Sunday, July 12, 2009 - HollywoodDave
Weeeeeellllll…..that’s it for me, peeps. 2 long months of grinding in the desert and here’s looking at some unavoidable final stats:
Played about 8 bracelet events, no cashes! Although on the positive side, i went sooooper deep in almost every event I played, bubblling several (including going out 94th when 90 paid the world’s largest 900+ person Omaha 8 or better event) so I am gonna take this as a sign that I am playing well. I never felt like I ‘accidentally’ went deep or had to suck out to make it…in fact, the story of almost every event for me was that I was practically a chip leader early, went cards dead for hours, managed to pick spots and leverage some hands to make it deep, then got horribly sucked out on in a key hand or 2 to cripple or eliminate me. So I actually get to walk away from the WSOP feeling good despite the less than stellar results!
As far as other events — made 13th in a Golden Nugget Stud 8 event…unfortunately the tourney was sooooo top heavy I only walked with $100 more than my buy in! I made up for it last week, however, going deep in a 400-person field at the Bellagio Cup to take 6th and $7k. And believe it or not I actually played a little blackjack this summer around town, picking up a few grand for my troubles along the way. Amazing — i’ve been playing so much poker, I almost forgot I still have a big edge in blackjack lol
One of the most exciting parts of my summer is my TV show ‘Grifting’ that I shot the pilot for, and as we speak am packing to go back to LA to finish shooting some pickups & do the voiceover for. The shoot went great — we put together a lot of footage of me playing a ton of different games (since the show is about me trying to beat a different game each episode). So for the pilot I ended up playing German skat at a real German community center, English draughts (basically checkers) in an authentic English pub, Magic: the Gathering at a comic book shop against some hardened little dudes (read: my brothers!), backgammon against a master of the game, & mah jongg and Go against some serious Asian grinders in a secret Koreatown club. Totally awesome!
I also got to have some fun this summer, especially last week at a few of the WSOP parties. Of course Ultimatebet threw an awesome event at the MGM’s Studio 54, complete with Hellmuth descending from a lier. I also went to Annie Duke’s private dinner at Lavo over at the Palazzo and got to spend some time with some good poker peeps. And along the way we worked in a pool party BBQ at my sis Erica Schoenberg’s place out in Henderson. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon!
The other nite my hottie girlfriend MB and I went over to the Orleans to see Bill Maher perform, only to find Gus Hansen sitting right next to us. We had a good chat about backgammon before the show started…and it rocked. I’ve seen Bill perform before but he is definitely only getting better with time.
And with that, I gotta get back to the Left Coast for the weekend… rock on & good luck to my friends who are still fighting the good fight in the Main Event, I will be back to sweat you Day 6! Unfortunately SOME of us got locked out of Day 1D as they decided to shut down registration an hour before the event started for the day & then not allow any alternates. I’ve heard the arguments from Harrah’s perspective, but at the end of the day, the one rule should be this: no one should EVER be turned away from the Main Event. EVER. I understand several other bracelet events fill to capacity; that shouldn’t be an issue at the ME. I understand having so many more people on the last day creates an imbalance in the Day 2’s and creates challenges to playing down in 7 days; that still shouldn’t be an issue for the ME. If on Day 5 or 6 you realize you haven’t built in enough time, oh well. Adjust. Add a level to a day of play. Lord knows we’ve seen plenty of final tables go until the next morning after ridiculous heads-up matches this year (50k HORSE went until 10 am or so!). Let the people play. Make adjustments. NO ONE should ever be turned away from the ME. Period.
Alrighty then, rockstars, I’m out!
-hd.
Tags: Annie Duke, Bellagio, Bill Maher, Golden Nugget, Grifting, harrah's, Hollywood Dave, MGM, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Poker Poker, Studio 54, tv, ub, WSOP
Comments (0)
Wednesday, July 8, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
We’ve lost over 1,000 players during Day 2B of the Main Event, and to put that in some perspective that’s $10 million in entry fees left behind for the survivors. Ten million bucks invested with the best of intentions and the highest of hopes, gone in just a few hours.
