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2007 WSOP Reviews |
 The World Series of Poker Europe was a period on any sentence that talks about how the Internet has changed the sport. Before today Annette "Annette_15" Obrestad had the glorious distinction of being the best multi-table tournament player that the internet has to offer. In certain snobbish corners of the sport, the "poker elite" behave as if being the best tournament player in cyberspace is the equivalent of being the best race car driver in Hazzard County. |
 It was about two in the afternoon (British Time) when the evil was exorcised from the gaming floor at the World Series of Poker Europe. It was at this time that Phil Hellmuth was eliminated from competition. Usually when really bad things are killed off it takes an exploding death star or a farm house from Kansas falling on malevolent character to keep them down. In this case all it took was a short stacked Phil Hellmuth running into a very determined player. |
 Isabelle Mercier was eliminated with extreme prejudice when her pair of sixes failed to hold up against Tong G’s full house. During the previous hand Isabelle had the opportunity to eliminate Tony. She had him lined up for the kill with a pair of Queens when all he was holding was a suited A-K. During the hand her bravado got the best of her, and she took the opportunity to stick it to her flailing opponent. |
 The sixth day didn’t end with a bang - it was more like a flushing sound. Day 2A of the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event concluded with a pair of last minute eliminations. Pat Scanlan ended Ian Munns tournament on the very last hand of the night while Gus Hansen took out Chris Bjorin in a hand that had all the excitement and energy of a Bob Newhart running the 40 yard dash. |
 On Monday Phil Hellmuth arrived in grand fashion atop a double decker bus. Phil is a legend, a bit of a knob, but a legend nonetheless. His entrance was as big as his presence in the sport. On Day 1B Doyle Brunson’s exit was far less grand and in direct contrast to man who surpassed him as the most decorated player in World Series of Poker history. |
 Jennifer Harman may not have won any bracelets at the WSOP Europe, but she has had the uncanny knack of somehow being wherever the action was happening. She was a runner up in the first event, and on Day 1A of the Main Event, took out Andy Bloch. |
 Today we have crowned the first winner ever at the World Series of Poker Europe. The person who will forever hold this place in history is German poker ace Thomas Bihl. That is the good news, the bad news is that he had to beat Jennifer Harman in a heads up match to secure this place in poker history. |
 As of the writing of this column the final table has been set for the first event of the WSOP Europe. Unlike the WSOP proper that boasts dozens of events, the first European branch of this franchise has only three events to speak of. Don’t think of it as small though, we prefer the term "intimate". |
 This year the winner of the WSOP main event is Jerry Yang, but what about the other final table players - what opportunities will be out there for them? |
 The new guy on the block, the man who is supposed to be the face of poker for the next year, got into trouble with his wife for playing poker. Now that, in and of itself, is nothing new - Greg Raymer had to set up a company to fund his poker play to convince his wife that he wasn’t blowing the milk money on his pastime. But take that coupled with Yang being a father of six and emphatically thanking and referring to God during his play, and observers get a sense of something being off the normal path. |
 At first it looked like the whole thing might be wrapped up in one shift as two bust outs came in two hours. The chip leader, Philp Hilm, was chopped into twice by Jerry Yang, the first blow rocking his foundation and the second finishing him off. Next the man that the Pros were hoping would win the whole shooting match - Lee Watkinson - was eliminated. |
 The World Series of Poker Main Event Champion is 39-year-old psychologist Jerry Yang. This Gen X poker playing machine approached the game in much the same way that the Galactic Empire approached the destruction of Alderaan: cold, professionally dispassionate, and completely devastating. Jerry took the skills that made him a good mental health professional and applied them to the game of poker. |
 Jerry Yang is the new face of poker, following the controversy-laden footsteps of Jamie Gold. Last year Gold entered the event a huge chip leader, an advantage that he managed to carry on till the very end. This year three players entered the final table race just about even in chips, making the final table more of a slog for the eventual winner. |
