Darvin Moon in the Washington Post
My favorite excerpt:
Moon started playing poker after giving up softball because, he says, “I got fat.” … Of course, in the slovenly melting pot of the poker room, having a half-watermelon for a gut doesn’t stand out, particularly not at the World Series, where players have been known to show up wearing animal costumes or dressed as Roman emperors.
LOL, “slovenly melting pot” … It’s funny because it’s true! fair description?
BTW, check out the comments on this piece … you’ll see at least a few WaPo readers question why they should even give a flip about this story.
Meanwhile, I can’t help but wonder if Moon isn’t a matter of weak-means-strong … both on the table and off. (I guess that’s one of the things we’ll be looking to find out at the final table, and the lead-up to it.)
Says Card Player magazine President Jeff Shulman, who will be sitting at the final table with Moon in November, albeit with 40 million fewer chips: “Darvin tries to say he’s not that good, he’s just an amateur who got lucky and ran really well for eight days. But at some point, you can’t say you’re just lucky. He was making good decisions.”
Kevin Mathers says:
October 5th, 2009 at 7:35am
Listening to his interviews on the Poker Edge and The Inside Deal, if he’s really trying the weak-means-strong angle, he’s running a pretty good act.
DanM says:
October 5th, 2009 at 7:37am
He’s so good he’s got himself convinced of the truth of what he says?
I’m predicting 4th place for Moon.
anonymous says:
October 5th, 2009 at 9:08am
Another guy who is getting sucked in by the limelight a la Dennis Phillips. I thought Dennis was still going to go back to his regular job. Hard to do when you’re travelling the world and you have your own radio show.
Who knows, this could have been Darvin’s playbook from the beginning…play hard to get, portray yourself as a regular Joe and build up the demand to maximize any deals. Even money that Darvin shows up with a online poker site patch.
Coming soon to a laptop near you….the Darvin Moon poker show…
Kevin Mathers says:
October 5th, 2009 at 10:29am
Considering he doesn’t want to be tied down to traveling the world that an online poker deal would involve, I don’t see it happening.
Darvin’s not going to do a poker show, period.
Vinny B. says:
October 5th, 2009 at 10:47am
Deniis Phillips is a joke. I read on I think it was WCP that Phillips walks around like he won the Main Event. Norman Chad made a similar comment last week. I don’t think it is a coincidence.
Kevin Mathers says:
October 5th, 2009 at 11:09am
WCP reported that he was allegedly following people into the bathroom to offer logo deals. Dennis is definitely the face of the 2008 November Nine, and is riding it for as long as he can.
sunny says:
October 5th, 2009 at 2:02pm
Dennis Phillips is the face of the 2008 WSOP Main Event, whether you like it or not. He was a great representative and his poker is much improved. He’s likable and outgoing, where Peter Eastgate was shy and reserved. It’s like the money vs the bracelet question. There’s two aspects since they delayed the final table. Dennis was the face and Peter was the bracelet winner.
The Darvin Moon story is simple, like him. Stop complicating it with your fantasies, people! He’s unlikely to win, unless he plays super tight and doesn’t get into any big hands until the end when he has to start playing. Wouldn’t it be funny if he showed up late and blinded off until a few were busted since he’s got enough chips to do so?
Chris C says:
October 16th, 2009 at 7:20am
Its a great story either way. He most likely will finish 4th or worse, but you never know. That’s why this tournament is so popular