Friday, October 16, 2009 - Tiffany M
Man, I think I need a vacation from the insane vacation I just had! In case you weren’t partying and tanning it up with us in Aruba I took plenty of pictures so that you can feel like you were right there with us. If you like what you see I highly recommend being there next year. I have to say that it’s my all time favorite tournament and location… and I’m not biased! No need for me to keep preaching, just check out these pics for yourself!
BEAUTIFUL SIGHTS
THE ARUBA POKER CLASSIC KICK OFF PARTY
LOTS OF LAYING ON THE BEACH
BOAT RIDES WITH TEAM UB & FRIENDS
ROCKIN’ OUT WITH SCOTT IAN & PERFORMANCES BY THE DAN BAND
ENDING UP IN THE POOL AFTER A NIGHT OF PARTYING
AND LOTS OF THIS…
Tags: Aruba Poker Classic, Scott Ian, ub
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Wednesday, September 9, 2009 - HollywoodDave
OK, first off — someone please remind me that I’m not allowed to use an exclamation point in the title of at least my next 2 blog entries in a row! Cuz as i look back over the last 3 or 4, i see nothing but overly emphasized title phrases & that just will not stand.
But seriously — I have been a tournament playin fool the past few weeks, gearing up for Aruuuuuuuuba baby. The good thing about spending so much time in Vegas this year (I still have my place in LA but have been kickin it here with my girl most of the time) is the access to tons of live tournaments. Not all of them have the biggest prizepools, but after spending so much time playing online at Ultimatebet, its really good to be able to switch things up and go live once in awhile too.
Just the other day I took 2nd in a 54-person daily tourney at Caesars for like 7 hundy… not much $$$ but a good for keeping the live tourney muscle working. Funny thing is, I lost to a guy who looked just like our very own Scott Ian! Plus it was extra cool to have my girl final table as well, going out in 4th. Party time, baby!
Also, I got a chance to play a 100k blackjack tourney at the Golden Nugget last week as well — man, its been awhile since I’ve done that! Even though I didn’t make the money, it was great to be able to access all the old BJ knowledge databanks again & I was happy to see its just like riding a bike — you never forget.
People often ask me for advice on bj tourneys & I usually tell them its not really about playing your hands — its all about the correlation in the bets. Which was perfectly illustrated in a key hand that allowed me to advance to one of the middle rounds of the tourney:
It was the final hand, and 2 of the 3 of us remaining would advance to the next round. Maximum bet allowed was 2000, and I was first to act with 4350 in chips. 2nd to act had 6250, and last to act sat on 6000 chips. The 2k max bet allowed me the chance to just barely catch both players, as long as I won my hand while at least one of them pushed/lost. Not a very good shot, but it was there nonetheless.
I bet 2000 and 2nd to act bet 500, a pretty suboptimal bet. He needs to bet at least $150, in order to cover my win, but also wants to bet less than $250 so he can beat a push or loss by the 3rd to act guy in the hand. So his $500 bet accomplishes the same thing as the better $200 on the high side, but also opens up the possibility of a swing if he loses while the other guy pushes. In blackjack its all about making perfect bets — which can (and often does) make all the difference in the world when deciding who moves on and who cries in their drink.
So the 3rd to act guy (with the 6000 chips) jumps outta the tree and bets a full 2000, another bad bet. Think about it: even if the guy who bet 500 manages to double down and win 1000 chips (on top of the 250 he’s already ahead), this guy only needs to bet 1300 to accomplish the same thing on the hi side as the 2000 bet. But what he gives up is so much more valuable to me: If he loses 2000, he drops to 4000 chips. Which means that now instead of having to outright WIN my hand, I can actually push it while he loses too. And if I somehow DO manage to double my full 2000 bet, HIS 2000 bet won’t cover the high side. So him betting 2000 instead of 1300 gains him absolutely nothing, but opens up another path for him to lose while I win. The best bets lock out as many possibilities for your opponents to advance, but mine here had just opened up some much-needed possibilities!
The the cards came: I had a hard 12, 2nd to act (with the 500 bet) got a hard 13, and 3rd to act (with 2000 bet) received a blackjack!! To make things more impossible, dealer had a Ten up, but thankfully checked and found no blackjack underneath. So quickly things changed: much like someone who makes a terrible call with A6 in poker, only to flop 66 — the 2000 bet was rewarded with a monster blackjack, instantly locking up one of the 2 available advancement spots. So the remaining spot was between me and the hard 13 with the 500 bet. And I had to act on my hand first. Fuck my life.
