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2008 WSOP Reviews |
 And then there were nine. Yesterday the World Series of Poker field was finally narrowed to the final nine players. This left most people with a strange, unsatisfied feeling as the WSOP ground to a halt for the first time with no Main Event Champion being crowned. It was sort of like getting a hot fudge sundae with the actual fudge. Regardless of anyone’s feeling on how the setup has been changed to make ESPN happy, we are still looking forward to eventually seeing the final nine play it out until there is a champion. |
 Sometimes it seems everyone absolutely adores Vanessa Rousso. Despite all the love she was getting from the gallery, Ms. Rousso couldn’t hold on and make it through Day 3 of the World Series of Poker. The thing that probably stung the most is that she lost on hands that would usually have been winners. She was crippled on a hand where her opponent hit both the turn and the river to complete a straight. In the final hand she was all-in with her A-J vs. Q-4, and a Queen fell on the river. |
 Wouldn’t it be interesting if the World Series of Poker final table would include 11 time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth and 10 time champion Johnny Chan? With Phil looking for his 12th piece of WSOP jewelry and Johnny trying to tie Phil, it would have been compelling. Well, it’s not going to happen, both are now out of the tournament. Of course with that story evaporating, another, equally interesting one is taking shape. At the end of the day today we had Tiffany "Hot Chips" Michelle sitting at third in the chip count. |
 It is almost unfair that in a field of players that is bigger than some rural cities, one player commands more attention than the rest of the field. Unfortunately for a lot of lesser known players who want to say, "Hi Mom" on ESPN, Phil Hellmuth is, as always, the story of the day. He started the day with a modest stack of chips, and while finishing the day still in the middle of the pack, he had managed to more than double his starting stack. |
 Ray Romano has became one of the most high profile casualties of Day 2A. Of course he was not alone on the rail today. A whole lot of players with recognizable faces found themselves making the sad transition from competitor to spectator. Ray was playing at the featured table, so his removal from the event was pretty high profile, but among the eliminated were also the following players: Barry Greenstein, Vicky Coren, Bill Edler, John Hennigan, Svetlana Gromenkova, and Paul Wasicka. |
 Today was a rare off day at the World Series of Poker so most of the players spent the day taking a well deserved breather while preparing for the next stage of the Main Event. For the most part people were still buzzing about hijinx from Day 1d. For example, General George Patton and the hero of Stalingrad, General Zhukov, were probably spinning like centrifuges in their graves when Phil Hellmuth showed up dressed as an 11 star General. |
 So what do Dylan Linde and Steve Austin not have in common with Jennifer Tilly? Well if you include a Y chromosome and a penchant for really cute shoes, the list is probably pretty big. Specifically though, Dylan and Steve are still alive in the Main Event and Jennifer Tilly along with Ms. Duke have been eliminated. Not only are Dylan Linde and Steve Austin still hanging around in the tournament, but they are the Day 1D chip leaders. |
 When Phil Hellmuth is hanging around near the top of the chip count, any player with a healthy sense of self preservation should probably start thinking of the best way to sneaking a large dose of NyQuil into Phil’s water bottle. This is of course a joke, but as it turned out some backhanded chemical warfare was not necessary to take the 11 time World Series of Poker bracelet winner out of Event #51. |
 The cheering section for Marty Smyth as he played for the Event #50 ($10,000 Pot Limit Omaha) championship may as well have been wearing togas and singing "Louie, Louie": they were that loud. This was the sort of rowdy crowd that would have been right at plotting the downfall of Dean Wormer with John Belushi and the boys during the film "Animal House". With these sorts of people cheering him on, it is no wonder that Marty lost track of his hand and didn’t notice that his clubs were working themselves into a bracelet winning flush. According to the new champion, "I didn’t realize I had clubs." |
 There are a lot of things that a body can do with $50,000. Somebody can buy one of the newly designed Dodge Challengers and have enough left for a wussy little, testosterone draining Prius. This would satisfy a person who not only wants to satisfy the NASCAR fan in them, but the eco-Nazi as well. Of course the more responsible people would simply invest the money, while the type of person who kisses babies while trying to buy your vote with a bumper sticker and a catchy little slogan would probably spend every cent of that amount at the famous Nevada Bunny Ranch. Those who played in Event #45 paid $50,000 for the pleasure of being part in this H.O.R.S.E. tournament. |
 During Event #47, Ryan Hughes started the day with a bit of a handicap. His personal pole position on the day can either be expressed in terms of how many chips he had, or where he was in the pecking order. On Day 2 of play, the decision was made to stop with 13 players left, and considering how things were going for him at that point, if they had played down to a proper final table number on the second day, there was a very real possibility that Ryan would never had even made it to Day 3. |
