I'm the Cooler and John Juanda Wins WSOPE
By Pauly
London
I went to bed and the WSOPE final table was still running. It was heads up and I expected it to end soon. It was not my assignment anymore. I was focused on the EPT London. However, when I woke up and didn't find Change100 or Gloria in our flat in Soho. I logged online to discover that the final table was still running. It started at 1pm and it was 9am the next day. Change100 and Garry were doing hand for hand for the entire night! Garry and Gloria already missed their flights and everyone was fatigued.
I offered up my services to Garry and PokerNews to finish off the final table of WSOPE at the Empire and then head across town to the Vic for Day 2 of the EPT London. A double dip. A subway series... er a tube series, if you will.
Cue Enter Sandman.
I'm a Yankees fan and as I briskly walked down Charring Cross Road, I felt like Mariano Rivera trotting out of the bullpen at Yankee Stadium. Owen from PokerListings joked and said I was more like Flash Gordon. Maybe... so, maybe it was like coming out of the bullpen to pitch the bottom of the 21st inning in a marathon of a baseball game.
My cooler powers were in full force. Within several hands of sitting in the media area, John Juanda has a timely double up and crippled the young Russian who may or may not have been softpalying his Russian counterpart. It was over minutes later.
That's it for now. I'm signing off from the Empire Casino. I'm going for breakfast and then heading over to the Vic across town to cover Day 2 of the EPT London for PokerNews.
Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
WSOPE Main Event: Jigsaw Falling Into Place
By Pauly
London
Well, the final table is set for the WSOPE. Some dude from the November Nine ended up making the final table of the WSOPE. His name? Ivan Demidov. He's one of two Ruskies at the final table along with three Las Vegas pros, a Scandi, a Fin, and a couple of Brits.
I forgot how much fun it is to cover a tournament with Snoopy despite the many logistical challenges of covering a major tournament at the Vic. Snoopy had me in laughing in stitches a couple of times. But it was Martin from PokerListings who stole the show with his use of new poker vernacular such as... Euro-Donk, Euro-Bluff-Muck, and my favorite the Euro-Tank. That might leave yous cratching your head, but if you have watched Scandis play live as much as we have, then you'd be pissing in your nickers right now.
Here's a bit of Martin's recap from last night...
Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
By Pauly
London
Well, the final table is set for the WSOPE. Some dude from the November Nine ended up making the final table of the WSOPE. His name? Ivan Demidov. He's one of two Ruskies at the final table along with three Las Vegas pros, a Scandi, a Fin, and a couple of Brits.
WSOPE Main Event Final TableI missed the action yesterday because I was across town at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino covering Day 1A of the PokerStars.com EPT London with Snoopy and Jay.
Seat 1: Robin Keston (London, UK) - 849,000
Seat 2: Daniel Negreanu (Las Vegas, NV) - 1,002,000
Seat 3: Chris Elliott ( Alloa, England) - 281,000
Seat 4: Bengt Sonnert (Linkoping, Sweden_ - 385,000
Seat 5: John Juanda (Las Vegas, NV) - 1,349,000
Seat 6: Ivan Demidov (Moscow, Russia) - 1,006,000
Seat 7: Toni Hiltunen ( Lahti, Finland) - 386,000
Seat 8: Scott Fischman (Las Vegas, NV) - 732,000
Seat 9: Stanislav Alekhin (Moscow, Russia) - 1,278,000
I forgot how much fun it is to cover a tournament with Snoopy despite the many logistical challenges of covering a major tournament at the Vic. Snoopy had me in laughing in stitches a couple of times. But it was Martin from PokerListings who stole the show with his use of new poker vernacular such as... Euro-Donk, Euro-Bluff-Muck, and my favorite the Euro-Tank. That might leave yous cratching your head, but if you have watched Scandis play live as much as we have, then you'd be pissing in your nickers right now.
Here's a bit of Martin's recap from last night...
Figuring the pot was his, Montgomery went to muck his hand, but seconds before he was going to let them go, the Euro grabbed his mucked cards and flipped them over - just to see if his busted 10 high flush draw was good. Needless to say it wasn't and The Bizarre Euro Bluff Muck makes the hand dead anyway.I had a couple of decent posts yesterday. One of note included a Radiohead reference...
Everything In Its Right Place; Benyamine Up to 50KAnyway... head over to PokerNews.com for coverage of the WSOPE final table and EPT London Day 1B.
Posted by DrPauly
After the dinner break, David Benyamine was low in chips and in the haunting words of Thom Yorke, "Yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon." Well, Benyamine must have squeezed out a couple of vats of lemonade with his lemons. The Frenchman has been on a tear over the last two hours. He was on the verge of utter catastrophe with a short stack of 8,000, however, Benyamine doubled up and then busted an opponent after he flopped a straight with 10-8. He pushed his stack past the 50,000 mark. Yes, everything seems to be in the right place for Benyamine. Now, if Benyamine can help Thom Yorke return to his home planet, the universe will finally achieve a moment of perfect harmony
Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
WSOPE Main Event: Optimistic
By Pauly
London
Yesterday, morning I stood on my balcony of my Soho flat and gazed at the building across the street. A woman sat on the ledge of her window smoking a cigarette. The first of the day. She was still in her pajamas and I thought, "If she shifts just a bit, I can see her snatch."