Well, I couldn’t just wave off on my hand, cuz that would guarentee a loss if the 13 waved off behind me (we both end up with the same result by default — both win or both lose, depending on what the dealer did). Nope, in order to advance here I would HAVE to win my hand WHILE my opponent lost. No other result would do. So it was just a question of whether to hit or double.
I debated for awhile the merits of both. Unfortunately, doubling in this tournament would result in a face UP double down card (as opposed to face DOWN), so I wouldn’t be able to hide my result from the other player. So — if I busted — he would immediately know it and not be put to a tough decision at all. On the other hand, since his 500 bet was enough to cover the high side of the hand (meaning, if I won my hand, all he had to do was win HIS hand and he’d still be good to advance), I thought I may need to get more money out, so that if I won a bigger bet (like doubling for another 1000), he wouldn’t be able to beat the high side even if HE doubled too.
Only problem was, if i doubled and caught an Ace, 2, 3, 4 (or maybe 5), i’d really want to hit again and wouldn’t be able to. And if i doubled and caught any ten, I’d bust and it wouldn’t matter anyway. Ultimately I needed to give myself the best chance of outright winning the hand first and foremost, and hitting the hand out gave me the best chance of doing that. Plus, there was always the chance that this guy would misplay his hand, as evidenced already by his bad bet (and several questionable plays during the earlier hands in the match). Against another pro player, I’d probably lean towards doubling to lock up the high side, but against this obv tourney novice I opted to hit it out to give myself the best chance of winning the hand alone.
Well, I hit and caught a 6 for hard 18, and now I had a whole new problem. Great — not only was I still an underdog to win the hand (19 v dealer T is a favorite, but not 18), but if I waved off and my opponent was smart enough to see it, he’d realize that he had a virtual lock by waving off on his 13. Check it: if he waves off, the ONLY way he doesn’t advance is if the dealer turns his Ten into a hard 17 EXACTLY. Because a dealer 19, 20 and 21 means we both lose, and dude advances. A dealer bust means we both win, and dude advances. And a dealer 18 means I push while dude loses, but he still has more chips than me and advances. So again — against another pro player, I have to hit here, but against Novice McGee — I wave off and pray he does something stupid.
And I wasn’t disappointed! Despite standing being the overwhelming best play for him, he opts to take another card. But not just another card — he actually DOUBLES his hand!! So even though he ALREADY has me covered on the high side (if we both win our single bets, he still wins), rather than hitting (and giving himself the chance to re-hit if he catches too low a card), he opts to force himself into receiving ONE more card only! Sweet — I’m picking up scraps of hope with every passing second. I can only pray he busts! Because even though he doesn’t realize it, doubling and catching a small card (or, actually, ANY non-busting card) still gives him the auto-win unless the dealer makes the perfect 17.
But rather than being rewarded for his terrible play, he catches the 9 and busts!!! So here I am, sitting on a hard 18 v a dealer 10, and now actually have a chance to win this thing!! Please please please…. don’t let me duck dodge and weave my way thru this whole hand only to have it not matter in the end — at least give me a sweat, dealer!!!
Dealer flips a 4 in the hole — come on, baby, bust it!!!! — and then a beautiful fucking ten for the bust and the win, baybeeee! What a rush…. and this is why I love blackjack tournaments. Cuz when you know the numbers and see the betting correlations laid out before you — and realize that hardly anyone else sees this stuff — what a sick edge to have in a game. So sweet.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t ultimately to be for me and I feel just shy of the quarterfinal round. But how awesome that I could go home, log onto UB, and play blackjack sngs and tourneys right there on my computer! One of my priorities going forward is to try and see what I can do to bring some more excitement and action back to the blackjack tournament and sng side of things at UB, now that we have Cereus up and running so smoothly and have the UB Mac client pumped out as well, both really awesome components of the total UB experience. Things keep getting bigger and better around here every day & I can’t wait to see what comes next!
rock on, bitches –
-hd.
