Poker Blog and Poker Gossip

Each year at the WSOP, there are a lot of old familiar faces. Players like Johnny Chan, Annie Duke, Matt Affleck, David Benyamine, and Doyle Brunson are certain to show up at the tables. Plenty of other lesser-known players show up again and again too. John Racener has been cashing in live events for the past four years. Robert Pisano took home some cash last year, and he’s back at the felts for another run at the bracelet.

There are some relative unknowns, though, who are making a real splash this year. For example, Canadian player Evan Lamprea finished Day 5 at the top of the chips charts. His first ever cash at a live tournament was this year at WSOP event #56, where he took around $5000 for 164th place. One reason he’s never cashed before at a live tournament is that he’s 21, which could mean that he’d be vying for a name as one of the youngest to grab a bracelet. In any case, he’s sure to get noticed for having gone to sleep a chip leader on Day 5.

The last lady standing is Breeze Zuckerman, and there’s so little information about her on the poker databases that it’s like she came out of nowhere. She hails from California, and she’s sporting PokerStars gear, so it’s a safe bet that she won her entry fee from them. She has a mostly-dormant blog where she talks about whatever’s on her mind that particular day. She seems to like the Obama family and to be an animal lover. Zuckerman is a life coach, but she holds a degree in law from Tel Aviv University and has also worked as a journalist. So far, she hasn’t given any interviews explaining how she got into poker. Her most recent tweet on Twitter (she’s Breezie7) says “Starting today at the ESPN feature table…stay tuned.”

Be sure to keep watching out for these players. You can be certain you’ll be hearing about all of them in the upcoming months.

While the World Series of Poker’s main event isn’t the most expensive event to enter in the WSOP and it isn’t the only no-limit holdem event, it is the one that has gained the most popularity. While real poker buffs watch the WSOP leaderboards for all of the events, all eyes will be on the main event. This year, the event drew 7,319 entrants, many of whom won their entry money on online tournaments. Every major online poker site has been running tournaments with a prize package that included entry fees and travel fees for the the WSOP main event. Due to US restrictions on online poker, the WSOP entry could not be awarded by the site, but players had to agree to go to the event and wear the site’s gear in order to claim the prize money.

With so many entrants, the prize pool is an astonishing $68.8 million. The grand prize is $8.94 million. The top 747 players will cash, meaning over 10% of the players will be going home feeling like a success. For the others, there’s always next year.

It’s exciting to see this much poker action in a time when the economy has so many down and the UIGEA is in effect, trying to prevent Americans from accessing online poker, which is often their only ticket to the WSOP main event. While the WSOP saw more action in the 2006 main event, where the prize pool was $82,512,162 and the grand prize was $12 million, World Series of Poker vice president Ty Stewart said “In this era, it feels like a record.” There are 825 more players than last year, when the prize pool was $61 million. Jason Alexander, former Seinfeld star said “I’m glad people are feeling like the economy’s back enough that they can do it. It wasn’t because the interest in poker went away, so I have to assume people weren’t willing to speculate.”

While the possibility of making millions of dollars in a game they love certainly has its draw, Ty Stewart says that “I just think that the main event continues to transcend the (poker tournament) category. People are pretty obsessed these days about fame, fortune and celebrity, and that’s something that’s 100 percent guaranteed at the main event.” For online poker players, making it to the late tables in the WSOP main event is a good way to get noticed by poker sites that offer sponsorships for top players.

Ante Up for Africa is a different kind of poker tournament. It’s become an integral part of the WSOP, but winning this tournament isn’t about winning the big bucks. Of course, players play to win, since the title is still an honor, as is cashing, but this is one tournament where players are often not in it for the cash at all. For example, when poker pro Phil Gordon took $130,641, he donated it all to charity. According to Las Vegas law, players can’t be required to give up their winnings to charity, but in this event, the accepted practice is to give at least half to charity. The event has raised almost $4 million for Darfur over the past four years.

The event has been running for three years, and it raises awareness of the crisis in Darfur, Sudan, as well as raising money for those affected by the humanitarian crisis caused by the war there. Since it is a charity event, it attracts a lot of players who aren’t necessarily known as poker players. Some former sports pros have showed up at the tournament. Jerome Bettis, a former Pittsburgh Steeler, took sixth place. Bettis was known as “The Bus” during his NFL career because he tended to run over his opponents. The Ante Up for Africa tournament was no exception. Bettis said “We used to have a home game with some of my teammates for eight years solid every week. It was a pretty good game, so I’ve been playing for a while.”

Another athlete who took part in the event was Evander Holyfield, one of the world’s greatest heavyweight champions ever, who won the sympathy of non-boxers around the world when a crazed Mike Tyson bit his ear during a match. Holyfield said that he wasn’t scared about playing poker in front of a crowd. “When it comes down to it, it’s about making good decisions,” Holyfield said. “It’s the same thing in boxing.” Holyfield didn’t get quite the results that Bettis did, but was glad he had played. “When it comes to this tournament itself they were talking about what’s happening in Africa and how they want to raise awareness. I wanted to contribute to someone who is less fortunate. How can I not be a part of something like this?” Holyfield said.