And then it happened. We got bush! We got bush! Nice hair pie, love.
I need to stand on my balcony and smoke cigarettes more often.
That's how I started my Tuesday. It was all uphill from there. In the next 24 hours, I would finally get a new laptop, book a trip to Budapest for the EPT Hungarian Open, and get some news that fuckin' blew me away.
* * * * *
The damn Canadians have been integrating their coins in the UK as well. I used to see Canuck loose change all the time in the States, but it was sort of a shocker to find a Canadian quarter the other day when I got change at the local Sainsbury's. I saved the quarter and gave it to Owen from PokerListings. I told him to put it towards a travel alarm clock since he has the same problem as me... we live on the road and do not trust hotels to provide a timely wake up call. For my life, they are batting only .750. That's a sickly average in baseball, but when you log long hours and need to wake up in time for work or to head off to the airport, your fate is in someone else's hands.
* * * * *
PokerStars threw a party last night near Piccadilly Circus. The last time I went to a PokerStars party was in Las Vegas during the WSOP and I witnessed Dario and Isabelle sucking face a few meters in front of me.
Garry and I checked it this party and we wondered what sort of hijinks would ensue. We spent most of the time in the hidden bar (which was empty most of the night) inside the Cafe de Paris. We drank shitty French beer and chilled out with Martin from PokerListings, Benjo, Maria, Mad, and a slew of other folks.
The entertainment was some chick with feathers inside of a cage. She did random exotic dances while Vivaldi's Four Seasons blasted on the sound system.
I did some lime tossing with Benjo. I had been rusty but nailed my first shot for a score. Then Benjo stepped up and missed. He negotiated a deal to pay me less for his missed shot since I was a professional lime tosser. Regardless, I got paid in pounds when I should have asked for Euros!
* * * * *
The WSOPE Main Event is down to the final 24 players. The top ten includes... Justin 'BoostedJ' Smith, Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda, Johnny Lodden, Bengt Sonnert, Philippe Rouas, Ivan Demidov, Brian 'sbrugby' Townsend, Soren Kongsgaard, and Brandon Adams.
And several big names still left (with smaller stacks) such as... Andy Bloch, Erik Seidel, Mike Matusow, Mel Judah, and TMay420.
They will play down to nine on Wednesday and the final table is set for Thursday.
* * * * *
I will not be covering the WSOPE at the Empire Casino anymore. I'm heading across town starting on Wednesday to cover the PokerStars.com sponsored EPT London at the Vic.
My partner in crime will be the one and only Snoopy. We shall be providing live updates over at PokerNews.
Snoopy is one of my favorite poker writers and one of the most hysterical people you will ever meet from the UK. He's going to totally out-write me over the next few days so it's time to elevate my game so I don't look like a fuckin' amateur.
See you at the Vic.
Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
By Pauly
London
Yesterday, morning I stood on my balcony of my Soho flat and gazed at the building across the street. A woman sat on the ledge of her window smoking a cigarette. The first of the day. She was still in her pajamas and I thought, "If she shifts just a bit, I can see her snatch."And then it happened. We got bush! We got bush! Nice hair pie, love.
I need to stand on my balcony and smoke cigarettes more often.
That's how I started my Tuesday. It was all uphill from there. In the next 24 hours, I would finally get a new laptop, book a trip to Budapest for the EPT Hungarian Open, and get some news that fuckin' blew me away.
The damn Canadians have been integrating their coins in the UK as well. I used to see Canuck loose change all the time in the States, but it was sort of a shocker to find a Canadian quarter the other day when I got change at the local Sainsbury's. I saved the quarter and gave it to Owen from PokerListings. I told him to put it towards a travel alarm clock since he has the same problem as me... we live on the road and do not trust hotels to provide a timely wake up call. For my life, they are batting only .750. That's a sickly average in baseball, but when you log long hours and need to wake up in time for work or to head off to the airport, your fate is in someone else's hands.
PokerStars threw a party last night near Piccadilly Circus. The last time I went to a PokerStars party was in Las Vegas during the WSOP and I witnessed Dario and Isabelle sucking face a few meters in front of me.
Garry and I checked it this party and we wondered what sort of hijinks would ensue. We spent most of the time in the hidden bar (which was empty most of the night) inside the Cafe de Paris. We drank shitty French beer and chilled out with Martin from PokerListings, Benjo, Maria, Mad, and a slew of other folks.
The entertainment was some chick with feathers inside of a cage. She did random exotic dances while Vivaldi's Four Seasons blasted on the sound system.
I did some lime tossing with Benjo. I had been rusty but nailed my first shot for a score. Then Benjo stepped up and missed. He negotiated a deal to pay me less for his missed shot since I was a professional lime tosser. Regardless, I got paid in pounds when I should have asked for Euros!
