Thursday, July 07, 2005
America grabs a chair at poker's biggest table
By David Leon Moore, USA TODAY
LAS VEGAS — It is after 2 a.m. Tuesday in the giant poker room at the Rio hotel and casino. Two tired players are left at the final table of a big-money event, nerves fraying, the tension thickening, the crowd growing. Then 25-year-old Israeli card shark Rafi Amit, closing in on the kill, utters a crude expletive and all hell breaks loose.
Former World Series of Poker champion Doyle Brunson sits at the table in Las Vegas. Nicknamed "Texas Dolly," he won back-to-back World Series titles in 1976 and 1977.
By Joe Cavaretta, AP
At the World Series of Poker, the world's biggest and most prestigious poker tournament, the penalty for that obscenity is 10 minutes away from the table, and tournament official Jack Effel immediately tells Amit to leave. (Related graphic: Learn how to play)
The dealing continues, though, and for 10 minutes alternating blocks of $8,000 and $16,000 in chips are raked from Amit's stack and given to his opponent, 38-year-old Vietnamese-born pro Vinny Vinh. An infuriated Amit and his posse mock Vinh and Effel. One of Amit's supporters makes a comment about meeting Vinh in the parking lot. The anger grows, and Effel calls security to bounce two of the spectators. Then he turns to Amit.
"You want another 10 minutes?" he threatens.
Amit finally calms down, the penalty clock winds down and play resumes after nearly $200,000 in chips has switched owners, keeping Vinh's chances alive.
Eventually, at 3:21 a.m., Amit cleans out Vinh with a full house to win the $511,835 first prize, but only after another hour of trash talk between him and Vinh.
When it's over, Amit and Vinh shake hands. Vinh might have wanted to throw a punch. Ten years ago, he might have. A hundred years ago, they might have met on a dusty Old West street with six-guns on their hips.
But this is 2005; poker is different and the World Series of Poker is way different than it used to be. Cameras are running. Reporters are taking notes. Blogs are awaiting updates. Web sites are refreshing. Books and DVDs, T-shirts and hats, cards and chips and assorted accessories are waiting to be sold.
And Amit is the latest poker celebrity, joining a fast-growing club born largely from the World Series and ESPN's ubiquitous coverage of it.
In other words, if there's big poker action, America's all in. And, get this, looking up to the stars of the poker world.
All of which brings a chuckle to 71-year-old poker legend Doyle Brunson. Nicknamed "Texas Dolly," he won back-to-back World Series titles in 1976 and 1977, and is still winning tournaments. "It used to be we were gettin' cheated, gettin' arrested, gettin' robbed," Brunson says. "Now we're TV stars."
'Cooler than being a rock star'
Brunson and his fellow pros, along with serious celebrity players and anonymous would-be stars with dollar signs in their eyes, have come here for the World Series of Poker's main event. A $10,000 entry fee puts them in a No-limit Texas Hold'em marathon that begins today at the Rio and ends July 16.
This tournament will eclipse all records for prize money and participation. It is the biggest, richest tournament in poker history.
Here's how poker's biggest six weeks works: There are 45 events in the World Series of Poker, starting June 2, all played at the Rio in a cavernous 60,000-square-foot exhibit hall filled with 200 tables. Each event is independent, with various types of poker games, entry fees and prize money.
Most of the top pros, along with a smattering of celebs, play in a number of these events; Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss and actor James Woods were among the participants earlier this week.
The whole thing is notched up a level for the main event. Think of it as the Super Bowl of the World Series. Just about anybody who's anybody in poker will take a seat. The total number of players probably will be about 6,000, more than double what was a record number last year.
The prize money comes entirely from entry fees, also known as buy-ins, so 6,000 players would result in a $60 million prize pool with the winner getting $7.5 million. Each of the nine finalists would receive at least $1 million, which was the first prize as recently as 1999.
Total prize money for the entire 45-event World Series of Poker this year is expected to hit $100 million, more than double last year's record $45 million. ESPN will begin taped telecasts of the World Series on July 19, airing Tuesdays.
Some of the main event's favorites, made famous among poker aficionados from their appearances on TV, are Howard "The Professor" Lederer, Phil Gordon, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein and, of course, Brunson.