Tags: Aruba, Play online, Poker Poker Poker, Scott Ian, ultimatebet, Vegas
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Tuesday, September 1, 2009 - Roothlus
So it’s official I’ve lived in Los Angeles for exactly one month as of today. And so far, I’ve loved it. I’ve been to a bunch of cool spots and it’s very refreshing to be around more lady friends and have the opportunity to do an array of things on a given day. The lifestyle seems way more upbeat and on the go but not in a NYC kinda way where people are on the go but aren’t particularly friendly. Everyone seems way happier and just a tad crazy too which I love. It’s definitely a healthy change from Las Vegas. Don’t get me wrong I love me some Vegas but in weekend doses. As a whole I felt sucked into the whole city. I was extremely lazy and ate horribly. Granted, the food I ate was super top quality but by no means does that make it healthy. Since moving to LA I joined 24-hr Fitness and have been on the workout grind almost day-in day-out. I haven’t lost much weight yet but I feel so much healthier than I did a mere month ago.
My goal is to look good for the best stop on the live poker circuit, the Aruba Poker Classic. And while yes, I am a member of Team Ultimate Bet and you’re thinking, well isn’t this a blatant plug?? Well, you’re only half right ‘cause I legitimately love it. Last year, I was a little bit nervous at first. I had just joined UB and was meeting a whole bunch of new people and was a little bit overwhelmed. By the 3rd day or so I found myself just having a total blast. It’s honestly a great week of partying with a little bit of poker on the side. Oh, and the Phil Hellmuth penthouse party is nothing short of awesome! On top of all this, it’s Ultimate Bet’s 10th anniversary this year and they’ll be celebrating it at the Aruba Poker Classic. So if anyone is undecided about going this year, I hope I swayed you into going because it’s going to be EPIC!
As far as what’s on tap for me the rest of the year, I’ll be taking it easy. The WCOOP starts on Thursday and I’ll be pretty focused on that until the end of September at which point I’ll be making my way to said Aruba Poker Classic. After that, I’ll see my parents for a few days in Florida, jaunt back to LA for a week, then spend a week or so in Vegas for Festa Lago. But after that crazy little patch of traveling, my only tourney I’ll be traveling to is the Five-Diamond Classic in December. It’s kind of nice to not be traveling to every tournament under the sun for a change. And when I am traveling it’s only to Vegas, a mere 4-hour drive.
Well, I guess this is actually short for my blogs but before I go I recently had the opportunity to play in Scott Ian’s home game on Ultimate Bet last week. Hate to make a pun, but it was rockin’. I got to play with Vinnie Paul, Kirk Hammett, Layne Stayley, and a bunch of other rockers including Scott Ian himself. I ended up getting 4th as things unraveled. First was an Aruba package but better someone else win it when I’m going regardless. I’d definitely recommend playing in the satellites to this very special tourney.
Ok, now seriously, lastly, check me out on ESPN’s Inside Deal this week. They did a phone interview today so that was pretty cool. Until my next blog peeeeeeace.
Tags: Aruba Poker Classic, espn, Five-Diamond Classic, Inside Deal, Kirk Hammett, Layne Stayley, Los Angeles, Phil Hellmuth, Scott Ian, ub, UB 10th Anniversary, Ultimate Bet, Vegas, Vinnie Paul, WCOOP
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Wednesday, August 12, 2009 - Mia
Well you might just get those two wishes granted in the next Scott Ian’s Home Game. Can you believe that the some of the VIP Hosts will be lucky enough to get in touch with some of these rock starts so we can get them ready for the event?
Unfortunately we don’t get to play with them, but you guys can. We have a special VIP only event that will play on August 19th at 16:00 ET that will get one of you to the Home game. No need to worry, we will email you soon with all the details on how to get in it.
For those of you that like that rush of the chase, we have daily satellites as well. But if you really like to go straight to the point for a mere 10,000 Ultimate Points you will participate for 10 seats to the Home Game.
So load your playlists with rock’s greatest hits and get ready to actually play with these rock legends:
Scott Ian – Anthrax
Kirk Hammett – Rock Legend
Jerry Cantrell – Alice in Chains
Vinnie Paul – Pantera
Greg Tribbett – Mudvayne
Remember this is a one in a life time opportunity and that not many people can brag about. Imagine yourself the day after the event when one of your buddies asks: “So, what did you do yesterday?”
Just imagine saying: “Well I played a poker tourney, knocked out a bunch of rock stars and poker pros and became friends with them!”
And don’t you worry; we have the hand history to prove it!