The WSOPE Main Event is down to the final 24 players. The top ten includes... Justin 'BoostedJ' Smith, Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda, Johnny Lodden, Bengt Sonnert, Philippe Rouas, Ivan Demidov, Brian 'sbrugby' Townsend, Soren Kongsgaard, and Brandon Adams.
And several big names still left (with smaller stacks) such as... Andy Bloch, Erik Seidel, Mike Matusow, Mel Judah, and TMay420.
They will play down to nine on Wednesday and the final table is set for Thursday.
I will not be covering the WSOPE at the Empire Casino anymore. I'm heading across town starting on Wednesday to cover the PokerStars.com sponsored EPT London at the Vic.
My partner in crime will be the one and only Snoopy. We shall be providing live updates over at PokerNews.
Snoopy is one of my favorite poker writers and one of the most hysterical people you will ever meet from the UK. He's going to totally out-write me over the next few days so it's time to elevate my game so I don't look like a fuckin' amateur.
See you at the Vic.
Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
WSOPE Main Event: Where I End and You Begin
By Pauly
London
"There's a short Mexican woman in our kitchen," Gloria said matter of factly.
"I hope she's the maid," was my reply.
I had just finished a random walk through the streets of London, sort of navel gazing and stewing in my own misery while listening to music. As I returned to the flat, Gloria was headed to work.
The maid went about her business while I watched the Bloomberg channel in utter desperation. It was past midday in London and the FTSE was tanking, while the US stock market was about an hour away from the morning bell. All the talking heads alluded that things were gonna be ugly based on the domino effect from the foreign markets. And it was. Talk about donkey blood splattered all over lower Manhattan. One of the worst trading days in years. All I could do is sit and slowly watch the wreck unfolded before my eyes.
The late afternoon was wasted in search of a laptop. I thought I found one and made a purchase. The price was too good to be true. Turned out there were tons of problems with the machine which I had to return. I'm still a man without a laptop (and pecking away on Change100's laptop while she sleeps).
Day 2 was in full swing at the Empire Casino. It was the first time the entire field was in one building. The action was spread out at a couple of tables upstairs on a balcony, downstairs in the poker room, and out on the gaming floor. The playing sections were infested with cameras. ESPN is taping the WSOPE (televised in both Europe and the States), but it's not the same crew from the WSOP (the gang at 441). The WSOP crew knows there shit but the crew out in London has very little experience covering a live poker tournament. Most of them are from Poker After Dark and other poker shows that are shot at a single table in a secluded area or in studio or on a sound stage. They are not used to dealing with multiple tables, floor staff, and other media milling around. The result? The surly camera dudes have been pissing off a lot of folks including players and staff. Man, I miss Matt and Dave and their crew at 441.
I eventually showed up mid-way through Day 2. As soon as I arrived, another member of the poker media pulled me aside and suggested that we check out the hot massage girls otherwise known as the Ibiza Angels. I dunno if they actually gave high quality massages, but they were all smoking hot. They were too classy (and too natural) to be working on the pole and they were truly angels wearing tight white wifebeater t-shirts exposing their mid-drifts.
"Let's pretend to do work and stare at the massage angels instead," said one horny and lazy member of the European poker media (not named Benjo). "When there's nothing else to do, that's what I do to kill the time since I don't care about the tournament."
Poker tournaments are boring affairs. It's nice to have some high end eye candy to see waltzing through the tournament area.
There's one that is drop dead gorgeous. I know, that assertion is useless without a pic. My goal is to snap one.
"She's my favorite. I'm in love with her," was one comment that I got.
* * * * *
179 players began Day 2, but only 62 advanced to Day 3. Tons of big names fell such as Doyle Brunson, Jesus, Phil Hellmuth, Barry Greenstien, Scotty Nguyen, Durrrrrrrrrrrrr, the chick who went to Duke, Jen Tilly, Bruno Fitoussi, Neil "Bad Beat" Channing, Roland "Hungry Like" de Wolfe, and Erica Schoenberg.
Here's some useless info...
On Day 2, Farnood and Hellmuth were at it again. Farnood won another battle and sent the Poker Brat packing. Before Hellmuth could leave the table he spoke some more smack. He always has to get the last word in. However, Farnood uttered the gem of the day when he said, "I'm trying to prove that I'm the second worst player in the world."
* * * * *
I guess this is a London edition of Bouncin Round the Room...
Whispers about Russ Hamilton being named as the main culprit in the UB cheating scandal made its way around the Empire Casino. He supposedly bilked players out of $60 million as a superuser. I don't doubt that he was heavily involved, however, I'm not buying the lone gunman theory. Wonder if anyone will be able to dig up other names in the scandal.
I spotted Erica Schoenberg on one break. I had read her recent blog posts (over at Poker Road) particularly the stories about her college days and hanging out in the parking lots at Phish and Widespread Panic shows. If you have experienced that scene, you know those are some killer parties. Ah, back in the day I used to sling pharmies in the lot on Phish tour. Anyway, Erica had a tough table late in Day 2 which included chipleader Andy Bloch, Andy Black, and Josh Arieh. Sweet Sweet Erica busted out late in the day.