 Even in a Seniors event where someone can just look at the tables and see the people who are the foundation that the modern poker movement is built upon, new faces here can sometimes show up and have their first moment in the WSOP sun. Dan LaCourse is one of these late bloomers. During Day 2 of Event 42 Dan took control of this tournament, and didn’t stop until he was strapping a World Series of Poker World Championship bracelet around his wrist. Considering the fact that he was facing off against 2,218 opponents, a new WSOP record for this event, nobody can say his road was easy. |
 One more day down and two more bracelets have been awarded. Midnight on West Coast time feels a whole lot different when your personal biological clock is in sync with a clock set to Eastern Standard Time, but John Phan probably would not have cared if it was midnight in Vegas or seven o’clock in Bulgaria, he was just ecstatic to come away with the victory at Event #40 and add a second WSOP bracelet to his trophy case. This has been a good week for John seeing as the first bracelet was added to his resume less than seven days ago. Some people wait an entire career just for a shot at one piece of WSOP jewelry, John Phan takes down two in less than a week. Now that’s impressive. |
 Davidi Kitai won Event #38 ($2,000 Pot Limit Holdem). The final table didn’t seem to sport any players who would be gracing the cover of Bluff magazine anytime soon, but despite the lack of a big name player, the entire field was players of a good repute as solid professionals. This made just about everything a dog fight, including the final table. Davidi had to struggle against Chris Bell for over five hours before finally claiming the bracelet as his own. |
 There was one constant sound at the final table of Event #37 ($10,000 Omaha Hi-Low Championship). It was the sound of Mike "The Mouth" Matusow giving his opinion on everything from what potential cards his opponents were holding to folk remedies for post nasal drip. There were a number of people eliminated from this tournament ahead of Mike, and a number of them looked like they pulled their own plug just to get away from the sound of Matusow’s voice. To his credit, Mike had a chance to back his big talk up with a win; especially when he tripled up on one of the final table’s first hands. |
 Last year at the World Series of Poker there was a youth movement like the sport has never seen. Twice during the WSOP the record for the "youngest person to ever win a bracelet" was broken. This year the pendulum has swung back in the direction of the established professionals. New United States regulations on internet gaming seem to be a factor in the resurgence of the more "seasoned" players. In 2007 you couldn’t swing a dead chicken in the poker room of the Rio without hitting a poker pro who was too young to shave. That has been lacking at the WSOP this year. |
 Not much happened in way of championships, the pace has slowed up a tad now that we are on the downhill side of this year’s World Series of Poker. The only bracelet that was handed out today was to some kid who looks like a character from a Harry Potter book. Dario Minieri was grinning like the proverbial cat that made the canary his breakfast and was decked out in his trademark scarf. In order to win Event #31 ($2,500 No Limit Holdem Six-Handed) he had to go through Seth Fischer for the eventual championship. |
 Even when Phil Hellmuth is not winning bracelets he is still breaking records. Even though he has not scored his 12th bracelet in the 2008 World Series of Poker yet, another milestone has fallen for the Poker Brat. During Event #32 yesterday, Mr. Hellmuth successfully made it to the money portion of a tournament for the 65th time. Cashing in a WSOP event that often is a new World Series of Poker record. |
 We are now half way through the World Series of Poker, and there are a whole lot of things we haven’t seen yet. Nobody named Brunson or Hellmuth has even come close to a bracelet yet. No corporate mascots have been assaulted, everyone has kept their clothes on, and we have not heard the words, "...is the youngest person to ever win a WSOP bracelet." What we have seen is perhaps the best mix in years of household names winning championships. We have seen dominating performances, hard fought battles, and some marathons that would have made even the Greeks wince with discomfort. Today was no different. |
 The WSOP is crowning an average of two people per day. We don’t mean that in the manner that somebody who owes the mafia money gets crowned, but just stating the fact that an average of two WSOP bracelet winners are named per day: Day 17 was no exception. Max Pescatori pulled out a come from behind, heads-up victory to secure the Event #24 ($2,500 Pot Limit Holdem/Omaha) championship, while Blair Hinkle was a table terror during Event #23 ($2,000 No Limit Holdem). During this event he personally eliminated six out of his eight opponents as he completely dominated the table on the way to his WSOP bracelet. |
 Vanessa Selbst won the Event #19 bracelet today. She took this particular Championship in a manner that would have brought a wicked little smile to the face of Moe the bully from the Simpsons or those Cobra Khan kids from the film the Karate Kid. She went out and picked on all the stacks that were small and weaker than her own. Unlike when antagonist Johnny Lawrence kicked the tail of "Danilesan", there was no shabbily dressed karate master to save their tournament lives. She simply collected their chips and used their tiny stacks to cobble together an insurmountable chip lead. |
