Here’s a story I heard the other night … like much of what we report here, I have no idea whether or not it’s true. My source on this is generally reliable, and he heard it once-removed from some “online pro” who was in a bathroom stall at the Rio to overhear the following …
(And even if it’s totally made up, I’m sure there’s a funny joke in here somewhere … and Sam and Eskimo can consider it a public service graciously provided by Pokerati to let them know what kinda trash people may or may not be saying.)
So supposedly, just a few days ago, Sam Grizzle and Eskimo Clark were in the indoor bathroom outside the Amazon Room taking a leak during a break. Eskimo apparently asked Sam how he was doing, and vice versa … both grunted.
Then Eskimo asked, “You wanna trade 10 percent in this event?” (I believe it was a $1,500 NL) and Sam apparently agreed, saying, “Sure, why not?”
Sam then washed his hands and left, at which point another player said to Eskimo, “Hey Paul, did you just swap with Sam on the $1,500? He just busted out 10 minutes ago!”
At which point Eskimo responded, “That’s OK. I never even registered.”
[Rimshot!]
I still don’t know who won the WPT World Championship over at the Bellagio OK, now I do … I’m too caught up in the main event of the Venetian Deep Stacks … where it really is kinda interesting seeing seasoned pro Doug Lee (wow, remember when a WSOP Circuit event used to pay more than half a million? Me neither!) duking it out with relatively unknown tournament pro Eric Baldwin (“Basebaldy” online). They’ve been playing heads-up for nearly two four hours, with their stacks relatively even and each having more than 70 60 big blinds. Very real poker being played here … with an extra sigh of WSOP buy-in relief going to the winner. ($198k for 1st, $115k for second.)
Such a big game going on in the back corner of the Venetian poker room, and yet so few people seem to have a clue about the action taking place. (Floor staff gave up on calling the hand-for-hand action a couple hours ago.) Meanwhile, the nightly $120 (where Pokerati fave Adam Schacter is still alive with 6 remaining) has more railbirds.
A few interesting tidbits about the Deep Stacks main event:
— The underdog, Baldwin, has a bigger crowd watching, with 4 to 5 viewers, compared to Lee’s 0 to 1.
— Michael Skomac, the winner of February’s Venetian Deep Stacks main event, finished 4th.
— “Known” pros in the money today included Sam Grizzle (23rd) and Michael Mizrachi (16th).
— The (plenty drinky) crew sweating Baldwin includes Cody Slaubaugh (on a tear of late), Adam Geyer from Austin, Justin Young (who finished 8th in the WPT World Championship this weekend), and Shannon Shorr (who finished 5th in the WPT Championship today). Needless to say, these guys are all having a good weekend and month … with nearly $1 million in winnings amongst them … probably more if you include their online tournament results.
Battle of the Podcast Stars.
The 64-player field competing for $500,000 (on a $20k buy-in) this weekend has been set (up) — with pairings drawn last night at a kick-off party at Pure.
Click here to see the full bracket and make your picks. (This bracket-maker is kinda new to me, so not sure whether or not you can see my predictions here.)
Some of the more interesting pairings to me:
Tom Schneider vs. Gavin Smith
Clonie Gowen vs. Jennifer Tilly
Sammy Farha vs. Doyle Brunson
Hooman Nikzad vs. Greg Raymer
Chris Ferguson vs. John Juanda
Chris Moneymaker vs. Jerry Yang
Jean Robert Bellande vs. Sam Grizzle
