The rules have been known for less than 24 hours, but opinions on said regulations are already coming in. Gambling law expert I. Nelson Rose opines that nothing has changed. Some on 2+2 mention that the UIGEA allows you to cash out from online sites. Rick Alm of the Kansas City Star believes that the rule accidentally legalizes online intrastate gambling.
You can’t’ tell from the groovin’ tunes in the background, but Pauly y yo are in the PT Theater as the heads-up battle is just one hand from completion — and I’m suffering from severe WSOP separation anxiety tech tilt as Pokerati goes offline at a fairly critical time, presumably at the hands of loyal Tao of Pokerati listeners. (Bastards.) From there we speculate on the future of the WSOP’s relationship with Milwaukee’s Best Light, particularly in light of a pretty major biz merger we missed during the start of the regular WSOP.
Book 4: WSOP Final Table
Episode 4.13: Web Player Down! 4:53
It’s not quite 60 Minutes … in fact, it’s closer to 73 minutes. Absolute Poker/Ultimate Bet honcho Paul Leggett speaks with the CBC’s (Canadian Broadcast Company) Susan Reisler for an extremely detailed and stoic Q&A. I can tell you I’m very suspicious. This looks like an infomercial to me. (The apparent title of the show is simply “Poker” — I wasn’t aware of that investigative journalism news program.) Though she gets into all the controversial issues — and even the inbred nature of AP/UB/Tokwiro/Norton/Kahnawake — there’s no follow-up to anything that might sound peculiar (like the inbred nature of AP/UB/Tokwiro/Norton/Kahnawake) … she just allows him to state the facts and timelines, as if he were giving a legal deposition under questioning from his own attorney.
CONFIRMED: This is indeed a production by Tokwiro Enterprises, aka AP/UB. Anyone wanna wager on how many attorneys were standing off-camera to keep all commentary in legal line?
Sorry if I sound cynical. Really, it’s an admirable effort from Paul Leggett, the guy Annie Duke stands so strongly behind. Via the mock news program format, he addresses just about any question any of us have had about the whole Black Sox of Poker sitch. Kudos to you, Mr. Leggett, seriously, and thanks for finally coming forward with so much candid info. Personally, I’m starting to see your point of view on all this … and there were only a few questions where your answers made me wonder why Ms. Reisler didn’t follow up with: “But don’t you think that sounds fucked up?”
Click here for the entire 9-part library … bonus points if you can find the point where Leggett says “We were the victim here.”
Also check out the vid below, where Annie Duke speaks her mind on why she’s so loyal and has so much faith in AP/UB security … right down to algorithms and dealing with bots … and be sure to watch 4 minutes and 10 seconds in, where Reisler does her 60 Minutes style wrap-up: Everything is safe and secure, and Russell Hamilton is the Ultimate Bad Guy — he’s not part of Tokwiro and is in really big trouble if they can ever get their hands on him.
[Cue neoclassical new-age healing music.]
NOTE: KafkaCR? That’s the new YouTube video uploader’s name … OK, the CR is for Costa Rica … but Kafka? The Jewish-Bohemian novelist who, according to Wikipedia, wrote about “troubled individuals in a nightmarishly impersonal and bureaucratic world”?
Oh, wait … I get it … Metamorphisis! Very clever project name, whether intentional or not.
Pauly and I discuss what goes into becoming a WSOP final-final table dealer, his crazy series of prop bets with Otis, Lou the Dealer’s up-close observations about the heads-up action (both were nervous, and Peter Eastgate kept messing up his bets in early hands), and the Linda Tran vs. Jena Phillips controversy, both of us unaware that Lou (my pick) would end up winning the side-action on who deals the final hand a few hours later.
Episode 4.12: Dealer or No Dealer? 3:31
Hmm, I spent some comment time below advocating for more-live poker … but upon reading this story in the New York Times about the end of the poker boom (by J-school classmate Steve Freiss), I learned something new that kinda gets in the way of the vision I was pimping:
ESPN plans to edit a two-hour show about the final two days of play, which will be broadcast on Tuesday at 9 p.m. Eastern time. (Nevada law prohibits broadcasting live gambling events in progress.)
