Hungarian pro Tamas Lendvai was crowned champion of the PokerStars.it Italian Poker Tour’s record-breaking Venice stop on Tuesday. Lendvai defeated 504 people in the largest tournament in IPT history, a €2,000 (+€200) buy-in No Limit Hold’em…
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08 4th, 2010
PokerNews caught up with Jared Vengrin, to discuss his recent win in the Full Tilt Poker $750,000 Guarantee. He also discusses moving to Austin, Texas and what he’d be doing if he weren’t playing poker.
First off, congratulations on shipping…
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ESPN’s coverage of the 2010 () got off to a great start on Tuesday, improving its first week ratings by 15% from last year. The coverage highlighted some phenomenal play from a group of talented pros, which almost certainly helped boost ESPN’s ratings during the second hour of the broadcast.
The broadcast featured Michael “” Mizrachi winning his first gold bracelet in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, and it earned a 0.60 metered market average during the 8:00 p.m. broadcast and a 0.71 metered market average during the 9:00 p.m. broadcast. The 0.7 combined average is up from last year’s 0.6 rating.
The coverage, which one ESPN representative called “compelling,” centered on and his brother Robert, both of whom reached the final table of eight players. Also at the final table were , , , David “” Baker, Michael Thuritz, and , who went on to make four World Championship final tables at the 2010 WSOP after coming into the series as an unknown.
After knocking out his brother Robert in fifth place, Michael Mizrachi ultimately won the tournament, defeating Schmelev heads-up to collect $1,559,046 and the prestigious Memorial Trophy. With the ESPN cameras rolling, Mizrachi’s rowdy rail smothered him after the final river card was dealt. “It’s a Grinder tsunami,” exclaimed ESPN commentator Norman Chad. Among those watching Michael win his first bracelet were his wife and his brothers Robert, Donny, and Eric, as well as friends Chino Rheem and Noah Boeken.
The Poker Players Championship was a big change from the mixed games World Championship that the WSOP had run in recent years. The tournament, which opened the WSOP in late May, involved participants playing eight different poker games — No Limit and Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, Limit Omaha Hi-Lo, Limit Stud and Stud Hi-Lo, Razz and Limit 2-7 Triple Draw. Then, to be sure that ESPN filmed the event, the final table was only No Limit Hold ‘em to ensure that viewers could more easily understand what was being played.
After the first two years of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship were strictly a No Limit Hold ‘em final table, the WSOP went back to its normal format in 2008, with the final table including each of the games (Hold ‘em, Omaha, Razz, Stud and 8-or-better). That year, 148 players entered the tournament, with picking up $1,989,120 for his victory. Last year, ESPN dropped the tournament out of its broadcast, and thus, the event’s turnout suffered. With no ESPN cameras around, only 95 players participated, and the world didn’t see champion David Bach earning $1,276,806. The 2010 version attracted 116 players and, despite a subpar turnout, can be deemed a major success by ESPN.
Next Tuesday, ESPN will show the final table of the Tournament of Champions, a 27-player freeroll made up almost entirely of past WSOP bracelet winners. , , , , , , , and were among the players voted in by fans to play the event. ESPN’s coverage of the Main Event begins Aug. 10 and continues every Tuesday through Nov. 9.
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07 22nd, 2010
While at this year’s , I took the opportunity to play in quite a few different $1-$2 No Limit Hold’em (NLHE) games at casinos all over Las Vegas. I also watched some friends of mine who were out for a quasi-annual pilgrimage to poker Mecca. In short, I feel like I got a good snapshot of the $1-$2 NLHE action in Las Vegas.
Of course, this game is crucially important – it is the “default” poker game played in casinos all over the U.S. now. What used to be $1-$5 Spread Limit Seven Card Stud and became $2-$4 (or $3-$6) Limit Hold’em is now $1-$2 NLHE. If you walk into a random small poker room in a U.S. casino, the most commonly spread (if not only) game will be $1-$2 NLHE.
While there were certainly plenty of games and plenty of interest, I’m not completely comfortable with the overall state of this bellwether game right now.
First, I’m not sure the game is beatable. Many casinos are taking 10% rake up to $5 (i.e. the rake is capped when the pot reaches $50 – not hard to do) plus a dollar for a bad-beat or high-hand jackpot. Now add a dealer tip and you have $5 to $7 leaving the table every hand. Shuffling machines are becoming the standard; with them, seeing 35 hands per hour is not uncommon. 35 x $6 = $210 disappearing from the table every hour. That’s over two minimum (and common) buy-ins siphoned off each hour. Do that for four hours and every person in an eight-player game has donated a buy-in. Players’ bankrolls really aren’t up to that.