Tags: brag, legends, poker pro, RAI$E, Rock Stars, rush, Scott Ian, VIP
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Saturday, August 8, 2009 - Liv Boeree
I’ve been back in the UK for about ten days now and haven’t had a chance to rest at all because last weekend was Sonisphere, a new rock and metal festival near London. It had my dream lineup of bands – Metallica, Alice in Chains, Paradise Lost and of course Anthrax, to name a few! If you don’t know by now, fellow UB pro Scott Ian is the guitarist and driving force behind Anthrax, so I was over the moon when I found out they were playing. Scott of course sorted us out with the best possible AAA passes enabling me to swan about all over the festival including the band areas where there was a plethora of free food, drink and even haircuts!
Anthrax played on the first day and absolutely blew everyone away with their performance. These guys are as hard and heavy as ever and it was a real treat to watch them play with their old singer John Bush. The rest of the weekend was of a similar ilk with more loud music and long hair than you imagine, finishing with standing on the side of the stage to watch Metallica. What more could a girl want?
The very next day the whole motley crew of bands, media et al bundled down to central London to attend the Kerrang awards (Kerrang is a famous music magazine in Europe). Scott was hosting the whole event which meant that he could invite a bunch of us to sit on his table along with his lovely lady Pearl (who played Aruba last year) which was amazing. All around were famous rock stars including The Prodigy, Skunk Anansie, Machine Head and Alice in Chains and things got pretty rowdy once the absurd amount of alcohol on each table started to be consumed. After the awards finished a group of 30 of us headed out to bar after bar, getting progressively louder until each bar moved us on. The night eventually ended around 4.30am with various members of the group getting lost or climbing into rickshaws in Soho and cycling off into the night screaming maniacally. Love it!!
- Kerrang Awards
- On stage!
Tags: alice in chains, Anthrax, Aruba, John Bush, Liv Boeree, London, Metallica, Paradise Lost, Scott Ian, ub
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Saturday, July 25, 2009 - P0ker J0
Ok so I know the song is Just Another Manic Monday – but I feel strongly that the day should have been changed to Friday – if only for this week. My day flew by and before I knew it, I was late with my blog. Bad bad P0ker J0!!
Well I just finished a new photo shoot with some of my pros so you will soon see some exciting new pictures on the site – showing their pearly whites! Phil – in typical Phil fashion – maintained his (what I like to call) the “point and grin” pose as well as the groovy “thumbs up and smile” pose. I am never ever bored when I’m dealing with Phil. He is truly one of my favourite people in the world (but just don’t tell HIM I said that 
– love ya Phil!
Did you happen to see Matt Graham play in the VIP tournament last Tuesday night at 8:00 PM EST? He almost took it down! The players really loved playing and chatting with him. This coming Tuesday look out for the whacky and crazy HollywoodDave to grace the tables with his presence – and when I ‘m talking about HD, there is ALWAYS presence!
World travellers that my pros are – many are headed to London to play the WSOPE and then jetting straight to Aruba for our 10th anniversary event. I think this will be the best year ever and I hope to see you all there! There is NOTHING more fun than Aruba for the Poker Classic. And yes – its true – I do often lose a pair of shoes or two, but this year I’m coming prepared with and extra stash! Thanks to P0ker H0 for letting THAT cat out of the back! Payback is a bitch H0
I am so excited to announce (press release coming out next week) that we have reconfirmed Micahel Binger as a Team UB member for a second year. He has been so busy playing in live events this past year – but look out for the coming year. He will be blogging, twittering, providing some strategy pieces (and he’s a smaaaaaaaart cookie!) as well as playing in a ton of tournaments on the site! He is currently in Guyana with Victor Ramdin doing some volunteer work in health clinics – identifying and treating children with heart problems.
Another exciting addition to the team (which will also be announced next week) is that migration of the lovely Liv Boeree from AP to Team UB. Liv has been with AP for a number of years, initially in a UK focused role; but as you know, she has taken the poker world by storm and proven herself to be an international force to be reckoned with. Her skills, talent and ability to just play damn good poker make her a perfect addition to the strong Team UB in existence today. We are thrilled to have her, and just like Mr. Binger – you’ll be seeing a LOT more of Liv here at her new home – UB!
I want to close this BLOG with a big shout out to my MVP Scott Ian!! After a gruelling tour in Europe with his band Anthrax, he was the first person to complete the P0ker J0 homework assignment I gave the team. He truly is my MVP – so thanks to you Scott!! Keep an eye out for Scott at both the UB tables, in Aruba and on tour. Busy busy guy – but still my MVP!! xoxoxoxo
Ok – I’m feeling all warm and fuzzy and that cannot last so I’m off to the gym to do some damage (and when I say damage – I mean I’m gonna hurt tomorrow!!)