 This day was reserved as a rest day before the insanity of the final table begins: a sort of calm before the storm. Having this open day before the final table is, in a sense, like a long pause before the Detroit Tigers’ Gary Sheffield talks about race relations in the game of baseball. |
 Today, July 17th, is the day that the poker world has been waiting for, the Main Event final table for the 38th annual World Series of Poker. Nine players will sit down and one will get up eight million dollars richer. He won’t be the only millionaire rising from the table, however, and all players are guaranteed at least half a million for their play in this year’s event. |
 Today, July 16th, is a day of rest for the players who will tomorrow take their shot at millions of life changing dollars, as the final table of the 38th annual World Series of Poker takes off. Today Philip Hilm, Tuan Lam, Jon Kalmar, Raymond Rahme, Lee Childs, Lee Watkinson, Hevad "Rain" Khan, Jerry Yang, and Alex Kravchenko will spend time recuperating after their 4am stop time this morning. |
 As of the writing of this article, we are down to the last 22 players and the tournament has turned into a sword fight. The dream of a female main event champ will have to be put on hold until next season. |
 Today, July 15th, is Day 6 of the 38th annual World Series of Poker’s Main Event. There will be two more days before it is all over, but tomorrow is a day off to give the lucky final table players 24 hours to rest, recoup, reconnoiter and restore before playing for over $8 million. |
 As the day went on players continued to disappear as if play was happening in the middle of the Bermuda triangle or Jeffrey Dahmer was in the room with a Hibachi and a big appetite. At this point in time, most of the sport’s stars that we associate with something as monumental as the WSOP Main Event are hanging out at the bar, watching the action at the tables and trying out lines on cocktail waitresses. |
 Over all it was an interesting day - one where big name celebrities were booted from the tournament while guys with names like "Thor" struggled against players who looked like they would have struggled against William Hung in an arm wrestling match. |
 Today, July 14th, is Day 5 of the 38th annual World Series of Poker’s Main Event, Event #55, the "Dream Machine." It is now time to talk about Humberto Brenes. Brenes is a 55 year old businessman from Costa Rica, but most poker fans don’t care about that. They care whether or not Brenes is at a table they are watching, and they care a lot. |
 Today, July 13th, is Day 4 of the 38th annual World Series of Poker Event 55, the main event. All players are in the money now and on the hunt for the final table. Players fall into two general categories - those that want to win, and those that want to move up the pay ladder. Apparently, among those who want to win is a man whose nickname is The Great Dane, and for a very good reason. |
 We are now to the point in the Main Event where everyone eliminated gets a paycheck for their efforts. Tobey Maguire of Spiderman fame and Sully Erna of the band Godsmack are surprisingly still in the hunt for poker’s most prestigious trophy. |
 "Jesus" Ferguson has often proved he can do some remarkable things with a deck of cards, including using them to cut up vegetables for his salad, but a dealer took things a bit farther than even Mr. Ferguson’s rather prodigious abilities could handle. |
 Any champion of the main event of the World Series of Poker deserves the accolades given to them. Take a look back ten years or more and you’ll see that even though the fields were much, much smaller than they are today, they were almost 100% pro, meaning that at no time was winning the WSOP main event ever easy. However there is one thing that would happen from time to time that seems not to be possible these days - the repeat victory. |
 Today, July 12th, Day 3 will begin, with all the surviving players from the four Day 1’s and the two Day 2’s coming together and starting the serious hunt for the money. |
 If Day 1d of the World Series of Poker Main Event was like the movie Fight Club, then Day 2a bore a bit of a resemblance to the classic television series, The Twilight Zone. The day started with Montel Williams wondering where 5000 of his chips had wandered off to. The number of chips that were in his bag simply didn’t match the number that was written on the bag. |
 Today, July 11th, is the last split day of the 38th annual World Sereis of Poker, Day 2B. After today there are no more flights and all players in the event will be playing at the same time. There will be a lot of players NOT in the event that many thought should be, including a host of former WSOP champs. |