Confirmed celebrity entrants include actors Woods, Tobey Maguire and Brad Garrett (the big guy on Everybody Loves Raymond), former NFL star Shannon Sharpe, magician Penn Gillette and actresses Mimi Rogers and Jennifer Tilly.
Tilly won first place and $158,625 in prize money June 27 by wiping out 600 competitors in the World Series' Ladies World Poker Championship. "Better than winning an Oscar," said Tilly, whose poker-pro boyfriend, Phil "The Unabomber" Laak, also will be in the main event.
Tournament director Ken Lambert is in charge of putting it all together, and what puzzles him most is "where all these people keep coming from, every day, every event. How can there be so many?"
Because from colleges to cow towns, from suburbs to Caesars Palace, poker is in.
Jennifer Harman, a pioneering woman high-stakes poker star, used to bluff when people asked her what she did for a living.
"I told them I wrote songs for famous musical groups," she says. "Now I tell them I'm a poker player, and that's like the coolest thing, cooler than being a rock star."
Now poker is on TV, on the Internet, in retail stores. Newspapers are taking notice, and some are treating it as a sport. Veteran Chicago Tribune columnist Steve Rosenbloom is scouring through the tables at the Rio this week, taking notes on gutsy calls and tough losses. He now writes a weekly poker column that appears in his paper's sports section and has been syndicated to 20 other newspapers.
Live games, even though many aren't very profitable for casinos, are growing wildly.
Yet, for some, the stigma of the game's outlaw past lives on.
"My parents don't like it," says Amit, who grew up in a tightknit family in Israel and began traveling to the USA, and playing cash games, three years ago. "In Israel, if you're a poker player, it's like you're a drug dealer. My family was like, 'You're losing your money, you're losing your mind.'
"But now my dad calls and says, 'How's business?' "
For Amit, and for poker, it's unbelievable.
Harrah's in charge
Harrah's Entertainment, one of the gaming industry's giants, took over the World Series of Poker last year as part of its purchase of Binion's Horseshoe, a landmark casino in Vegas and home of the WSOP since its inception in 1970. This year, all the WSOP events are being held at the Rio, except the last two days of the main event at Binion's, as part of a nod to Las Vegas' 100th anniversary.
Though the house takes only 5% of the action during the WSOP, and 2% of that goes to pay dealers and staff, Harrah's loves its new property because of the crowds it draws and the potential for those fans to gamble in the casino or attend shows.
"This is definitely a moneymaking event," says Ginny Shanks, Harrah's senior vice president of brand management.
Merchandising shows tremendous potential. Such mainstream retailers as Target and Bed Bath & Beyond are carrying World Series of Poker chip sets and tables. The WSOP, of course, has its own onsite and online stores. And a vanity WSOP credit card is available to make those purchases.
"It's getting bigger every day," Shanks says. "It's astonishing."
The higher-profile players are starting to look like race car drivers, with shirts and hats promoting online poker sites (in the WSOP main event, players' logos are subject to a loosely enforced size limit of 1 inch by 3 inches).
In 2003, the World Series of Poker's main event drew 839 players, then a record. When little-known Tennessee accountant Chris Moneymaker (really, his real name), an online poker player who had never played before in a live tournament, won the $2.5 million first prize, officials expected an explosion of newbies the next year.
"I guess people thought if I can do it, anybody can do it," says Moneymaker, 29, who quit his job nine months after his World Series payday and now makes public appearances and has started two poker-related businesses.
Indeed, newcomers flocked to the World Series last year, when a record 2,576 main-event entries resulted in a $5 million first prize for Greg Raymer, another big underdog, a Connecticut patent lawyer who was also primarily an online gambler. Make that former patent lawyer. Raymer, 41, quit his job within a week of his bonanza. Now he travels the poker tournament circuit and gets paid by a Web site, PokerStars.com, more than he made in a business suit.
Gordon was a software engineer from Georgia Tech who, with three partners, started a technology company that they sold for $95 million in 1997 when he was 26. He then backpacked around the world for four years.
