The 2007 World Series of Poker

Another World Series is over and now the post-tournament blues set in. The action, the excitement, and all the hoopla that caused all those dopamine’s to be released in our brains is gone. Except for the chosen few like World Champion Jerry Yang who scored big, it is now time to stabilize our emotions and prepare to go back to the “grind”. I feel fortunate that I managed to get my head above water to be in a position to take a couple of weeks off to spend with my triplets. Unlike the past, we no longer have to wait a full year to play a big event. Now there are $10,000 tournaments almost left and right. In fact, my home event, the Legends of Poker, is starting this week.

Reflecting back, I wonder how 45 days flew by so fast. They say time flies when you’re having fun but I was not having fun most of the time. In fact, I ran bad most of the series. I didn’t have a rush until after I was knocked out of the final event. The final event---there are thousands of stories but I did go broke with pocket kings against pocket aces 1 hour before the end of the 2^nd day. I guessed I finished about #700. I only play in a handful of tournaments a year and usually just majors. Somehow I seem to be very unlucky with pocket kings. Out of 5 majors I played this year, I went out 4 of them with pocket kings. In the Bahamas, it was 4c5c with a board of 6, 7, 8 against pocket 3’s. It came a 3 and then the board paired. At the WPT in Tunica, my kings were no match for AJ off suit for an $80,000 pot. In Reno my kings ran into pocket aces. At the NBC National Heads-up Championship, I had $200 left out of $20,000 when the deuce of hearts came on the river. With a flop of 9, 9, 2, Chad Brown had called a check-raise of $13,600 to his bet of $4,000. When I turned over my kings after waiting anxiously for the cameras, I understood Chad’s groan as he turned over the Kc, 2c. Now at the Series, my kings are again up against aces.

There are many strategies for approaching the Series but the key factor is the bankroll. If you’re a working man, then the focus has to be the cash games and being selective on the choice of tournaments. The problem with tournaments is that you can play all day and come up relatively empty. The loss of productivity adds up especially for a $400-$800 player. Although the allure of tournaments is difficult to resist, the five preliminary events I played cost me about 40 hours of live play. It could have prevented me from having a great WSOP but this is all hindsight and second guessing.

I’ve called Badugi the “crack” of poker. Action is addictive for poker players and Badugi is all of that. Badugi may have cost me over $300,000 during the Series. I play mainly in mixed games and usually Badugi is part of the mix. Many times the weaker players will try to turn the game into a straight Badugi game but I try my best to have as many games as possible. In one of my early plays at the Bellagio, I lost a huge pot with a 6-4-3-2 Badugi and never seemed to recover after that. When you’re winning in Badugi, you feel like you have the whole game under control. In many games your results in Badugi can determine your outcome. Of course, today’s Badugi Masters are tomorrow’s Badugi Chumps.

Another game that experienced a comeback was Limit Omaha high. Usually combined with stud, it would eventually break down to just the action packed game. When the selection of hands is expanded, there are more multi-way pots and more action. Games like razz where only the low cards have value is much slower with fewer multi-way pots. Of course the game doesn’t matter as much as the number of poor players. That is always why I have wondered how professional poker players have not learned all the games or at least most of them. I once mentioned to a friend of mine, Frank Mariani, that stud players can only play stud. His response was, “Why?”

I played extremely long sessions during the Series. The first one was 102 hours. At my low point, I was down $140,000. Most of the time, I was down around 100 but finally on my 4^th day, I had a rush to only $40,000. After sliding back $20,000, I figured it was time to go. Rather than being $60,000 loser, I saw it as being $80,000 back. It seemed fitting that my final session was about 80 hours. After being 10 winner I had been down as much as 110. I was only 5 stuck when I picked up a pat 8 in Badugi. I decided this was my farewell hand if I lost it. I had an opportunity to play the hand to win it but that was hindsight. I took a bad beat since the opponent I could have eliminated from the pot had only 3 wins. Finally after 30 years, I decided that it was time to quit because I had taken a bad beat, made a huge comeback, and I had played long enough. Now if I could only continue to make good decisions, my poker career may have a shot.

TAGAYTAY

Nestled in the highlands, a couple of hours to the south of Manila, Tagaytay overlooks Lake Taal.

Interspersed with various theme or ethnic restaurants, the resort offers a variety of culinary flavors. It was amusing to dine in a “Western” steak house in a log cabin design served by “cowboys” and “cowgirls”. Although there seemed to be a large number of Indian guests, there wasn’t any Indian cuisine. For those who wished to exercise their vocal chords, the KTV offered a public and private lounge.

The $20 massages were hard to resist by many. I preferred the challenges of the Midlands Golf Course, a complete course. For only $50, cart and caddy were included. Unfortunately for Ralph Rudd & I, we had to bring our own game. The caddies could read the putts but had difficulty communicating the speed. After a hard day on the course, the meaning of “Miller Time” comes to light. After a cleansing shower, dining out completes the day. After dinner, karaoke seems to sound fine with a bottle of wine. I don’t know how it sounds to the teetotaler but that’s their problem.

The boys from Manila showed up to make the hold-em tournament reasonably successful. Changing it to a re-buy format, the prize pool reached almost $20,000 for a $500 entry. Although Wally Sombero had the early chip lead, Australian Jonny Vincent ended up with all the chips. The Dang brothers, Danny and Travis, survived to finish 2^nd and 3^rd respectively. The action continued until early the next morning. Wally seemed to have won more than 1^st place money in the $100 Chinese game. The 1000-2000 peso no-limit game saw many big multi-way pots. The game of no-limit has traversed the globe but the skill level is still lagging.

The Philippines is not as dangerous as it is reputed. It is true that there are terrorists but they are far to the south in Mindanao. Although the world is progressing rapidly in technology, it is not keeping pace with social services and opportunities. Unfortunately in the Philippines, corruption is the primary obstacle to this 3^rd world nation. Hong Kong is living proof of how a society and economy can prosper when the government stamps out corruption. Like the Wild West, one must understand its systems. With too many hands to grease, it can be an expensive place to do business.

There are a couple of nice areas next to Manila. Makati City has most of the nicest hotels and restaurants in the area. The shopping is not bad. You pay 1/3 of what you would in the states. Nearby is the Fort, which is a condo, shopping, and nightlife area. There is an excellent Italian restaurant called “Barola”. As the name might indicate, the Italian wine selection is outstanding. We were drinking $200-$400 U.S. priced wines for only $60-$80.

Chad Brown

Here I am at the NBC Heads-Up Championship at Caesars Las Vegas.

The Pairing Party was last night and my ball was the only one left out of 64 lottery balls that were drawn. Does it mean anything? No, but it will be easy to find my name.

Chad has been a friend of mine for many years. One of the nicest guys in poker, Chad is always a gentleman. Our match should be intense but cordial. We won’t have any of the bombastic tirades the poker viewer seems to relish.

Now for business. How will I beat him? He will take a stand so I won’t be able to recklessly run him over. He will call raises with marginal hands so if I’m out of position I would want to minimize the number of flops. He will have a hand. In other words, I don’t have to worry too much about no pair, no draw calls. I do have a tight image with him so he will tend to be more conservative toward me. He’s not likely to go over the top of me without a strong hand. Now I just have to play poker and see what he will give me and what he won’t.