OK, crap … laws. Not sure how that applies to boxing and MMA fights (which are shown relatively live and can still be bet on) … but regardless, it seems LIVE and ESPN do not work well together with poker. I guess that leaves us the internet (or maybe satellite?)?
One other interesting thing to note about the story above: It ran in the Fashion & Style section — not sports, not business, not even entertainment and TV. I guess we can only hope that poker outlasts the popularity of Ed Hardy T-shirts.
I’m curious what y’all thought about the big-hype show last night. I enjoyed the hands we did see — because really, this final table probably featured some of the best pure poker of any main event sit-n-go I’ve seen since I started following poker five years ago. Not sure how well that came across.
The Craig Marquis bustout hand really was incredible … that woulda been a good time for ESPN to show the audience, not just the players … because really, the whole audience was on pins-and-needles. Even we cynical media types temporarily forgot about our jobs and became true fanboys, just waiting for that devestating river card. (To some extent, poker fans are a little bit like NASCAR viewers, not wanting to see but kinda sorta waiting for an amazing crash.)
Overall, I thought ESPN did a better job covering the whole of the World Series better than any year prior. But the final table was a little disappointing … I give it a B-. But hey, I’m always very forgiving the first go-round … you learn so much from doing something once. I look forward to seeing what they come up with next year.
A few more random thoughts about the whole experience:
For those that want to read it, head over to the Federal Reserve website.
The final rule goes into effect January 19, 2009 with compliance by December 1, 2009.
Update: could a rule passed during the days of Newt Gingrich be the savior to the poker player?
A message from WPA Founder Jesse Jones which floated into my email account (among others) earlier this week:
WPA FOUNDER MESSAGE
I founded the WPA in November 2005 with $100,000 of personal funds as a non-profit association. The mission was to represent tournament poker players worldwide and establish uniform tournament rules, procedures, structures, and payouts; and to improve playing conditions for players. In June 2006 a WPA booth at the WSOP for six weeks saw 80 professionals pay $1,000 each as Founding Members and approximately 800 others join as regular members. In March 2007 an initial Board of Directors was elected by the membership. I was elected Chairman by the board. During the 2007 WSOP the WPA booth saw an additional 50 professionals become Founding Members and approximately 350 others join. During the first two years I worked countless hours to introduce and gain support for the WPA and had umpteen conversations with poker pros and poker related businesses all the while playing in major events around the globe.
Because of my health issues with voice and other physical problems from prior throat cancer I requested the Vice Chairman to chair all board meetings. During 2007 I served on the Executive Committee. Some of the accomplishments of 2007 include the formation of an Ethics Code, revision of the website, formation of basic rules, donation of the WSOP booth space by Harrahs, planning of the first WPA tournament and annual meeting with an educational conference.
A comment from the USAToday.com sports editor regarding commentors complaints about the “spoiler” of the WSOP Main Event winner in the headline:
To our readers:
We regret offending the handful of commenters who believe we should either not be reporting on the outcome of a news event like the World Series of Poker, or should have dumbed-down the headline so as to not give away the outcome on the Sports front page. However, we believe you are in the minority.
The traffic to the site today — in which the coverage of the World Series of Poker has received more page views than any other story in Sports — suggests the majority of readers are interested in knowing the outcome now. We confront a similar issue every two years with the Olympics, in which some users suggest we are ruining their evening by covering the outcome of news as it happens instead of letting them learn who won by watching television’s tape-delayed coverage. In both cases we feel we are serving the greater good with immediate coverage.
In this day and age, in which information is available everywhere and much of it instantaneously, it is almost impossible for a news organization to NOT report news when it knows it — because someone else will. Indeed, USA TODAY is not the only news organization reporting the outcome of the final table. Fox, CBS, Yahoo, every Website that subscribes to the Associated Press, radio, TV… even ESPN itself has coverage of who won. Unless you get your sports news from www.headinthesand.com, and only that site, how were you planning to make it through the day consuming news and information without stumbling upon the final table outcome? If USA TODAY does not tell you who won, we know that most users will just go elsewhere to find out. Not every user wants to wait, and not every user plans to watch it on tape-delayed television.
