2007 WSOP Diary: Day 43, July 13th

"Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;But there is no joy in Vegas-mighty Spidey has struck out."  Well, okay, nobody was really that upset about Tobey Maguire. He is a nice enough guy, and tiny enough for a normal size person to put in their pocket and take home, but a lot of players who have been toiling at the game for decades would have beaten themsleves to death with their own funny hats if a twenty-something Hollywood actor walked away with the Main Event bracelet.  Sully Erna (or is he called "Salvatore") was also a lighting rod for media attention as he head banged his way into a money finish. As the lead singer of Godsmack, he is used to being followed around by cameras, lights, and the occasional gold-digging stripper. Of course he is not used to losing in a battle of the bands to kids who are not old enough to get teary eyed and nostalgic over what their friends have written in their high school year book. Sully is gone, he finished in the money, but he is gone.WSOP">  While he departs players who are barely old enough to drink the alchohol being offered by the cocktail waitresses remain and are in the hunt for the Main Event braclet.  While the Alan Keatings of the world march on between iPhone calls barely cogniscent that they are represeting the furture of the sport, the game's past is eliminated from contention. The 1986 Main Event champ, Berry Johnston, was eliminated late into the evenings session and that pretty much does it for the former Main Event winners.  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. We are just over one hundred players left. Soon we will crown an champ.Who Is Alan Keating?  Bloomfield Township resident and poker prodigy, Alan Keating, is having an unlikely run of success at this year's World Series of Poker Main Event. At the start of the event 6,358 players began competing for poker's top prize - the WSOP Main Event bracelet. With only about 100 players left in the Superbowl of poker, Alan is still in there, still competing, and determined to win.WSOP">  Even though this is Alan's first big splash on poker's biggest stage, he is far from an unseasoned rookie. According to the 21 year old poker pro, he has been playing the game since high school. Now, as a marketing major at Michigan State University, he sharpens his Texas Holdem claws on fellow Spartans (and probably more than a few Wolverines).  The World Series of Poker is unique in the fact that those participating in it pay to play, not the other way around. The price of competing in the Main Event is a hefty $10,000. Alan raised half of the amount by beating it out of his buddies in the dorms and anyone else dumb enough to cross cards with him. The rest was put up by a friend of his who will receive in return, half of what Keating brings home.  In the event that Alan is eliminated before reaching the final table, he still receives a payday that is roughly equal to what most Michiganders earn for an entire year of work. Despite how impressive this is, he is uninterested in simply finishing "in the money".WSOP">  "I want to win," he said, "That's my goal. Just getting a check isn't good enough. I'm here for the championship."  These are bold words coming from somebody who took his place against giants in the sport like Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth. Of course Keating is still there and his more aged contemporaries are sitting on the sidelines, eliminated.  Alan did not go into the tournament star struck and simply reacting to what was happening around him. "I play a tight-aggressive style. I pick a spot and when I go in, I go all in. I never limp into a hand."  Along with his style of play, he also had the advantage of anonymity. Googleing Alan brings up almost no details besides the fact that he is from Bloomfield Hills, MI. Even this is an error, as he was quick to point out. He hails from Bloomfied Township.  To the people around him, he is an enigma. While trying to find him so we could get a few words with the young pro, most of the players were aware of who he was, but very few could point him out. After about seven attempts we found someone who thought they knew who he was and directed us to a tall, dark haired young man talking on a cell phone and wearing his baseball cap slightly askew.WSOP">  He is not the sort of mystery that gets the "Area 51" folks and "Sasquatch" hunters into a lather, he is more like a shark swimming in murky water. Other players know he exists, but aren't completely aware of him until he is taking their chips and they are heading for the snack bar. Now that he has beat a large number of established professionals, they all know his name.  Alan was quick to answer what he would do with the 8 million dollars if he won. He was resolute when he said, "I would finish school and pay for college for the entire next generation of my family."  Whether this young man makes it all the way, or finishes as one of the very few to make it this far, he is a good ambassador for the state of Michigan and a good guy overall.