Our varsity captain was one of two Team ‘Ati players to cash for 4x his buy-in on his first event of the Series.
Team Pokerati is off to quite the fine start … and we I haven’t even gotten everyone their patches yet! (Required to wear upon making the money; my bad this time — no one has to run laps.)
While Harris took home nothing valuable Day 1 experience in his first $1k of 2010, the Arizona contingent showed up in force for the $1,500 O8B. Team members Pat Poels and Julie Schneider checked in, while Tom Schneider and Robert Goldfarb both mid-cashed. 81 total made the money, with Tom and Robert finishing 32nd and 29th, respectively, for $6,128 paydays.
But the real Team Pokerati powerhouse emerging right from the summer git-go comes from our JV squad and Toothless Bob. I hope we’ll be hearing/talking more about him as the Series goes along, because he’s a great guy and an inspirational amateur … and he showed he is ready to tear it up playing the non-Rio WSOP offshoots.
JV All-Star Toothless Bob – thus far the winningest player to don the upside-down spade in 2010.
Bob’s a 60something Vietnam vet and retired security guard who came out to Vegas content living on social security, VA benefits, and low-stakes grinding. You may recall my drive out here with him, when Pokerati relocated its headquarters from Dallas to Las Vegas. Alas, the economy tanked and jobs disappeared as he learned the hard way he couldn’t beat the rake playing 3-6 limit. And then he had the problem with the Golden Nugget and his teeth, or lack thereof. (That’s a whole ‘nother story for another time.)
Anyhow, after heading back to Dallas to unretire (perhaps a bit with his tail between his legs, but always with his head up!) Bob eventually made it back to Vegas about six months ago, and says this time he’s staying for good. He’s still recovering from some pretty serious surgery, however, as less than a month ago, doctors finally removed a football-size cancerous tumor from his gut. But looking to re-find his joie de vivre, Bob entered Event #2 in the Binion’s Poker Classic — a $160 NL.
More…
Another guy you may see representin’ at the tables: Pat Poels. Pat, of course, is the only two-time bracelet winner on the team. (Tom is just a “Friend of Pokerati” for now, while we haggle over contractual obligations.)
Not sure what Pat’s playing’ in now … probably $1,500 HORSE. He tried to qualify for the $50k — got close in some super-sats a coupla times, engaging in three chops for about $15k — but spent about $12k to win said $15k … so in the end, his satellite success just wasn’t enough to justify making up the difference.
Pat is a casino host at Casino Arizona and thinks he will be able to sneakily kick major ass in the $500 Casino Employee’s event (Event #55, starting July 7).
UPDATE: Pat was playing $1k PLO at Binion’s. Busted out about 20 minutes ago (@ 8:30 pm).
The Venetian was on to something when they created their Deep Stack Extravaganza series of tournaments. Not so shockingly, the low-stakes masses flocked to these events where you could compete against sizable fields will skill-rewarding starting stacks for hundreds, as opposed to thousands, of dollars.
This year, several casinos with an obvious love for poker tried something similar … but not all have found the same results. In fact, the Venetian itself was apparently struggling to fill their tables earlier this WSOP. A sign that, damn, poker really is waning? Not exactly …
The Caesar’s Palace MegaStack tournament series was giving more chips per dollar-buy-in than the Venetian … and lo and behold they took all their players. So the Venetian has reportedly responded by adding 2,500 more chips to their own Deep Stacks … and lo and behold, the players returned.
Meanwhile, downtown, the two big tournament series (they apparently call a series of tourneys “festivals” in Europe … I like that!) are the Grand Series of Poker at the Golden Nugget, and the Binion’s Poker Classic. Upon a quick spot-check at Binion’s $110 Seniors event yesterday, they seem to be doing fine. They are in their second year of doing this, of course, whereas the Golden Nugget is in their first … and struggling (with or without Montel Williams). Apparently several of their megasatellites have had less than two tables worth of runners, and don’t make … and a far cry from true “sit n gos” … even the single-table satellites are taking upwards of three hours to fill.
I don’t have full numbers on any of these events … but that’s the basic gist on summertime mini-WSOP’s:
Caesar’s — kick-ass according to all reports
Venetian — maybe not as good as before, but still pretty sweet
Binion’s — Binion’s is Binion’s; there’s always good tournament action even if some players steer clear of the high likelihood of an opponent spitting on the floor
Golden Nugget — tiny fields=tiny payouts; better luck next year?
2+2 has a great thread running down the daily Las Vegas tourney schedule all summer long.
