1381 replies to this topic

[NovacScott]

Bump:

Tournament 12 airs tomorrow night (Wednesday), and I finally found this thread! The Reno Hilton is the venue.

[BillyShears]

Thanx for the bump, NovacScott. For all of us who watched the CPS disaster last night, this will be a great example of how poker is really played.

Also, before WPT comes on (8pm E/7pm C), Travel Channel also shows the "Million Dollar Blackjack Tournament".

[BillyShears]

I didn't know last night's show was a rerun. Nice celebrity sighting, Rainmaker. I wonder why Moneymaker doesn't play on the WPT events. Also, ITA on more Shana Hiatt -- let's have less Paris/Reno/SF (bundled-up Shana) and more Aruba/Costa Rica/cruise ships (bikini Shana)!

What was Paul Magritte's (X22) damage? His obnoxious "quack, quack"? His ridiculous giggling? His yellow teeth? I think Cal the Dentist saw X22 as a money machine, and I don't mean due to his poker skills.

On the Celebrity Poker Showdown thread, posters were writing about how boring Phil Gordon is as a commentator. I'd almost take him in a trade for the unfunny and painful Vince Van Patten. "Hollywood Home Game Legend", my ass! Just keep living off your dad's "Eight is Enough" residual checks, play tennis & stay off my TV!

[overg]

I wonder why Moneymaker doesn't play on the WPT events.

I believe most, if not all, of the ones that are showing now were taped before last year's WSOP, which was Moneymaker's first live tournament. To the best of my knowledge, he still isn't a "pro", so I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't show up in any of this year's either.

And X22 is definitely not pretty. Dude just had "savant" written all over him. All brains, zero social grace.

[Fandomania]

I wonder, did he do a "deal" at the final table (Moneymaker) to split the winnings? Most of the people who play at that level usually do.

[Dpol814]

I am a pretty serious poker player and I love WPT and WSOP. However, i cannot stand CPS. Me and my friends would literally scream at the television at some of the horrible plays they were making. The most exciting times in poker are hands where someone has pocket queens and somebody came over the top of them all-in, and has to decide what do, or something like that. Or when Hellmuth bluffed Tony D out of his three jacks in WSOP. The celebs are just not capable of making the types of plays that the pros do, or even that any serious player could. If somebody starts talking to you about poker and how great CPS is, you immediately know that they know squat about the game.

Although Moneymaker did get very lucky, i thought he was a solid player. He did make some mistakes that he lucked out of, like drawing the third eight on Brenes, but he also made some nice plays. Calling Dutch Boyd with just the threes was a very good call, and i don't think anyone would have not called Ivy's all-in with three queens and top kicker. I personally think Farha has nobody to blame but himself for not winning it. Moneymaker bluffed at a pot all-in when Farha had top pair. Sammy knew that Moneymaker was bluffing, but wasn't gutsy enough to call with all his chips.

[RainIsBeautiful]

What was Paul Magritte's (X22) damage?

He reminds me of the Hunchback of Notre Dame...minus all the endearing qualities.

Did y'all hear the explanation of his nickname, X22? IIRC, he set up a backgammon championship with 64 players (he was all 64, of course), and X22 won the tournament. Makes me wonder if he's a genius or just plain crazy.

[NovacScott]

Makes me wonder if he's a genius or just plain crazy.

Clearly, he is both!

It's supposed to be entertainment, not great poker.

My sentiments exactly.

[Fandomania]

Well, it looks like Moneymaker will have two distinguishing marks next to his name as the 2003 WSOP Champ.

The first to win it all from an initial online entry and....

Probably the last champ ever of the series...according to this

Or maybe not?

Edited by Fandomania, Jan 11, 2004 @ 1:38 PM.

[BillyShears]

Fandomania, thanx for the linx. After the big successes that TV poker has shown in recent months, somebody's got to be interested in buying the rights to the WSOP name. My 3 likely candidates are ESPN (they've shown the WSOP the last few years, and it's bound to be better than those chess & billiards shows they have now), FoxSportsNet (although their presentation of the Sands Million Dollar Deal tournament was awful), and Steve Lipscomb (WPT owner -- would want to consolidate his hold on the TV poker market).

Also, I'm sure that whoever gets the rights won't lack for a place to hold the tournament -- again, with TV poker's popularity, most of the major casinos would love that name recognition.

[tea]

I love Howard Lederer too. He has been announcing with two jerks on "Showdown at the Sands/Late Night Poker" on FoxSports. I find myself hanging on every word he says. Still, I think he might be too conservative as a card player.

If i had to make a side bet on a heads up match between Farha and Lederer I think I would have to go with Sammy. Just on looks and confidence!

[Fandomania]

It's semi-official. Harrah's is buying the Horseshoe and most likely will be putting on the WSOP...but where it has not been determined (they own several LV properties and many more around the USA). It would be interesting if they moved it to some place like New Orleans or AC.

[NovacScott]

Hurrah! Harrah's!

