Sunday, June 21, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
While Adam Levy and Brandon Cantu press forward in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold-Em event, three familiar names are battling it out in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship. And just as Adam Levy was before him in the Hold-Em event, Matt Graham is the current chip leader. And I didn’t cooler him when I walked over to take his picture, giving up both reason to smile:
Michael Binger also returned on Day 2 and finds himself very much in contention with around 110,000. Come to think of it, Michael’s pretty much always very much in contention:
And Matt Vengrin is among the final 66 players and has rebuilt his stack up to 70,000 thanks to a timely double-up through Erick Lindgren:
Sixty-six players remain, twenty-seven get paid. The money bubble is a long way off and the railbirds will no doubt be crowding close as this star-studded field is winnowed down to the final table–or, maybe we’ll get down to the final nine before play is automatically suspended at 3AM. The PLO events have tended to play the fastest, a few of them have reached the final nine before that 3AM deadline. But this is a $10K event, a World Championship, with many of the best players in the world, so that may lead to a slower rate of attrition. Perhaps. We shall see.
Tags: 000 pot-limit omaha world championship, 10, 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, Matt Graham, matt vengrin, Michael Binger, PLO, pot-limit omaha, ub, ultimatebet, ultimatebet wsop, world series of poker, WSOP
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Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
Just a few years ago it seemed like poker was dying. Wait, that’s not quite I mean to say–Texas Hold-Em was going like gangbusters, but the other poker games players had enjoyed for decades–Stud, Omaha, even Razz–faded away in the face of the Hold-Em supernova. The World Poker Tour only featured Hold-Em tournaments. The vast majority of online play was Hold-Em cash games or tournaments. Every poker instructional book focused on Hold-Em, Hold-Em was the game in every poker-themed movie and TV show.
It was in 2006 that the revolt started. The 2006 World Series of Poker was criticized by many top players as the “World Series of Hold-Em”. So many of the events were switched to Hold-Em that many players felt the World Series was in danger of not being a true test of overall poker skills. And they wanted the WSOP to reflect that there are poker games other than Hold-Em (Pot-Limit Omaha, for example, which has long been the dominant game in Europe).
And Harrah’s listened to those complaints and made some changes to the schedule. They added three H.O.R.S.E. events, a S.H.O.E. event, and a few mixed-game events. 2007 brought a new crown jewel to the poker calendar, the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event. This year there are 23 Hold-Em events among the World Series’ 54 open tournaments, and while that may sound like a lot there’s even variation within the Hold-Em sphere, with Pot-Limit, Shootout, Heads-Up, and Six-Handed tournaments among them. Then factor in all the split-pot, mixed-game, Omaha/Stud/Razz/Deuce to Seven games were in danger of being eased off the WSOP stage.
And poker players have taken to this restored diversity en masse. There were 770 entrants for the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event (and one of the players in the final 20, Lana Maier, is a friend/fellow blogger). The final pairing of the $10,000 Heads-Up World Championship between John Duthie and Leo Wolpert is playing out right now on the ESPN Feature Stage. The final table of the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha starts at 2pm, and the $10,000 Limit Hold-Em event will restart then as well (and with Annie Duke still in the hunt).
Of course there’s still good ‘ol Texas Hold-Em to be found at the Rio today as well. A $1,500 No-Limit event started at noon, and Day 2 of the $2,000 No-Limit tournament resumes in a few minutes. It’s not that Hold-Em isn’t a great game, because it is–and some would say that it’s the greatest game. But there are other great games as well, great poker games, and it’s good to see so many people enthusiastic about them. Variety is the spice of life, and the variety of games offered at the 2009 World Series of Poker is tasty enough for the most discerning palate.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, pot-limit omaha, split-pot, Stud, texas hold-em, world series of hold-em, world series of poker, WSOP
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Monday, June 15, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
It’s a busy night at the Rio with tournaments scattered throughout the three big rooms. Keeping track of who’s playing where isn’t easy, as a number of pros often rush from one event to another when they get eliminated. One player who hasn’t made that mad dash tonight is Liv Boeree, who is among the final 120 players in the $1,500 No-Limit event being contested in the Amazon Room. I posted a pic of Liv this afternoon and I thought I’d try to post one here that was a little more, well, metal:
One player who did make the trek from one event to the other was Michael Binger, who was eliminated from the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha tournament and headed over to buy into the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event, and he’s sitting in the Miranda Room playing in that event right now:
Also playing in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event is Annie Duke, who bought in late. And her starting table should give you an idea of how loaded that tournament is–Annie’s sitting with Jennifer Harman, Sam Simon, Raymond Davis, Michael Craig, and Erick Lindgren.
