Not Watching Poker

Have to admit I’ve more or less drifted away from following the 2014 World Series of Poker coverage on ESPN this month. Going up against Sunday Night Football has lost them one viewer in this household, and while I DVR’d the sucker the first couple of weeks I haven’t been moved even to do that lately.

Not picking up things until Day 4 made for some added awkwardness narrative-wise when it came to telling the story of what happened this summer. There were some okay moments and an interesting hand or two involving Phil Ivey during those first two hours, but as I’ve said here before about these edited shows, knowing outcomes (e.g., Ivey’s pre-deep run bustout) considerably lessens what is already small amount of suspense in evidence.

I thought about this method of showing a poker tournament months after it actually occurs when reading this funny article from The Onion earlier today -- “LeBron James Relieved to Finish Filming NBA Season.”

The inordinate focus on amateur player Curtis Rystadt and his relentless antics on Day 5 were a big turnoff for me as well (literally). Exhibiting all sorts of poor etiquette and cringe-worthy behavior -- none of it terribly representative of how the great majority of players act at the WSOP -- Rystadt was made the center of attention during that week’s shows.

However, it almost felt exploitative for ESPN to devote so much attention to a relative unknown who like an unwitting reality show participant probably wasn’t fully aware how he’d be received. (Here’s a quick example of Rystadt’s performance, if you happened not to have been watching.)

So I’m not really watching, and in fact this year I may well miss out on the final table, too, as it looks like I’m scheduled for a tourney trip during those days. Speaking of the November Nine, Chris Tessaro has a new column for All In punningly titled “Waited Down” in which he’s revisiting the delayed final table idea -- now in its seventh year, if you can believe it -- and wondering if the WSOP and ESPN might consider altering its approach going forward.

There’s much I still like about the shows -- including Norman Chad, Lon McEachern, and Kara Scott -- but like Chris I’m finding the current approach to the coverage to be far removed from the immediacy and excitement of what tournament poker actually can be. And with NBA starting up and that other World Series going the distance, it’s making it even harder for this sports fan to tune in to watch the card playing.

Travel Report: Season XII WPT National: Canadian Spring Championship, Day 4 -- Canadian Comebacks

Was a good last day at the Playground Poker Club. Kind of a weird one, poker-wise, actually. The two short stacks entering the final table both survived double-ups within the first eight hands, then eventually outlasted everyone to make it to heads-up.

Then Jason Comtois won yet another double-up to take the lead away from John Paul Tabago, and eventually Comtois -- who began sixth out of six -- won the sucker. As he won, I recalled Comtois saying on Day 3 how he’d survived 10 all-ins that day alone and had never had an average stack for the entire tourney. That’s Comtois enjoying a raucous celebration with his friends after all was done, the pic again from Rob Gracie for the WPT.

The poker was bookended by a couple of meals, the first coming early on when I met my blogging colleague B.J. Nemeth, Chris Tessaro, and Kara Scott for crepes at a place called Bagel Expressions just a few minutes’ walk away from the hotel. Had the strawberry and banana crepes, along with a couple of cups of coffee, which along with the interesting conversation made for a good start to the day. Was a lot fun hanging and chatting about various poker-related topics with those three, and we also learned some details about Kara’s wedding coming up in May in Italy.

Play ran from noon until late afternoon, then once the last hand was dealt and all the loose ends were tied most of us repaired back to the Rail one last time (the restaurant/bar in the Playground), including Tony Dunst and Mike Sexton who came over once they’d completed the commentary they had been delivering on a half-hour delay.

I had a burger and a piece of cheesecake, then we hung around a bit longer while meals were finished. One player, Alexander Wong, stopped by to thank Dunst and Sexton for their kind words about his play on the commentary, and it was cool to hear them discuss some of his hands with him. A few other folks asked to have their pictures taken with Mike, who was obliging in every instance.

All in all a very fun week in snowy Montreal. Big thanks to the Playground Poker Club for being so helpful all week, and thanks as well to the WPT crew who were great fun to hang with again.

Looking forward now, though, to getting back to Vera and the farm and all of our four-legged friends.