Second, well, I hate to say, “I told you so,” but I told you so. Six years ago, in the third edition of “Winning Low Limit Hold’em,” I wrote that I didn’t think the growing trend toward No Limit Hold’em was good for the game overall. Sure enough, I saw many novice players dump one or two buy-ins in situations where they didn’t need to get broke. Usually, it was because they couldn’t let go of a big pair when every indication was that that one pair was no good. Then, frustrated with the entire experience, they stood up and left. They may well have gone to the blackjack or craps tables where they don’t have a chance either, but at least the money bleeds away slowly and they get to enjoy the gambling experience for a while.
Note that if they were playing Limit Hold’em, these errors would be far less costly. A grossly overplayed big pair might cost you $50 in a $3-$6 Limit Hold’em game rather than $100 or $200 in NLHE. So, people who should have a learned a painful but non-lethal lesson were gone from the game.
Third, those who benefited from the double-ups often fled the game for a similar reason: they were afraid of losing all of their chips in a single hand gone bad. This was particularly noticeable when a player won a high-hand jackpot. In one game I played, one of our players hit a straight flush and was rewarded with a $600-ish jackpot. He wasn’t the strongest player at the table and I was delighted. Not so much because I thought that I’d win the entire $600 (or even any of it). But, I thought that much of that $600 would come back onto the table and get spread around, enriching the entire game.
Bad read. The young man left the game almost immediately after hitting the windfall, but left his chips there for us to admire. Then he came back, played a couple of orbits of the button without voluntarily putting a single chip into the pot and cashed out.
It saddened me to see so many players dipping their toes into the live poker pool only to leave in frustration (at losing) or fear (of losing a big stack). So, with that, I offer four suggestions that may help.
1. To the players: Be smart consumers. Some rooms cap their rake at $4, some cap it at $5. There was absolutely no correlation between the rake cap and the quality of the poker room. $1 may not seem like a big deal, but an extra $25 per hour makes a difference in stacks around the table. Similarly, I encourage you to avoid rooms that have high-hand or bad-beat jackpots (there are plenty). That’s just more money leaving the table and, as I showed above, even if some of it comes back, it rarely stays. Furthermore, I will bet serious money (thousands of dollars) that the rooms are taking an “administrative fee” from the jackpot drop.
2. To the players: Don’t play small pots. Particularly in the high-rake rooms, you simply can’t fade the vig. Consider this: you make a very reasonable opening raise to $7. Two people call. The flop comes and you like it (or don’t). You bet $15 (about 60% of the pot). You get one caller. You like the turn (or like two-barreling), so you bet $30; your one opponent gives it up. Congratulations, you’ve won a $54 pot. Well, not really. The house took $5+$1 and you threw the dealer a dollar. That’s 13% of the pot, 22% of your profit.
Or, suppose two players get all-in pre-flop for $50 each with Q-Q versus A-Ks. The official stats on the race are 53.8% to 46.2%. But guess what – when the house gets its $7, there’s only $93 to win. The ladies are exactly breakeven in this race; the A-Ks loses a full $7 (14%) of his $50 investment.
Moral of the story: try to win fewer pots, but make them bigger.
3. To the poker rooms: seriously consider capping the action in your lowest stakes games. That will protect the players, keep them in action longer, and encourage somebody who has won a bunch of money to stick around. This procedure is already well established on the internet and in the very biggest live games going on in your town. If I were running the poker room, I think I’d set the cap at 100 big blinds ($200 in a $1-$2 game). So, no player can contribute more than $200 to a single pot. That still produces adrenaline-pumping pots.
4. To the poker rooms: let the players run the board twice if the pot is over some amount (e.g. 100 big blinds). Yes, it slows things down and you get in fewer hands blah blah blah. But, it also dramatically increases the chances that instead of one busted player leaving and one doubled-up player about to leave, you’ll have two relieved players who got all that excitement “for free.”
There’s also one general comment I’d like to make to poker room managers: I saw too many instances where it seemed that the poker room’s procedures and rules were set by the regular players. This is a bad idea. I’m all in favor of listening to your customers, but we are a unique business: some of your customers want to eat some of your other customers. It’s like letting the lions decide which cages at the zoo will be open when.
