A look at the 2009 WSOP
Congratulations to the members of the second annual November Nine! I'm sure the poker world will become thoroughly acquainted with these gentlemen over the next four months. After 13 hard-fought days (remember there were four Day 1s, two Day 2s and a day off), these final-table participants finally get to go home for some well-deserved rest, ultimately returning to the Rio on Nov. 7 to fight for the most coveted title in poker: the World Series of Poker main event bracelet. As the 40th annual WSOP goes into its four-month hiatus, here is my annual thoughts/comments/insights column regarding the WSOP.
Phil Ivey:
If there were any doubts that Phil Ivey is a modern-day poker superstar, I'm positive that they have been thoroughly answered. In the past, some critics have pointed to Ivey's having only one major no-limit hold 'em title on his résumé. However, by making the 2009 November Nine, Ivey has definitely quieted those critics. Additionally, by adding two more WSOP bracelets this year, Ivey became the youngest player ever to capture his sixth and seventh bracelets. This placed him in a tie for sixth place all-time with Billy Baxter, behind only Phil Hellmuth (11), Johnny Chan (10), Doyle Brunson (10), Johnny Moss (8) and Erik Seidel (8).
After this summer's performance, Ivey's name resurfaced as the potential successor to Hellmuth as the all-time WSOP bracelet winner. Moreover, Ivey has repeatedly said how much he really wants to win the WSOP main event. His words from ESPN's 2005 WSOP broadcast still resonate to this day: "This is the biggest poker tournament of my life," he said. "Anything less than a win, I'm not going to be very happy."
Just imagine if he wins the 2009 WSOP main event. I don't think there would be anyone bigger in poker -- ever!
2009 WSOP Player of the Year Race:
How crazy is it that even if Ivey captures the main event in November, he would not win the 2009 WSOP Player of the Year. This WSOP had double-bracelet winners in Brock Parker, Greg Mueller and Ivey. Additionally, Ville Wahlbeck, Vitaly Lunkin, James Van Alstyne, Brandon Cantu, Steve Sung and Matt Hawrilenko all won WSOP bracelets this summer and also made another WSOP final table (Wahlbeck actually made two).
However, Jeffrey Lisandro stood above them all with his three bracelets, all in seven-card stud disciplines (seven-card stud, seven-card stud high-low and razz). Congratulations to a player who just a few years ago was on the list of best players to have never won a WSOP bracelet. Now, Lisandro owns four gold bracelets (he won his first in seven-card stud back in 2007).
As a side note, Prahlad Friedman's deep run in the main event this year (64th place) reminded me of the incident that he had in 2006 with Lisandro over the "missing" ante. Having played with Lisandro a few times, I am glad that he will no longer be haunted by this unfortunate incident (in which the slow-motion replay clearly vindicated Lisandro) and will now be remembered for his incredible performance during the 2009 WSOP.
Impressive runs at the 2009 WSOP main event:
By making the 2009 November Nine, Phil Ivey now has four finishes of 23rd place or better in the past eight WSOP main events: 2002 (23rd place); 2003 (10th -- lost to Moneymaker's river ace); 2005 (20th); 2009 (top nine)
This string of performances supersedes Mike Matusow's four deep runs during his own eight=year stretch (although still truly impressive in its own right): 2001 (sixth place); 2004 (87th; 2005 (ninth); 2008 (30th).
Additionally, there were a couple of other players who had impressive runs of their own:
Joseph Hachem: 2005 (first place), 2006: (233rd -- aces cracked), 2009 (103rd)
Peter Eastgate: 2008 (first), 2009 (78th)
Dennis Phillips: 2008 (third), 2009 (45th-- Ad-Kd lost to As-Ks when his opponent rivered a third spade)
Another side note: After speaking with Phillips, he had planned on participating in this year's MLB All-Star Game, which was being held in his hometown of St. Louis. This Midsummer Classic would definitely have been a once-in-a-lifetime experience. However, something got in the way of his plans: namely, another impressive run in the WSOP main event. I'm sure that he gladly traded going to the game for another WSOP main event deep run. As the last member of the inaugural November nine left standing this year, Phillips definitely proved that not only is he a true ambassador of the game, but also that last year's run was no fluke.
Advice on trying to win a WSOP bracelet:
Since Chris Moneymaker's improbable victory at the 2003 WSOP main event, no-limit hold 'em has been the poker world's game of choice. However, if you truly want to win a WSOP bracelet, the odds of winning one in no-limit hold 'em are very slim. Of course, there are the Cinderella stories like Moneymaker and even a couple this year (Mike Eise's and Tony Veckey's victories in their first-ever WSOP tournaments, both coming in $1,500 no-limit events).
