The field for the WPT Championship all started in the same room for the first time since this tournament began. This made things much easier on the tournament stuff, not to mention the journalists (like me) who had been hustling from room to room to cover the tournament properly.
But 164 players started today, and everyone had dreams of the $2.8 million top prize. All but 64 players will get paid today, and that certainly makes things a lot easier on the bigger stacks, who know they probably have some room to work. The shorter stacks were going to move quickly, but the average chip count relative to the blinds was such that we would not see the mass exodus we saw early on in day two of this epic event.
Early exits included Josh Arieh, who was out in the first ten minutes of action today. Also out early was Annie Duke, who had the tough moment of the tournament so far, when her Kings ran into David Williams' Aces. Since David's Mom was sitting right behind him, you got the sense that no King was coming. Wrong. Good news for Annie: King on the river, bad news for Annie: There was a 10m J, and Q on the board also, and the King gave Williams a straight, and sent Annie straight for the door.
The YES!!!........DOH!!! award goes to Michael Hauptmann, who saw the 9 of hearts on the river, making four hearts on the board, and Michael thought he had outdrawn his opponent, and let out a "yes!", and gave the table a pound. His opponent, who had made a heart flush on the turn was also happy, as the 9 of hearts gave him a straight flush, and Hauptmann was from ecstasy to agony in one second.
Some name players made big moves early, as Grinder won two huge pots in the first level of play, and was chip leader with over 700,000 chips early. Also moving early was Greg Raymer, who moved in on Made Andersen with an open ended straight draw, and got there on the turn. Mads had an overpair, and was not overjoyed at his bad luck. Gus Hansen was sweating him, and they had some choice words in Danish about the situation...Unfortunately, my Danish translator is broken, though I doubt the words they were using were in the dictionary.
Notable early exits in the second round were Antonio Esfandiari, Kathy Liebert, and Phil Hellmuth. Tuan Le had Phil's number all day, and came over the top of Phil no fewer than ten times in the first two hours of play. This drove Phil absolutely up the wall, and he was talking to himself all day about Tuan's plays. Phil finally thought he had caught Tuan, when Tuan played back at him with KJ. Phil had AK, and of course must have been thinking 'gotcha'. But, any two can win, and Tuan made a straight on the turn, and indeed an unneeded flush on the river, which started the Phil Hellmuth show in full, and I could tell you what that consists of, but I'm sure you have seen it before on television. Phil stormed out, and Tuan stacked his newly acquired chips.
We lost 28 players in the first round, and another 31 in the second round. After the second round things slowed considerably, as the money was only five places away, and players were beginning to smell the 30 grand.
The bad beat of the day award goes to Bradley Berman, who had Aces against Kings for all of his chips. The turn was a King, and Berman lost a 550,000 chip pot. Brad was out two hands later.
At this point, we were at 104, and things slowed down significantly. Unfortunately for a couple of big players, they were close to the bubble, but couldn't survive. Erick Lindgren had been short most of the day, and was grinding as hard as he could, so when a guy moved from the button enough to put Lindgren all in, Erick looked down, found A2 of diamonds, and called. The button player had a real hand, AJ, and Lindgren was out 104th. Several minutes later, Scotty Nguyen (who started the day 9th in chips) was out 102nd, and we were down to hand for hand play to determine this years bubble boy (or bubble girl). Hand for hand play lasted an hour, and it seemed like much longer. Table 47 was the guiltiest of delays, as about ½ the hands, table 47 was the last to finish. Phil Ivey was at table 47, and used 'bubble time' really well, vaulting himself from about 120,000 in chips, to over 500,000 in chips in the 15 or so hands that were played during 'bubble time'.
The buzz in the room was intense, and there were ten times the spectators (the tournament area is closed to the public) in the room during bubble time than at any other time yet throughout the tournament. Every time a player was all in, everyone would rush over to his or her table. As a joke, Todd Brunson yelled 'ALL IN' really loudly when he moved in, and everyone moved over to his table. No call for Brunson, and he would not be bubble boy.
Bubble boy would be Danny Dang, who was left with some words less printable than Dang as his pocket Jacks lost to a QJ offsuit. The 100 players left would all do no worse than $30,000 each, and there were smiles and handshakes all the way around, and everyone else was happy.
Other name players eliminated today were Barry Greenstein, and Allen Cunningham. Kudos to Todd Brunson, for starting the day 153rd in chips, and making the money.
As soon as the players were in the money, the play got very fast, very quickly. When Dang went out bubble boy, there were about six minutes left in the level. Six players were eliminated in those six minutes.
A pretty extraordinary hand occurred when David Chiu made it 25,000 to go from the button. Isabelle Mercier moved in from the small blind. Alan Goehring called Isabelle's all in. Back around to David Chiu, who came back over the top for all his chips. Goehring called Chiu also, and all three flipped their hands up. Isabelle had AQ, Goehring had 88, and Chiu turned over QQ. The flop was three rags, with 2 diamonds. The turn was a diamond, and Chiu did not have the Q of diamonds....but Isabelle did. Goehring also had a diamond, and guess what. The river was a diamond, Isabel won her all in with a Q high flush, and Goehring won his all in with an 8 high flush, and Chiu was out.