For instance, your regulars will probably squawk at the idea of capping the betting action. That’s because they want to get all $350 from the guy who can’t lay down pocket kings. But, you want that guy to stick around longer (and, yes, pay more rake). Use your best judgment about what’s good for the overall game and your whole player community – not just the few guys who are in your game six days a week.
Lee Jones is the Card Room Manager for and has been in the online poker business since 2003. He is also the author of “Winning Low Limit Hold’em,” which is still in publication over 15 years after its first printing.
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07 2nd, 2010
In what could best be described as “the calm before the storm,” only one bracelet was awarded on Thursday night in action at the ().
In the $3,000 Triple Chance No Limit Hold’em tournament, Event #51 on the WSOP schedule, 12 men returned on Thursday afternoon for their shot at a coveted gold and diamond WSOP bracelet. Jon Eaton held a roughly 600,000 chip lead over Frank Rusnak, with underrated pro Will “The Thrill” Failla lurking in third place. The players wasted little time once the cards hit the air, getting down to the final table in roughly 4½ hours.
Rusnak was one of the victims of the early carnage, doubling up Bradley Craig and losing a key hand to Failla to drop his chip stack into the danger zone. Rusnak, who has almost $600,000 in tournament earnings since his debut in 2007, was never able to get any traction from the start and got his final chips in with K-Q. He was called by Koen de Bakker, who had him dominated with his A-Q. The flop offered an appealing A-5-J rainbow arrangement, but delivered no 10 for Rusnak, dropping him from the tournament in 11th place.
Once the final table was established, one of the rarer occurrences during a WSOP final table occurred. Guillaume Darcourt, after an all-in bet from Tad Jurgens and an all-in over the top from Noel Scruggs, agonized over a decision that would either make his tournament or crush his dreams of a WSOP bracelet. After the careful deliberation, Darcourt made the call with pocket sevens, only to see Jurgens table pocket queens and Scruggs show his A-Q. The seven that popped on the flop sent a thunderous roar through the audience and delivered a rare bird at a WSOP final table, the double knockout. Jurgens started the hand with fewer chips and finished in ninth and Scruggs took the eighth place slot.
Over the next four hours, the remainder of the final table would be eliminated, bringing the action to a heads-up battle between Eaton and Ryan Welch, who diligently ground his way through the final table. On the final hand, with Eaton holding slightly fewer chips than Welch, the duo got their chips to the center of a 9-7-6-10-K board. Eaton bet out roughly 525,000 on the river to start, only to face an all-in reraise from Welch. Eaton struggled with the decision, reasoning out the hands that Welch could possibly hold before making the call. Welch immediately showed Q-J for the rivered nut straight and, once the chips were counted, became the latest WSOP champion.
1. Ryan Welch (Henderson, NV) – $559,371
2. Jon Eaton (Las Vegas, NV) – $344,830
3. Guillaume Darcourt (Paris, France) – $223,459
4. Will Faille (Smithtown, NY) – $163,532
5. Bradley Craig (Cleveland, OH) – $121,451
6. Sergey Lebedev (Troitsk, Russia) – $91,407
7. Tommy Vedes (Fort Mojave, AZ) – $69,647
8. Noel Scruggs (Del Mar, CA) – $53,694
9. Tad Jurgens (Tempe, AZ) – $41,842
Four other events were in play on Thursday, with two tournaments that will award bracelets on Friday. In Event #52, the $25,000 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em tournament, 18 players will come back on Friday afternoon from the original 191 starters. Bryn Kenney is the overnight chip leader stacked with 2.425 million, but there is danger lurking around every corner. , who has had a quiet 2010 WSOP, is in sixth place, with 2010 double bracelet winner Frank Kassela ahead of him in fifth. Add in Sam Trickett, , Shawn Buchanan, Eugene Katchalov, Justin “” Bonomo, , and Vadim Trincher, and the final table of this event should hold for exciting poker.
In the $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout, Victory Poker pro Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little and Terrence “Unassigned” Chan lead a final table of eight. As with a Shootout tournament, all eight worked their way to the final table by defeating a full table of opponents over the first two days of play. Everyone will start with 450,000 in chips when the cards fly this afternoon.
The first Day 1 of the latest $1,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament drew a sizeable field of 2,340 players, potentially making this $1,000 event one of the largest of this year’s WSOP, depending on the second Day 1 gathering. The final table of this tournament will take place on Independence Day.