 Tempers were running high. The table where Brandi Hawbaker was plying her trade was especially contentious. Don’t let her "girl next door" looks fool you. Today Brandi had the disposition of a wolverine who had eaten way too much cheese and not nearly enough ex-lax. |
 Today, July 10th, is the first of the Day Twos, Day 2A, where the players who survived Days 1A and 1B will merge together to fight it out for Day 3. Today is also the day that ESPN begins airing the 2007 WSOP, while the 2007 WSOP is still going on. |
 Usually if you are a guy who is spending a weekend in Vegas and your activities for the evening include an attractive woman, three Queens, and eliminations, chances are your night has gone in a very weird direction. However if you are Frank Schram this situation simply means you have used a three-of-a-kind to eliminate Vanessa Rousso from the World Series of Poker Main Event. |
 Once again the main event of the WSOP is coming a bit under fire for being a "crap shoot", a reference to the incredible amount of luck needed to win big in a game of craps. There is some irony to the possibility that the main event of the WSOP is a crap shoot, considering it was created to showcase the world’s best poker players. |
 Montel Williams may be a world class humanitarian and all around good guy, but perhaps he should stick to consoling people on his show who happen to the mother, grandmother, and aunt of their own newborn baby. He was one of the participants of Day 1B of the World Series of Poker’s Main Event. If his losing ways continue he will soon be joining Isabelle Mercier and Kathy Liebert in the losers lounge. |
 During the first day of the main event at the WSOP there were a couple of stand out moments that got people talking. The first bust out of the day was a confrontation between Aces and Ace King, with the latter catching a flush. |
 As the first day of World Series of Poker Main Event wound to a close, writers from all over the sport were sprinting to their computers and trying to come up with clever quips to describe the participation of "Everyone Loves Raymond" stars Ray Romano and Brad Garrett. |
 It’s still day one of the main event at the World Series of Poker, although it’s the second day one. Day 1B to be exact, and a whole new batch of fresh faced poker players will take their seats at the Rio to chase the dream. Speaking of dreams, it was Jamie Gold’s time to start living his in last year’s competition. |
 Maybe many people would be impressed with someone who can stuff 66 hotdogs (and buns) into their body in less than twelve minutes, but the fifty-four events that lead up to the Superbowl of the poker world has to take center stage. |
 Check out the official schedule for the next eleven days of poker, starting today, July 6th - all Main Event. Now that we know what is happening when, the next big question is - who? Speculation and discussion has ignited over the last day or two after a few weeks of weak sparks, and the real money seems to be on the unknown player. |
 It’s July 4th: Independence Day for most of the people who call the United States their home. On this day when Americans celebrate their liberation from a country to which tea is almost a religious experience, Tony G is lamenting his liberation from Event 54. |
 Tomorrow, July 6th, is the first day of the Dream Machine, the Big Dance, the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event. Event 55, the $10,000 No Limit Holdem World Championship will run for about ten days and will change a lot more than ten lives. |
 An entire generation of poker players was riveted to the final table of Event 50. This was one of the higher profile/higher buy in events at the WSOP and Doyle Brunson was making an increasingly rare appearance at a final table. |
 With the 2007 Worlds Series of Poker’s Player of the Year race quickly coming to an end, now would be a good time to look back at the winner of the 2006 WSOP Player of the Year award, an amazing young man with an amazing run at poker. |
 Today, July 4th, the last preliminary event before the Main Event will begin, Event 54 - World Championship No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball, with a $5,000 buy in. This is a last shot for those in the World Series of Poker Player of the Year race to score some points - the main event is exempt from the scoring. |
 If looked at from one perspective, those who were short stacked in Event 49 played with all the dogged determination and aggression of a mother Wolverine who is defending her family during the crabbiest time of her month. Looked at from another view, it seems like this is a bracelet that nobody wanted to win. |