I heard a rumor that Philippe Rouas was from good stock and from the 4th richest family in all of France. One thing for sure, he's the mastermind behind the Poker Battle clothing line. He sported a jacket that was worth $15,000 and made of sting ray skin. I lost about that much in the stock market in the last two weeks and that clown is walking around with the equivalent of my losses slung over the back of his chair.
Ted Lawson's wife is always on the rail in his tournaments. She usually bakes us cookies or brings the media food. She mentioned that she was enjoying London, "This definitely beats Atlantic City."
Nolan and Seth had some crazy bets on the Monday Night Football game which kicked off around 1:30am or during the last level of play. One of the best was the OVER for total number of sacks.
As I waited for Change100 to finish up the evening, I waited at the entrance of the Empire Casino. Andy Black wandered by wearing an unusual robe-type garment that you'd expect the maitre'd at a restaurant in Chinatown to be wearing. I asked him how he was doing.... "Fuckin' short!" he blurted out before he exited the casino and disappeared into Leicester Square.
Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
By Pauly
London
"There's a short Mexican woman in our kitchen," Gloria said matter of factly.
"I hope she's the maid," was my reply.
I had just finished a random walk through the streets of London, sort of navel gazing and stewing in my own misery while listening to music. As I returned to the flat, Gloria was headed to work.The maid went about her business while I watched the Bloomberg channel in utter desperation. It was past midday in London and the FTSE was tanking, while the US stock market was about an hour away from the morning bell. All the talking heads alluded that things were gonna be ugly based on the domino effect from the foreign markets. And it was. Talk about donkey blood splattered all over lower Manhattan. One of the worst trading days in years. All I could do is sit and slowly watch the wreck unfolded before my eyes.
The late afternoon was wasted in search of a laptop. I thought I found one and made a purchase. The price was too good to be true. Turned out there were tons of problems with the machine which I had to return. I'm still a man without a laptop (and pecking away on Change100's laptop while she sleeps).
Day 2 was in full swing at the Empire Casino. It was the first time the entire field was in one building. The action was spread out at a couple of tables upstairs on a balcony, downstairs in the poker room, and out on the gaming floor. The playing sections were infested with cameras. ESPN is taping the WSOPE (televised in both Europe and the States), but it's not the same crew from the WSOP (the gang at 441). The WSOP crew knows there shit but the crew out in London has very little experience covering a live poker tournament. Most of them are from Poker After Dark and other poker shows that are shot at a single table in a secluded area or in studio or on a sound stage. They are not used to dealing with multiple tables, floor staff, and other media milling around. The result? The surly camera dudes have been pissing off a lot of folks including players and staff. Man, I miss Matt and Dave and their crew at 441.
I eventually showed up mid-way through Day 2. As soon as I arrived, another member of the poker media pulled me aside and suggested that we check out the hot massage girls otherwise known as the Ibiza Angels. I dunno if they actually gave high quality massages, but they were all smoking hot. They were too classy (and too natural) to be working on the pole and they were truly angels wearing tight white wifebeater t-shirts exposing their mid-drifts.
"Let's pretend to do work and stare at the massage angels instead," said one horny and lazy member of the European poker media (not named Benjo). "When there's nothing else to do, that's what I do to kill the time since I don't care about the tournament."
Poker tournaments are boring affairs. It's nice to have some high end eye candy to see waltzing through the tournament area.
There's one that is drop dead gorgeous. I know, that assertion is useless without a pic. My goal is to snap one.
"She's my favorite. I'm in love with her," was one comment that I got.
179 players began Day 2, but only 62 advanced to Day 3. Tons of big names fell such as Doyle Brunson, Jesus, Phil Hellmuth, Barry Greenstien, Scotty Nguyen, Durrrrrrrrrrrrr, the chick who went to Duke, Jen Tilly, Bruno Fitoussi, Neil "Bad Beat" Channing, Roland "Hungry Like" de Wolfe, and Erica Schoenberg.
Here's some useless info...
WSOPE End of Day 2 - Top 10 Chip CountsSherkhan Farnood from Afghanistan won a bracelet in the HORSE event and was one of the guys who cockblocked Phil Ivey in his quest for some bling. Sherkhan Farnood has been a nemesis for Phil Hellmuth. The other day there was an incident (that may or may not have been blown out of proportion) where Hellmuth snapped after getting busted. He pointed at Farnood and said, "How do I lose my chips to the worst player in the world?"
Andy Bloch 321,600
Brian 'sbrugby' Townsend 290,100
Erik Seidel 282,300
John Juanda 252,500
Philippe Rouas 233,300
Chris Elliott 231,900
Chris 'Moorman1' Moorman 219,500
Justin 'BoostedJ' Smith 217,700
Daniel Negreanu 203,700
Brandon Adams 190,000
On Day 2, Farnood and Hellmuth were at it again. Farnood won another battle and sent the Poker Brat packing. Before Hellmuth could leave the table he spoke some more smack. He always has to get the last word in. However, Farnood uttered the gem of the day when he said, "I'm trying to prove that I'm the second worst player in the world."