Enjoy the weekend and see you back here next week!
P0ker J0
Tags: Anthrax, HollywoodDave, Liv Boeree, Matt Graham, Michael Binger, P0ker H0, Phil Hellmuth, Scott Ian, WSOPE
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Saturday, July 11, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
For some just playing in the World Series of Poker Main Event is the realization of a lifelong dream. For other, cashing in the Main Event is a story to be retold over and over again for decades. But for some, there’s only on reason to play in the Main Event–or any poker tournament, for that matter. And that’s to win it.
Phil Hellmuth has a legacy to think about. He’s won more WSOP bracelets than anyone else, has played at more WSOP final tables than anyone else, has more WSOP cashes than anyone else. He won the Main Event twenty years ago. But still, that’s not enough. With every deep run comes an opportunity to rewrite history, history Phil himself wrote in years past. Coming into play today Phil had a big stack, big enough to work his usual magic and position himself for another deep run in the biggest poker tournament in the world, just as he did last year.
But it wasn’t meant to be. Famous for his line “I can dodge bullets, baby!”, Phil lost a big pot to Jose Manuel Gomez Rebenaque when Rebanaque called an 80,000 bet on the river with pocket Aces, and Phil wasn’t able to rebuild and retrench after that. He had chips, just not as many as those rising to the top of the leaderboard, when he lost a huge pot to Abraham Mourshaki when Mourshaki flopped trip Jacks and Phil called a 120,000 bet on the river. The end came shortly thereafter, when Phil was dealt…pocket Aces, and when the money went in after a Jc-10d-5c flop. Phil found himself in big trouble against Kenny Hsiung’s J-10 and Kevin Jenkins’ 8h-9h, and when the 7d fell on the turn it gave Jenkins a straight that held up to take the pot.
And that’s when WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla took the microphone and announced, “Ladies and Gentleman, just eliminated from the Main Event…Phil Hellmuth”. There was a smattering of applause in the half-empty room, an ESPN film team followed Phil as he walked out the door. “Love you, Phil!” a fan called from the far rail, but Phil walked out the door and was gone.
For Scott Ian, the Main Event WAS his World Series, as he was in Europe touring with Anthrax during the rest of the Series. He returned to the States just in time to take his Main Event seat, and then after surviving to Day 2 he had to hop on a plane and fly to Tulsa, Oklahoma to play a gig at the Rocklahoma music festival. A flight at dawn back to Vegas and Scott resumed his seat on Day 3, battling all day with a shortstack to make it to Day 4. And on Day 4 he gritted it out, folding several times to big re-raises when his entire stack was in peril, and battled his way into the money. If Phil was crushed after his elimination, Scott saw the bright side. As he tweeted, “I cashed in my first main event. Outlasted 5857 players. So stoked. Post main event euphoria.”
But that’s how it is for everyone who cashes in the Main Event but doesn’t win–there’s congratulations, and condolences as well. There’s only one winner, and everyone else walks away from the table bitterly disappointed. But there’s reason to be proud of cashing in the Main Event, and both Scott Ian and Phil Hellmuth have reason to be proud of what they accomplished this week. Even if pride is an emotion that might come harder for some at this particular time.
And with that, we’re done for the night. Tournament Director Jack Effel announced a bit ago that we were ending early tonight, with 407 players still in the hunt for the World Championship. We’ll resume tomorrow at high noon, with 406 players sure to ride that roller coaster of ecstasy and despair, while one will claim the ultimate prize–the title of World Champion.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, Anthrax, Phil Hellmuth, Scott Ian, world series of poker, WSOP
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Saturday, July 11, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
We’ve played 14 levels so far at the Main Event–that’s 28 hours of poker. Twenty-eight hours sitting in that chair, playing hand after hand, disaster always one card away. The 789 players returning to the Amazon Room today have watched as thousands of other hopefuls saw those hopes betrayed, crushed, destroyed. And then watched as their precious chips were dragged across the felt to be incorporated into the victor’s much-bigger stack.
All that poker. All that time. All that tension and anxiety and exhilaration. And so far, all that has been for naught.