Similarly, we would be at a competitive disadvantage to tell users in our headline that the event is over without revealing who won. While some users may have entered our site at our homepage or Sports front and discovered the news, almost half of our traffic these days comes from search engines — people who increasingly start at Google or Yahoo and type in search terms. The more specifics we get into our headlines, including the name of the winner, the more likely we can attract the audience that is searching for that news.
It’s not the same as revealing the outcome of a book or a movie. That’s pure entertainment. This is entertainment too, but it’s also news.
As to the issue of whether poker coverage belongs in Sports or not — we can debate all night long whether poker should be considered a sport. We take no position on that. By placing it here, we are merely indicating that people who follow sports, moreso than other sections of USA TODAY, are most likely to be interested in the World Series of Poker.
Peter Eastgate won it. Age 22. New Great Dane. It’s too late, of course for the newspapers (East Coast, at least) to get the results into the paper … so you’ll have to watch it plausibly live on ESPN!
(Actually, I suspect a few midwestern papers, at least, will be able to get something in at the last moment — or they’ll just use the internet … bummer that it didn’t go a bit longer?)
A few notes from the coronation:
The Poker Royalty agents exchanged little smiley fist bumps upon Eastgate’s victory. Not sure what that means — but I gotta think a young online Scandi pro has got to be relatively marketable.
Where’s Norman Chad? Nick Geber is taking on the role as post-game interviewer.
Eastgate doesn’t speak fantastic English, and though the Danes will likely be taking some hefty tax (an issue broached by Geber), he can still probably afford a lot of Rosetta Stone. The Danish early-career Dirk Nowitzki of Poker? OK, bad comparison … but it’s late, people are tired, and, frankly, there’s kinda an eerie calm in the Penn & Teller Theater, as the enormity of Eastgate’s achievement still seems to be setting in.
A champion is in our midst, and he is the youngest WSOP main event champion ever. Congratulations, Peter Eastgate from Odense, Denmark!
Both players got in cheap to see the flop of 2d-Ks-3h. It was Eastgate who bet out, and Demidov check-called. The 4c hit on the turn, which prompted another check from Demidov. Eastgate bet again, and Demidov then raised to 6 million. Eastgate called, and when the 7s came on the turn, Demidov pushed all-in. Eastgate called instantly with Ad-5s for the wheel. Demidov’s 4h-2h wasn’t good enough, and he was out in second place with $5,809,595 in prize money.
Peter Eastgate became the 2008 WSOP main event champion at only 22-years old, breaking Phil Hellmuth’s record to become the youngest champion ever. He was subsequently awarded the WSOP bracelet and the $9,152,416 that accompanied it.
But hey, let’s keep this on the down-low, huh? Since this is semi-live and will be aired on ESPN in less than 24 hours, keep this to yourselves until it the TV broadcasts the news. Thanks!
There’s less than a 4 million chip difference. In history … I think this will go down as one of the best-played final tables in WSOP history, or at least 21st century WSOP main event final tables.
We’ll see … I could be wrong. Can’t wait to see some of the hole cards.
If you’re just tuning in and/or need something to pass the time between episodes of Tao of Pokerati … there is a live audio broadcast of what’s going on at the felt — hosted by Nick Geber, who is joined now by Lacey Jones and Daniel Negreanu. Click here to tune in. (With cool chipstack/blind ticker on display, too.)
Also at WSOP.com … Commish Jeffrey Pollack is back to blogging.
UPDATE: Daniel is talking about Eric Morris’ “ass cleavage”. Yikes.
ALSO: This slightly delayed (10 minutes maybe?) audio coverage is really good. Some Russians have written in saying it’s allowing them to follow their man Ivan Moneymaker/Demidov.
More than two hours into heads-up play, most of the crowd remains in their seats, despite discovering how slow and uneventful live poker can be at times. Some other points of interest:
~From the time the final table began yesterday, this just turned into the longest WSOP main event final table in history, beating out the 14-hour 2005 table which went to Joe Hachem.
