2010 WSOP, Day 47: The Roving Reporter

My assignments yesterday helping cover the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event were a little out of the ordinary. I started out in the suddenly eerily-quiet Pavilion (pictured). Just me and one reporter -- Mickey, one of the best -- were there to cover things as the final 16 tables broke into the Amazon.

Two of those tables were gone before we even started, having been designated feature tables and relocated to the main room. And another broke as the first hands were dealt. In all it would only take an hour-and-a-half or so for the rest to go as well.

We actually got to report a few hands and some other color before we left, including the story of Philip Goossens, the player who ended Day 2 of the Main Event with an above average stack, but had to leave -- apparently because the package he’d won only covered expenses through the weekend, and he couldn’t pay out of pocket to change his flight or for extra nights’ lodging. His stack made it all of the way through Day 3, but only made it through an orbit on Day 4 before finally vanishing.

When I got over to the Amazon I ended up over at the two feature tables -- the ones that will be getting a lot of play once ESPN shows their stuff for Day 3. In the past we’ve had trouble getting access to these tables, which has been unfortunate because usually there are notable players at them. But I was able to get close to both and spent the rest of the day roving back and forth between them, gathering hands and stories from each.

I’d thought at first it might be a somewhat tedious gig just watching the two tables, but there ended up being quite a lot going on at both. We are getting to that stage of the tournament, actually, where just about everything that is happening is rising to the level of being newsworthy.

Among the players who moved through those seats during the day were Johnny Chan, who continued to build his big stack throughout the day (he’s in 13th place entering today). Others passing through included Dan Harrington, J.P. Kelly, Jonathan Tamayo, Brett Richey, Michael Mizrachi, Frank Kassela, Gavin Smith, Chris Bjorin, Jean-Robert Bellande, Vince Van Patten, Karina Jett, Matthew Brown, and Max Casal.

Probably my favorite bit during the day was being there as Gavin Smith was asking Dan Harrington about the origins of “M” and joking with Action Dan that he should have called it “H” or perhaps “Dan.” Here is the post sharing that conversation.

Of course, the most exciting moments of the day were associated with the bursting of the cash bubble. You probably heard that we’d gotten close -- within four eliminations of getting to the final 747 and the cash -- when it was decided to go ahead and take the 90-minute dinner break a few minutes ahead of schedule, then come back to begin hand-for-hand play.

Kind of funny -- when asked at the start of the day when I thought the bubble would burst, I had said either just before or after dinner. “You were right both ways,” said B.J. Nemeth to me later. It would have burst just before dinner if they’d chose to play it out then, but instead the decision was made to wait.

Some hastily declared taking the break at that moment was “the worst decision in the history of the WSOP,” though I didn’t really think it was such a bad idea. Things get a little crazy when the bubble bursts, and I thought taking the break just before would give tourney officials a chance to get all their ducks in a row as far as handling the payouts were concerned, as well as perhaps finding the short stacks and making sure they had their numbers right.

The delay also allowed everyone to get hyped for the big moment. I was back at my seat at the main feature table a few minutes before play resumed, and I was enjoying overhearing the dealers and tourney officials chatting about the upcoming hand-for-hand play.

“If it goes an hour,” said one, “I’d like to put the line at 13.5 hands.” (That would end up being much too high of a line, as it turned out.) “You see some wild things,” said another. “I’ve seen them open fold queens, kings...” “Oh, I’ve seen them fold aces!”

Once play resumed I was talking to Matt (a field reporter) who said he thought taking the break wasn’t such a good idea, mainly because it increased the likelihood of collusion. It was a good point, I thought. There was at least one hand (reported in the blog) of a player down to just 4,000 chips getting a walk in his big blind, which maybe seemed even more sketchy given the fact that there’d been that long break before hand-for-hand.

Hand-for-hand ended up lasting six hands total, and it ended up taking just about an hour all told. The 748th-place finisher, Tim McDonald, was awarded a free entry into next year’s Main Event. Interestingly, the fellow who had that distinction last year, Kia Hamadani, made the cash this time around. In fact, he’ll be back for today’s Day 5. My colleague Heath wrote an awesome post detailing his story.

At the feature tables, Gavin Smith busted shortly after, making a minimum-cash. He’d pushed all in at least three times right before the bubble burst, but had had no callers. Finally he was all in with pocket treys against Max Casal's ace-rag, the big stack at the table with over a million. An ace flopped, and Smith couldn't catch up. A short-stacked Frank Kassela went out shortly thereafter in a wild three-way all-in, though by cashing he locked up a share of the WSOP Player of the Year.

All in all it was a fun day at the WSOP for me, made more so by the fact that I was working alongside B.J. Nemeth for much of the time, both in the Pavilion and at the feature tables. I have an interview with Nemeth focusing mainly on his photographing the WSOP coming out on Friday over at the Betfair poker site. He’s a great colleague and friend, and as anyone who follows poker at all knows, his contributions to the coverage of the WSOP and poker are significant. Indeed, when it comes to the professional poker circuit, he is the quintessential “roving reporter.”

