
Meanwhile, I sat back and watched the show. I felt like one of these aggressive players was going to make a mistake, and that I would be able to take advantage of it. My downfall was when I raised the pot $100,000, and then Phil Gordon re-raised me about $450,000 more (all of his chips, but I had about $1,000,000 in chips at the time). Instantaneously, I said, “I call” and then flipped up my pocket nines quickly. Somehow I was certain that I had the best hand! Indeed I did, because Phil Gordon had pocket sixes, and I was a four and a half to one favorite to win this 1.1 million pot, and take the chip lead. Unfortunately for me, the flop came 6-8-K, and I wound up losing the pot to Phil’s three sixes. After I was finally eliminated, I felt really sick, because I had blown a very big chance to make my mark on poker history. There will be other World Series of Poker’s, but with the field swelling up to 600 + players this year, it won’t be so easy to win another one. However, I will keep showing up, year after year, trying my hardest to win it again! I believe that great things happen to people that ‘go for it!’ I will be waiting on history’s door for the next opportunity to break through! Right now though I offer my congratulations to Carlos Mortenson, the 2001 World Champion of poker.
Tags: Carlos Mortenson, johnny chan, Mike Madisow, NPR, Phil Gordon, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Pages, t.j. cloutier, texas holdem, ub, WSOP
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Saturday, May 23, 2009 - Phil Hellmuth
The following hand was the most important hand of my life. You see, in 1989, I won the World Series of Poker, and the following is the final hand from May 18th that year. I was playing heads up (one-on-one) no limit Hold’em against the two-time reigning world champion Johnny Chan.
The blinds were $5,000-$10,000, and the ante was $2,000 per player. I was on the button, and therefore had the small blind ($5,000 blind). I had the 9s-9c in the hole. I opened for $35,000. Johnny called the $35,000 and raised $130,000 more. In an instant, I re-raised one million dollars, all-in! After a two minute long deliberation, Chan called $450,000, all of his remaining chips. The crowd leapt to its feet as Johnny slowly moved his mountain of chips into the middle of the pot. The hands were then flipped face-up and Johnny showed the As-7s.
This was it! My dream of winning the world championship of poker all came down to one hand. I was a 2.5 to 1 favorite to achieve poker immortality! The flop was Kh-Kc-10d, and now Chan needed an A or a 10. The turn card was the Qs, now the board was Kh-Kc-10d-Qs, and now Johnny needed an A, 10, J or a Q.
The biggest dream that I had yet dared to dream, winning the world championships of poker, all came down to one card. I was still roughly the same 2 ½-to-1 favorite that I was before they flopped any cards. In a second, it was over. The last card was the 6s, and my arms shot up into the air. I had achieved my dream!
Instantly I searched the room–looking for my father. There he was, running up to me. The ESPN camera crew caught the embrace that followed, and that magical moment is forever recorded on tape, and in my mind.
But why did I re-raise one million dollars instantly? Because exactly four hands before, I had opened for the same $35,000 and Johnny had raised the same $130,000. Ironically, I had Ad-7d and folded it. At this moment, I felt like Chan was starting to play very aggressively against me. I felt like he was going to start re-raising my bets more often and with weaker hands. Since I was expecting Johnny to re-raise me here with a weak hand, I guess that my mind was already made up before he re-raised the pot. I just wasn’t going to fold my two nines. Put another way, I made a stand.
Did Johnny Chan make the right play by calling off his last $450,000 with As-7s? I believe that it was a weak call to make, unless he thought that I was bluffing. He said, “I only would have had $450,000 left, if I folded. I didn’t feel like I could beat Phil Hellmuth with that amount of chips left.” Good point, but let’s look at the math.
The numbers show us that we each had $167,000 in the pot or $334,000 total. Add in my raise of all of his chips, $450,000 and the total becomes $784,000. Johnny could have won $784,000 by calling $450,000. Thus the odds were about 1.75-to-1. Assuming that I was not bluffing, I probably had a pair over sevens or an A with a better kicker. This made me roughly a 2.5-to-1 favorite. Thus, assuming that I’m not bluffing, the math doesn’t support the call. In Johnny’s shoes, one has 1.75-to-1 odds, and is actually 2.5 to 1 underdog.
If only poker was this easy to figure out! Actually thank goodness that it isn’t this easy, because if it was, then a mathematician would win every tournament! This is the real world, so we have to account for the percentage of time that I am bluffing. I believe the percentage I would bluff in this spot is below 15 percent. We probably need the world’s greatest game theorist to help to figure the odds in such case. But that’s one of the things that I love about poker, no one knows better than Johnny Chan what the right play was. However, I don’t think that I would have made the call. I believe that I would feel that I could win the tournament with $450,000 left.
Tags: johnny chan, Phil Hellmuth, WSOP
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Friday, March 27, 2009 - UB Marketing
Can you believe we are almost in April? What the hell is happening with 2009?
I think the Earth might be speeding up because years seem like months now days, or maybe I am just getting old. Anyways, April means just 1 thing for the poker community: WSOP IS AROUND THE CORNER!!
We have already qualified over 40 players to the WSOP Main Event and our staff is very excited of all the plans we have for this year’s events.
The big question at UB definitely is: Will Phil be able win his 12th bracelet? We are definitely counting on it. If he achieves it, well his legend status will be more than confirmed and will give him a 2 bracelet advantage over Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson. As the WSOP gets older, it’s quite clear that it will be hard for someone to ever tie him.
Enough about Phil…. Remember that UB is offering a $10.000.000 prize to any player that agrees to wear our gear and wins the Main Event. That’s right, not only the player will receive a prize ranging between $7m – $10m, but UB is offering and additional $10.000.000 for the player representing UB that ends up with the Main Event Bracelet.
We are looking forward for you to join us in Vegas, so remember that you can always try out our Steps to WSOP and also our $530 Sunday Satellite to WSOP to which you can qualify through our daily $10+1 rebuy qualifiers.
We invite you to visit our promo page @ http://www.casinowebcam.com/promotions/blackjack.htm to find out about our exiting promotions.
April is just a few days away and that means our popular $200.000 rake race is about to finish. The leaderboard updates every hour, so check your standing today… You could end up winning up to $15.000 and registered in a $20.000 Freeroll.
Good luck and see you at the tables!!
Tags: doyle brunson, johnny chan, Phil Hellmuth, STEPS tournament, ub marketing, WSOP
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