Stat Attack
Every summer, the World Series churns out more stats than a season with Jeff Stelling, and this year was no different. According to the good people at Harrah’s, the 40th World Series of Poker lured a total of 54,381 entries into the side events, thus amassing total prize funds of $112,968,294. As usual, there were an array of nationalities represented, but America continued to dominate by winning 36 of the 56 bracelets. However, the 35 percent won by non-Americans showed a slight increase on last year, and saw the surprise inclusion of countries such as Hungary, Mexico and Iran.
Perhaps the most intriguing stat is one that we’re already aware of – four individual players won multiple bracelets. But before we throw the word variance into the melting pot, it’s interesting to note that an incredible six players followed up a bracelet win with a second place finish in another event (e.g. Marc Naalden), and that 25 percent of the bracelet winners already had one gathering dust on their mantelpiece. In all, 39 pros and 7 semi-pros finished first, with just 7 amateurs bringing home the bacon.
Although it’s tempting to highlight the triple starting stacks as an easy explanation, we must remember that this is a small sample, and one that includes numerous event types that exclude amateurs, such as the $10,000 World Championship events, the $50,000 HORSE, and the inaugural $40,000 No Limit Hold’em freezeout. Also, many of the Seven Card, Lowball, etc events attract smaller fields, thus making it easier for previous bracelet winners to duplicate their achievement.
If you go back to the apparent “year of the amateur” in 2005, Chris Moneymaker may have ignited the poker boom by beating Sammy Farha heads-up in the Main Event, but when it came to the side events, the amateurs were nowhere to be seen with the likes of Chris Ferguson, Johnny Chan, Erik Seidel, Men Nguyen, Phil Hellmuth and a plethora of other big name players all picking up bracelets. Opposing the common consensus, 2009 was nothing out of the ordinary, and presented a fair representation of the poker world and what range of players we can expect to be winning events.
Right On Sung
If ever proof were required that interest in poker was still rife, then one only need look at Event 4’s $1,000 freezeout. Despite a global recession (poker is surely second to only porn as an industry that prospers during hard times) and a supposedly saturated industry, an incredible 6,012 took their seats for the Series’ most affordable event with an estimated 1,000 players turned away due to lack of resources. As such, it became the most populated ever tournament outside of the WSOP Main Event, subsequently requiring an extra day, including two starting days, to complete what was meant to be a “warm-up” event.
The event was eventually won by poker pro Steve Sung, a 24-year old Californian who used to flip burgers rather than coins at In-N-Out Burger. He took home $771,338 for his troubles and more than softened the blow of starting the Series $40,000 in the hole. I’m sure if you asked him if he felt “warmed-up” by his five-day slog, he’d say that he was fucking boiling and ready to head home.
Also finalling was the enigmatic Dan Heimiller, who has garnered cult status with various media outlets due to his unique and imaginatively named website, Dan Heimiller’s Official Website. According to Dan’s personal league table – Who’s Really the Best Poker Player in the World - of the best players in the game, he lies in third place just ahead of Men Nguyen, Scotty Nguyen and TJ Cloutier. But fear not, he’s not vain enough to place himself ahead of Phil Ivey and Phil Hellmuth who top the chart respectively. If you’re wondering how Dan can be ahead of someone like, say, Dan Negreanu, who, despite his $11.6 million in tournament winnings, is way down in 15th, then all is explained in Dan’s “Historic ranking”, which involves the equation: “Wins x 5 + Finals x 3 + Cashouts + 20 x wins in $11 Internet tournaments.” It’s obvious that Negreanu has really let himself down in the latter category and will have to pull his socks up post-WSOP.
Corvette, Cor Blimey
This may be the 40th World Series of Poker, but only 20 past champions turned up for the Champions Invitational. Stu Ungar’s sick note obviously read “death”, but what was Noel Furlong’s excuse? The carpet industry can’t be keeping him that busy, but then again, maybe they pulled the rug from underneath his feet and didn’t invite him. Out of recent winners, he does seem to be the one we all forget, almost as if our memories haven’t quite accepted that an Irishman won the main event. Even saying it now seems difficult to comprehend (ducks for cover).