One other highlight of the day involved B.J., actually. Shortly after the cash bubble burst and we were on a break, a player who was at the main feature table, Dan Harkenrider, came over to compliment B.J. for his reporting and his contributions over on The Poker Beat.

Harkenrider talked a little about how playing in the Main Event was something of a rare thing for him, and getting to learn more about the WSOP via Nemeth’s reporting genuinely helped him prepare for the experience.

I got a real kick out of seeing B.J. receive those kind (and much deserved) words. If somehow you aren’t familiar with B.J.’s work, do check out his WSOP photo blog and also that Betfair interview on Friday, which I’ll remind you of once it goes up.

Back to the Amazon room today, where they are already taking out tables as the field continues to shrink. There are 574 players left and I think the plan is going to be to try to track ’em all. Check in over at PokerNews’ live reporting page to follow along.

2010 WSOP, Day 30: “You’re winning this one”

“You’re winning this one.”

So said Flipchip, the longtime WSOP photographer, to Gavin Smith near the end of Day 2 of Event No. 44, the $2,500 Mixed Hold’em event, when there were 11 players left. I’ve had the chance to work with Flipchip each of these last three summers, and was there letting him know who was left in the field as he came around to snap up some late night pics.

I don’t exactly remember Smith’s reply. Something self-deprecating like “I hope so” or “That’s the plan,” I think. But I do remember Flipchip’s response -- a wordless nod, eyes closed.

He’d already snapped a few of Smith before I’d arrived with the list of the other players and their seating assignments. While he needed others’ names, he obviously knew Smith already. Like most all of us.

And like I say, he seemed to know something else, too. It was like Flipchip had just spotted something a moment before through that camera he held at his side.

Smith is one of those players whom a lot of us who follow poker feel like we know even if we don’t. As a longtime poker podcast listener -- from really the very start of such things back about five years ago -- I’d spent many hours listening to “the Caveman” on shows like The Circuit, PokerWire, and PokerRoad Radio, where I always found Smith a funny, entertaining contributor who could be thoughtful at times, too, when required.

He’s also one of those pros who has always seemed willing to share opinions about issues others shy away from talking about, less concerned (than most) with some of the politicking that goes on, as well as the tiptoeing some are forced to do relative to their endorsement deals or the desire for such.

Put all that together with his frequent television appearances on the WPT, “Poker After Dark,” and other shows, and like I say one sort of feels like one knows the guy even if one doesn’t. And I think many probably were glad to see Smith finally break through last night and do just what FlipChip said he was going to do -- win his first WSOP bracelet.

Was quite the scene, in fact, with a crush of Smith’s friends and supporters surrounding the main feature table there in the Amazon when the final hand between Smith and Danny Hannawa played out. I was lucky enough to be on this event from start to finish, and so got to help with the chronicling of it all three days.

Was kind of a frantic event to cover, right through final table, with eliminations happening quickly throughout and a ton of action. Indeed, there was a moment somewhere in there last night when I looked up and saw reporters for other publications and sites -- people like B.J. Nemeth who spent most of the day and night circling the final table with his camera, shooting pics for the WSOP -- and kind of envied how they were able actually to watch the final table playing out, enjoying a broader perspective as they slowly pieced together their articles and other means of telling the “story” of the night.

I definitely would’ve liked to have spent more time relating various “color” from the final table, such as reporting on the shenanigans happening in the bleachers among Smith’s supporters, some of the table talk that arose, and even perhaps trying to relate something insightful in the blog about Smith’s appearance and demeanor.

Smith has a bit of a party animal persona -- hence the “Caveman” tag from the podcasts – but during this event seemed to be playing a different role, with his suit jacket, eyeglasses, and fedora adding up to a more reserved, serious, sober Smith.

Would’ve liked to relate more along the way some of these other details from the evening (the kinds of things my fellow reporters likely wrote about in their articles), but I was too occupied getting down what the action was on the turn, etc.

Speaking of that changed look and deportment, I know Smith has gotten involved with this new poker “guru”-slash-life-coach Sam Chauhan with whom others have worked. I’m hoping actually to meet up this week with another poker coach -- my friend Tommy Angelo -- and might have to ask him about Chauhan.

Still, it was most certainly a fun final table to cover, and I was glad to be there to witness Smith’s triumph.

I was reminded more than once during the night of the very first final table I’d ever covered back at the start of the 2008 WSOP when Erick Lindgren won his first bracelet. That, too, was a mixed hold’em event, in fact. Lindgren, like Smith, definitely appeared to have an edge in the limit rounds over most at the final table. E-Dog also had a big rail there to support him, and there was the same festive atmosphere and celebration when he won.