Unfortunately one of those deposed today was Adam “Roothlus” Levy, and his unhappy tale is the stuff of nightmares. I’m not sure which is the worse way to go–a gut-wrenching bad beat, or betrayed by a cold deck. The latter is the fate that befell Adam–he flopped a set, only to have his opponent flop a larger set. That’s a receipe for disaster and that’s just what happened to Roothlus–sitting there with a set he lay in wait as his opponent took forever to decide what to do. Or, that’s what Adam thought his opponent was doing. He tweeted that he hadn’t heard the other player announce “All in” (his opponent didn’t move in his chips) and they sat there looking at each other waiting for the other to act. When Adam realized what had happeend he apologized for the inadvertant slowroll and turned over his set…only to find that he was drawing to a single out. That out didn’t hit, and Adam was out of the Main Event. He tweeted that “lol” was his reaction, which is better than the “bos” mine would’ve been (barf on shoes).
Still alive today are Phil Hellmuth, holding court on the Feature Table, and Scott Ian, who is competing with Phil to see who will be the last member of Team UltimateBet standing. And with a full week before the November Nine is official determined, it may be an equally long time before we know who wins that particular bragging right as well.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, adam levy, Poker Poker Poker, Scott Ian, world series of poker, WSOP
Comments (0)
Sunday, July 5, 2009 - Brandon Cantu
Reflecting back at the beginning of this World Series, I had been running stale. I picked up an early cash in event #7 – $1,500 NLH, but it was insignificant. Reviewing the last few weeks, it was apparent that my head just wasn’t where it should be. As the WSOP suddenly neared the Main Event, I woke up the other day and felt a sense of urgency and with that urgency, I found clarity. Since that day, I have felt locked in with my game. The timing couldn’t be any better. I wanted to put together a series of good events rolling into the Main Event.
Fast forwarded to now, Event #39. There’s been a huge gap in cashes. I registered for the $1,500 NLH feeling good. For whatever reason, I thrive in these high register tournaments and 2,700 showed up to play this one.
Started Day 3 with 26 players left. I came into the day really short, and just had to sit back and wait to pick up hands. Before, I probably wouldn’t have maintained composure and been so patient but, my game is getting better and I was able to keep my cool. I couldn’t be aggressive, so I had to find the right situation and the right hand(s) and go with it. I was fortunate enough to double up a couple of times. It was then time to put the pressure on the other players. I felt like the best player in tournament. I felt like it was mine to lose.
16 left. I really felt like the other players were now starting to get scared of me. I started running over the game at this point.
As the Final Table was set, I was ready to earn my second bracelet. I wanted it badly when I got to this point. I started the final table with $800,000 in chips and in 6th place of the remaining 9. Like always, my friends came out to support me, Gavin Smith, Jeff Madsen, Rick Fuller, Esther Taylor, Allie Prescott, to name a few.
Playing solid and picking up steam, I played my way to Heads Up portion vs. Ray Foley. I had a chance to win this thing a couple of times and was in great spots to do it. Heads Up with my AQ vs. A7 for the win. Flop came 5 8 8, turn 6 and river 5!!!!! Unbelievable. This moment was extremely hard to take. Just as I felt I was going to win, I chopped the pot. Shortly thereafter, we got in. I had K 9 vs. Foley’s 10’s. I spiked a King on the flop, but the turn brought another 10-ball and for a second time, I just couldn’t close.
On the final hand, I held J7 off, and raised $300,000. Foley called and we saw the flop. Flop then came J 3 9 rainbow. Foley checked, and I made it $400,000. Foley instantly shoved. I tanked it for a little bit. I knew for sure that he could have a Jack with a better kicker than mine. I sensed it, but I just didn’t think that I could lay down top pair. In other situations and previous events and years, I would just ship that instantly. But, I am getting calmer, thinking deeper, and evaluating situations to fullest. With serious reservations, I still went ahead and made the call. Foley showed J Q and I was in serious trouble. Turn and River came 10 and 5, which was no help to me. Foley won.
