Author 'AlCantHang' Archive
2009 November Nine – Cada and Moon Heads Up for Championship
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
After an insane amount of poker over the last 17+ hours, the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event finally found it’s way down to the final 2 players. The tournament has been suspended with Joe “jcada99″ Cada and Darvin Moon returning on Monday evening to crown the new champion.
It was a day full of everything you expect to find at the biggest poker event you will find. Over 1,400 spectators lined up early outside the Penn & Teller Theater hours before the gates were scheduled to open, even generating long lines 12 hours after play began. The big name of the table, Phil Ivey, pulled in members of the media from around the world but could not avoid the one monstrous suckout that would have put him back in contention. Darvin Moon, our amateur player who came in as the chipleader, played an interesting game that was all over the map but in the end will be playing heads up for the championship. There were far too many ridiculous suckouts to list but will certainly provide a great viewing experience when it hits the ESPN broadcast on November 10th.
The superstars came out in force and camped most of the night on the stage supporting either Ivey or Jeff Shulman. For his part, Shulman will not be able to prove whether his words were true when he stated he would throw the bracelet in the trash. Our first and last eliminations of the day were bookended by the only two European players at the final table. Akenhead finishing in 9th and Saout in 3rd.
After all that excitement and all the craziness, it is time to shut the lights down in the auditorium and prepare to recharge for Tuesday’s heads up match between Darvin Moon and Joe Cada. I will be back with that match once it kicks off.
Seat 1 – Darvin Moon – 58,875,000
Seat 7 – Joe Cada – 136,925,000
Update: If you’d like to read about the insanity of the November Nine, feel free to click here to read my 2009 November Nine Live Blog
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Tags: 2009 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, WSOP
2009 November Nine Live Blog
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
My view from the heights
After 12 grinding days of poker and nearly 4 months with the 2009 World Series of Poker on “pause” we are now down to the time when a new WSOP Main Event Champion will be crowned. All nine players will shortly entered the Penn & Teller Theater to take their seats at the most coveted final table in the game. Phil Ivey will begin as the most famous and Darvin Moon will have the biggest stack. An ex-Wall Street banker, several young guns and a couple Euros will take their shot at being the last bracelet winner in 2009.
Play is schedule to begin at noon which is just two short hours from now. I will be camped out high above the stage with a bird’s eye view and bringing hourly updates as we whittle down the field. Come back to follow along with your favorite player at the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event final table.
Poker from the Rail 2009 World Series of Poker November Nine Part 1
Poker from the Rail 2009 World Series of Poker November Nine Part 2
Poker from the Rail 2009 World Series of Poker November Nine Part 3
Seat 1 – Darvin Moon – 58,930,000
Seat 2 – James Akenhead – 6,800,000
Seat 3 – Phil Ivey – 9,765,000
Seat 4 – Kevin Schaffel – 12,390,000
Seat 5 – Steven Begleiter – 29,885,000
Seat 6 – Eric Buchman – 34,800,000
Seat 7 – Joe Cada – 13,215,000
Seat 8 – Antoine Saout – 9,500,000
Seat 9 – Jeff Shulman – 19,580,000
11:30PT – The doors are open
The gates to the Penn & Teller Theater have been opened and the crowds of fans, friends, and spectators have begun pouring into the room to find their seats. The press box is elbow to elbow with outlets from all around the world. The players have completed their pre-game meeting with the WSOP staff including Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack. Chip bags are on the table and the dealers are preparing their setups.
The early line on fan noise has Joe Cada well ahead with a crew in yellow Michigan “Cada” t-shirts and mugging for the ESPN cameras. The Darvin Moon crowd is walking around with “heads on sticks”, not exactly sure where that is going. Poker legend Doyle Brunson has found the stage and will be giving the Shuffle Up and Deal command. Photographers are getting their last minute shots before the players are announced, the lovely Lacey Jones is prepping for hosting duties, Lon McCarren and Norm Chad are doing their rehearsals. Fellow Full Tilt blogger Michael Craig is in the house and ready to bring the action from up close.
