Poker News

I’ll admit it. I’m mesmerized by ESPN’s coverage of the 2010 WSOP Main Event. As I watched the Tuesday night episodes, I jotted down some thoughts on scrap paper so I could discuss my observations with some of my poker friends. Unfortunately, I didn’t keep the scraps of paper in any type of order, so here are some random thoughts and observations about the 2010 Main Event in no particular order.

The Staff

The WSOP staff did an incredible job of running the event. In fact, it was probably the best series ever. Tournament officials have a difficult job, but sometimes I have to scratch my head and say, “Really?”

For example, why was it not until day three that Ted Bort got a penalty for distracting and annoying his opponents by barking like a dog? Why did one of the Tournament Directors allow rabbit hunting several times when it is clearly against the rules? In fact, at one point, the Tournament Director even reached across the table and turned up a card after a player had folded. Really?

The Commentators

Norman Chad comes up with some good comments at times, such as these gems:

In response to Scotty Nguyen asking, “Where’s the closet bathroom?” Chad joked, “You’ve been playing here for years and you don’t know where the bathroom is?”

At one point, Bort got up and went to the corner of the room and let out a muffled bark. Chad’s response was, “His water bowl must be over there.”

After Chris Ferguson was eliminated, he stopped to say goodbye to one of his opponents. “Jesus just blessed seat five,” said Chad.

Chad said, “Johnny Chan has given each of his six children one of his bracelets and still has enough left for each of the Mizrachi brothers.”

Chad’s best line: “Under the gun is the new hijack.”

The Players

Kudos to WSOP Player of the Year Frank Kasella, who won two bracelets, made three final tables, and cashed five times. I believe it was Kasella who, during an interview about a particular hand, said, “I almost threw up in my shoe having to call that one. I bet $10,000 on the river holding pocket jacks on a board of 3-Q-9-7-Q and got raised $33,000. I made the call and beat my opponent’s 8-8.”

Phil Laak made a bet that wasn’t called and the players asked him what he had. He offered to show the hand for $20. Two opponents immediately put up $10 each and got to see the hand.

I love Tom Schneider’s outfits. Can you say loud?

Josh Arieh was all-in with A-K versus Dan Harrington’s A-Q. Arieh was still in the lead on the turn and asked Harrington if he wanted to run it twice.

Jean-Robert Bellande has gotten unlucky the past few years at the feature table. This year fairly late in the tournament, his pocket aces got cracked by his opponent’s pocket kings when a king came on the river.

Nick Rainey reportedly played 16,000 sit and gos in one month.

Congratulations to Gavin Smith for cashing in four out of the last seven Main Events. That’s no easy feat with the size of the fields.

Johnny Chan made an amazing run at the title again this year. On day six, he was one of the chip leaders, got moved to a new table, and was dealt pocket kings against one of the other chip leaders, who was dealt pocket aces. Soon after, he was dealt pocket jacks against pocket aces.

I loved the story about Gary Kostiuk, who suffers with MS. In his interview feature, he said that playing in the Main Event was on his bucket list. He was living the dream and loving his experience. At one point when he was all-in with A-9 versus his opponent’s A-10, he said, “I don’t want to stop playing; I’m having too much fun.” He survived the all-in. After he got knocked out, he said it had been the best week of his life.

At one point, a statistic appeared that Matt Affleck had played 33% of the hands dealt (19% was average). I’m sure we all felt his pain when he got his aces cracked just short of the final table.

Fukke Beukers was my favorite name of any player in the Main Event.

The advice from Johnny Chan should be remembered: “Never underestimate your opponents.”

Sometimes poker can be so cruel. For instance, with only 120 players left, Tony Dunst got his aces cracked by A-Q. Joseph Cheong took a horrible beat in a $25 million pot with pocket aces against Filippo Candio’s 7-5 after all the money went all-in on a 6-6-5 flop. Candio made a straight on the river. Neither of the players whined or complained about their beats.

Scotty Nguyen is a great player. He made another deep run, but got eliminated with pocket jacks by an opponent holding pocket tens.

Andy Bloch gave some great poker advice in his featured interview. He said, “You can’t lose focus. Don’t let all the chips in the middle cause you to make a mistake.” He talked about a hand he played against Mike Sexton in which a queen came on the end to give him two pair. He made a value bet and was facing a huge raise by Sexton. He thought a long time before folding and said, “The chances that he could be bluffing were worse than the odds that the pot was laying me.”

Congratulations to the four Mizrachi brothers who cashed in the Main Event. I enjoyed seeing how they sweat each other and cheered for each other.