I guess this is a London edition of Bouncin Round the Room...
Whispers about Russ Hamilton being named as the main culprit in the UB cheating scandal made its way around the Empire Casino. He supposedly bilked players out of $60 million as a superuser. I don't doubt that he was heavily involved, however, I'm not buying the lone gunman theory. Wonder if anyone will be able to dig up other names in the scandal.
I spotted Erica Schoenberg on one break. I had read her recent blog posts (over at Poker Road) particularly the stories about her college days and hanging out in the parking lots at Phish and Widespread Panic shows. If you have experienced that scene, you know those are some killer parties. Ah, back in the day I used to sling pharmies in the lot on Phish tour. Anyway, Erica had a tough table late in Day 2 which included chipleader Andy Bloch, Andy Black, and Josh Arieh. Sweet Sweet Erica busted out late in the day.
I heard a rumor that Philippe Rouas was from good stock and from the 4th richest family in all of France. One thing for sure, he's the mastermind behind the Poker Battle clothing line. He sported a jacket that was worth $15,000 and made of sting ray skin. I lost about that much in the stock market in the last two weeks and that clown is walking around with the equivalent of my losses slung over the back of his chair.
Ted Lawson's wife is always on the rail in his tournaments. She usually bakes us cookies or brings the media food. She mentioned that she was enjoying London, "This definitely beats Atlantic City."
Nolan and Seth had some crazy bets on the Monday Night Football game which kicked off around 1:30am or during the last level of play. One of the best was the OVER for total number of sacks.
As I waited for Change100 to finish up the evening, I waited at the entrance of the Empire Casino. Andy Black wandered by wearing an unusual robe-type garment that you'd expect the maitre'd at a restaurant in Chinatown to be wearing. I asked him how he was doing.... "Fuckin' short!" he blurted out before he exited the casino and disappeared into Leicester Square.
Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
Monday, September 29, 2008
WSOPE Main Event: Everything In Its Right Place
By Pauly
London
I returned to London for my second WSOP-Europe. I had a blah time last year covering the event for Poker News. The long days killed me and I was bleeding money with a super expensive hotel. At that point, I had been in Europe for almost two months and I was desperate to return to North America.
This year, things were a lot different because I didn't have to carry a huge workload Poker News and skipped all of the preliminary events. This year I'm only covering the WSOPE for me... which will include a few half-baked posts on Tao of Poker and I'll also collect some fodder for my Bluff Column. I'm also crashing at a cool flat in Soho that Poker News rented for Change100 and their newest on air host, Gloria. Yep, those are my roomies in London.
I showed up late to the WSOPE in true Hellmuthian fashion. Very late in fact, at almost Midnight on Day 1a. My flight from Amsterdam was delayed over two hours due to fog at Heathrow. Then I had two tournaments to play. Of course, my shitty day was made worse when my laptop died in the middle of Saturdays with Dr. Pauly. That sent me on ubertilt. I don't have many material possessions. I don't even have a home. What I have is what I can carry with me during my travels on the road. My laptop dying was like Tom Hanks losing Wilson the volleyball in Cast Away.
"Wilson! Wilson!"
I spare you the remainder of the bad beat stories. Suffice to say, losing one of my appendages overseas cast a dark veil of misery and gloom over me.
The positive spin on the situation was that I had to go old school. Pen and paper. I grabbed my pad and headed down to the Empire Casino in Leicester Square, the locale of the second installment of the WSOPE. Leicester Square is sort of like Time Square with lots of jailbait British hussies running amuck. On the weekends, the square is filled with late night party people getting their drinky drink on before they pack themselves onto night buses and hope not to get puked on by an inebriated binge drinker slurring incorrect lyrics to Oasis songs.
Last year, the organizers fucked the pooch by trying to spread out the £10,000 main event championship over three casinos. Although the Fifty was super swanky, the plan backfired mainly because they did not get the massive turnout that they originally anticipated. The WSOPE just can't compete with the EPT which is the premiere tournament series in Europe, dare I say, the entire world? Aside from the American superstars and underaged internet players, only a handful of Europeans showed up for the WSOPE. Numbers in the preliminary events were unimpressive consider that Europe is supposed to be one of the areas of booming poker popularity.
This year, the entire main event was hosted at the Empire which meant that gaming tables had to be removed in order to make sufficient space for tournament tables. The Empire had three different areas with tables but all were in different parts of the casino. It was impossible to watch all of the action in one spot. Although the Empire relaxed their entrance policy (no more waiting in line to get your passport scanned and get ad admission card) to accommodate spectators, viewing space was still limited.
One positive change included having the media room in the actual casino. Last year, the media room was located in the basement of a hotel across Leicester Square which may or may not have been a bunker during the sullen days of WWII when the Luftwaffe rained down bombs onto the streets of London.