[j32master]

If i had to make a side bet on a heads up match between Farha and Lederer I think I would have to go with Sammy. Just on looks and confidence!

I don't know ... Lederer is a pretty kick-ass heads-up player. The two times he got to the final table on WPT, he got it down to heads-up and pretty much mopped the floor with his opponents (Layne Flack and Chip Jett) each time.

Gotta love the Professor!

[overg]

mopped the floor with his opponents (Layne Flack and Chip Jett) each time.

Not only that, but he actually seemed to be playing quite loose the whole time in the Flack event. I agree that he seemed pretty tight at the WSOP, but I got the impression that he *widely* mixes up his game from watching his WPT showings. Sometimes he'll play ultra tight, other times he'll go way loose.

[j32master]

Not only that, but he actually seemed to be playing quite loose the whole time in the Flack event. I agree that he seemed pretty tight at the WSOP, but I got the impression that he *widely* mixes up his game from watching his WPT showings. Sometimes he'll play ultra tight, other times he'll go way loose.

You also have to take into account the differences in events: The televised portion of the WPT is just the last 6 players, and there's a HUGE difference between playing against 5 other people and the WSOP, where you have 10 at your table the whole time, and as soon as someone gets knocked out, they get replaced by someone from another table. You have to tighten your game up substantially with 10 or so people, at least compared to 6 or fewer...

[tea]

My impression of Howard's tight play at WSOP may have more to do with the super dorky picture of him that his sister , Annie Duke, showed to ESPN. Poor Howard was overweight, squat, poorly dressed, and was generally lumpy . I still love him though. I did see him play against Jett but I wasn't fully into my Poker obsession yet. I hope I can catch a rerun.

I particularly loved how when Annie was "all in" he walked over to watch her hand get played.

I really want to read the book their other sister (Katy?) wrote about them called "Poker Face".

Edited by tea, Jan 14, 2004 @ 3:18 AM.

[BillyShears]

Poker Face: A Girlhood Among Gamblers by Katy Lederer

From what I've read about it, a pretty sad story overall.

ETA: WPT Championship tonite 9pE/8pC

Edited by BillyShears, Jan 14, 2004 @ 9:54 AM.

[oakLeaf]

Last night on the finals during one of the bumpers, they asked the question (paraphrased): what are the odds of the board having 4 of a kind. The answer they gave was 1 in 54145. Isn't that the odds of the board having a specific 4 of a kind (such as 4 sevens)? I got 1 in 4165 for any 4 of a kind on the board. Anyone out there with better math skills than I who can verify?

[poolsharke]

To go back a few posts-

On a different note, I saw World Series champ Chris Moneymaker this past New Year's weekend at the Mirage. He was playing in the high limit section and had on his characteristic sunglasses. He was so much taller than I expected - I'm guessing at least 6' 2" or so. On tv he looks like a big guy in terms of his weight - but he also looks stocky. Saw him give an autograph to someone and seemed gracious about it. Other than that he didn't seem to garner too much attention. I noticed he walked out with 4 racks of $5 chips, so $2000 total.

Are you sure they were $5 chips? That seems a strange denomination to be toting around in the high limit section, unless the $5/$10 game is considered high limit? Everything I have heard about Moneymaker is that he seems to be a gracious kid who knows how lucky he got. Not to say that he can't play poker, but there are A LOT of great poker players who have never won the WSOP.

Sounds like the WPT reruns are almost over! Not quite as cool as the new season (which starts in March), but any new televised poker is good poker (even when the poker itself is dreadful!).

[Montykins]

The WPT Hollywood Home Game claims to have Jack Black. Of course, he was in the Celebrity Poker Showdown press release and didn't appear on my television, so I shouldn't get too excited.

[BillyShears]

Thanks for the link, poolsharke. Hopefully, this will be a much better exhibition of poker than CPS was. Actually, it has to be: I didn't see Scott Stapp's name on the list!

[poolsharke]

That night all they were spreading in the normal section was 3-6, so anything higher would be in the back high limit section.

Ahh ok. I was thinking more along the lines of the private tables for high rollers, which run games like $300/$600 (in which case a small blind would be 30 $5 chips!). It makes sense to use nickels for $15/$30 or $20/$40.

My friend says he heard that Moneymaker is broke. Any truth to that, anyone?

There have been a lot of rumors spread about Moneymaker. My personal feeling is that most or all are started by people that are jealous that an 'average guy' like him had such a successful run at the WSOP, and are eager to 'prove' that he doesn't belong (I hear a lot of the same stuff about Robert Varkonyi, the 2002 champ). Until I see a dateline story in a reputable news source (I would even count Card Player magazine), I am not gonna buy it. The guy is a freakin' accountant, for Christ's sake; I give him a much better shot at hanging on to at least SOME of his money than a lot of poker players.

Edited by poolsharke, Jan 16, 2004 @ 2:42 PM.

[el mapache]

It looks like Evelyn Ng dealing in those WPT celeb photos.

Edited by el mapache, Jan 16, 2004 @ 7:23 PM.