General Observations

The young players are scary. They keep the pressure on and aren’t afraid to 3bet and 4bet with nothing.

3% of the Main Event entrants were women in 1990, the same percentage as this year.

I hate it when a player knocks someone out and then says, “I’m sorry.” If you put a bad beat on someone, my first suggestion is that you stay quiet. If you must say something, a comment like “Tough beat” is more appropriate than “I’m sorry.”

The Main Event really is a young person’s game. Out of the final 366 players, 205 were in their 20s and only 25 were over 50.

I liked the Full Tilt ads that were shown on one episode highlighting the November Nine players. Apparently the ads were pulled because there were a lot of complaints from viewers that they were “spoilers.”

Some of the players are wearing so many patches that they look like NASCAR drivers. Being on the Board of Directors of the Poker Players Alliance, I was particularly happy to see so many players wearing the PokerPlayersAlliance.org patch.

Many players are superstitious. For instance, Filippo Candio wore the same shirt every day. He said his routine was to get up at 11:20, have coffee, and take a cab to the Rio at 11:30 (Hmmm, when did he take a shower?).

I hate that television rewards players who behave badly by featuring some of them in breakout interviews.

In closing, ESPN and the media deserve kudos for doing a great job of recording the events of the 2010 World Series of Poker. I’m sure this year’s stellar coverage will encourage more attendance next year.

14 Comments

  1. Ian says:

    Hi Linda,

    Great article. I enjoyed reading it, and I thought you made some really excellent observations throughout.

    I disagree with one minor detail, however, and that is that someone saying they’re sorry after a bad beat is really showing some sympathy toward the another player for getting a bad beat. As long as the remark is genuine and mean spirited, I don’t find it offensive. It’s certainly a lot better than someone saying, “Ha ha. I took your chips. I got you!” :)

  2. soulsearching says:

    Hi Linda,
    As always enjoyed your article. Thanks for your insight into all the different aspects of the Event.

  3. yayasister says:

    Great article Linda. I love your suggestion of saying “Tough Beat”. It is an appropriate comment and shows some compassion vs the keeping quiet that makes me uncomfortable if I’m on the winning side. Keep your words of wisdom coming….we all need the help.

  4. Jim P says:

    Fun article Linda. ESPN has definitely improved their coverage, but nothing will compare to the early days of the WPT. Personally, I could do with less “meet the players” stuff and more (and more interesting) hands. Norman Chad can be funny, but offset that against the annoying Lon McEachern shouting about each card that falls.

    Gabe Kaplan is probably the best “color” commentator (outside of Phil Gordon in “The Grand”) and Mike Sexton probably the best “play by play” of all the poker coverage.

  5. Gerry Klawitter says:

    Hi
    Another well done job by Linda.
    Great comments
    Gerry

  6. 2good2 says:

    Linda, great notes on the WSOP…..I think an I-pad for Christmas should be on your list! You would never place your notes out of order and we would have twice as many to read! As always, great article! And the next article is when?

  7. Tess says:

    Thanks for the insights Linda. You combine such a unique perspective with a fun to read writing style. I really like the variety of interesting things you pointed out that others might not when they follow up on the happenings. It really is too bad though that there aren’t more women players. One of these days…

  8. Deb says:

    Your excellent powers of observation and keen insights are just a couple of reasons why you are such a great writer and player!!! Thanks for being informative as well as funny!

  9. Jojo says:

    Loved your observations. Thanks!

    I LOVED ESPN3’s live streaming of the Final Table – Saturday and Monday! It was EXCELLENT!

  10. fargojanice says:

    Great article on WSOP. Watched it on the computer and then knew what was happening on Tues. nite.

  11. NancyR says:

    quote”Why did one of the Tournament Directors allow rabbit hunting several times when it is clearly against the rules? In fact, at one point, the Tournament Director even reached across the table and turned up a card after a player had folded. Really?”
    REALLY????

  12. juli says:

    Loved the comments. as usual, very enjoyable and full of info. But if I were you, I’d stay away from an i-pod!!!

  13. GUNNER21901 says:

    I like your article about the 2010 WSOP. Cant wait to read your article on the 2011 WSOP. I am watching it as I am writing this. The new prestation format is horrible. Coverage of only the main table. Really! All the “entertainment” is gone. Anyway, looking forward to see what your article will say.

  14. seanT says:

    I agree with Gunner.. I do think the new format is terrible and extremely boring. Can anyone explain why they have changed the show format? I am very frustrated and need to voice it, but I don’t know how I can effectively do this.. I hope poker journalist will highlight the frustration of the viewers..

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