However, with the no-limit fields often reaching capacity, you have to fight through a huge minefield of players. Unless you are incredibly lucky (and I can honestly said that I am certainly not ), you will be hard-pressed to win your first WSOP bracelet in a no-limit hold 'em event. So what should you do? If you want to improve your chances of winning a WSOP bracelet for 2010 and beyond, start mastering another game besides no-limit hold 'em. Just take a look at the multiple winners from this summer. No one won two no-limit bracelets, even though no-limit events accounted for 25 out of 57 tournaments, clearly the most of any discipline.
• Lisandro won all three in variations of seven-card stud.
• Mueller won both of his bracelets in limit hold 'em. If you think that limit is the same game as no-limit, you are sorely mistaken. After lead commentating on ESPN360.com for the $10,000 world limit hold 'em championship (which was won by Mueller), I can honestly say that they are two completely different games.
• Parker was the only 2009 WSOP multiple winner to capture a no-limit hold 'em event. However, he won the six-handed event, which employs a different strategy than the regular nine-handed tournament. Also, his other bracelet was in limit hold 'em, also a six-handed event.
• Ivey (geez … this guy again) won his two titles in $2,500 no-limit deuce-to-seven draw lowball and $2,500 Omaha eight-or-better/seven-card stud eight-or-better
As for me, I am going to play in more seven-card stud events because this was the first game I ever played in a casino, as far back as 1992 at Foxwoods Resort Casino. Back then, seven-card stud was the game of choice on the East Coast and no-limit hold 'em was played only at the WSOP main event.
Sellouts!
This year, the WSOP had a record 10.25 sellouts (the 0.25 is Day 1D of the main event). Many disappointed players -- some of whom had travelled thousands of miles to play -- were shut out of events. This summer, hundreds of people were stunned to find out that Day 1D of the main event had sold out!
Therefore, let me pass along some advice to avoid being shut out of an event next year:
• Always register early, especially for the lower buy-in events (such as the $1,000 and $1,500 tourneys). While interviewing WSOP commissioner Jeffrey Pollack on my radio show (if you missed it, download the podcast), he suggested that there will be more $1,000 buy-in events next year. I'm sure they will all sell out. Therefore, make sure you register not just hours, but days, in advance.
• If you can't arrive days early, make sure that you preregister via www.worldseriesofpoker.com, which will ensure you get a seat. Since you cannot have someone else register for you (some other tournaments across the country do allow this), preregistration is the only way to prevent being shut out. However, you must do this at least two weeks in advance. Therefore, look at the schedule and plan early!
• For events with higher buy-ins ($2,000 and greater), you often can wait until the morning of the event since they usually do not sell out. However, I'm not sure why you would want to waste time standing in line. My advice is just before you go to bed, head down to the registration cage and sign up for the next day's event. I have never waited more than a couple of minutes. Additionally, I can sleep in or have a nice breakfast and not worry about having to get my seat.
Dream Team Lives:
No, not the original 1992 NBA basketball Olympic team (which just got inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame). Dream Team Poker is a unique team tournament format consisting of three-player teams that compete for team honors, as well as individual prizes. On July 9, I played in the WSOP media event for team ESPN.com with Andrew Feldman and Gary Wise (we finished fifth), while 122 teams played in the Dream Team WSOP event on July 12-13.
Overall, the team concept created tremendous excitement and camaraderie among teammates throughout both Dream Team events. After speaking with Kat Kowal, Dream Team Gaming's director of business development, she said to look out for more Dream Team events across the U.S. and also internationally. So pick two of your best poker-playing buddies (remember you are playing for money) and consider entering the next time a Dream Team event comes to a casino near you.
Final Random Thoughts:
Although this year (6,494 players) we did not exceed last year's number of participants for the main event, we would have surpassed 6,844 had all the players who were turned away been able to register. Congratulations to Card Player Magazine publisher Jeff Shulman for making the November Nine, and good luck to the entire 2009 November Nine! The countdown to Nov. 7 is on …
Bernard Lee is the weekly poker columnist for the Boston Herald and author of "The Final Table, Volume I." He also hosts a weekly poker radio show, "The Bernard Lee Poker Show," on Rounders Radio and in Boston on 1510 AM. The show can be heard from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday and is repeated throughout the week. For questions or comments, e-mail him at BernardLeePoker@hotmail.com.