Now 35, he's a poker pro and the co-host of Celebrity Poker Challenge on Bravo, where he helps celebs develop their games. He thinks part of the latest appeal of the game is that it's so democratic, so inclusive.
"You're never going to hit a Randy Johnson fastball," he says. "You're never going to catch a pass from Brett Favre. You're never going to hit a golf ball with Tiger Woods. But on any given day, you can come down to the World Series of Poker, put up your money and play with the best players in the world and potentially win."
But knowing the rules, knowing the odds and the math and knowing when Texas Dolly is bluffing are different skills altogether.
"Poker's a day to learn and a lifetime to master," says pro Robert Williamson III, a colorful Texan who, winning or losing, tends to laugh and sing and drink Corona and Tabasco at 2 a.m.
"You can come out here and beat anybody once. Over the course of a day, it's probably 80% luck and 20% skill. Over the course of a year, it's probably 80% skill, 20% luck. Over the course of a lifetime, it's about 99.9% skill."
Records set to fall at World Series of Poker
By Allison Rupp, USA TODAY
The World Series of Poker is drawing so many gold-bracelet hopefuls and poker-obsessed fans that players are having trouble getting to the bathroom because of the crowds.
Greg Raymer holds up some of the $5 million he won at last year's World Series of Poker.
By K.M. Cannon, Las Vegas Review-Journal
"It's been pretty hectic around here," says Greg Raymer, who won a gold bracelet and $5 million in the main event last year. "Even going to the bathroom can be a challenge. I have fans waiting to take a picture with me or ask for an autograph."
Phil Gordon, a professional player, says he signs 50 autographs on his way to the restroom.
The Las Vegas tournament's growth and popularity spurred a move this year from its longtime home at Binion's Horseshoe to the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino — except for the main event. Participation and prize money are expected to double from last year.
"Binion's is not even half the size of the Rio," Raymer says. "We had 2,300 in the first event. There would have been no way we could have done that downtown."
The first event, a no-limit Texas Hold-'em game with a $1,500 buy-in June 5, had a purse worth more than $3 million. It was the first of 46 events in the six-week series.
Gordon was shocked because he says it was not long ago when the purse for the main event, with a buy-in of $10,000, was the same.
"They did something very rare (in the first event)," Gordon says. "They went 11-handed with 11 people at a table because there were so many people. Usually there are only 10."
The projected prize pool at this year's tournament is $100 million, making it one of the richest sporting events ever, says Howard Greenbaum, who oversees the tournament. About 3,000 people have signed up for the main event, which begins July 7, and Greenbaum bets the casino will sell all 6,600 spots.
There are also high stakes on the retail front. Greenbaum describes merchandise sales as "incredible."
"I think if we sold socks, people would be wearing them," he says.
Poker's popularity began to grow after ESPN televised the main event in 2003, when Chris Moneymaker won $2.5 million. Moneymaker is an accountant who won his entry fee in a satellite tournament. ESPN will air most events beginning in August.
Raymer thinks people are attracted to poker because mentally it is like a sport.
"Someone who has a lot of heart and courage can be good at poker," Raymer said. "If someone has perseverance when they are destined to lose, they can win in the end."
World Series of Poker: There's no limit to the thrills
Steve Wilstein, Associated Press
July 7, 2005 POKER0707
LAS VEGAS -- The World Series of Poker creates legends and changes lives, makes instant millionaires and megastars, pits world-class rounders against online amateurs, brings together Hollywood celebrities and red-eyed denizens of backroom games.
It's a sport without athletics, a marathon that doesn't move. It takes skill and luck, math and feel, and it's captured an audience of millions of players and TV viewers of all ages.
Once the province of a small cadre of pros, poker's most renowned affair has burgeoned into the world's richest spectacle -- some $100 million worth of games that go on for six weeks of day and night sessions.
The no-limit Texas Hold 'em main event starts today with a record number of players paying the $10,000 entry fee -- between 5,000 and 6,000 are expected -- and a record top prize that might approach $7.5 million for the winner of the final table that begins July 15.
In Texas Hold 'em, each player is dealt two cards. Five cards are dealt on the table and whichever player can make the best hand from his two cards and the five on the table wins. No limit means precisely what it sounds like -- a player can risk all the money they have at any point in the game.
