As I am writing this, I have just returned from watching the World Series of Poker Main Event live at the Rio. I, like most poker players and fans around the world, was very curious to find out how all the hype and buildup around the three and a half months off would impact the final table. I have to say that even though I was quite skeptical at first, things seemed to play out pretty well. It seems to have boosted television ratings and brought some attention back to the game, so in that sense I think it was a very good thing for both the World Series of Poker and the game in general.

I had the good fortune of getting to help Darus Suharto prepare for the final table, so that allowed me the privilege of front row seats for the entire thing. It really is tough to cram nearly 16 hours of action into a mere two hours of television (much less after taking out commercials, announcements, and the occasional SportsCenter update) and I think ESPN does an incredible job in putting together a production that is good for both the players and fans, especially considering the time constraints they were under this year. Having said that, and having the good fortune to have seen things live and then see the taped version just a day later, I wanted to take this opportunity to talk a little about some of the things that I noticed at the table from a poker player’s perspective that may not have come through in the television broadcast.

The first thing that struck me was the initial pace of the action. It was super slow. For a while, a few of the pros next to me in Chino’s section (I believe it was Greg “FBT” Mueller and one of the Mizrachi brothers) were trying to come up with a good over/under line for how long it would take before we would see a flop. One of them tried to set the initial line at eight hands and then the other wanted it to be moved higher if they were taking the under. They never did come to an agreement, but it was close to two full orbits (18 hands) before we saw a single flop.

I didn’t actually see the 2007 coverage, but many people I talked to expected that after the way Jerry Yang won it last year, at least a few of the players would come out with guns blazing. No such thing occurred and play was VERY slow for the 25 minutes remaining in the level they started at and the entire next level. In fact, one thing that struck me in general about the entire final table is that most of the significant action in every hand was pre-flop, with very few flops being seen and even fewer turns and rivers. Part of this seems due to the shallow stacks, but a lot of it definitely has to do with the overall level of pre-flop action that goes on in today’s tournaments. This year more than ever, it really appeared to me that a lot of the World Series of Poker No Limit events were complex pre-flop chess matches with lots of raises and re-raises taking place. This isn’t necessarily true in the earlier levels, but as the blinds and antes get bigger, this is definitely a big part of the play. That’s just an observation though and not really a complaint or endorsement of this style of play.

Once the table got into more of a “flow,” the one thing that became obvious to me was Peter Eastgate was in control and largely being unchallenged. I believe part of this was due to his seat at the table. Early on, Ylon won a few big pots and most of the chips Dennis Phillips had ended up in his stack and then later Ivan’s stack. Peter was able to act after Ivan in every hand, essentially allowing him to know if the only stack that could do significant damage to him most of the tournament would be in any given pot with him before he had to make any decisions. I think that Peter played some amazing poker, but I think it really showed how important your table draws and position can be. Ivan and Peter, while both incredible players, both had the advantage of the most aggressive players at the table, notably Scott Montgomery and Chino Rheem, being directly to their right. Peter’s position was obviously more advantageous, as Ivan can be fairly aggressive in his own right. It probably also helped Peter some early that Kelly Kim held on as long as he did because none of the short stacks really wanted to go out before him, as the first pay jump was nearly $600,000.

Heads-up play was fun to watch. Only two hands were shown on television, but heads-up play lasted well over 100 hands. Ivan actually came out of the gate much faster, moving to about even and perhaps a few hands ahead of Peter in chips before Peter regained control. Ivan was definitely the more aggressive of the two players. Peter seemed to counter this aggression by playing a much more “trappy” style and generally letting Ivan bet his hands for him. Since Peter caught hands, this strategy worked brilliantly. Ivan probably could have adjusted by not making as many big multi-street bluffs and semi-bluffs, but I felt like Ivan played really well and just wasn’t hitting a whole lot.

All in all, I felt that this year’s final table had a much higher overall skill level than I’ve seen in a while. The last few years have seen some great players make it deep, but this year I just felt like there were virtually no weak spots at the table and every hand and chip was fought hard for. Congratulations to Peter Eastgate, now the youngest World Champion ever. Getting to see it all first-hand, not more than 20 feet from the table, was a great experience and I can’t wait until 2009 when I get another shot to be among the final nine.

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