When Flipchip uttered his statement of assurance to Smith night before last, I can’t say I paid much mind to it. Let’s not get carried away here, I probably would’ve said, if asked to respond. There are 11 left, Smith is in the middle of the pack, and a cooler or two in the limit rounds and he’s gonna miss the final table. That’s poker.

Then again, why not think positively, if given the choice? Imagining oneself succeeding generally does help one prepare for that eventuality. Or at least that’s what one often hears. Maybe I’ll ask Tommy about that, too.

Of course, it probably doesn’t hurt, either, to have someone who has seen three-plus decades’ worth of these things come around and tell you you’re winning this one.

Fail Better

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
--Samuel Beckett

Had a late one Friday, and so ended up hitting the hay relatively early Saturday evening. So I didn’t see what they pulled on Saturday Night Live this week (or how they managed without Amy Poehler who was having her baby). Nor was I able to keep up with B.J. Nemeth’s World Poker Tour updates of the next-to-last day of action at the Festa al Lago at the Bellagio.

I had been checking in most of the day. Some interesting names in the final dozen, including PokerRoad co-founder and PokerRoad Radio co-host Joe Sebok. Sebok had held the chip lead with ten players remaining when I signed off, and so I was a little surprised (and disappointed) to find out the next morning he’d hit the rail in ninth, missing yet another WPT final table.

I was one of those who started listening to the old Circuit shows back when Matusow was co-hosting them with Scott Huff. That show started way back in December 2005, and I think I first picked it up sometime during the spring of ’06. I remember hearing Sebok do some guest spots in there somewhere, then reading a couple of his pieces in Card Player for which he wrote a regular column from May 2005 to June 2006. Liked his humor and self-effacing wit right away, and have basically been keeping up with his audio adventures fairly closely ever since.

We’ve interacted a few times via email, but just in passing. Had a couple of chances to talk to him this summer at the WSOP, but it seemed like every time he showed up I was feverishly working a final table and thus unable to stop long enough to introduce myself. I’ll try harder next time. He’s definitely one of those dudes that strikes me as very good for poker, adding a great deal to a lot of folks’ enjoyment of the game via his podcasting efforts at what he’s managed to pull off thus far with the PokerRoad website.

Suffice it to say, I was pulling for the Cub to break through this weekend. So were a lot of folks, it seems.

Yesterday I listened to the 10/25 episode of PokerRoad Radio on which Sebok and his fellow co-hosts Ali Nejad, Gavin Smith, and Court Harrington discussed Sebok’s bustout, then for a change of pace they let Sebok take a turn as the guest and interviewed him. He talked about growing up the son of a poker legend (Barry Greenstein), his college days at Berkeley, his stint in the dotcom world, and some of his experiences prior to becoming a poker pro, such as a lengthy, months-long cross-country trip he embarked upon alone.

Throughout Sebok repeatedly talked about how important it is to him to challenge himself. The cross-country trip, for instance, represented a significant test from which he firmly believes he benefitted greatly. Have to admit I found myself identifying pretty strongly with some of the points Sebok was making. Hell, my decision to go out to Vegas last summer to help cover the WSOP for PokerNews was just such a challenge -- one I’m especially glad I accepted.

Near the end of the interview, Sebok talked a bit about why he played poker, and again brought up his primary motive to seek challenges. He especially likes giving himself “projects” (the PokerRoad website being an example). “To me poker is a project,” he added. “And it is a project that is ongoing.... I’m not trying to elicit sympathy, but I still consider myself a failure in poker, because I haven’t done any of these things that I still want to do.”

That reads a bit more desperate-sounding than Sebok intends, I’m sure. His reference to “failure” simply stands for the notion that, in his mind, when it comes to poker, work remains to be done. A frankly healthy attitude, I’d venture to say, whenever we’re talking about an endeavor for which one shouldn’t be too easily satisfied with one’s modest successes. (In other words, anything worth doing.)

Sebok’s co-hosts were quick to provide encouragement, and Smith shared what I thought was an interesting analogy to describe tournament poker. Sounded like the sort of thing that has likely been around for awhile, but I can’t remember hearing it before.

“Poker’s a funny thing,” said Smith. “You can feel like you’re not being successful, but poker is a lot like a hole-in-one.... It’s great to get it. [But] that’s not skill to get a hole-in-one. The skill in the hole-in-one is getting the ball close. It goes in? That’s where the luck comes in. And that’s the same in tournament poker, you know? The skill is knocking on the door and getting there, and eventually you’ll walk through.”

A little mixing of the metaphors there at the end, but you get the idea. Skill keeps you in the fairway and/or gets you on the green consistently, but to sink that tee shot on a par three certainly also requires a bit of luck. Doesn’t happen often, though it’s damn sweet when it does.

But then you have to tee it up again. And fail. Again.

Which is good. ‘Cos that’s how you know it was worth trying.