Re: Poker (Biz) by the Numbers
by Dan Michalski, Oct 7, 2007 | 9:08 pm
Like the US Poker Championship, the Ultimate Bet Aruba Classic lost its TV deal (with the WPT) … Have a look at how its field size has changed over the years:
2002 – ??
2003 – ??
2004 – 647 players (Eric Brenes d. Layne Flack)
2005 – 647 players (Freddy Deeb d. Josh Schlein)
2006 – 512 players (Devin Miller d. “JohnnyBax”)
2007 – 548 players (“TravestyFund” d. Jim Mordue)
Kevin Mathers says:
October 8th, 2007 at 3:51pm
2002’s UB event was broken down to an “amateur” and pro tournament, with the two winners playing each other for the title (Juha Helppi beat Phil Gordon).
2003’s UB’s Aruba Classic had 436 entrants (Erick Lindgren beat Daniel Larsson).
Kevin…
DanM says:
October 8th, 2007 at 5:45pm
Ahh, thanks much Kevin. Who knew? (Well I mean I guess you did, but still.)
Interesting concept, by the way, of having the pro vs. amateur final match-up. Curious why they abandoned it.
Kevin Mathers says:
October 8th, 2007 at 10:09pm
Some interesting notes about the first Aruba event. The “amateur” event (with about 100 who qualified either online or in Aruba) played down to a final table, which included Kathy Liebert, were playing for 50k. The professional final table was supposedly a $250k winner take all freeroll with 9 known pros. If you check out the RGP (rec.gambling.poker) archives, you’ll see there was much controversy if UB actually paid the 250k.
Kevin…