 Event #18 ($5,000 No Limit Deuce-to-Seven Draw) was like watching a poker version of the old show Battle of the Network Stars. This wasn’t because the final table contestants had to battle in the tug of war against Lou Ferrigno, but rather because everyone at the final table was a recognizable celebrity in the sport of poker. The last seven people left to battle for the championship were Erick Lindgren (who has already won a bracelet this year), David Benyamine, Tony G, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, Jeffrey Lisandro, and Tom Schneider. |
 If there is any truth to the whole bit about there being no fury like that of a woman scorned, this might be a good day to stay out of the path of Anh Le. During Event #15 ($1,000 Ladies No Limit Holdem World Championship) she battled back from a two to one chip deficit during the heads up play against Svetlana Gromenkova. Eventually she had nearly doubled up on Svetlana, and the Championship was just about within reach. But after that things went the way that Gromenkova was crowned this year’s ladies champion. |
 First of all, if your nickname is "Pumper", chances are you are either a fuel dispersal engineer (you know, that guy who fills your car with gas) or your profession involves some sleazy jazz music and fruit rollup underwear. There is nothing in this name that screams, "Hey, this guy can play some serious poker!" Well despite the handicap of a rather silly moniker, Duncan "Pumper" Bell showed some world class poker skill, as well as ran a clinic on how to play with the lead as he took Event #13 ($2,500 No Limit Holdem) Championship. |
 Anyone who remembers the Saturday Nigh Live character Leon Phelps (The Ladies Man), knows that Mr. Phelps would have gone into synaptic shock today if he saw the parade of poker’s finest female players taking their seats for the WSOP Ladies event. This particular tournament has become a popular tradition that is over three decades long. While an event is exclusive to the XX chromosome set, the poker action is of a quality that would make the best male players underdogs to reach the final table. |
 Event #5 ($1,000 No Limit Holdem with Rebuys), eventually managed to crown a winner, but for a while those participating in the final table seemed content to treat each other like a Pit Bull’s chew toy. Steve Gross and Jamie Rosen both went on tandem Kamikaze runs during the fifth hand of the final table. Lyric Duveyoung took this opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, and eliminated both players. |
 Day 2 of Event #5 looked like a sort of Roman arena where hungry, 500 lb lions would be pitted against the French Olympic skating team. Over 30 players were eliminated in the first hour of play. Among the dead and dying was Phil Hellmuth, who will now have to wait a little longer for that 12th bracelet. Sorel Mizzi, Clonie Gowen, and Phil Ivey also joined him on the rail. Among the people still kicking in this one are Daniel Negreanu, Jeff Madsen, Michael Binger, and John Juanda. |
 When your nickname is Jesus, the comments about resurrection in the context of the rabbi/deity from Nazareth are obvious. Mr. Ferguson is actually more like his namesake in his ability to stubbornly get under the skin of people by simply not going away. As the contentious Event #2 continued, the bleary eyed competitors who were still reeling from an 18 hour marathon came back in an attempt to close out the tournament. Players were cut down pretty quickly initially, but Chris "Jesus" Ferguson managed to keep staving off elimination. Whether this gritty determination will be enough for him to actually win is another thing altogether, but at this moment you gotta admire the guy’s tenaciousness. |
 There was a pair of awards presentations going on Day 3 of the 2008 WSOP. The more high profile one was the MTV movie awards. Several miles away from this train wreck, a legitimate award was being handed out. Nenad Medic was the first person of the season to be awarded a World Series of Poker bracelet. Even though PokerStars team member Kathy Liebert to make the whole thing interesting showed some strength and managed to finish fourth after being shortstacked, Nenad eventually wound up heads-up against Andy Bloch and eventually eliminated him to take the first victory of the World Series of Poker. |
 There are a number of elderly people who have been fond of the old adage that "a change is as good as a rest". First of all, anyone who would take the position that a change of scenery is as good as some solid downtime has never known the simple pleasure of drinking half a bottle of NyQuil and watching the Teletubbies - that is the sort of experience that will not only leave a body well rested, but also profoundly changed and possibly brain damaged. Nobody would ever accuse Kathy Liebert of being brain damaged, but a change in team scenery seems to have paid off pretty well for her. |
 Athletes in most sports generally agree that the night before a big game it is best to abstain from alcohol or the type of activities with the opposite sex that could result in child support payments. Poker players don’t seem to have figured out this aspect of competing yet, and the night before the World Series of Poker can make Mardi Gras look like a Mary Kay party. So seeing as many of the competitors (and the media for that part) are hung over, over tired, with somebody occasionally curled up in the fetal position on the floor of the Amazon room whispering "Can’t sleep... clowns will eat me" over and over again, is it any surprise that at the end of Day 1 it is a cool headed former Israeli commando who is in the chip lead? |
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