~Dennis Phillips and Darus Suharto are in the audience to sweat their former opponents and see this thing come to a conclusion.
~Reportedly, Erick Lindgren’s name was misspelled on his engraved Harley.
~Demidov came on strong tonight by evening up the chip stacks, but within the last hour, Eastgate not only regained his lead but became the first player to leap over the 100 million chip mark. Demidov just dipped below the 30 million mark and can’t seem to find a spot to make a comeback…yet.
E-Dog had the Player of the Year title locked up in July, but the honor and gift was officially bestowed upon him tonight, just prior to the start of the WSOP main event heads-up match.
In a very brief ceremony, Jeffrey Pollack recognized Erick Lindgren for winning his first World Series bracelet this year, which he did in the $5K Mixed Hold’em event, and a total of four cashes in various events, two being final tables (4th place in the $5K NL 2-7 Draw Lowball and 3rd in the $50K H.O.R.S.E. event). It was a stellar summer for Erick, and he certainly earned the POY award.
While there are likely tournament entries to various WSOP events included in his prize, Erick was also presented with a new custom-engraved Harley-Davidson motorcycle. He spoke very briefly to say that he was honored to receive the award, being in the company of many great past winners, and was happy to see the theater packed with poker fans tonight.
Congrats, Erick!
The famed ringside announcer did the “shuffle up and deal” at the start of today’s heads-up. It was pretty entertaining stuff, as you could tell that Jack Effel (who introduced him) has been practicing emulating him … and also amusing the way Buffer treated chips as if they were body mass.
Pauly and I have some side-action … on which dealer is going to deal the final hand.
I’ve got homegirl Linda Tran, of course (who goes on in the third down) and Lou the old white guy.
He’s got Jena Phillips (2008 WSOP Dealer of the Year, who’s on now, in the first level), and Anthony Shawn the black guy.
All bets are off if the young white guy ends up pitching the winner/loser.
We’re thinking of additional side action based on whether or not the last hand is a bad beat, bad call, or a straight-up winner with cards falling the way they’re supposed to.
UPDATE: We’ve learned only three dealers are in play — Jenna, Linda, and Lou. Advantage Michalski.
ALSO UPDATE: Pauly and Otis have way more prop bets going on the types of hands that will win and lose the money, whether or not the opening hands of levels will be walks, etc. This prop bet is merely a little extra action for Dr. Baller — but hey, I don’t mind competing on a JV level in this world! (This world of final table heads-up action prop bets; not this world Earth.)
I wasn’t the biggest supporter of the WSOP delayed final table. I had many reasons to be against it, but in the end, I assumed it wouldn’t be popular with the fans. I was about as right-on there as I have been with most of my prop bets.
The Penn & Teller Theater is packed tonight. Sure, there are a handful of friends and family members of the Demidov and Eastgate in the building, along with a smattering of poker pros like Chris Ferguson, Jamie Gold, Jeff Madsen, Chris Moneymaker, “Miami” John Cernuto, Cyndy Violette, and Erick Lindgren, but the vast majority of this crowd filling the place to (or dang close to) capacity are simply fans of the game. They’ve come here to see history on giant plasma screens, and despite not being able to actually see the table with their own eyes, they seem happy enough to simply be here.
Even Erick Lindgren, upon accepting his Player of the Year award before play began, noted that he was happy to see the theater filled with fans, though he sarcastically wondered aloud why they all came to see poker.
I’m going to go out on a short limb here and say that this delayed WSOP final table is a success. Consider this eating my words for being so quick to dismiss the idea many months ago.
When the security guys came out with the money in silvery aluminum briefcases — 9 million semi-real American dollars — a few of us in media row joked about telling the story that the guys left at the final table had decided to chop up the remaining prize pool and play for it Deal or Ne Deal style. (Ha ha, we are so damn funny.) But on this episode of Tao of Pokerati, Pauly and I take the issue a bit more seriously, and break down what’s really at stake for Ivan and Peter — who became friends recently playing on the EPT on PokerStars’ dime — beyond just the $3.34 million in prize differential between 1st and 2nd.*
Episode 4.11: Deal or No Deal? 5:33
*I don’t care what anyone says … that’s not enough money to justify an even chop, I don’t believe. And kudos to tourney organizers for breaking down the prize pool in such a way that it mathematically would mathematically make little sense (on the surface, at least).
