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Steve Begleiter in Time Magazine

Comments (20)
by , Nov 3, 2009 | 6:18 am

Will a Wall Streeter Win Big at the World Series of Poker?

Good article. Semi-interesting guy. Neato that the writer is in Begleiter’s extended home game and therefore has a piece of him.

Overall, the press coverage seems more extensive this year than last … I’m predicting growth in ESPN (and Harrah’s) numbers. Not huge (except maybe in Europe), but noticeably needle-moving. The diverse and topical nature of each player in the November Nine class of 2009 likely has much to do with that.


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  • http://twitter.com/bjnemeth BJ Nemeth

    Again, none of this press would be happening without the November Nine format. Without the November Nine, you only get near this level of press with the winner — if he or she is interesting.

    Something to think about for those who swore that the November Nine format would destroy the World Series of Poker back when it was announced in May, 2008.

  • Lara

    The NY Post also gave him a full page in the past Sunday edition.
    http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/straight_to_the_top_KLtm9JkK5eGyE52OeNLL1O

    Lara

  • http://twitter.com/bjnemeth BJ Nemeth

    Two funny/interesting lines from the Time Magazine story —

    1. “He’ll call big raises and reraises with hands that no pro would play,” says pro Phil Hellmuth, who is coaching Shulman.

    I find that funny because Hellmuth is one of the tightest famous pros you’ll find. Other pros could legitimately say the same thing about Begleiter, but it’s funnier to me because it’s coming from Hellmuth. Gavin Smith’s analysis might be a little different.

    2. Big-time poker has had its share of successful amateurs in recent years, some of them simple garage gamblers with a dream of getting in a high-stakes game and, when they finally do, riding good cards and tight play to a money finish.

    “Garage gamblers”? Who plays poker in their garage? That seems to be a really stupid phrase that only came about because the writer likes alliteration. The New York Post article that Lara linked to above uses a much more appropriate phrase: “Begleiter was one of the better players on the suburban basement circuit.”

    None of this has anything to do with Begleiter, but for whatever reason, the writing made me laugh.

    An interesting I’ve-never-seen-this-before sidenote: Go to the New York Post article and select some text, paste it into a notepad or text file. It’ll give you the text you selected, along with a link to where the article first appeared. I hate DRM and similar non-standard formats, but this seems both appropriate and very cool to me.

  • http://benjodimeo.blogspot.com Benjo

    I interviewied Ludovic Lacay to get an opinion about everyone of the November Niners. He finished 16th and plays a much looser game than Phil Hellmuth. His assessment ? “Begleiter is by far the worst player at the final table”. Thereforre, absolutely anything can happen with this guy : a first place bust out, the title, or something in between.

  • http://twitter.com/bjnemeth BJ Nemeth

    Don’t get me wrong; I’m not defending Begleiter’s game in any way. I’m just laughing at Hellmuth’s assessment that “No pro would call raises with those hands.”

    I’ve picked Begleiter to finish in the bottom half of the final table.

  • Lara

    Lets hope he finishes well. Main stream media really likes him and in the end, I think he will bring more players to the game.

  • DanM

    Lara, with all due respect for your client, I will NOT be rooting for him. I’ll just be looking for good poker … and maybe some spectacular sideshows and collapses.

    I might be rooting for a fight or two to break out at the final table, however.

  • DanM

    BTW, new york post, too? i had heard rumors that he was dodging the NY media. Change of heart?

  • http://twitter.com/bjnemeth BJ Nemeth

    I’m not rooting against Begleiter, because he seems like a really nice guy. (I got to follow his play more closely when he went deep in the WPT Legends of Poker in August.) But I think the most likely players to win will be one of these four: Phil Ivey, Jeff Shulman, Eric Buchman, and Joe Cada. If you ran the final table 100 times, I think they would have a clear majority of the victories between them.

    I’ll be clearly, openly, and unapologetically rooting for Phil Ivey. So in that sense, I’ll be rooting against everyone else. If and when Ivey busts, I’ll switch my rooting interest based on who is left. (Probably Joe Cada, if he is still in it.)

  • Lara

    Dan, whoever told you that obviously was not informed. He is actually going to be on “Happy Hour” tonight on Fox Business and he also did New York Mag. This week he will also be doing another Fox show, CNBC and NBC news. He has always been willing to do mainstream stuff. Also, I want the person that wins to be willing to do media because that’s what brings new players in. A lot of the guys at the final table really aren’t willing to do it. I honestly could careless about “good poker”. That’s not necessarily what brings new players into the game.

  • http://twitter.com/bjnemeth BJ Nemeth

    I find it interesting that in a situation like this, where there are no clear loyalties based on regional loyalties or fan favorites (like team sports or purely skill-based sports like tennis or golf), we all have different reasons to root for different people.

  • DanM

    Yeah, I hear a lot of stuff from idiot sources. But I actually started to believe that rumor … it kinda made sense.

    While I semi-agree with Lara on the need for the guy who wins it to do media, I actually think the guy who might do the most for the game would be Darvin Moon … even if he says he has no intentions of doing media.

    As to rooting … placing bets on a guy can make it a little more fun.

  • Lara

    My only allegiance lies in rooting for one person to NOT win, because he is a giant POS. Other than that, I want whats best for the game.

  • DanM

    I would think you are allowed to blatantly root for any of your clients like all get-out. Especially when you can convince them they should buy the media pizza.

    :)

  • Kevin Mathers

    Lara,

    How can you talk about Antoine Saout like that? (j/k)

  • Lara

    Here’s Steve’s appearance on Fox Business today

    http://www.foxbusiness.com/happyhour/index.html

  • Lara

    Ill do my best to get him to buy you guys pizza :)

  • DanM

    nice job on all the friggin’ ink and airtime. good stories. good media outlets!

    but “begs” is no dennis phillips. we’d expect at least sushi from him. +wine if he gets third or better.

  • http://twitter.com/bjnemeth BJ Nemeth

    Sushi & Wine? Blech! I’ll stick with Dennis Phillips and pizza, thankyouverymuch.

    But kudos to Lara for doing an excellent job getting press coverage for Steven Begleiter!

  • http://twitter.com/bjnemeth BJ Nemeth

    Oh wait, I skipped past Lara’s “pizza” comment — I like the way she thinks! I’ll be happy with Steven Begleiter and pizza too.