Travel Report: Season XII WPT National: Canadian Spring Championship, Day 3 -- Chip Math

The snow is melting, the bridge is open, and the end of another week of tourney trippin’ is almost here.

Was one of those strangely long tourney days yesterday for Day 3 of the partypoker.net World Poker Tour National: Canadian Spring Championship, a day stretched out further and further and further into the evening by a series of improbable double-ups that had everyone scratching their heads over whether or not it would ever end.

There were 39 players to start the day and with one-hour levels and already big blinds, the usually reliable “chip math” suggested an early evening finish as the plan was to play down to a six-handed final table. But play lasted well beyond that point and ultimately we didn’t get back to the hotel until midnight or a little after following a late dinner.

Was mentioning yesterday the relatively fast structure of the tournament. By the last hour the average stack was 30 big blinds with seven players left, and will be a little higher than that to start play today although the blinds will be jumping up in a hurry and soon everyone will be short. So, again, “chip math” is suggesting the day will have to be a short one, likely done by late afternoon following a noon start.

All six of those making the final table hail from Canada, although a couple were originally from elsewhere. No real names, although Mario Lim did make a deep run in that WPT Fallsview Poker Classic in Niagara Falls I covered not long ago (finishing 21st), which was in fact his first ever WPT (and this is his second). Two players -- Alexander Wong and Daniel Gagne -- seem strong players and they do carry the two biggest stacks to today’s final table, and so would stand to be the favorites.

That said, with stacks as shallow as they will soon be, anything can happen.

Gonna run as Chris Tessaro (here again for a WPT stop in Canada) has invited me and some others out for crepes for breakfast, and I’d like a chance to socialize a bit as well as to eat a meal somewhere besides the Playground Poker Club (although the eats there at the Rail restaurant are quite good).

Follow over at the WPT site to see how it plays out. There will be a live stream as well (on a half-hour delay with hole cards), with commentary by Tony Dunst and Mike Sexton, both of whom cashed in the sucker (finishing 44th and 74th, respectively). (Photo above by Rob Gracie for the WPT.)

Travel Report: Season XII WPT Fallsview Poker Classic, Day 3 -- Kick Your Heels

Airport blogging once again, presently awaiting first flight out of Buffalo as I’ll be winding my way back home after the conclusion last night of the World Poker Tour Fallsview Poker Classic in Niagara Falls.

We finished up around 10 or so last night, although the day felt a little longer after my blogging partner Remko and I reported every hand from the ten-handed final table on down to a winner (over 250 of them). Matthew Lapossie ended up winning the sucker after carrying a big chip lead into heads-up versus Dylan Wilkerson and then finishing the deal after a little over 20 hands.

One hand early on saw Lapossie turn a straight flush against Peter Labib’s ace-high flush to knock out the latter, easily the most remarkable hand of the day. There were several come-from-behind turn or river saves for short stacks, though, which made things interesting while prolonging the final table.

Chris Tessaro noted at one point how the table was a “short-stack shamble,” the phrase sounding enough like your humble scribbler’s moniker to wonder if I were to blame. He also tweeted the best line of the day about players’ managing to double up over and again:

“Not saying this fallsview ‪#wpt final table is taking too long,” he wrote, “but I just gave coffee shop my last 1.60 and she gave 3.20 change ‪#doubleup.”

Great working alongside Remko who always keeps people smiling. Walking back from a short dinner break yesterday, he turned to me and asked earnestly “Wanna see my favorite move?” “Whaddya mean, dance move?” I replied, but rather than answering he jogged two steps then leaped in the air, kicking his heels before landing, momentarily becoming a literal flying Dutchman. Soon Remko was encouraging one of the friendly Fallsview staff to try the move as well.

Speaking of, all of the Fallsview staff were especially accommodating throughout. Indeed, as is often pointed out by those traveling north of the border, there were nothing but friendly folks at every turn during my brief Canada sojourn.

Gonna cut it short as they’ll be boarding us soon. Looking forward to reuniting with Vera and the horses and barn cats later today. Return tomorrow for the farm report.