Before things got underway here ate the final table, I was listening to an old podcast appearance I did with Andrew Feldman on ESPN’s The Poker Edge. We were talking about the action at the end of Day 2B, and discussing what kinda impact a weird blip in scheduling might have in outcome: There was a Day off between Day 1D and Day 2A, but not between Day 2B and Day 3. That was a little strange, because had the day off been between the former, then everyone woulda gotten a day off … however, because they took that break when they did … players who survived on 2B had to less than a half a day of rest before the fields converged.
Anyhow, I decided to take a look at the starting days for all of the November Nine, and while this is hardly enough data for a scientific sample, there was a noticeable difference between players who started early (Days 1A and 1B) and late (Days 1C and 1D). Here’s the breakdown:
Craig Marquis — 1A, 2A
Chino Rheem — 1A, 2A
Scott Montgomery — 1A, 2A
Ivan Demidov — 1B, 2A
Ylon Schwartz — 1B, 2A
Darus Suharto — 1B, 2A
Dennis Phillips — 1C, 2B
Peter Eastgate — 1C, 2B
Kelly Kim — 1D, 2B
As per the PPA and Al D’amato’s request, I made my call to the Feds to weigh in on tonight’s planned attempts to strengthen the UIGEA and extend its reach. The call kinda reminded me of calling PartyPoker Customer Service back in the day, with less of an Indian accent, of course … I can only hope someone was listening.
Really, what a night we have in store … heads-up between two Europeans (one from a Socialist country, and another who was born into Communism) for the lion’s share of 14 million American dollars — and, of course, as said by Drew Barrymore two years ago, the World Championship of Poker! At the same time, the remnants (and some new blood) of the anti-democratic-process insurgents pro-UIGEA forces will be trying to further remove the poker industry’s foothold here in the country that gave birth to the game.
You gotta wonder … Is this part of that huge transfer of wealth out of America we’ve been hearing so much about?
(And if anyone knows where we might be able to follow this — right now I’ll be checking the PPA website, but maybe something’s on Cspan? — please let us know.)
Either that or Peter Hellmuth. As we wind down the day yesterday and look forward to tonight’s action, that’s what’s at stake — either we’ll have a new youngest main event champion ever, or the Ruskies will have a new national hero. Meanwhile, Dan gets his facts wrong, but does Pauly even care when he can’t see the final f-in table?
Episode 4.10: Ivan Moneymaker 3:29
Ylon Schwartz check-raises with nothing into the nuts of Peter Eastgate, and Pauly and I begin the countdown and begin speculating on what two Eurokids (and maybe even Dennis Phillips) will mean for poker/PokerStars … and where poker is in Europe these days. But are Russians dead money or just scary? Maybe a little bit of both? Plus advanced blogging strategy by Dr. Pauly.
Episode 4.9: The Novembrists 5:31
Upon reaching the Final Four, Pauly coins Dennis Phillips as “Mr. F-in’ Rollercoaster”, and from there we look at the strategy in play, make assessments of the time (and playing styles) it will take to get to the final two, and officially declare victory for PokerStars.
Episode 4.8: Livin’ on a Prayer 4:57
Right now, the Supreme Court is (re)considering connotations of the F-word when mentioned in passing on TV. That seems particularly interesting — at least in terms of the perspective it provides — as I’m reading what Bill Poser has to say about the Kentucky domain seizure cases. Poser is a linguistics expert who contends that Gov. Steve Beshear’s claims have no teeth, because of a linguistics problem treating a domain name like a “gambling device” … which he contends simply holds no legal water.
In addition, this non-poker blogger says the case has problems because:
* Many people like internet gambling.
* Many people think that it is none of the State’s business.
* The State’s action is not the result of a consistent anti-gambling policy but is pure rent-seeking. Kentucky is a gambling-friendly state. It is just trying to reduce the competition.