In late minute player news, the word around town is that Steve Begleiter hired SnG player expert Jonathan Little as his couch for this “Sit n Go”.
13:00PT – Cards in the air
Getting under just a little over an hour later than scheduled, the cards are finally in the air.
Jeffrey Pollack, Lacey Jones, and Jack Effel all took their time at the microphone making announcements and warming up the crowd including the bracelet ceremony for Barry Shulman’s WSOP-E title. Lon McCarren and Norm Chad have have made their ESPN intros, and an honor guard made their appearance for the National Anthem. WSOP Tournament Director Jack Eiffel made the extended player introductions and the biggest ovation was for Phil Ivey followed by Joe Cada and Antoine Saout. The French are outnumbered but making plenty of noise. Jeff “Happy” Shulman received a polite round of applause.
Blinds will be at 120,000/240,000 with 30,000 ante for the next 7 minutes.
14:00PT – Faces in the crowd
Several big guns from Team Full Tilt have been spotted in the crowd to support Phil Ivey. Jen Harman and Marco Traniello are sitting on the stage along with Howard Lederer, Allen Cunningham and Perry Friedman. Phil Gordon is hanging around the Orchestra Pit and there has been a Chris Ferguson spotting.
After the first few orbits the crowd has settled down a little bit, only getting rowdy after a series of preflop battles. The French supporters have been as quiet so far as their boy Antoine Saout.
It took awhile before we saw the first flop and still haven’t seen a turn card. Very few flops, non-existent turns, and most pots being taken down with a preflop raise or a three-bet. They seem to be still feeling each other out and the blinds will not be forcing the action for a very long time. Begleiter and Cada appear to be the early aggressors.
Just 15 hands into the action and Phil Ivey found a hand worthy of pushing all-in behind a raise from Jeff Shulman. Joe Cada asked for a count and went in the tank for quite awhile before mucking, Shulman was not far behind. Shulman has spent the early part of the day making very odd, large opening raises pre-flop, perhaps this was the time for Ivey to look him up.
Shortly after the clock switched over the 2pm, Jack Effel announced an explicable 20 minute break after just an hour of action. This seems to indicate a very long day for our players and fans. When they return blinds will be at 150,000/30,000/40,000 ante for another hour.
You can find the rest of the live blog after the jump. A mere 5,000 words to describe 17 hours of action. Thanks for stopping by. Click below to read the rest of the story.
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Tags: 2009 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, November Nine, Phil Ivey, WSOP
2009 World Series of Poker – November Nine On The Horizon
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
2009 World Series of Poker Main Event “November Nine”
The big weekend is finally here. All the players are in town, ESPN is putting the final touches on the stage at the Penn & Teller Theater, spectators will soon begin queueing up to get the best seats in the house, people are starting to jockey the big wigs for prime access. The 2009 November Nine players will take their places tomorrow around noon and we will have a new World Series of Poker Champion by Tuesday morning.
It didn’t take long to get back into the swing of things as soon as my feet were on the ground. The cab drivers, bartenders, and dealers all have an opinion on who they think will win. Most seem to want Phil Ivey to win it all, many opinions about what he needs to do to get it done. WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack has already met with chip leader Darvin Moon and he is reportedly head-to-toe in New Orleans Saints gear. The exact same Darvin everyone saw on TV. Media credential request were from all over the globe and seems to be even more mainstream media showing an interest in the game.
I will be back on this space Saturday afternoon and bring hourly updates as the game proceeds down to the remaining two players. Those two will return Tuesday evening at 10pm PT to crown the champion. I will be tracking the three Full Tilt sponsored players, Phil Ivey, James Akenhead, and Steve Begleiter, as well as everything that happens until we have a victor.
Listed below you can find our 2009 November Nine Handicapping posts:
Poker from the Rail 2009 World Series of Poker November Nine Part 1
Poker from the Rail 2009 World Series of Poker November Nine Part 2
Poker from the Rail 2009 World Series of Poker November Nine Part 3
In Phil Ivey news, ESPN’s E:60 program ran a special on the most famous November Nine players to go along with the Insider article I wrote about earlier. After the jump you can find the clip from the episode.
Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: 2009 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, James Akenhead, Phil Ivey, Steven Begleiter, WSOP
Big Money Sunday – November 1st
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
After the Full Tilt pros were practically skunked last week during the Big Money Sunday events, Michael Tureniec and Lee Watkinson almost made up for it on their own in the first big game of the day. Watkinson was the final table bubble boy and Tuerniec finished second in the Sunday Brawl for a nice showing. That final table also features a friend of the bloggers and regular player in the Battle of the Blogger Tournament Series as katiemother shipped 5th place for a cool $28,000.
Naturally the biggest draw of the day was the 43,000+ player FTOPS XIV Warmup game that played so crazy that it actually made the Double Deuce look sane. I’m not going to say it was a complete crapshoot, it was more like 95% luck, 4% timing (sort of luck I suppose), 1% skill (getting the hell out of the way). The biggest name I saw running deep, and quite proud of it per his twitter page, was Dutch “Dutchalicious” Boyd who somehow got through most of the field to finish in 80th.
I’d like to highlight just one player and three hands to give a feel for the game. I just happened to have the table up at the time and watched “her” go from decent stack to chip leader in just a few hands with less than 500 players left, I believe the first player over 1,000,000 in chips. Then all in one swoop was out of the tournament in 413th. I am by no means picking on “MsKitty0487″, just dump luck that I happened to have the table open.
It all starts off with either the most brilliantly played Aces or the biggest head scratcher. She limped in late position after one other limper. Checked it down on the ace-high, two heart flop. Flat called a min-bet on both the turn and river for a very small pot. “david koch” pretty much lost the minimum he could on that hand. No matter, just one hand later she turned on the burners and took all his chips with AJ versus A9 on a jack-high flop. How could he get a read after the previous play?
Here is the hand that got her up near the stratosphere. No aggression, just check/called the entire way has her next victim hung himself betting into the mortal nuts. This hand pretty much played itself at this level. Nice flop.
It didn’t take very long after that for it all to start circling the drain. After a few sketchy hands at her new table, she tangled with the only player at the table who could knock her out, with a borderline hand out of position. Called a pretty sizable preflop raise, a huge re-raise on the flop, and the shove on the turn with a 7% chance to pick up the pot. From hero to out in no time. “Froggetaboutit” went on to finish 33rd, a $450 difference from there to 413th.
I’m no expert, just presenting it as I saw it. What hand can she beat there on the turn? QQ or an airball is just about the only thing she beats with the pre-flop action.
While I was running around grabbing screenshots, I was also taking down all the information I could gather. You see, I have this freaky love of numbers. Random numbers, formulas, statistics, etc. I’m always running a few spreadsheets on the side tracking random things just for fun. I thought for sure I’d see something interesting if I kept a note how the field busted out between breaks in the FTOPS XIV Warmup and wasn’t disappointed. Generally you see some sort of slowdown as the field corrects itself with blinds and chipstacks. Once this monstrosity got past the second break the pace of people hitting the rail stayed about as consistent as possible. From then until the very end of the tournament the rate between 65% and 69%. Of course it went even quicker when down to two tables.
Break 3 – 23,971 down to 7,581 (68.3%)
Break 4 – 7,581 down to 2,405 (68.3%)
Break 5 – 2,405 down to 733 (69.5%)
Break 6 – 733 down to 259 (64.7%)
Break 7 – 259 down to 85 (67.1%)
Break 8 – 82 down to 20 (76.4%)
Break 9 – 20 down to 5 (75.0%)
As far as I can tell, a statistical loony bin.
Hopefully the run a version of this tournament for the miniFTOPS and the rest of the FTOPS as they progress. It’s just too compelling of a spectacle to resist.
Here are your FTOPS XIV final table results, the rest of the Big Money Sunday can be found after the jump.