Travel Report: Season XII WPT Fallsview Poker Classic, Day 2 -- Roll Up the Rim to Win

In a bit of a rush (as usual) this morning as I get my act together for one more long day of tourney reporting. Yesterday’s second day of play here in Niagara Falls at the WPT Fallsview Poker Classic went well as 114 survivors from a starting field of 383 played down to just 10. That group will reassemble at noon today at an unofficial ten-handed final table, then play down to a winner tonight.

There were a few better known players left as the night edged towards the finish -- e.g., Mike Leah, Mike Watson, Peter Jetten, Shawn Cunix -- but all fell shy of the final ten and so the winner here will be a relative newcomer, although a few have had some nice scores before.

Matthew Lapossie final tabled the EPT6 Barcelona event back in 2009. Josue Sauvageau finished fifth in this same event a year ago. Dylan Wilkerson has 15 WSOP cashes and over $340,000 in career tourney winnings. And Jason James, who has a big chip lead to start the day, also has a number of cashes at the WSOP and elsewhere, although this should mark his biggest to date.

The day began with an enjoyable breakfast meeting with a family friend who happens to be based here in Niagara. Always nice to be able to connect with folks on these trips, and we enjoyed a nice visit before I headed to the tourney room.

I’d already had a couple of cups of coffee before breakfast, drank more there, then during the late afternoon Chris Tessaro introduced me to Tim Hortons coffee, in particular the popular “Roll Up the Rim to Win” promotion which encourages people to buy still more cups of the popular brand.

Chris bought me a cup -- and a chance at cash prizes or even a new car -- while also filling me in on the history behind the franchise first co-founded by the late NHL star after who it is named. The coffee was good (even if I didn’t exactly need yet another shot of caffeine) and while I didn’t win any prizes I did feel connected for a moment with the many other Canadians rolling up the rims of their coffee cups every day.

Speaking of hockey, there was a positive vibe in the room for much of the day as people shared stories about Canada’s gold medal victory in the morning, with the match being replayed on CBC on television screens in the afternoon. Big deal, that.

Must sign off as I have much left to do before play kicks off at noon. Join Remko Rinkema and myself for the hand-for-hand coverage over on the WPT site today. As Remko would say, it should be a barnburner.

Travel Report: Season XII WPT Fallsview Poker Classic, Day 1 -- Good View

I write from chilly Niagara Falls where the temps will be going down further over the course of my short visit for the three-day World Poker Tour Fallsview Poker Classic.

Didn’t get to start the trip until relatively late on Friday, meaning it was pushing midnight before I rolled in. But the hotel room is comfortable -- affording this fairly spectacular view of the falls -- and all’s gone well thus far.

The tournament is being played out in the Grand Hall here at the Fallsview Resort Casino, a spacious room that impressed my colleague Remko and I as nicely laid out with great lighting and lots of room between tables for us to mill about. A total of 383 ended up coming out for the $5,000 buy-in event (Canadian dollars), and after a full day of play there were just 114 left to return today.

Was impressed as well by the music selections early on, kind of laughing to hear tracks like “Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk” (Barrett’s Floyd), “Virginia Plain” (Roxy Music), and “Eight Miles High” (Byrds) playing overhead. However halfway through the day the mix gravitated away from psychedelia to nondescript contemporary dance stuff. Laughed a little, though, at Griffin Benger’s tweet early in the day that the music was “the devil’s anthem.”

Benger also didn’t care for the 10-handed play (which was the case for most of the early part of Day 1), which I know many tourney players aren’t crazy about. They eventually moved to nine-handed, though, once late registration closed.

Had fun working with Remko whose special fascination with barns I was able to satisfy with some pictures of the one Vera and I now own. Also was glad to meet Chris Tessaro of the Hardcore Poker Show. I remembered once doing a quick spot on there a long while back, and we had fun comparing our memories of that “Niagara Falls” bit I was writing about on Friday.

Chris pointed out that the Canadians remaining in the field are all going to be tired today after getting up early to watch the gold medal hockey match. I have it on (watching CBC) as I write this morning, with Canada trying to hold a 2-0 lead over Sweden as the third period begins. A lot of excitement about this match around here, as you might imagine.

Signing off to watch the finale and get some other business done before heading back to the tourney room. Check in over at the WPT site for our Day 2 live updates today.