Dozens of media outlets are cramped into a lounge area. Benjo wrote his updates from a couch. Neil was uploading photos while sitting on a stool at a bar, while Martin from PokerListings and Court from Pocket Fives had to share a tiny table. Some might think those are poor working conditions, but that's just par for the course in European casinos where space is extremely sparse.
Annette15 was the reigning champion and the PR gurus set up a heads up match between herself and Doyle Brunson. I missed the match, but Texas Doyle schooled the young Norwegian chick. Brunson has underwear that's older than Annette15. Score one for the grizzled gunslinger.
Although Dolye Brunson was able to fend off an hyper-aggressive Scandi, He could not beat gravity on Day 1B. Benjo saw Brunson fall as he waited to take his seat after a break. I had just walked past a camera crew interviewing Brunson as he leaned up against his single crutch. Apparently, moments after the interview ended, Brunson took a nasty spill. It wasn't anything serious such as a heart attack or stroke. Brunson simply lost his balance. He managed to cut his arm in the fall. But Brunson is a warrior. He didn't let the fall distract him. He survived his flight and advanced to Day 2 despite having a tough draw that including Jesus, Chino Reem, and several Scandis in hoodies at his table.
Overall, there were 362 runners in the WSOPE Main Event. That equaled last year's number. The prize pool is £3,620,000 but the 2008 Champ will win £868,800, which is less money that the £1 million that Annette 15 took back to Norway last year. Seems as though the prize pool is less top heavy this year.
Sunday in London meant that Americans were jonesin' for NFL action. I was fortunate enough to be invited to sports bar to watch the games. The suits at Harrah's rented out a private suite which included free food and booze. Seth, Nolan, and the TDs Steve and Charlie invited me to check out the action. NFL games come on at 6pm so I was able to get a couple of hours of work in before I headed down to sports bar.
As soon as I walked inside, Phil Hellmuth was slumped over a stool with his eyes peering into the souls of the players in the Packers game. He was rooting for his home state team. A few pros were in the corner on laptops sweating their bets and fantasy football pools. At one point, Hellmuth retreated to the corner to play high stakes (either hearts or spades) with Brandon Cantu, Layne Flack, and Jeff Madsen.
A couple of super agents, Chris and James from Poker Royalty were there. I didn't recognize them since they were in their civilian clothes and not wearing suits. I grabbed several Stellas at the bar and kept my eye on the Jets game. Talk about a shoot out.
I also met a player named Craig from Texas. He told me that he read my site a few times and it wasn't until 15 minutes into the conversation when I realized that he was Craig Marquis, one of the November Nine. Good kid and he hasn't let any of the hype go to his head.
I left the suite and headed back to the Empire where I chain smoked with Benjo. Yeah, I'm been super stressed out the last couple of weeks. My left eye ball has been twitching uncontrollably which I was told was a sign of high stress or epilepsy. Awesome. I have turned to tobacco as a stress reliever.
As Gavin Smith put it best, "Where you able to import your pharmaceuticals into this country?"
Sadly, no. And that's why I'm smoking like an angry Frenchman.
Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
By Pauly
London
I returned to London for my second WSOP-Europe. I had a blah time last year covering the event for Poker News. The long days killed me and I was bleeding money with a super expensive hotel. At that point, I had been in Europe for almost two months and I was desperate to return to North America.
This year, things were a lot different because I didn't have to carry a huge workload Poker News and skipped all of the preliminary events. This year I'm only covering the WSOPE for me... which will include a few half-baked posts on Tao of Poker and I'll also collect some fodder for my Bluff Column. I'm also crashing at a cool flat in Soho that Poker News rented for Change100 and their newest on air host, Gloria. Yep, those are my roomies in London.I showed up late to the WSOPE in true Hellmuthian fashion. Very late in fact, at almost Midnight on Day 1a. My flight from Amsterdam was delayed over two hours due to fog at Heathrow. Then I had two tournaments to play. Of course, my shitty day was made worse when my laptop died in the middle of Saturdays with Dr. Pauly. That sent me on ubertilt. I don't have many material possessions. I don't even have a home. What I have is what I can carry with me during my travels on the road. My laptop dying was like Tom Hanks losing Wilson the volleyball in Cast Away.
"Wilson! Wilson!"
I spare you the remainder of the bad beat stories. Suffice to say, losing one of my appendages overseas cast a dark veil of misery and gloom over me.
The positive spin on the situation was that I had to go old school. Pen and paper. I grabbed my pad and headed down to the Empire Casino in Leicester Square, the locale of the second installment of the WSOPE. Leicester Square is sort of like Time Square with lots of jailbait British hussies running amuck. On the weekends, the square is filled with late night party people getting their drinky drink on before they pack themselves onto night buses and hope not to get puked on by an inebriated binge drinker slurring incorrect lyrics to Oasis songs.