Doyle Brunson has been trying to put together the ultimate poker team, and when you look at the results in this year’s WSOP, it seems like he’s doing a great job. Even though the pro himself hasn’t had a great run this year, his team is doing quite well. So far, the DoylesRoom team has cashed more than $1 million at the WSOP. It’s true that the cashes have come from a large number of players, but there have been some impressive cashes. All six members of the Brunson 10 have cashed, with the highest cash going to Amit Makhija who brought home $208,148 in two events. The others haven’t disappointed, though. Dani Stern cashed in an impressive $161,934. Chris Moorman and Zach Clark each brought in a five figure cash. Alex Kamberis and Steve Gross haven’t quite paid off their entry fees yet.

Doyle Brunson himself hasn’t cashed at all this year and he lost his stack in the Tournament of Champions on day 2, but Todd Brunson has brought in over $26,000 in the two events he managed to cash in, so the family name retains its honor. Allen Kessler is a DoylesRoom pro who has been doing very well this year. He’s already cashed in seven different events, earning over a third of a million dollars.

Among those competing for a place in the Brunson 10, the competition has been fierce. David Sands, Daniel Kelly, Faraz Jaka, and Michael Martin are competing for the seventh place. Currently Sands leads, but a cash in any event by any of the other three could change that, particularly if it were a high-place cash. There are only a handful of events left, so it’s an exciting time.

Overall, it’s been an excellent year for DoylesRoom as a poker room and for the team overall, even if the Texas Dolly seems to have lost his touch for the moment.

One twenty-one year old won’t be asking his parents to borrow the car this summer, because he’ll be able to afford his own after winning a bracelet at the WSOP. Steven Kelly turned 21 on May 1st, making this year his first chance to play at the WSOP. At event #39, which was a $1,500 no limit holdem shootout event, Kelly claimed a modest prize, by WSOP standards, of $382,725.

Kelly has been playing Texas holdem since he was 15, playing at the free sites until he turned 18. He prefers to play ring games rather than tournaments, but has played some tournaments. Early on, he won a tournament with a $5 entry fee, bringing in $6000.

Kelly is a California resident, meaning that he’s been able to play at live events at tribal casinos since he turned 18, and Las Vegas law only allowed him to join the party once he turned 21. He’s the fifth youngest player to win a bracelet.

Kelly was interviewed after his win, and he said “I play mostly cash games online, but I have had some tournament wins online, but nothing over $100,000,” said Kelly. “This is definitely my biggest cash.”

The tournament was a serious tournament. Play started with close to 1,400 players, beginning with 140 tables. Among the players in the event were former gold bracelet winners J.C. Tran, Steve Hohn, Randy Holland, and Robert Mizrachi. Annette Obrestad, who holds the record for the youngest bracelet in the WSOP, not only played, but managed to cash in the tournament. Robert Mizrachi, who took 136th place for about $5,600 took 5th place at event #2 this year, with his brother Michael taking the bracelet. Mizrachi has cashed on events #31 and #43 as well, but has not seen anything higher than 5th place yet this WSOP.

At this year’s WSOP Women’s Championship game, not all of the women were, well, women. In fact, eight of the contestants were men. In particular, Shaun Deeb was noted for having shown up in drag. Due to laws against discrimination, the WSOP organizers couldn’t count the men out of the tournament, but that didn’t mean that the women who had lined up to play were pleased. Shaun Deeb put up a video on YouTube explaining that he’d lost a bet and he had to play in the tournament. He also promised to give any winnings to charity. Moreover, he claimed that since poker is a mind sport, rather than one of physical prowess, there shouldn’t need to be division of the sexes.

Linda Johnson, one of the pioneers in women’s poker, disagrees. She said that many women view poker as the territory of men, and having a women’s only tournament helps them overcome the feeling of intimidation felt when stepping into a man’s world. Moreover, the socialization during a women’s tournament is different. By having women’s tournaments, top women poker players get to meet, socialize, and experience poker without feeling like outsiders. For Johnson, her first Women’s Championship thirty years ago was a turning point. Although she only placed fifth, it gave her the confidence she needed to move into the world of professional poker.

Annie Duke, one of the best known women in poker, took the opposite stance, though. Duke claims that having separate tournaments for women implies that they are not up to the level of competing with men, and she would prefer to do away with them.

If anyone is concerned as to whether women and men can compete on a level playing field in poker, there’s no need for concern. The top ranking man in the WSOP Women’s Championship took 103rd place. Vanessa Hellebuyck from France took the bracelet and $192,132.