In the first level back from the break, we lost a whopping 37 players, as nearly everyone who was short, but had survived to the money started gambling, knowing that it would be dozens of more places until the money went up, and then only several thousand dollars. Notable exits during this level were Jen Harman, and the above mentioned David Chiu.
Then the grind began to set in, as most of the short stacks had been weeded out. Level 15 was the last level for the night, and players were starting to jockey for position. Big stacks at this point were Greg Raymer, Grinder, a guy named John Smith (not kidding), and Reza P.
From the department of "Aces are/aren't my friend" within 90 seconds of each other, we lost two players who either held, or were against Aces. Surinder Sunar liked his Aces when the flop came 8 hi, and he called the big raise of John Smith. But all three cards were diamonds, and Smith held the 9 of Diamonds in his pocket nines. Of course, all five cards wound up being diamonds, but Smith's 9 gave him a higher flush, and Aces were not Surinder's friend. Moments later, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson's Aces actually held up, knocking his opponent out, and getting us down to 50 players.
As we finish for the night, we have 45 bodies left in chairs. I can't imagine being in this position, and having played longer events won't start to be an advantage. These guys (and girl) must be tired. Chip counts won't be until morning for sure I am told. Tomorrow I get to preview the WPT table game, coming to a casino near you. I'll let you know how that goes. See you then.
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Mobile-phone game publisher acquires Chasma Interactive Publishing.
San Mateo-based mobile-phone game publisher Kayak Interactive announced today that it has acquired the assets of fellow mobile-game publisher Chasma Interactive Publishing, based in New Hampshire. This news comes just two months after Kayak purchased Swedish game maker Synergenix.
"We are very excited to be working with the people at Chasma, and we are already putting in place distribution plans for the upcoming Slingo and Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament products," said the president and CEO of Kayak, Keith McCurdy.
Kayak Interactive is the publisher of such phone-based games as Bill Dance Bass Fishing and The Three Stooges - Making Dough. Chasma Interactive publishes Whac-A-Mole and Amoebas for mobile phones.
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PALO ALTO, Calif., and NEW YORK, /PRNewswire/ -- ThwartPoker Inc., inventors of the revolutionary new skill-based form of poker, ThwartPoker(TM), have selected Game Trust to tournament-enable their "Hold'Em" smash hit that will be known as "Poker Blitz." Beginning this week on Miniclip.com (www.miniclip.com), players from around the world will be able to compete for cash and merchandise prizes in 4-player live tables. Players have an opportunity to compete for as much as $1,000 in a single game.
"Poker Blitz" is a unique and strategic twist on classic "Hold'Em" poker, in which players choose the cards they want, rather than being dealt a hand of random cards. All players select from the same deck and must pick, block and dodge the selections of their opponents. If a player picks a card that was also selected by another player in a current or previous round, the players are both blocked and dealt cards that have no value. In essence, "Poker Blitz" takes all of the guess work out of poker, ensuring that a player wins because of their skill rather than their luck.
"Poker Blitz" is easy to learn, difficult to master, and challenging for all types and ages while also appealing to the traditional poker crowd. Though the game concept itself is simple, there are many levels of offensive and defensive strategies and an unlimited potential for dynamic competition between and among players. Players must rely purely on their ability to anticipate and outwit to win.
Poker Blitz is completely a skill poker game and consequently does not face the legal constraints encountered by traditional online poker leagues that are built on chance and are therefore considered gambling.
"We are very excited to be working with Game Trust. They have crafted such a robust and secure platform that integration has been a breeze. Their superior technology and channels of distribution made them the obvious choice for tournament-enabling our game and quickly reaching as many customers as possible," states Daniel Pfeiffer, ThwartPoker Co-Founder.
"Integrating with the Game Trust platform is a win-win-win proposition and we are excited to be working with the world-class creative team at ThwartPoker," explains Adeo Ressi, CEO of Game Trust. "Players win as they compete in Poker Blitz for real prizes, leveraging their skills in the game. The developer wins with a new revenue stream from an existing title and renewed player interest. Game Trust wins by providing the technology and sharing in the upside. At Game Trust, we always strive to benefit everyone in the value chain."
About ThwartPoker Inc. Founded in 2001, ThwartPoker Inc. is a developer, publisher and distributor of interactive card games, and is known for its casual, skill- based class of card games named ThwartPoker. The company offers the next evolution of traditional poker tournaments, made possible by its patented software that eliminates the randomness of regular poker - and replaces it with skill. ThwartPoker games are skill-based and therefore do not violate U.S.federal gambling law. ThwartPoker games are played at http://www.thwartpoker.com. A version of ThwartPoker for mobile phones is on Verizon Wireless and AllTel, and this was made possible through the company's licensing deal with Infospace Mobile - that has titled the mobile version Hold'Em Poker+ For Prizes(TM). The company is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. To learn more about ThwartPoker Inc., go to http://www.thwartpoker.com.