Last year, the organizers fucked the pooch by trying to spread out the £10,000 main event championship over three casinos. Although the Fifty was super swanky, the plan backfired mainly because they did not get the massive turnout that they originally anticipated. The WSOPE just can't compete with the EPT which is the premiere tournament series in Europe, dare I say, the entire world? Aside from the American superstars and underaged internet players, only a handful of Europeans showed up for the WSOPE. Numbers in the preliminary events were unimpressive consider that Europe is supposed to be one of the areas of booming poker popularity.
This year, the entire main event was hosted at the Empire which meant that gaming tables had to be removed in order to make sufficient space for tournament tables. The Empire had three different areas with tables but all were in different parts of the casino. It was impossible to watch all of the action in one spot. Although the Empire relaxed their entrance policy (no more waiting in line to get your passport scanned and get ad admission card) to accommodate spectators, viewing space was still limited.
One positive change included having the media room in the actual casino. Last year, the media room was located in the basement of a hotel across Leicester Square which may or may not have been a bunker during the sullen days of WWII when the Luftwaffe rained down bombs onto the streets of London.
Dozens of media outlets are cramped into a lounge area. Benjo wrote his updates from a couch. Neil was uploading photos while sitting on a stool at a bar, while Martin from PokerListings and Court from Pocket Fives had to share a tiny table. Some might think those are poor working conditions, but that's just par for the course in European casinos where space is extremely sparse.
Annette15 was the reigning champion and the PR gurus set up a heads up match between herself and Doyle Brunson. I missed the match, but Texas Doyle schooled the young Norwegian chick. Brunson has underwear that's older than Annette15. Score one for the grizzled gunslinger.
Although Dolye Brunson was able to fend off an hyper-aggressive Scandi, He could not beat gravity on Day 1B. Benjo saw Brunson fall as he waited to take his seat after a break. I had just walked past a camera crew interviewing Brunson as he leaned up against his single crutch. Apparently, moments after the interview ended, Brunson took a nasty spill. It wasn't anything serious such as a heart attack or stroke. Brunson simply lost his balance. He managed to cut his arm in the fall. But Brunson is a warrior. He didn't let the fall distract him. He survived his flight and advanced to Day 2 despite having a tough draw that including Jesus, Chino Reem, and several Scandis in hoodies at his table.
Overall, there were 362 runners in the WSOPE Main Event. That equaled last year's number. The prize pool is £3,620,000 but the 2008 Champ will win £868,800, which is less money that the £1 million that Annette 15 took back to Norway last year. Seems as though the prize pool is less top heavy this year.
Sunday in London meant that Americans were jonesin' for NFL action. I was fortunate enough to be invited to sports bar to watch the games. The suits at Harrah's rented out a private suite which included free food and booze. Seth, Nolan, and the TDs Steve and Charlie invited me to check out the action. NFL games come on at 6pm so I was able to get a couple of hours of work in before I headed down to sports bar.
As soon as I walked inside, Phil Hellmuth was slumped over a stool with his eyes peering into the souls of the players in the Packers game. He was rooting for his home state team. A few pros were in the corner on laptops sweating their bets and fantasy football pools. At one point, Hellmuth retreated to the corner to play high stakes (either hearts or spades) with Brandon Cantu, Layne Flack, and Jeff Madsen.
A couple of super agents, Chris and James from Poker Royalty were there. I didn't recognize them since they were in their civilian clothes and not wearing suits. I grabbed several Stellas at the bar and kept my eye on the Jets game. Talk about a shoot out.
I also met a player named Craig from Texas. He told me that he read my site a few times and it wasn't until 15 minutes into the conversation when I realized that he was Craig Marquis, one of the November Nine. Good kid and he hasn't let any of the hype go to his head.
I left the suite and headed back to the Empire where I chain smoked with Benjo. Yeah, I'm been super stressed out the last couple of weeks. My left eye ball has been twitching uncontrollably which I was told was a sign of high stress or epilepsy. Awesome. I have turned to tobacco as a stress reliever.
As Gavin Smith put it best, "Where you able to import your pharmaceuticals into this country?"
Sadly, no. And that's why I'm smoking like an angry Frenchman.
Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
ArcticAction Wins Saturdays with Dr. Pauly
By Pauly
London
Let me first start off saying that this recap will be brief because my laptop died in the middle of Saturdays with Dr. Pauly. I also had to miss the final table because I had to head over to the Empire Casino to pick up my media badge for the WSOP-Europe.
Anyway, we had a good turnout with 27 runners. The top 3 were paid out.
BankCraft was Gigli. I busted out in 20th place. My A-A-x-x were cracked by MrCrakyPants K-K-x-x-.
Bubble boy was crazfn.
On the final hand, thecitybaron was super short with 3.1K to ArcticAction's 37.3K. ArcticAction potted and thecitybaron moved all in. ArcticAction called.
thecitybaron: Qh-7d-6d-5s
ArcticAction: 8s-8c-5d-4s
The board ran out... 8h-3c-2d-Jc-8d. ArcticAction won the hand and the tournament with quad eights! Nice job.
I will do my best to play next weekend. I'll be covering EPT London if I can get a new laptop in time. Hope to see everyone next week!
Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
By Pauly
London
Let me first start off saying that this recap will be brief because my laptop died in the middle of Saturdays with Dr. Pauly. I also had to miss the final table because I had to head over to the Empire Casino to pick up my media badge for the WSOP-Europe.
Anyway, we had a good turnout with 27 runners. The top 3 were paid out.
BankCraft was Gigli. I busted out in 20th place. My A-A-x-x were cracked by MrCrakyPants K-K-x-x-.
Here's the final table players...
Seat 1: crazfn
Seat 2: lineside
Seat 3: thecitybaron
Seat 4: bayne_s
Seat 5: fugeboston
Seat 6: BigHeeb91
Seat 7: Sydney 8
Seat 8: ArcticAction
Seat 9: ZClub
Bubble boy was crazfn.
On the final hand, thecitybaron was super short with 3.1K to ArcticAction's 37.3K. ArcticAction potted and thecitybaron moved all in. ArcticAction called.
thecitybaron: Qh-7d-6d-5s
ArcticAction: 8s-8c-5d-4s
The board ran out... 8h-3c-2d-Jc-8d. ArcticAction won the hand and the tournament with quad eights! Nice job.
Week 35 Money Winners:Thanks again to everyone who played and pimped the event. COngrats again to ArcticAction for taking it down.
1. ArcticAction - $135
2. thecitybaron - $81
3. lineside- $54
I will do my best to play next weekend. I'll be covering EPT London if I can get a new laptop in time. Hope to see everyone next week!
Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
Change100 Wins Run Good!
By Pauly
London
Sorry for the brief recap. My laptop died within hours of the completion of PokerListings' Run Good Challenge final event. I have to use either an internet cafe or someone's laptop until I can get a new one.
Six of us made it to the final with over $1,000 up for grabs for first place. Those lucky souls? Amy Calistri aka best boobs in poker, Michele Lewis aka the Poker Cougar, Change100 aka my girlfriend and the biggest pothead in poker not named Shaniac, Short-Stacked Shamus aka the quiet assassin, Dan Skolovy aka the dude who schooled us all, and of course, myself, the heavily flawed hero. Six of us battled it out for cash, glory, and bragging rights.
Dan from PL busted out first which was surprising since he dominated the field during the first three events.
I hit the rail in 5th place when I picked one helluva bad time to make a move against the Cougar. She raised my big blind and I re-raised with 7c-2c. She called. The flop was 10c-10h-5h. I shoved all in for the rest of my stack (which was about the same size of the pot). Cougar Lady called with A-10. The turn was an Ace and my goose was cooked. Out in 5th.
Shamus busted out in 4th, which left three ladies at the top.
Amy went out in third and Change100 was heads up with Michele Lewis. The pothead had the cougar outchipped almost 2-1 and it didn't take very long before Change100 emerged victorious and $1,235 richer. I'm glad she won because she could really use the cash and a confident boost. Plus she was a wild-card player and only gained an entry after she beat Spaceman heads up for the last seat.
Thanks again to Matt and Dan and the gang at Poker Listings for the honor of being among the dozen or so people who got tapped for the first challenge. Nice job, hombres. You're all aces in my book.
Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
By Pauly
London
Sorry for the brief recap. My laptop died within hours of the completion of PokerListings' Run Good Challenge final event. I have to use either an internet cafe or someone's laptop until I can get a new one.
Six of us made it to the final with over $1,000 up for grabs for first place. Those lucky souls? Amy Calistri aka best boobs in poker, Michele Lewis aka the Poker Cougar, Change100 aka my girlfriend and the biggest pothead in poker not named Shaniac, Short-Stacked Shamus aka the quiet assassin, Dan Skolovy aka the dude who schooled us all, and of course, myself, the heavily flawed hero. Six of us battled it out for cash, glory, and bragging rights.
Dan from PL busted out first which was surprising since he dominated the field during the first three events.
I hit the rail in 5th place when I picked one helluva bad time to make a move against the Cougar. She raised my big blind and I re-raised with 7c-2c. She called. The flop was 10c-10h-5h. I shoved all in for the rest of my stack (which was about the same size of the pot). Cougar Lady called with A-10. The turn was an Ace and my goose was cooked. Out in 5th.
Shamus busted out in 4th, which left three ladies at the top.
Amy went out in third and Change100 was heads up with Michele Lewis. The pothead had the cougar outchipped almost 2-1 and it didn't take very long before Change100 emerged victorious and $1,235 richer. I'm glad she won because she could really use the cash and a confident boost. Plus she was a wild-card player and only gained an entry after she beat Spaceman heads up for the last seat.
The Final Event Money Winners:Check out Matt's recap titled... Change100 Wins Run Good Grand Final.
1st Change100 - $1,235
2nd Michele Lewis - $802
3rd Amy Calistri - $494
4th Shamus - $247
5th Pauly -$185
6th Dan Skolovy - $123
Thanks again to Matt and Dan and the gang at Poker Listings for the honor of being among the dozen or so people who got tapped for the first challenge. Nice job, hombres. You're all aces in my book.
Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
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