 Today, July 3rd, Event 53 begins, a $1,500 Limit Holdem Shootout game. The combination of Limit Holdem (which requires steady, solid poker play without the luck factor of all in moves) and Shootout (requiring players to win their respective tables to move on to another round) should result in some very sharp, very talented players at the final table. |
 Most of us are familiar with the game "musical chairs". Fundamentally the competition involves music, people marching around a bunch of seats, and a mad scramble for someplace to sit when the song stops. The game takes on a whole new meaning when the music happens at the WSOP, and someone is about to be dragged from their chair. |
 Today, July 2nd, Event 52 gets underway, the last Rebuy event of the season. The $1,000 No Limit Holdem event is sure to attract the rebuy fans of the year, and is fairly close to the kick off of the main event, Event 55. The latest news on the main event is - more main event! |
 Today, July 1st, two events kick off, both new entries to the World Series of Poker slew of events. Event 50, the World Championship Pot Limit Omaha, has a $10,000 buy in like most of the rest of the "World Championship" events, and Event 51, the $1,000 S.H.O.E. |
 Erick Lindgren and Gavin Smith watched closely as their friend William Edler won his very first bracelet at Event 45 of the WSOP. Even though they seemed happy about his good fortune, there may have been an evil little side of them that were not happy over the win. |
 Today, June 30th, is the last No Limit Holdem event, after a fashion. If you set aside for a moment the Main Event, which is No Limit Holdem for sure, and one more NLHE rebuy event, then this is the last No Limit event of the season. Why the distinction? Because this event, Event 49, represents the reason people flock to the World Series of Poker in recent years. |
 There are a few things in the sport of poker that a lot of people could do without. One of them is Tony G wearing a sleeveless shirt. Another thing we can do without is Phil Hellmuth playing angry at the table. |
 Today, June 29th, two more events kick off, Event 47 - No Limit Holdem $2,000, and Event 48 - 2 to 7 Triple Draw Lowball (Limit) $1,000 with rebuys. Now would be a good time to answer the question that is likely surfacing in your mind: "What on Earth is 2 to 7 Triple Draw Lowball?" |
 As we get closer and closer to the main event, there are fewer championships awarded on a daily basis - but oddly enough despite the fact that there are no longer that many bracelets to play for, tempers seem to be getting shorter. |
 The online poker room you won the WSOP prize package from is going to pay for your main event seat, fly you to Las Vegas, give you spending money and pay for your room. Can’t see any reason to pass that up, can you? Well, you may not have thought of this one, but it is very real, and is causing some winners to say "no thanks." The reason? Taxes. |
 Sportsmanship is so rare to see today that what happened between Ernest Bennett and Tony Korfman was the sort of example of gentlemanly behavior that is almost touching. |
 In 1975 stand up comedian Gabe Kaplan started a role that would put him on the map, a high school teacher in the breakout comedy Welcome Back, Kotter. In the same year Sailor Roberts took pocket nines to victory over big slick at the fifth WSOP. Soon Kaplan and the WSOP would intersect, and a lifelong passion with poker would be born. |
 As day 3 of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. grinded forward, the early evening was marked by a number of high profile eliminations. Tuan Le was bounced from the tournament in 27th place by Mike Matusow. |
 Only one event gets started today, June 26th, Event 43 - Limit Holdem $2,000, one of the many filling the gap between the $50k H.O.R.S.E. and the $10k Main Event. Of more interest to some is the subject of the "Sequestrium", that circle of black curtains that keeps the looky-loos out and the web cameras in at some specific final tables. |
 Erica Schoenberg has been the story of Event 38. Actually in many ways she has been one of the stories of the summer. This is a young lady who has about as much experience with high profile tournament poker as Roseanne Barr had with the Atkins diet. |
 A "Pro Am" event is one where the professional players and the amateur players compete together, and is typically found in sporting events like golf or tennis. |
 Today, June 25th, Event 42 - Pot Limit Omaha High-Low 8/OB $1,500 gets underway, a low cost way for all those PLOHLEOB players to have a shot at glory, and also an event that traditionally was considered underwhelmingly newsworthy until last year: Event 41 - World Championship Seniors No Limit Holdem. |
 Erica Schoenberg seems to be approaching Event 38 with the | |