FTOPS XIV Warmup
Entrants: 43,874
Prizepool: $250,000
First place: $22,500
IGetMugger – 23,703,448
propopl77 – 17,943,316
redr1212 – 13,349,496
TILTOHOLIC – 9,407,018
Aunt Bessie – 6,381,052
Junokeo – 6,268,573
marciwallace – 4,750,096
Bura-AA – 3,736,488
Tigermitfell – 2,208,513
1st – propopl77 – $22,500
2nd – TILTOHOLIC – $15,725
3rd – Aunt Bessie – $11,500
4th – redr1212- $9,000
5th – IGetMugger – $7,250
6th – Junokeo – $5,750
7th – marciwallace – $4,500
8th – Tigermitfell – $3,250
9th – Bura-AA – $2,000
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Tags: AlCantHang, Big Money Sunday, Bloggers on the Rail, FTOPS, FTOPS Warmup
FTOPS XIV Warmup Live Blog
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
The FTOPS XIV Warmup tournament is just around the corner and should generate one of the largest fields of players in the history of poker. With a puny buyin of $5+.50 Full Tilt has guaranteed a prizepool of $250,000 which would be reached if the tournament reaches it’s 50,000 player limit. For this monster sized occasion I have come out of hibernation to run yet another “Live Blog”. I’ll be tracking my results as well as a few of the more famous and interesting players in the field.
12:00ET (Sunday): OK campers, rise and shine. The FTOPS XIV Warmup tournament is just a few hours away and there are still plenty of spots available in the field. 33,000+ players are registered at this point which seems surprising to me. I figured the field would be capped and a long waitlist forming. If the field does not hit 50,000 players there will be a significant overlay.
There was not much poker studying last night via the large field SnG’s as I spent my evening watching my beloved Phillies lose to the evil NYC empire. I ended drowning my sorrows in bad movies and even worse books. The next few hours will be spent grinding away at the cheap SnG’s trying to work out a better strategy so I can run deep in the Warmup.
If I didn’t have enough motivation, now I do. I shipped off an inquiring email to fellow Full Tilt blogger Michael Craig yesterday while I was torturing myself in the Early Daily Doubles. I thought maybe a friendly wager between the sites might add a nice little twist to the horror that will come by playing in a 5-digit-sized field. Ever the creative fellow, he came up with some interesting ideas. (Michael’s writeup of the prop bet can be read here)
I suggested three possible consequences for the loser: (1) Standing on the Strip at midnight for a half-hour with the escort-service pimps handing out copies of WATCHTOWER; (2) Making a collage from escort brochures into a giant “congratulations” card for the winner; and (3) Submitting losing keno cards from three crappy casinos. I later clarified this last one by saying “the winner picks the places as long as they are (a) in the Vegas area, and (b) certifiable shit-holes.” (I never really gave any thought to what agency would provide the certification.)
When everything was ironed out, none of the above were chosen. The loser would have to play in a poker tournament, a scary poker tournament. A poker tournament located downtown at 2am and responsible for their own personal security. The loser is required to play in the 2am Binion’s tournament next time we are in Las Vegas. I was in Binion’s during the WSOP when both blogger friends Drizz and BWOP final tabled their Omaha/8 “mini-series” tournament. Binion’s may be the mythical home of the World Series of Poker, but it is sketchy as all hell in the early morning hours with nothing else around. The winner also has half of the action in the tournament.
Now I have a little more motivation to do well in the FTOPS XIV Warmup. If I do end up losing I will comfort myself that at least the drinks were incredibly cheap at Binion’s once we dodged the locals and found the bar. It’s time to practice.
14:30ET (Sunday): Some have been wondering about how I could possibly consider taking such a risk prop betting with Michael Craig. The man’s reputation as a player is light years beyond anything I’ll ever accomplish in my lifetime. I’m much better known for the exploits on the fringe of these events, while others are trying for poker glory I am behind the scenes making sure a good time is being had by all. Let’s do the boxing routine and go to the “Tale of the Tapes”:
Michael Craig – professional writer, author of The Professor, The Banker, and The Suicide King, three (3) World Series of Poker final tables, friend and confidante of the pros.
AlCantHang – professional degenerate, author of nothing more exciting than some random drunken blog post, two (2) wins in The Mookie, master of the micro-limit.
