At the World Series of Poker, they announce the event and coveted bracelet winners and then play the national anthem of the country they come from. Play stops at all the cash games and the players stand and remove their hats. When an American won, my table stood with their hands over their hearts and sang. I looked out over that vast sea of poker players and was overcome by emotion. The song always gives me tingles but there was also a love and astonishment at how wonderful the playing conditions have become for this sport. Yes, it is a sport.
The players’ manners are terrific today compared to the past. Johnny Moss was known for being abusive to dealers. Puggy Pearson was worse. He pissed on one once. Another Hall of Famer, Joe Bernstein, bit a dealer.
I cannot sing enough praise for the poker management of Harrah’s. I had long conversations with Bill Sattler, Director of Poker, and aslo Jake Reville, Cathy Klufer, and Carrie Jacobs. For twenty years, I taught management subjects at Texas Tech. The magnificent professionalism of Harrah’s management makes me wish I could go lecture on how great they are. I played in the cheap no limit where you only buy $300. I’ve never lost at the Rio, but only played there seven times. I’m not trying to beat the best in the world anymore. I’m too old.
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Lisandro’s stack with four players left in $2,500 Razz.
This really was a big one … beyond the coolness of seeing a guy dominate an entire variant of poker (a la Hellmuth/Hold’em), here’s more from Nolan on the significance of Jeff Lisandro’s three bracelets in the month of June in 7-stud Hi, 7-stud Hi-Lo, and 7-stud Lo-Lo … and how it compares to similar accomplishments in bigger and smaller years past:
More on Jeffrey Lisandro’s Win (Historical Implications) —
· Lisandro became only the fifth player in WSOP history to win three gold bracelets within a single year. The other four players to accomplish this feat were:
Puggy Pearson (1973)
Ted Forrest (1993)
Phil Hellmuth (1993)
Phil Ivey (2002)
· Lisandro has a reasonable chance to become the first-ever four-time gold bracelet winner (single year) in WSOP history. The closest any player has ever come to accomplishing this feat was Phil Hellmuth in 1993 when he finished 1st, 1st, 1st, and 2nd in four events. Lisandro still has 14 more events to set a new record — with 10 gold bracelets remaining on this year’s schedule in Las Vegas, plus four more events in WSOP-Europe to be played in September.
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Ya gotta love poker history – those great moments that are more than just statistics but interesting stories. Okay, you don’t have to love it, but can you at least be mildly amused?
Tonight, Blair Hinkle won Event 23 at the WSOP, the $2K NLHE tournament. Less than two weeks ago, Grant Hinkle won Event 2, the $1,500 NLHE. You guessed it – they are brothers. Their mother was in the audience for both victories. The only other brothers in the history of the WSOP to each win bracelets were Puggy Pearson and J.C. Pearson, but theirs were 21 years apart. The Hinkle bros were the first to ever do it in the same year.
In other brother news, Robert and Michael Mizrachi tried to both advance to the “elite eight” round tonight in the World Championship of Heads-Up NLHE, and though Robert defeated his opponent, Michael was unable to squash Vanessa Selbst and wasn’t able to move on. While ESPN and other media outlets were disappointed at the outcome, the focus of the night is now solely on the bracelet-winning Hinkle brothers.
Congratulations to the Hinkle family… Momma Hinkle, you’re next!