And last, but certainly not least, we circle back to the Amazon Room and the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha tournament, where Phil Hellmuth built up a huge stack early on but saw it reduced to 7,600 just before the dinner break.
That event has just returned from break and is back to play, as are all the other events going on this fine Sunday (it is Sunday, right? I lose track). And it looks like Liv Boeree might be playing until Monday–she just made a straight flush to double up to 110,000 with 99 players left. The chipleader has over 450,000, but Liv’s got over 30 big blinds and room to manuever. Could be a long night.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, Annie Duke, h.o.r.s.e., Liv Boeree, Michael Binger, Phil Hellmuth, pot-limit omaha, world series of poker, WSOP
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Tuesday, June 2, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
I’ve been remiss in not mentioning the other UltimateBet pros who have been playing today. Matt Graham, who won his first bracelet during last year’s WSOP, is playing in today’s $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event. And he’s among the 144 players still alive out of the 809 who started play today.
Annie Duke is playing in the $10,000 Seven-Card Stud World Championship (and apparently having a delightful time with Sam Grizzle sitting at her table):
And the newest UltimateBet pro, Liv Boeree, cashed in the $1,000 Stimulus No-Limit event. I overlooked the fact that Liv was still going strong in the Stimulus event until after Phil Hellmuth was knocked out of the Champions Invitational, and as I headed over to the Brasilia Room to take some pictures I learned that she’d just been knocked out. Now, I know that it’s downright impossible to believe that the words “overlooked” and ” Liv Boeree” could ever be used together, the mere idea is disturbingly alien. Rest assured, I will not let her slip past without me taking a few pictures and posting a few updates. Seriously, stop with the dirty looks, the muttered curses, the bags of dog doo thrown at my head. I’m terribly, terribly sorry.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, Annie Duke, Liv Boeree, Matt Graham, pot-limit omaha, ultimatebet, world series of poker, WSOP, wsop ub, wsop ultimatebet
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Sunday, January 18, 2009 - Debo34
UBOC is nearing the end of the road. Nine of the twelve events are in the books and so far it’s been a little frustrating to say the least. Of the nine events I’ve played thus far I have only two cashes. The first was event 1 pot limit Omaha, and the second was event nine, the pot limit holdem event. The frustrating part is that I am getting fairly deep in every event. Of the nine tournaments I have made the second break (2 hours in) eight times. I feel like I have been playing well and will continue to play my style. I have played enough tournaments in my life to know the amount of variance in these things, and that navigating your way through these big fields isn’t always easy. I plan on just keeping myself in the game and in a position to win and sooner or later I will win that big race when it counts.
The only positive thing that has come out of me making it semi deep in almost every event is that my partner and I in the ubpokerleagues are still in the hunt. Despite having 0 final tables combined, my partner has two 11th place finishes and I had a 15th.We have kept close enough to currently be in 6th place but only 50 points out of 3rd which is a cash spot. It’s still not out of the realm of possibility for us to win this thing either. With the 1k UBOC championship still remaining anything is possible. We have both been pretty solid, but seem to be snakebit when the big pot is on the line. Hopefully this will turn around for us in the 1k event.
All a player can do is stay positive and stick to what he knows. That’s all I ever do is keep fighting and things usually work out in the longrun. I expect big things for me and my partner in the final 3 events.
Good luck
Debo
Tags: Debo 34, poker tournaments, pot-limit omaha, UBOC, ubpokerleagues
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Tuesday, January 13, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
If you were looking for evidence that Texas Hold-Em’s hegenomy over poker has been broken, look no further than last night’s UBOC Pot-Limit Omaha/8 event. A total of 399 players signed up to play a tournament that wasn’t no-limit, wasn’t Hold-Em, and WAS a split-pot game for cryin’ out loud. People have learned that these other forms of poker are great games as well and that they require different approaches if you want to succeed (split-pot games especially). Plus, in general, people are gettin’ pretty good at this Hold-Em game. So if you’re looking for new aquariums to fish from, sharpening your skills in Omaha/8 is a great place to start.