The aptly named Chris Moneymaker, a young accountant, emerged from anonymity and a $40 investment in a tournament on PokerStars.com two years ago to win $2.5 million against a field of 829 players. Greg Raymer, a patent attorney with a penchant for fossils and goofy holographic sunglasses, walked away with $5 million last year when 2,576 players entered the main event.
Bill Barnett, the 64-year-old mayor of Naples, Fla., also qualified on PokerStars.com. but doesn't think he has a realistic chance of winning.
"It's doubtful I'm going to make it through nine nights," he said. "It's just a thrill to be able to say, 'Hey, I was there and I got to play in it and I earned my seat.' My kids and grandkids all think it's hysterical."
World Series of Poker Scrambles Player Of The Year Race
July 04, 2005
Earl Burton
With only a few events to go in this year's World Series, it is obvious that it has had a huge effect on the CardPlayer Magazine Player of the Year race. Last year at this time, Daniel Negreanu had used the WSOP as a springboard to a huge lead. Although he needed a last moment tournament victory to seize the 2004 Player of the Year championship, he had played consistently throughout the year to earn the title.
This year is quite different. With the World Series landing pretty much exactly in the middle of the year, no one has been able to break away from the pack. In addition, with the performance of the professionals in Las Vegas, it seems as though it will be a yearlong battle to see who will take the POY championship for 2005.
Leading at the halfway point is Californian John Phan. Phan has used the early part of the year to build up a good amount of points, but (excepting one final table) he has pretty much been shut out at the World Series. This has allowed the pack to catch up with him quite a bit.
Michael Gracz, the winner of the 2005 Party Poker Millions cruise, has been jumping up the board. He has picked up a bracelet at the World Series for his second championship of the year and is within 672 points of the first place Phan. The 24 year old North Carolinian seems to be primed for a big move in the second half of the year.
The players in third through fifth place, Erick Lindgren, Ted Forrest and Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, are holding their positions, but have to consider this year's World Series a bit of a letdown. Between the three of them, they have only been able to make it to one final table and have to be a little disappointed with their performances. Both Forrest, who came into the WSOP on a huge rush, and Mizrachi, who just hasn't seemed to be able to carry on his early season success, have to be concerned as we step into the second half of the year.
The rest of the Top Ten has been in a constant state of change, exemplified by the movements of players who have been doing well in Las Vegas in June. Amir Vahedi is one constant from last month, and he has dropped two spots from last month and is in seventh. Phil Ivey is another constant who has used his bracelet victory in the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha (w/rebuys) tournament at the World Series to maintain his sixth place spot on the list.
The remainder of the Top Ten are all newcomers. Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari, Harry Demetriou (who has been on a tear at the Series) and World Series double bracelet winner Mark Seif all hold down slots eight through ten. They have been getting their games in great shape to make a challenge not only at the World Series Main Event championship but also to be in the year long race for Player of the Year.
The second ten is filled with players who have either captured bracelets at this year's World Series or are making several final tables during the event. Bracelet winner Farzad Bonyadi, multi-final tablist Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Mirage Poker Showdown champion Gavin Smith and Paul Darden (falling out of the Top Ten) are all waiting there should one of the leaders falter. In addition, PokerStars Caribbean Adventure champion John Gale, David "The Dragon" Pham and former World Champion Scotty Nguyen are all in the hunt as well.
One of the most surprising things is that the hottest player at this year's World Series, Allen Cunningham, has yet to crack even the Top Twenty. Allen has become the first player to capture $1 million before the Main Event (on the strength of a bracelet in Event #2 and three other final table finishes), yet it doesn't seem to have translated into Player of the Year points for him. He is just off the Top Twenty, however, in twenty third place.
It seems that the cream is rising to the top in this year's race. While early year champions John Stolzmann (Jack Binion World Poker Open) and Danny Nguyen (Bay 101 Shooting Star) are still in the top 25, they are rapidly being passed by the experience of the professionals. There is only 2,000 points separating twentieth place from first, however, so the CardPlayer Magazine Player of the Year race will actually be a battle throughout the year!