Ray Foley played great heads up. He deserved the win. Second place, is not the bracelet result that you would typically look for and be thrilled with. However, I felt my game shift, my mentality shift, and my stamina shift. I feel really good right now. Again, now is the perfect time to lock-in like this and I fully expect major things coming up. This will not be the highlight of my World Series, mark my words.
Brandon Cantu
Tags: Bracelet, Main Event, Poker Poker Poker, WSOP
Comments (0)
Saturday, July 4, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
As you might expect it gets a bit crowded in the Rio during the Main Event. You’ve got almost 2,000, hundreds of spectators, hundreds more floor/media people milling about…it’s a zoo. And you’re trying to relax and play world-class poker for millions in prize money. Easier said than done.
Well, for players who qualified through UltimateBet there’s a quiet place set aside that DOES make that easier. If you walk a few feet past the main Players Entrance to the Amazon Room there’s a suite festooned with the Phil Hellmuth logo where players can stop in, get something to eat and drink (a godsend when the lines at the Poker Kitchen can extend out the door) and escape the whiny bad-beat stories in the halls.
So during your breaks stop in, get something to eat, have something cool to drink, and plop down on one of the leather sofas. It’s quiet, serene, restful. A place to escape the unwashed masses and recharge your mental batteries before returning to the fray.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, Poker Poker Poker, ub, ultimatebet, ultimatebet suite, world series of poker, WSOP
Comments (0)
Friday, June 26, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
After working every day of the World Series so far I decided to take a day off yesterday. Been feeling under the weather, wanted a day to rest, recouperate, refocus. Yesterday seemed a good time to give the Rio a miss because the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event would start the next day and I wanted to be ready to go when the most prestigious poker tournament in the world kicks off.
The buzz on media row is whether this year’s field will be bigger than it was last year (or in 2007), when exactly 148 players participated. We were supposed to begin at high noon, but there was just an annoucement that the start has been pushed back to 1pm. That may be due to the fact that, like, NO ONE seems to be here yet. Also there are only 33 players registered at the moment, and while there’s been an epidemic of professional players signing up at the very last second this year the floor staff might not want to start the event with a handful of players battling three-handed in an empty room. So we’ll wait till one and see how many players pony up fifty dimes to play for the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy.
Tags: 000 H.O.R.S.E., 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, 50, h.o.r.s.e., Poker Poker Poker, world series of poker, WSOP
Comments (0)
Sunday, June 21, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
Today was the $5,000 No-Limit Shootout event, where some of the best Hold-Em players in the world sat down and did battle until just one at each table was left standing. Phil Hellmuth survived all the way through to heads-up play, where he squared off against Andrea Benelli. I think it was Johnny Chan who once said that chips are like bullets–the more chips you have, the more ammunition you bring to the fight. In this heads-up match Phil was terribly outgunned–Benelli held about 90% of the chips and extended his lead until the final confrontation. When he wanted to raise Benelli would grab a neat cylinder of yellow 1,000 chips (which barely made a dent in his stack) and slam them down on the felt.
One the final hand Phil limped on the button and Benelli grabbed a fistful of chips and set them before him. Phil stacked up the last of his chips and pushed them forward, and this should give you an idea of the discrepancy in their stacks. The yellow ones are 1,000, the green ones are 25. Better to have yellow chips:
It’s also better to have K-Q than K-10, which were the cards Benelli and Hellmuth respectively turned over. Phil got no help from the board and he was out, left to vent his frustrations over the last two days to well-wishers on the rail while Benelli moves on to play tomorrow.