The $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha World Championship drew a starting field of 346, which was whittled down by over half to 171 by the end of Day 1. Australia’s Antonio Paino is the chip leader with 240,000, with several top pros mixed throughout the field. 2009 November Niner is in third, with Fabrice Soulier (sixth) and Ted Lawson (seventh) both in the top 10. Final table play in Event #55 will take place on Saturday.
Only one event will begin play on Friday, the $2,500 No Limit Hold’em event. It is also set to finish play on Sunday, prior to the start of the $10,000 World Championship event on Monday. Although there are tournaments in action over the next few days, it more than likely will be a preparation weekend for many of the top players as the WSOP moves into its final two weeks and its World Championship event.
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Ryan Welch became the 51st bracelet winner of the summer when he took down Event #51. Terrence Chan has advanced to the final table in the limit hold’em shootout and will be looking to capture his first WSOP bracelet in the game he is best known…
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07 1st, 2010
We saw a slew of poker’s greats surround the halls of the Rio Pavilion, with both the $25k Six-Handed No-Limit Championship and $10k PLO Championships in play.
The $1.5k Limit Shootout played down to the final table, as the final eight is set to play for the bracelet.
Here’s a look around Day 35 at the WSOP:
Event 51 - $3k Triple Chance
The heads-up finale came down to two online wizards battling it out for a bracelet in a big-time live poker event.
Ryan Welch defeated fellow online pro Jon Eaton to take down the bracelet and first place cash of $559,371.
The win gives Welch the first WSOP bracelet of his career, following numerous big online scores.
Other notable money finishers included Will “The Thrill” Failla (Fourth), Tommy Vedes (Seventh) and James Akenhead (17th).
Event 52 - $25k No-Limit Hold’em Six-Max
As expected, the WSOP’s newest high buy-in event is playing out as a showcase for poker’s best, and wealthiest.
Daniel Negreanu, Carlos Mortensen, Heather Sue Mercer, Eugene Katchalov, Justin Bonomo and Bryn Kenney are among the 18 players still in contention heading into Day 2.
John Juanda was the unfortunate bubble boy coming in 19th place. Juanda’s elimination may have lasting implications for the WSOP Player of the Year race as Frank Kassela survived in this event and will get at least five POY points tomorrow.
Play resumes at 3 p.m. Friday. It’s a four-day event and the final table is scheduled for Saturday. First place will pay out an epic $1.3 million.
Event 53 - $1.5k Limit Shootout
The final eight is set for this Limit Shootout event, which comes back at 2:30 p.m. Friday to determine a champion.
Canada’s Terrence Chan is in the mix as is Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little as the players vie for the first-place prize of $184,950.
Notable cash finishers busted out on Day 2 included Theo Tran and Marcel Luske.
Event 54 - $1k No-Limit Hold’em
A huge turnout filled the Pavilion Room, as 2,340 players came out for Day 1A.
There were a few familiar faces amongst the mass chaos, as Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler, Liv Boeree, Shannon Shorr and Kara Scott all made it through to Day 2.
Day 1b of this event commences at noon Friday.
Event 55 - $10k Pot-Limit Omaha Championship
The final $10k Championship before the Main Event began Thursday, with 346 players coming out for high-stakes PLO tournament action.
The roster of players in the field reads like a poker who’s who, with David Benyamine, Greg Raymer, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson and Men “The Master” Nguyen all in the game.
None other than Tom “durrrr” Dwan is among the chip leaders, along with James Akenhead and Annette Obrestad.
Day 2 resumes at 3 p.m. Friday as the picture starts to come into focus and we play to a final table.
To view how the day played out in more detail as well as see blogs, news and videos from the Series, click through to PokerListings .
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07 1st, 2010
The series may be closing in on its final, huge event but make no mistake - no one is passing time here at the Rio and there was some incredible action on show as usual.
Event 49 - $1.5k No-Limit Hold’em
Three tables returned to play to the bracelet here - and although there were fears this could play out deep into the night, the bracelet was decided relatively early as a quick-fire final played out.
In the early hours of the morning it was Taylor Larkin and Michael Linn who faced off, Linn ultimately besting Larkin to win his first WSOP bracelet and the $609,453 1st prize money.