As you can see here, my complete lack of experience must easily point to me being the favorite in my battle over Mr. Craig. I’ve played these low buyin tournaments, I know the players, their skills and preferences. I think I will be railing Michael at Binion’s in a few days.
In actual FTOPS XIV Warmup news, there’s a very good chance this tournament does not hit it’s 50,000 cap. That means we’re likely to see a decent overlay coming from the Full Tilt pocket. I’m willing to commit to a guess at this point and predict we’ll see just over 40,000 players in the event. Another prediction I’m kicking around is that we will see at least 10,000 players eliminated in the first hour of play. Keeping in mind that the first break will occur a little over 30 minutes into the tournament.
Any other predictions from my fellow lemur-fighting friends or readers?
15:05ET (Sunday): Along with keeping an eye on my adversary today, I’ll also be checking out several bloggers in the field. One of my favorite players will be Drizztdj, who I convinced to register for the tournament even though he’s completely unable to play. I was interested in seeing just how close he comes to actually min-cashing in the event. It should be fun.
The tournament has “started” which means they’ve begun the 15 minute process of seating the entire field. We have gone over the 40,000 player mark so my first line has been crossed.
Some of the bloggers in the tournaments include OtisDart, DrChako, BuddyDank, Joanne1111, and USAF_Trevor in addition to the aforementioned sitting out blogger Drizztdj.
Good luck everyone!
16:00ET (Sunday): Caught KK but no action as the non-stop min-raiser to my left folded when I repopped it. My notes told me that “overbetting for value” was the play in these cheapy events. I probably put too much in on my re-raise but had no doubt I’d get called down in several places. Apparently I have the only tight table in the tournament. No less than three times have I been dealt the all-powerful 53o, I’m tempted to start playing it if I keep seeing it.
My prediction of 10,000 players lost in the first hour of play is look very realistic. At the first break, 35 minutes into the tournaments, and we’ve already lost 5,296 players. Shaking my head at my tight table not giving action. I should have doubled up with the kings. Unfortunately a network problem has popped up thanks to the insane response. Awaiting the return.
In the blogger prop bet battle:
AlCantHang – 2130
Michael Craig – 2110
16:30ET (Sunday): And my prop bet with Mr. Craig is settled just that quickly. Before an hour was complete he found himself short after running into pocket kings. He pushed his stack in with ducks and the trusty weak Ace called and hit. Now he’ll have to trek down and play the dreaded 2am Binion’s tournament next week. I’ve already made the decision I’ll be going down also to play the tournament. What’s the fun of shipping someone down there without actually seeing their face as they look around the place and SMELL the other players.
The rest of the action was crazy. As soon as we come back from the break my table starts pushing their chips in the middle like they have somewhere to go. I actually saw pocket Jacks hold up against Big Slick and I lost a few chips in a blind versus blind battle but nothing spectacular. I picked up with blinds with AKo by raising to 210 in middle position, the big blind folded with only 215 chips behind.
Can you guess that hand the made mrhamilton321 shove in nearly 100 big blinds in the middle UTG+1? The mighty 77 wins again.
At 4:20pm ET there were 33,269 entrants remaining. That means I also win the prop bet with myself, over 10,000 players gone in one hour of play. 24% of the field eliminated in nex to no time at all. “Y’all some crazy players”, my offical moto of this tournament. The official number of entrants is 43,874. That means Full Tilt will be throwing over $30,000 into the prizepool. Not a bad overlay for a $5 buying tournament. First place will pocket $22,500 sometime early this morning (or late?). Here is the official payout for the final table:
1st – $22,500
2nd – $15,725
3rd – $11,500
4th – $9,000
5th – $7,250
6th – $5,750
7th – $4,500
8th – $3,250
9th – $2,000
You can view the rest of the “Live Blog” after the jump:
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Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, FTOPS, FTOPS Warmup
Big Weekend in the Works
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
It’s lining up to be a very busy weekend on Full Tilt poker this weekend. There are a ton of promotions going off, big tournaments, this should really prop up the cash game tables, and The durrrr Challenge has finally picked up some steam. We’re also just a few short days away from the November Nine determining this year’s World Series of Poker champion and you still have a chance to get your Piece of Ivey. Your humble blogger will hoping a plane bound for Las Vegas early next week to bring you the blow-by-blow play-by-play action. Until then, here’s what you have to look forward to this weekend.