Tags: 000 shootout, 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, 5, andrea benelli, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Poker Poker, world series of poker, WSOP
Comments (0)
Sunday, June 21, 2009 - Annie Duke
Up at the bright and early hour of noon o’clock. Yes. You read that right. Noon o’clock. Anyone who knows me well knows that my usual waking hour is about 7 am. I am generally in my Bikram class by 9 am having fed my kids breakfast and gotten them off to school. But the World Series of Poker creates this sort of alternate universe. A universe where it seems normal to be up until well past 3am on a daily basis. Where is seems normal to not wake up till noon o’clock. So every year at the beginning of June I get warped to this alternate universe so here I am. I just woke up.
The hours seem to be working out for me money wise so far. I have played 7 events, cashed in one and made a final table already. Not surprisingly, both were in Omaha 8 or better. Luckily, the final table was in the $10K Championship. I was short stacked the whole third day in that tournament so I was super happy to come in 8th there. I would win my all-in hand, once hitting two outs on the river to do so, but then I wouldn’t win the second hand after that. So I nursed that short stack to hell! That might be the first time I was not disappointed with an 8th place ever. I was ecstatic actually.
One thing that is not working for me anymore is Indian food. There is a very yummy restaurant in the Rio called Gaylord’s. They are fast and the food is excellent. But on the 10th night in a row that you are eating it, well I wouldn’t say that I relish the opportunity anymore. This is true every year. I eat almost no Indian food outside of the WSOP because I end up eating it every single freaking night during the WSOP. I can only take so much chicken tikka, okay? The problem is there aren’t a lot of other options that get you in and out in less than an hour. The noon tournaments have an hour and a half dinner break but I am always playing the 5pm tournaments. And those only give you an hour. So now I am a walking piece of pappadum. Crispy and yummy pappadum but seriously, I am just a think little wafer…now bugger off.
(for those or are Monty Python challenge…yes, that last line was a Python reference from The Meaning of Life. I just don’t want anyone to think I have actually lost my mind.)
Tags: Annie Duke, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, Rio, WSOP
Comments (1)
Saturday, June 20, 2009 - HollywoodDave
Hell yeah! its finally here… after bubbling at least a half dozen of the events i’ve played this Series so far (its been pretty sick), I finally get to disappear back to LA for 5 days to go shoot a pilot for the TV show I started pitching last year!
The working title is “Grifting Across America” and in it I travel the country trying to beat every game I can find. Dominoes in the Louisiana bayou, street chess in Washington Square Park, bridge at the Manhattan Bridge Club, Golden Tee in Chicago bar leagues — you name it, I take a crack at it, and have plenty of fun along the way.
I can’t release too much more info while we’re in this phase of development, but suffice it to say things are definitely moving forward at an awesome pace! I spend the next few days in LA shooting tons of footage from different games — everything from Mah Jongg to backgammon to German skat, even some Magic: the Gathering — and then we get to cut together an awesome pilot promo & walk it in to some networks this fall. So my job for the next couple days will just be to kick ass, take names, and try to pwn my way thru a ton of games I’ve barely played before. Hey, after a lifetime of game theory and a mastery of blackjack, poker, and a half dozen other games, I think I’ll be able to apply the basic strategic concepts so universal to game playing and do fairly well in these other games. Either that or have fun trying…
A couple years ago I did a TV show called ‘King of Vegas’ where 12 players each had to fight their way thru daily competitions in blackjack, poker, roulette, craps, pai gow, and other popular casino games. A lot of those events were primarily based on luck, but since it was a competition based on beating the other PLAYERS (rather than the games themselves), I found a way to make better bets and better plays even in the events I had little control over the outcomes, and as a result made it all the way thru to the last episode. Although I bombed out in the 11th hour, i felt like i really accomplished something getting there. This show hopes to prove the same thing, that once you master certain games, you already have a built-in edge going into others.
So next week I hope to have a couple pix to show you and some more fun details of the shoot. Not to mention getting back to some good poker action at the Rio! I think there’s a $2500 Omaha hilo event next Tuesday with my name written all over it. In the meantime, you can follow me on twitter at:
www.Twitter.com/Hollywood_Dave
rock on –
-hd.