About Game Trust Founded in 2002, Game Trust (http://www.gametrust.com) is the economic engine of innovation in games with the leading platform for premium game play. The Game Frame platform is the industry standard for deploying community and transactions within online casual games. Licensed by leading distribution outlets worldwide, the platform reaches a combined audience in excess of 130 million players per month. Award winning games, such as "Shroomz," are released by leading developers on the platform to reach millions of players with new premium play models. The Company is venture backed with offices in New York and Denmark.
For Game Trust: AndyMorris Andy Morris & Co. 212-561-7465 andy@amc-pr.com
For Thwart Poker: ArthurJonath Jonath Associates 415-722-6949 arthur@jonathassociates.com
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Having thought poker had peaked in about 1980, I just can't seem to adjust to poker being not only mainstream, but limelight, paparazzi, and red carpet, as well. There are celebrity functions, invitational tournaments for high-ranking corporate executives, charity events, and on and on. Recently, I became aware of a function in the snowy beauty of the Lake Tahoe region for Hummer executives. There was a huge amount of prize money donated by the owners, as well as a lot of money raised for charity. So many opportunities exist for people in so many walks of life to rub elbows with their own perceived greatness or larger than life character; poker in many venues has become a bit of a stargazing zone for watchers, rather than players.
This was quite evident at the recently concluded World Poker Tour (WPT) Invitational hosted by Commerce Casino in Southern California. It was a night (well, day, actually) of a hundred (well, lots of) stars. Everywhere you turned there was someone you knew from the big screen or TV. There were many people you recognized from some shows you had seen, but couldn't quite put names to the faces.
Those whom I readily recognized were Raymond from Everybody Loves Raymond fame, Macaulay Culkin from all of those great Home Alone movies, Sara Gilbert from the old Roseanne show, as well as true poker enthusiasts Jennifer Tilly, Mimi Rogers, and Camryn Manheim. Also appearing were James Woods, Gabe Kaplan, Lou Diamond Phillips, Mena Suvari, Norm MacDonald, and Steven Collins, along with a host of others. While I am not a star-struck person by nature, if a show's character grabs me to the point where I genuinely care what happens to him or her each week when I tune in, the real person becomes someone of interest to me. This had been the case with Ms. Manheim. I had seen her at several of the poker functions and always wanted to approach her and get to meet her, but being the shy person I am, I had always passed on the opportunity. But the chance jumped in my face on this day (I was a railbird) when I visited the ladies room during a break. Enter Camryn. She commented to the ladies in the restroom how nice it was to be at a poker game where we (ladies) didn't have to stand in lines to use the john. How true, but she said it, I didn't. It made me smile and realize that she was a regular person like the rest of us. After all, she was in the ladies room!
So, how did my brush with greatness go? I waited outside the ladies room until she exited, and then approached her, introduced myself, and asked if it would be OK to have my photo taken with her. I apologized for the intrusion and said that I hoped I hadn't bothered her. She was as gracious as could be, and her response was that it would be a bother if people stopped asking her. She not only posed for a photo with me, but when I didn't like the first one, she suggested taking a second. Anyway, here we are together in the photo in this column. I have checked out her website, www.camrynmanheim.com, and found her theatrical credits to be totally amazing. I had not realized what a truly talented and versatile actress she is.
On another note, I recently attended the World Poker Tour Boot Camp. It was held in one of the ballrooms at The Mirage. It was a two-day poker camp of sorts, with instruction, table labs where participants played actual hands that were preset to correspond to actual play during one of the WPT shows, and more. There was a shootout tournament in which the instructors watched over everyone and then critiqued the play afterward, as well as a multitable satellite in which the winner won an entry into a satellite to play for a WPT entry. The shootout winners received WPT chip sets and other goodies. All attendees received a gift bag with books, shirts, hats, poker calculators and software, and more. A nice breakfast and lunch were served on both days, a cocktail hour and snacks were provided in the evening, and beverages were available all day. More camps are coming up in many different states, including Florida, Connecticut, New York, California, and more. Some of the instructors you can look for include Ron Rose, Clonie Gowan, Mike Sexton, Scott Fischman, Alex Outhred, and Linda Johnson. You can obtain more info by going to http://www.wpt.bootcamp.com/.
Finally, here's some personal news of which I am hugely proud. There is a new poker show that is an offshoot of the WPT, and it's called the Professional Poker Tour (PPT). It is comprised of players who became participants based on past achievements or were voted in by a selection committee of their peers. I have been invited to be the live studio audience announcer for this event. This is quite a thrill, and I look forward to seeing myself on TV once this show is picked up, most likely by a network. I will be the lady in black (like Linda Johnson is for the WPT). It will be fun being on the stage and calling the action, as well as entertaining the crowd a bit during production breaks. If you don't know me, I am seldom at a loss for words! Class dismissed.