Nevertheless, despite Noel’s absence, an eclectic selection of champions participated from Amarillo Slim and Doyle Brunson to reigning champion and whippersnapper-in-comparison Peter Eastgate. Perhaps the least celebrated name in the line-up was 1994 champ Brad Daugherty who, although having been relatively active since his win, would be unrecognisable to your average poker fan. For a moment, it was reminiscent of when Karl Power snuck into the Manchester United line-up, and I could see security glance at each other suspiciously when Brad entered into the group photo.
In the end, it was 1983 winner Tom McEvoy who triumphed, conquering 2002 winner Robert Varkonyi (who, despite actually winning the Main Event, has been overshadowed – almost as a second place finisher – by Chris Moneymaker’s victory the following year) to win the “candy-apple red 1970 Corvette” and the honour of being called “champion of (alive and willing) champions”. Following his victory, McEvoy sat in the Corvette along with Jack Binion and tipped his hat to the crowd and cameras, but despite this memorable moment, I later heard that he sold the car sharpish to assist his bankroll instead. One of my neighbours in a $1,500 event dealt in the buying and selling of bracelets and had purchased a bracelet from someone who won gold in 1985, which told me that even bracelet winners are willing to cash in non-monetary prizes if it means they can play another tournament.
Next year, they shall be hosting a similar event called the ‘Tournament of Close, But No Cigar-ers’. Already lined up are Tuan Lam, Kevin McBride, Howard Goldfarb, Hans Lund and various other second place finishers who time have forgotten. Jimmy White will also be making a guest appearance, but only because Stephen Hendry granted him permission.
Ivey League
Brock Parker and Greg Mueller both won two bracelets, but their double was somewhat overshadowed by the fanfare and praise that accompanied Phil Ivey’s second win in the $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud event. With the newest generation of poker fans knocking anyone who isn’t accustomed to phrases such as “four-bet shove”, “pwned”, and “lol donkaments”, Ivey is part of a rare breed who attracts respect from both veteran live players and young Internet pros (including FullFlush!) alike.
Although his laid back attitude and excessive history of prop betting has somehow enabled him to silence even the most critical of keyboard warriors, part of his attraction is clearly his penchant for anything balla. A prime example of this cropped up during the World Series when Rod Strizaker released a report on Ivey’s antics in a local restaurant. According to Rod’s article, The Cristal Balla, Ivey entered into a Cristal champagne war with a group of businessmen who kept increasing the order in a battle of one-upmanship, only for Ivey to send 200 bottles over to the table with the message, “… and I won’t stop.” Whether the anecdote is fact or myth, his legend has already been built, and regardless of what he achieves at the table, these depictions of luxurious excess will always hold him in high regard with the millions of poker fans looking to emulate the romantic, fast lifestyle that the world of poker emits.
Take That
The World Series loves an unnecessary and trivial stat, but one that was genuinely impressive was when Jeff Lisandro became the first player to win bracelets in all three Seven Card Stud games. If there had been a game of Seven Card Snap or Rummie, I’m sure he’d have won that too.
What will have left Jeff even smugger, however, was that he was unable to find a sponsor prior to the event. During an interview with Nolan Dolla, he commented, “Before it all started this year, I was very disappointed. I could not get a sponsor. I made the usual rounds to find out if anyone needed a player. I could not get a response. I spoke about it with a few of my friends. Finally I said, you know what - never mind. I am going to blast them right out of the water.” But despite the lack of interest, Jeff has remained diplomatic towards sponsorship, adding in an interview with Black Belt Poker: “Sponsorship is still important to me because if my goal is to win a million dollars a year, then 25 percent of that money could come from sponsorship and endorsements. It would make my life easier and I wouldn’t have to risk so much. In truth, I haven’t had a lot come my way. I’ve had a few offers, smaller sized, but I haven’t accepted anything yet.”
Witnessing the likes of Tiffany Michelle, Richard Brodie and Boris Becker topped head to toe with logos, you wonder what an individual has to achieve at the tables to get a good sponsorship deal. When you look like Tony Sorpano, you’d think it would work in your favour. I know I’d give him sponsorship. I’m too young to get whacked.
… to be continued.