Tags: Hollywood Dave, Poker Poker Poker, Rio, Twitter, Vegas
Comments (2)
Wednesday, June 17, 2009 - Joey
Hi there! I have an important question to make. Have you guys noticed the many cool things going on at Ultimate Bet?
Well, it is our 10th year anniversary and what a better way to celebrate all these years of poker and great experiences by turning our site upside-down. We are just living the dream! If you do not know what I am talking about, here it is a little recap:
Our amazing UB 500 promotion ended last Monday and 500 players will be sharing a unique $500,000 prize pool. Awesome! I would like to congratulate you all VIP guys for doing such a good job. This promotion has just confirmed how loyal you are and there is no way we could thank you enough.
More than 100 players have qualified to series by playing at our tables and many of them are already at the Poker City: Las Vegas! We´ve had the opportunity of talking with you guys about it and I can easily tell we are definitely having an empire over there.
Remember we have amazing events prepared for you to get closer to the UB family and certainly our VIP team will have a couple of well-known guys that look forward to sharing with you this unforgettable experience.
You have not arrived, yet? Do not worry about it. Ultimate Bet will be at Las Vegas during the whole series and just to give you a hint, we are giving away 50 seats more to attend the WSOP on June 21st, so, you still have plenty of time and chances to make it.
Also, we will keep all our promotions running . The $200K GTD tournament every Sunday, the biggest Bad Beat Jackpot, a new and improved Tournament Leaderboard and last but definitely not least our Aruba Poker Classic tournament, will be out of this world.
So many things are going on at UB. Many things to do and win…What are you waiting for? All these amazing promos were prepared just for you and there is no way someone else can take them out your hands. I mean, not everyone has that poker level.
As I told you before: “We are just living the dream”. Our poker empire is a reality now and we want you to be part of it.
Tags: Celebrate, las vegas, loyal, Poker Empire, Poker Poker Poker, Series, ub, VIP, WSOP
Comments (1)
Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - Debo34
The WSOP is past the halfway point, and at this point nothing too exciting has happened for me in Vegas. I have been working hard spreading my action all around Las Vegas hunting for values and tournaments I feel fit my game. So far I have only 2 cashes in 9 tournaments played. Both were small cashes in smaller buy in tournaments. I have spent a fair amount of time on side action as well. All in all I feel like I’m playing pretty well, and I am definitely working hard at it. Between live and online I have been playing about 80 hours a week in the 2 weeks I have been in Vegas.
I am heading home tomorrow to spend a week with the family and take them camping next weekend. This will be a much needed break from the current grind I have been on. Sometimes in poker and in life it seems like you are running uphill constantly. That has been my past several months in a nutshell. A ton of hours with very little positive results. This is one of those things that poker players deal with from time to time. I try to stay positive about things, and if needed take a step back from it like I will be doing this week. I will be heading back down to Vegas in a week to play a couple of more tournaments, go to the UB party and then gear up for the main event.
I am really excited about the main event as usual. I’ve talked about it in the past about how the main event fits my style perfectly. It has the greatest structure on the planet, and it got even better this year. In past years players started with 20k in chips and 2 hour levels. This year it’s 30k in chips and 2 hour levels. I have been able to make day 3 of the main event 3 out of the past 4 years simply by using patience and not putting many chips into a pot unless I’m certain I have the best hand. I know it sounds funny and boring but every year I see someone go broke on level 1 with one pair when he’s sitting 600 big blinds deep. There is really no reason for that in a tournament with this structure.
I hope to see some old faces and meet some new ones as well on June 29th. That is the night of the UB WSOP party. It will be at 9pm that night at studio 54 at the MGM. I’m sure it will be a blast as usual. Hope you can make it.
Good luck
Debo
Tags: MGM, Poker Poker Poker, Studio 54, ub, UB Party, Vegas, WSOP
Comments (0)