* Quite a few of the domain names are not in fact associated with internet gambling sites.
* The court’s ex parte order violates due process.
* The court does not have jurisdiction over either the businesses or the domain name registrars.
* The court’s action violates the Commerce Clause of the Constitution.
For those of you who care about the outcome of this case — and really, we all should, regardless of how we feel about poker, because it potentially impacts anyone who uses the F-ing internet — check out the rest of what he has to say.
Shit-shit-shit, dirty politics man … in play like right now! Scary and shameful stuff. Floor!
From the International Business Times:
Bush Administration Moves Forward on Midnight Rulemaking to Force Banks to Ban Internet Gambling
NFL Lobbyist Turned Political Appointee Accused of Improper Involvement in Rush to Issue Regulations
WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Bush Administration is working to finalize regulations to enforce a ban on Internet gambling despite concerns raised by leading financial service companies that the regulations are ambiguous, burdensome and not likely to stop millions of Americans from gambling online. It is expected that the regulations, issued to implement the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA), will be finalized at the last minute before they can be stopped by the Obama Administration - an orchestrated move being linked to a former National Football League (NFL) lobbyist now working in the Bush Administration. The NFL has actively campaigned against clarifying UIGEA and has opposed legislation introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) to regulate online gambling in order to protect consumers and generate billions for critical State and Federal programs.
“At a time when the financial system is in crisis, it is irresponsible for the Bush Administration to rush through a fundamentally flawed regulation that even representatives of the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve have stated on record is unworkable,” said Jeffrey Sandman, spokesman for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative. “We are skeptical of the Administration’s motivation to get this done at the very last minute, especially given the apparent involvement of a NFL lobbyist turned Bush appointee.”
We’ve been burned by these moves before, and the outgoing administration is trying again to strengthen the laws against online gambling/poker … thereby making our efforts in trying to undo them even more difficult. While you’d think a simple call to the White House saying, “Dude, not cool,” would be enough to prevent this “midnight drop” from going down, politics doesn’t work that way.
But we are savvier than we were in 2006 … and Al D’amato and the PPA are rallying the troops to let them know the realities we face — like today! — so we, the poker citizenry, can try to put a stop to it. I know many of you are burned out on political activism regardless of what side of the election sidebets you fell on … but one more time … one more push … will go a long way toward making our lives easier in the future:
Just one week after a historic election the Poker Players Alliance is pitted in a fight to keep anti-Internet poker regulations from being enacted and we NEED YOUR HELP!
The current Administration is hastily finalizing a number of “midnight rules” before they leave office and the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) is on the list. See the 11/06 story in Dow Jones. Just like UIGEA was snuck into legislation in the dark of night in 2006, our opponents are again trying an 11th hour sneak job. We need you to help us expose and stop this reckless rulemaking.
Please call the U.S. Federal Reserve and tell them not to approve the UIGEA regulations — Consumer Complaints, 888-851-1920 or Public Affairs, 202-452-2955.
Tell them:
The federal agencies responsible for our nation’s economy should not be focused on Internet poker regulations.
- Finalization of the UIGEA rules will add additional burdens on our already crippled financial systems.
- Internet poker is a game of skill and form of recreation for millions of Americans; it should be exempted from the UIGEA.
- Please do not finalize the UIGEA regulations until their impact on our banking systems and average Americans has been fully studied.
Tell us how the call went by clicking here.
Your call will make a huge difference and will add the public’s voice to these last minute policy decisions our government is poised to make. We can’t stand idly by while they make decisions that will impact our right to play America’s card game. PLEASE CALL TODAY!
Proud to play,
Alfonse D’Amato, Chairman
Poker Players Alliance
It seems like just about everyone here is wearing a distinctively red St. Louis Cardinals hat … pretty cool … as the night goes on, you’re starting to see them all over the casino. And the way tons of these people have been getting them autographed by the pros, a la Dennis Phillips, you gotta wonder if you’re gonna see these hats speckling the fields in future WSOPs — letting opponents know they are one of Dennis’ peeps:
At this moment, Dennis Phillips is drawing dead with one card to come. That will be 3rd place for him — his boisterous crowd and his Red Hat Brigade are honoring him the way friends of someone who has just won $4.5 million should. (That’s Greg Raymer money.) Lots of applause.