As, apparently, these nine players did, as they outlasted 390 of their peers to reach last night’s UBOC final table:
For a split-pot game the final table was quickly winnowed down to the final four, with the eliminations (and payouts) going like this:
- 9th: NOCH08 $1,197
- 8th: MOB29 $1,795
- 7th: WHOMPADPG $2,394
- 6th: JEFFRY53 $2,992
- 5th: WWLLLWW $3,591
I covered a few Omaha Hi-Lo events at this year’s World Series of Poker and was glad to see that the other reporters and even the floorpersons had some trouble figuring out who the heck won the pot. I mean, the hand that eliminated WANNA_RETIRE in 4th place isn’t that difficult to figure out, but when you’re watching it unfold in online-time and shuffling through two hands, eight cards, and countless permutations, it sets the circuits to sparking:
The board is paired…there’s no low hand…neither player connected with the flop…so THE_CASHIER’s nine kicker plays and sent WANNA_RETIRE into involuntary early retirement. Though the $4,189 he won for finishing fourth should be a nice addition to his portfolio.
When we reached three-handed play THE_CASHIER had about 1.76 million, OMAHAJOHN had around 420,000 and THE MENTOR had around 210,000. The three played about fifteen hands (with THE_CASHIER losing about 300,000 split equally between the other two players) before they all decided that a deal might be a civilized course of action. They called in UB’s online floor manager, came to a quick consensus, and just like that the deal was done. Variance has not had many opportunities to bedevil the players who have gone deep in our UBOC events.
So it was Pot-Limit Omaha/8 last night, and tonight the game is H.O.R.S.E.! A $120+10 H.O.R.S.E. event (with a $50,000 guaranteed prize pool) to determine who is the best mixed-game player of them all. That event starts at 8:30pm ET, as does our mini-UBOC H.O.R.S.E. event, which might be right up your alley if you haven’t played a lot of mixed-games and want to dip your toes in.
Tags: h.o.r.s.e., h.o.r.s.e. tournaments, pot-limit omaha, pot-limit omaha hi-lo tournaments, pot-limit omaha tournaments, pot-limit omaha/8 tournaments, ub, ub tournaments, UBOC, uboc events, uboc tournament, uboc3, ultimatebet, ultimatebet online championship, ultimatebet tournaments
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Saturday, January 10, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
There were several familiar faces at the final table of last night’s UltimateBet Online Championship PLO w/rebuys event-Mark “P0ker H0″ Kroon being one of them. As we got down to the money bubble H0 was the shortest stack left and I thought he’d get his chips in sooner than later. I’ve never seen Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster, but last night I witnessed something almost equally remarkable–P0ker H0 playing tight on the bubble. But when the bubble burst (CUTEFRECKLES, sadly was left out in the cold) H0 shifted gears and planted his foot firmly on the accelerator, grabbing pots left and right until he arrived at the final table third in chips:
The first player eliminated was Matt “VENGMONEY” Vengrin, who bubbled the final table of the 2007 Aruba Poker Classic. Matt went out when OUTLAWNYC1 flopped the nut flush and that was pretty much that. THEGRAPER (love that name) was sent to the rail in eighth place when he flopped a flush draw to go with his pocket Queens but failed to improve against TRALAIRA’S Aces. And then, sadly, it was P0ker H0’s time to G0. After a 2c-Ah-4s flop H0 checked and then tanked after OUTLAWNYC1 threw out a bet. H0 moved all in and OUTLAWNYC1 quickly called. Both players had an Ace but OUTLAWNYC1 held two Kings to H0’s two Queens and a King on the river sealed H0’s fate:
VBILLER was next to fall, as DANTML flopped a set against him then made the nut straight on the river to lock up the pot. TRALAIRA had the bad fortune to get the last of his chips in only to see OUTLAWNYC1 flop a full house that left him drawing dead. “I’m getting very lucky,” OUTLAWNYC1 said in chat, and after making another huge hand said, “I flop monsters!”.
Grayson “THE_DEAN221″ Nichols was unlucky to flop trip Aces, only to find that DANTML had done the same and had him slighly outkicked. Nichols didn’t catch on the turn or river and that sent him out in fourth place.
And then there were three, with OUTLAWNYC1 holding a bit more than 50% of the chips in play. There had be talk during the final table about making a deal–idle talk, for the most part. But down to three-handed OUTLAWNYC1 again raised the topic and the three players paused to discuss possible terms. Making deals at a final table is a new feature here at UltimateBet (H0 talked about making a deal because he wanted to see how it would work) and the three players chatted back and forth about possible scenarios while a UB manager provided equity calculations and made sure all three players understood the chop and agreed. It took a bit of time, but when all was said and done the three players were satisfied and UBOC Event #1 came to a quiet end.
I happen to think dealmaking at final tables is perfectly acceptable and totally reasonable. The money in the prize pool belongs to the players, they have the right to discuss among themselves if they want to alter the payouts. If history has taught us anything, it’s that no chip-lead is ever safe, and since the payouts increase almost geometrically at the top of the ladder it’s understandable that players might want to lock in a nice score and not risk losing a huge chunk of change to a horrid beat. Having a representative from UB in on the proceedings helps ensure a player doesn’t get browbeaten or bamboozled into taking a really bad deal, so this is definitely a positive step. Plus, it was geting on 4AM and I (along with several of the players, I think) were getting woozy.