- FTOPS XIV Warmup. It’s sure to be one of the biggest online poker tournaments ever (per number of entrants) and I’m going to start taking over/under prop bets on the bustout per hour rate. The field will be capped at 50,000 players and there is a $250,000 guarantee for just a $5 buyin. Crazy if you ask me, that’s why I’m already registered. As of this post there are nearly 28,000 players signed up including fellow Full Tilt blogger Michael Craig. You can satellite your way into the tournament for as little as .85c or 160 FTP points. First place gets you $22,500 for just a tiny price. I’ll be running a “Live Blog” throughout the tournament so check back on Sunday afternoon.
- FTOPS XIV Satellites continue to run all weekend as November 4th begins the next tournament series. The satellites start as low as $2+.25 or a handful of your FTP points. FTOPS XIV will see more the $16,000,000 given out to those who run well and play solid. This series also features a 7-game Mix for Event #2 with a $200+16 buyin and $150,000 guarantee, a fine way to test your variety of poker skills.
- It’s your last weekend to get a Piece of Ivey. Do you like getting free money in your bankroll? Would you like to watch the November Nine knowing you actually have a chance to win more and more money as Phil Ivey gets closer to the title? This promotion is for you. Sign up and start playing your regular games to earn a chance at the free dough. Just click on the link for full details.
- Recently The durrrr Challenge between Tom Dwan and Patrik Antonius has picked up more steam. Over the last week they have played thousands of hands and Dwan is sporting a hefty lead of nearly $800,000. That’s real dollars, not tournament chips but it can be erased pretty quickly. Some of the biggest hands they’ve placed have been for several hundred thousands. Just this week Dwan took down a $293,000 pot to build his lead. You can find all the information on The durrrr Challenge live stats page which has the “score” and a replay of the biggest hands.
- Big Money Sunday is always there waiting for you to make your big score. $1,500,000 in guaranteed prizepools (when you throw in the $200,000 Double Deuce) can make for a life changing bankroll boost.
- Don’t forget those juicy cash game tables either. The weekends have proven to be some of the best fishing grounds where everyone has a chance to hook that big fish and take him to the felt. Just about every poker variation is available in No Limit, Pot Limit, and Fixed Limit formats. Step and take your shot.
I’ll be back this weekend with updates (and the Warmup Live Blog) and getting ready for Las Vegas. Things are about to get very exciting around these parts and you don’t want to miss a second of it.
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Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, FTOPS
ESPN 2009 WSOP Main Event Broadcast Day 8
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
This week I decided to wait until after ESPN aired their coverage of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event before posting anything. the previous 90 episodes were full of nothing but big bustout hands, suckouts, or inane rants by players looking for their half second of TV exposure. There wasn’t a lot of action they could really cover outside of the two feature tables and the players were doing them no favors by busting out at an incredible rate. At the end of each day, which always ended earlier than anticipated, someone would say “tomorrow, that’s when the stacks and blinds will catch up”. During most tournaments this indicates that play will pick up pace as the blinds begin to force action on the shortstack, the WSOP Main Event was the opposite.
It was nothing to see a player shove 50 big blinds in the middle preflop with any Ace Face. You have a slim draw with an overcard? Ship it in and walk away. Holding a baby pair? It’s the nuts. We saw it over and over again. The last few episodes you can see some of that action but to witness in person was a sight to behold. Still waiting for the best hand of the tournament, it’s already queued up for next Tuesday’s broadcast.
We walked into the Amazon Room on Day 8 fully expecting a very long day/night/morning. Predictions were floating around amongst the media members that we’d be looking at a 2am…4am…sunrise finish with such huge chipstacks in relation to the blinds. A third of these players were going be all over the poker press from July til November, surely that would finally slow the action to a respectable pace of play. As an anonymous member of the media stated that day, “these players are making Jack Eiffel look like a genius”.