At least so far as money goes–not one player in the Main Event has made a dime so far. Not Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, who has run away from the field and is the chip leader with 1.3 million. Not Phil Hellmuth, eleven-time bracelet winner and the 1989 winner of this event, who returns today with 485,000 and a chance to post his 74th career WSOP cash…and perhaps be on track for far more. And not Scott Ian, who gritted it out yesterday with a shortstack and wrote today that “I’m gonna fight ‘em til I can’t”.
For some players in the field the Bubble is a psychological barrier that cannot be overcome. You’ll see players folding hands without looking at their cards, terrified that they might look down at two Aces and feel compelled to play a pot. A pot that might cost them their stack and any chance at cashing. And for a lot of the players in the field cashing in the Main Event is almost as great an achievement as winning the Main Event–the latter isn’t a possibilty they’ve honestly contemplated, but to make the money? To go home with money in their pocket and grand tale to tell? That’s worth folding Aces.
And then there are the players who know about this Bubble dynamic, and prey upon those who are terrfied to put a chip in the pot. In 2007 I watched Lee Watkinson (who went on to make the final table) go all-in preflop about ten times in twenty minutes because he had the table covered and no one was willing to gamble for their tournament lives. Watkinson picked up the blinds and antes risk-free–they shouldn’t have bothered dealing the cards, it would’ve saved everyone a bit of trouble.
I should say that at the moment the Amazon Room sounds like an echo chamber–all you hear right now is “All in and call, 64! All in and all, 58! All in and call 74!!” The desperate shortstacks are trying to gather ammunition to make a run for the Bubble, the gamblers are using the Bubble to add pressure to their big bets. But once we get closer and closer to that magic number of 648, the number of players who will cash in the 2009 Main Event, that’s when we’ll see who turtles and who bares their fangs.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, Phil Hellmuth, Scott Ian, world series of poker, WSOP
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Friday, July 10, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
For the first time since May 27 the Rio was quiet yesterday, with no tournament action scheduled. After the opening six days of the Main Event the World Series of Poker paused to take a breath before the six-day march to the final table. But not everyone pulled their noses from the grindstone as play concluded Wednesday night.
Like Phil Hellmuth, for example. Let’s see, Phil’s won eleven bracelets, millions of dollars, and he hobnobs with celebrities and seems to spend half his time with TV camera pointed at him. Yet as he walked out of the Amazon Room Monday night he passed the press box and said, “Hey, are you guys media?” There’s a sign that says “MEDIA PRESS BOX” right by the stairs but we didn’t snippy and acknowledged the fact. “I’m gonna give you guys some books!” he said, and rushed out the door, returning twenty seconds later with a box filled to the brim with copies of Deal Me In, the book Phil’s new publishing imprint just released. And so we were favored with the sight of one of the most famous and successful poker players in the world hustling down the row and handing out books like a glad-handing salesman. Here’s a shot of Phil giving copies to the PokerStars blogging team (gotta stick it to the competition):
Phil handed out the lot, signed a few autographs, and chatted with we ink-stained scribes for a few minutes before finally making his departure from the Amazon Room:
Scott Ian is also back to play today, this after he flew from Vegas to Tulsa yesterday to play at Rocklahoma yesterday with Anthrax. While others among the 2,044 players remaining the in Main Event field were lounging by the pool or catching up on sleep Scott and Anthrax were headlining one of the biggest music festivals of the year. Then Scott hopped on a flight at 7AM to get back to Vegas in time to take his seat today. Makes your typical day off seem pretty (deleted) weak, yes?
What did I do on my day off? Well, it turns out that the Rio wasn’t totally quiet yesterday, as the World Series of Poker Media Event was held in the Brasilia Room. After attending the press conference Jeffrey Pollack held at Martorano’s restaurant in the Rio (and enjoying the buffet laid out for us) the WSOP media took to the felt in a tournament using the new Dream Team format. We played in teams of three and your overall score is determined by the order you and your mates are knocked out. I’m proud to say that my team finished third (whoo-hoo!), as my buddy Pauly carried me and Kristin to near the top of the leaderboard by finishing third overall. It was fun playing poker as opposed to merely covering it, though I got knocked out about 90 minutes in and spent the rest of the time sweating Pauly. But I represented UB with poise and class, if not skill or cunning.
And now everybody’s back to work, 2,044 players fighting tooth-and-nail for every chip on the table. No more days off, not until we know the names of the players who take a break until the November Nine reconvenes.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, november nine, Phil Hellmuth, Scott Ian, world series of poker, WSOP, wsop media event
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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
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