Heads-up will be Ivan Demidov vs. Peter Eastgate (who stands to be the youngest player ever to win the main event).
Year of the European Young Guns, it turns out to be.
Most of the under bets, by the way, regarding time, win … except for Jen, who took the under on 10 pm. (What was she thinking!)
Chip Counts
Peter Eastgate - 79,425,000
Ivan Demidov - 57,800,000
Clearly anybody’s game. Russians vs. Scandis. I’m going with Demidov, though. As we know, the Russians were the ones that really made a showing at the 2008 WSOP, regardless of how tomorrow turns out. Scandis were like so 2007.
The cost of video poker at the Hooker Bar (in the Rio) has dropped — from a $1 minimum bet to 25 cents.
It’s over … at least in the minds of various online poker execs. With Scott Montgomery’s elimination in 5th place, there are now more Full Tilt players alive. It’s all PokerStars, and now, I guess, they’ll be having their primary … which is a little odd, seeing it after the general election.
Wow! It was an all-in moment, good instinct moment, and big whoop-tee-doo all in one.
Eastgate made the initial raise, and short-stacked Montgomery pushed all-in from the small blind. Eastgate called with pocket sixes, and Montgomery showed A-3 of diamonds.
Flop: Ac-Qs-4d
Ace for Montgomery gives him the advantage.
Turn: As
Trips are even better for Montgomery. And according to Jack Effel, Phillips folded a six, so there was only one out for the Scandi…
River: 6d
Oh yeah, the case six. The miracle six. The one-outer. Bam!
Montgomery left in fifth place with a little over $3 millie, and Eastgate jumps into a tight second position on the leaderboard. And Eastgate kept all of us in the media from falling asleep in our after-dinner comas. Thanks, Peter!
Dallas-to-Vegas transplant Linda Tran is one of five dealers dealing the final table. While there’s a wee-bit of hubbub from the usual featured-table dealers who weren’t invited to pitch … I know Linda is one of the best dealers I’ve ever sat/worked with, whether that was at charity tourneys in Dallas, or as a player in WSOP cash games in previous years. Kinda exciting to see her throwing Kems in such a big game — she’s earned it, imho.
She was at the Rio last night working with the TV table felt — something about the grain affecting the speed of the slide … and think about it, if she messes up here, sure, flipped cards and the like are part of the game, but still … can you imagine working on stage, in the spotlight, knowing if you make one of those mistakes that is inevitable … it potentially affects a player’s personal outcome by a million dollars or more? No pressure. 
NOTE: She’s on the felt now, and kept Ivan Demidov alive by not cracking his pocket kings (despite flopping a nut-flush draw for his opponent, who I believe was Scott Montgomery). Meanwhile, in the crowd, Dennis Phillips’ fans have started chanting college-hoops style: “Let’s - Go - Den - Nis - [clap] - [clap] -[clap][clap][clap]!”
UPDATE: Whoa!!!! A one outer-on the river, compliments of Linda, to knock out Scott Montgomery in 5th place. $3,096,768. (Still pretty good money — more than Moneymaker won.)
CURRENT CHIP COUNTS
Ivan Demidov — 49,100,000
Peter Eastgate - 47,635,000
Ylon Schwartz — 22,175,000
Dennis Phillips - 17,325,000
At dinner break, Dr. Pauly and I discuss Chino Rheem’s bustout interview and its political inspiration, along with PokerStars’ domination over Full Tilt. (Four Stars players left, one Full Tilter.) In fact, there’s even a rumor we start discuss about PokerStars’ intentions to start its own country — which would be theoretically feasible, and would probably have the best prisons.
Episode 4.7: Pokerstarzistan 2:04
Just after the dinner break, as food-induced comas were setting in, the restart of final table play was delayed for the Poker Hall of Fame inductions. Duane the tub, I’m dwowning “Dewey” Tomko and Henry Orenstein were announced as the 36th and 37th members.