It took less than 10 hours of play to lose 18 players.
ESPN dedicated this week to the first 9 knockouts, next Tuesday will bring the field from 18 players to the November Nine. You can click below if you’d like to catch up on our series handicapping each of the final 9 players. While it is being broadcast I will be on a plane west to see which one takes home the bracelet.
2009 World Series of Poker November Nine Part 1
2009 World Series of Poker November Nine Part 2
2009 World Series of Poker November Nine Part 3
My favorite Main Event picture, the Amazon Room on Day 8
An oasis of light and poker
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Tags: 2009 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Phil Ivey, WSOP
Big Money Sunday – October 25th
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
It’s a rare Sunday that I have a hard time finding a theme for the evening. Generally there are a few big Full Tilt pros running deep in a tournament or we’ve got a popular online pro ripping up the leaderboard or maybe an unknown player with a monster chip lead. It shouldn’t be that tough to find the lead with nearly $1.8million on the line. I spent some time railing friend-of-the-blog Shawn “sprstoner” Glines as he cashed in the $750k Guarantee but was run out in 275th. I did enjoy watching 3 other player shove into him holding AA, sometimes even this big majors play like a $22 Double Deuce.
Your Full Tilt player to cash for the most money on Sunday was none other than Somyung Sim. After a little research I found out our newest red letter pro is the most successful player of something called Starcraft. I’m sure that means something to gamer geeks but I gave up non-poker computer games the day they stopped producing for my IntelliVision. Sim pocketed $660 for his 141st place finish. Lee Watkinson and Steve Zolotow were the only other two members of Team Full Tilt to even cash and that was in the Double Deuce, technically not even part of Big Money Sunday.
Thank God for twitter as I saw Shaun Deeb was running deep. “looks like I have to miss my 730am flight due to still being in the 750k so I might stick in europe after all who knows now”. That at least added another table to my railbird duties and Deebs came oh-so-close to another big payout final table, crashing in 23rd after some horrific play at his table. Early in the evening I kept an eye on Justin “RoothlusJr” Levy who finished 56th in the Sunday Brawl. Justin is starting to come out of the shadow of his brother Adam “Roothlus” Levy with some big online cashes and a win at this year’s Borgata Poker Open. Tony “Bond18″ Dunst, old school Poker from the Rail contributor, made an appearance this week also finishing 42nd.
All in all a pretty uneventful Sunday. We’re getting prepared around these parts for the November Nine so a nice quiet day was welcome. You can find the Big Money Sunday results after the jump.
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Tags: AlCantHang, Big Money Sunday, Bloggers on the Rail
Phil Ivey in ESPN the Magazine
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Phil Ivey will grace the cover of ESPN the Magazine on November 2nd
Photo credits: ESPN
Our friends over at WickedChopsPoker.com broke this earlier today, we knew it was coming eventually and now it’s available to everyone. Even though it looks like the mainstream media is far behind in picking up stories, ESPN will be featuring Full Tilt Poker’s Phil Ivey on the November 2nd cover of ESPN the Magazine now that the November Nine is just a couple weeks away. Chad Millman was the lucky ESPN writer who found himself bouncing around the globe in Ivey’s private Gulfstream, to Foxwoods then Montreal then Amsterdam then Austria. Just another week in the life of the best poker player on the planet.
During this jaunt he was able to see a side of Ivey that most only hear about in rumors or stories or those internet fables posted over every forum on the internet. Gambling at nose-bleed levels most can only dream about, or have nightmares. He is the classic whale when entering casinos and is treated as such. Custom-made craps tables, private jets, going anywhere on a whim, it’s all come to him from this unique gift that has some players calling him the best ever.
“I know it’s a lot of money, but I like to gamble,” Ivey says. “It’s just in me. I try to manage what I do playing craps or blackjack. At the end of the year, I don’t want the amount I gamble there to be bigger than what I win playing poker.”