So, congratulations to OUTLAWNYC1, DANTML, AND RIMMER27, who can say without fear of contradiction that they were still standing at the end of the opening event of the UltimateBet Online Championship. We have a $300+20 No-Limit Hold-Em event starting at 2:30pm ET and the $500+30 Heads-Up event at 5:30pm ET. That’s right, two UBOC events today (and two mini-UBOC tournaments as well), so don’t miss out.
Tags: h0, mark kroon, matt vengrin, P0ker H0, plattsburgh, plo w/rebuys, poker tournaments, pot-limit omaha, rebuys, ub tournaments, UBOC, ultimatebet online championships, ultimatebet tournaments
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Friday, January 9, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
“It” being the third UltimateBet Online Championship, which kicked off this evening with a $100+9 Pot-Limit Omaha with rebuys event. Whew, that’s a mouthful. They say that a rebuy tournament doesn’t really begin until the rebuy period comes to an end, and that happens in about…20 minutes. We’ll be keeping an eye on things as the tournament moves along and posting little updates from time to time. Here’s one–P0ker H0 and Debo are currently in the top 20. Which of course means absolutely nothing. But it’s something!
Actually, not sure if I noticed this at first, but H0 and Debo are sitting at the same table. So that’ll make for some interesting conversation.
UPDATE: OK, the rebuy period is over and we have some final numbers. UBOC Event #1 started with 221 runners, who made 271 rebuys and 228 add-ons. That created a total prize pool of $72,000, which will be divvied up thusly:
1st $18720.00
2nd $11160.00
3rd $7920.00
4th $5760.00
5th $4716.00
6th $3960.00
7th $3240.00
8th $2520.00
9th $1800.00
10th – 12th $1080.00
13th – 15th $864.00
16th – 18th $612.00
19th – 27th $504.00
UPDATE: Michael Binger is hosting tonight’s PLO w/rebuys event and for the moment he’s the host with the most. Well, almost the most…chips I mean. He’s in 4th place right now, with P0ker H0 and Debo both in the top 15. If you knock out one of our pros tonight you get your buy-in back, but so far Michael, H0 and Debo have refused to cough up their chips and the hundred bucks.
UPDATE: There’s a running joke among my gang that my friend Ted is the Worst Guest Ever. He’s a powerlifter and goes about 285, so when he sits on the couch he tends to take up about 80% of it–and that’s before he lays down and stretches out. He also never wears socks with his shoes (and usually wears shorts in the dead of winter) so you’ve got this big dude rubbing his smelly feet into the microfiber suede. He also brings his own food when he comes over, since most households aren’t stocked with enough protein to stoke his furnace, and watching him joylessly stuff hunks of “meat” (he never bothers to check whether he’s eating chicken, pork, groundhog) into his maw doesn’t do wonders for your appetite. Then there’s the fact that all that protein usually gives Ted some manner of gasterointestinal distress, which he has to work through in your bathroom. Woe betide the host who doesn’t stock up on Lysol when Ted pays a visit.
Anyway, this long-winded and seemingly pointless blather does have a purpose. It would seem my friend Ted has some competition as Worst Guest Ever, as Michael Binger (the host for tonight’s UBOC event) was just eliminated by PHAT_CAT. Who wins his buy-in back despite shoving Michael out the door. Doesn’t seem quite right but, well, that’s poker.
We’re just a few spots from the money (top 27 pay, remember) and both P0ker H0 and Debo are still in the running.
UPDATE: Someday a Ph.D candidate in linguistics or the social sciences is going to write a book about the etymology of online poker names. Anyway, the money bubble just burst in tonight’s UBOC event, and the unfortunate who went out in 28th-place was CUTEFRECKLES. Curious to know how that name came about. H0 and Debo are still around but their stacks are about half the average and so their work is cut out for them.
UPDATE: We’ve reached the final table and P0ker H0 is still very much alive. He arrives at the final table third in chips (Debo went out 17th, alas) and I’ll be following the final table the rest of the way to see how things play out. I’ll be posting a recap tomorrow morning…provided the tournament ends by tomorrow morning. And here’s the makeup of tonight’s final table:
Tags: online tournament, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournament, poker tournaments, pot-limit omaha, UBOC, uboc3, ultimatebet online championship, ultimatebet online championships
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