The audience, many of whom became poker fans when their friends/family members made the final table in July, may not have understood the significance of the inductions, but they did appreciate Doyle Brunson introducing Tomko. Brunson shared some amusing stories about Tomko’s lack of worldliness, such as when he asked what language was spoken in England, but it was Brunson’s way of paying tribute to his long-time friend, also mentioning Tomko’s three WSOP bracelets, two main event runner up spots, and longest record of participation in the main event (35 years). Tomko then accepted his spot in the Hall of Fame with a thank-you speech to those who’ve supported him through the years.
Henry Orenstein wasn’t able to travel across the country to be in Vegas, but friend and associate Mori Eskandani gave an introduction and read a few words from Orenstein. It was mentioned that Orenstein was a Holocaust survivor, having made a life for himself after watching many of his family members murdered early in his life. (Yeow.) Though he has been successful in poker with a WSOP bracelet and other accomplishments under his belt, he is best known for his invention of the hole card camera that has made poker into the televise-able event that it is today. It was also mentioned that Orenstein is starting a charity organization to help professional poker players in need (not in need of a bankroll, as Eskandani joked). He’s starting the non-profit with $200K of his own funds and will be releasing details of the organization soon.
Congrats to them both on their accomplishments and induction tonight. Now, let’s play poker!
Camped out in the Milwaukee’s Best Light No Limit Lounge … “American Live Event Artist” Shawn David Baker has been furiously scribbling away like a courtroom illustrator … transforming the final table scene into his brand of art. Good Stuff! (You know, if you like pencils.)
I go rogue to bring you the bustout of David “Chino” Rheem — supposedly the most serious pro at the table, but also the guy with the most serious criminal record. Dude knows how to play hardball, though, as we’ve all seen him on ESPN get hella lucky to get here, and the (unconfirmed) word buzzing around the room is that he was a contract holdout with PokerStars, reportedly threatening not to wear his gear without more money attached to it. To be sure, much of this is just rumor second-hand from quasi-reliable sources, but on Tao of Pokerati — especially without Pauly to keep me in check and Benjo to keep it funny — does that really matter?
Episode 4.6: Poker Rogue 1:05
Players are off on dinner break … and the chip counts are nicely on display for all to see:
Ivan Demidov: 30,725,000
Peter Eastgate: 27,175,000
Dennis Phillips: 26,950,000
Ylon Schwartz: 20,475,000
Scott Montgomery: 20,300,000
Darus Suharto: 10,600,000
Damn, that’s tight poker. And I don’t mean tight tight … I mean close-tight.
Before dinner break, btw, Phil Hellmuth introduced Johnny Chan, and Hellmuth got more boos than Tiffany Michelle. He said, that’s OK, boo all you want … and the crowd that is at this point tired-drinky (think post-football game tailgate in college) obliged.
They were announcing a multi-year deal between the WSOP and ALL IN energy drink. Oy, I guess all I can say for now is that after going through my bajillion cases … I didn’t rebuy.
David “Chino” Rheem hasn’t had the best of days. After starting his trip to Vegas with some questionable logo decisions and seeming uncertainty about to follow through on a deal, it seemed that karma wasn’t on Chino’s side, and he knew it.
After going through the motions at the final table and holding back any emotions that may have indicated enjoyment, his A-K was busted by the A-Q of Peter Eastgate when a queen fell on the flop. Chino was escorted to the media portion of the evening where the first question aimed at the 7th place finisher was something like, “How are you feeling right now?” And reportedly, his response was, “Are you f**king serious?” A tirade ensued, and though he calmed down to answer some reasonable follow-up questions, Chino and his backers poker pro-filled entourage soon exited the Penn & Teller Theater.
Last Woman Standing Tiffany Michelle shows up and gets an unwarm reception from the crowd, perhaps inspiring her to play up her “bad girl” image? Oooh.
Episode 4.5: Boo Berry 4:18
The action picks up, with Craig Marquis and Kelly Kim busting out … Kim had