But that’s just the world-traveling, gambling side of Ivey, few ever have the opportunity to see it. The article does bring up some points about his poker game. He’s always aware of what’s going on around him, picking up pieces of information that casual person would never think about in life or at the poker table.
Ivey sees tics and tells the rest of us don’t. This is one of his gifts. When he sits at the table unsmiling, headphones over his ears, he’s like a cyborg computing the vulnerabilities of his opponents. While some poker pros calculate the odds of hands, Ivey doesn’t classify himself as a numbers guy. “At the level I play, it becomes more psychological than mathematical,” he says. “You really have to get in your opponents’ heads and figure out what they’re trying to do to you in pots and what they’re saying and why, what is the meaning behind it all.”
“Everyone dreams of winning the Main Event; anyone who plays poker and tells you differently is lying,” says Ivey. “It would by farbe my biggest accomplishment in poker.”
The article is a great look inside the private world of the most dangerous November Nine member, the player who has nothing to prove other than winning his first World Series of Poker Main Event. It’s definitely worth a read when the magazine comes out, if you have an ESPN Insider account you can find it online right now by clicking here.
Also out this week, the fine group over at PokerRoad.com have a video out now where Barry Greenstein goes in search of Phil Ivey in his self-imposed exile. It’s a fantastic video and yet another look behind the curtain of his life. He’s sitting around his house in Cabo chatting and playing a little online poker. By far my favorite line is
“…we lift weights for half hour then we do yoga, for an hour, then we go golfing. That’s how I prepare for the Main Event. I’m not getting no poker coaches or any of that s#$t.”
It’s definitely worth the time to check out their video. The video is embedded after the jump below.
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Tags: 2009 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, ESPN, Phil Ivey, WSOP
2009 World Series of Poker November Nine Part 3
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
2009 World Series of Poker Bracelets
Photo credit: Pokerati.com
There are just over two weeks remaining before the poker world once again focuses it’s attention upon the Rio Hotel and Casino where the 2009 November Nine will gather around a table and play for the world championship. The players are preparing themselves in different ways. Some with coaches, others trying to stay as lowkey and relaxed as possible, still others are practicing non-stop. Or if you are Phil Ivey you continue to pound away at the dead money sitting around the Bellagio poker room.
Today brings our third and final installment of the November Nine preview. I am joined by two bloggers to help handicap the 9 players at this year’s Main Event final table and we end it with the three smallest chip stacks. Phil Ivey is by far the biggest name but starts with just 9,765,000 in chips. “Those-in-the-know” have set his official odds more along the lines of the bigger stacks around the table, a credit to the experience and talent he’ll bring along.
This post also highlights the two non-US born players in Antoine Saout and James Akenhead. Saout is the unknown Frenchman while Akenhead is regular figure around the UK tournament scene with his poker playing friends. Both have plenty of work ahead of them if they wish to make a big run for the title.
Our two guest bloggers, “Spaceman” the consummate professional writer and “Riggstad” the half-breed poker player/gambler, give you their opinions below. Once again odds and lines are strictly for informational and educational purposes, any loses due to our information is on your head. If you use this information to win, we will accept any credit/reward.
Don’t forget to check out the ESPN broadcast over the next two weeks as the field goes from seven tables to just one. Day 7 will be shown on October 20th at 20:00ET and Day 8 on October 27th at the same time.
2009 November Nine chip counts:
Darvin Moon – 58,930,000
Eric Buchman – 34,800,000
Steven Begleiter – 29,885,000
Jeff Shulman = 19,580,000
Joe Cada – 13,215,000
Kevin Schaffel – 12,390,000
Phil Ivey – 9,765,000
Antoine Saout – 9,500,000
James Akenhead – 6,800,000
2009 World Series of Poker November Nine Part 1
2009 World Series of Poker November Nine Part 2
2009 World Series of Poker November Nine Part 3 after the jump:
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Tags: 2009 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Antoine Saout, Bloggers on the Rail, Guest Posts, James Akenhead, Jason "Spaceman" Kirk, Phil Ivey, Riggstad, WSOP