Event 50 - $5k Pot-Limit Omaha
Another bracelet was scheduled to be handed out today, and so it was. The day began at a fast rate of knots although once the play became short-handed caution prevailed and the players seemed to have reached an impasse. There were some fireworks from the rail though with security having to close a portion of the final table in a bid to keep the peace between the warring fans.
Eventually the poker impasse was broken, Chance Kornuth and Kevin Boudreau storming through to the heads up where ultimately Kornuth prevailed in front of his rowdy rail to take down the bracelet and the $508,090 1st prize money in what was a very strong field.
Event 51 - $3k Triple Chance
With 175 players remaining for day 2, it seemed unlikely we would be able to playdown to a final table - but the whirlwind pace that had characterized the 1st day’s play was back in force and they almost managed it.
The field was shredded in 10 firebrand levels with players like Gavin Griffin and James Akenhead making deep runs - though neither managed to survive the day.
Instead, the 12 players who did make it through will be headed by Jon Eaton at the top of the chip counts when they return tomorrow - though Tommy Vedes is hot on his shoulder in 2nd.
They’ll be back at 2.30 p.m. to play it out for the bracelet and claim the $559,371 1st prize money.
Event 52 - $25k No-Limit Hold’em Six-Max
Day one of the $25k NLHE Six Handed event is in the books and 78 players will return for day two - meaning 113 of the original 191 registrants will wake up $25k poorer tomorrow.
This event proved a huge favorite amongst both the seasoned vets like Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu and the online whizz-kids like Phil Galfond and Tom “durrrr” Dwan.
Considering the players were given healthy stacks of 75k, there was a surprising rate of attrition - the sheer aggression the players generated causing a number of casualties before the end of the day.
When they finally bagged and tagged the chips, Philipp Gruissem was the man out in front, although Daniel Negreanu, Sam Trickett and Isaac Haxton also had fine days and will present a worthy challenge when they reconvene for Day 2 at 2.30 p.m.
Event 53 - $1.5k Limit Shootout
No one would suggest that the Limit Shootout format was the sexiest of the events on the schedule but 548 Limit specialists and bracelet-hunters appeared to battle for the title.
By the end of the day, there were plenty of familiar faces amongst the winners, including Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Barry Shulman, Chau Giang and Marcel Luske.
Those players and the other winners will return tomorrow to continue battling along the path to crown the latest braceleted champion.
To view how the day played out in more detail as well as see blogs, news and videos from the Series, click through to PokerListings .
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Norway’s Sigurd Eskeland earned his first ever () gold bracelet on Tuesday morning, defeating Steve Sung heads-up in the $2,500 Mixed Event. The former school teacher won $260,497 in his third career WSOP cash.
The Mixed Event features eight different games: No Limit Hold’em, Fixed Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, Omaha 8/b, Razz, Stud, Stud 8/b, and 2-7 Triple Draw. Day 3 began with 20 players still remaining and Eskeland had a ways to go, sitting in 12th place. Aside from the chip leader, Nikolai Yakovenko, who had 310,000 chips, it was a fairly tightly grouped field.
Eskeland waited patiently through several eliminations before surging into the chip lead thanks to a series of double-ups. After eliminating Alex Wice in third place, Eskeland went into heads-up play with a 2-to-1 chip advantage over Sung. He expanded his lead quickly, but after about 40 minutes, Sung had pulled to even and looked like he was poised to make a run at the bracelet when he took the lead shortly thereafter.
Sung’s lead didn’t last long, though, and just over two hours into the heads-up match, he had all of his chips in the middle in a No Limit Hold’em round with Qd-Qs against Eskeland’s Ac-9s. The flop was harmless – 3d-9c-4c – and it looked like Sung still just needed to dodge an ace to double-up. The Jc on the turn gave Eskeland a flush draw, though, and the river was heartbreaker for Sung: 2c. That brought Eskeland a flush and the title.
2010 WSOP Event #48 $2,500 Mixed – Final Table Results
1. Sigurd Eskeland – $260,497
2. Steve Sung – $160,952
3. Alexander Wice – $102,314
4. Nikolai Yakovenko – $73,776
5. Stephen Su – $54,032
6. Scott Seiver – $40,175
7. Jared Jaffee – $30,319
8. Kirill Rabtsov – $23,223
Elsewhere around the Rio, the Tournament of Champions (TOC) wrapped up Day 2, albeit behind schedule. The plan was to play Day 1 last Sunday and Day 2 on Monday, at which point the final nine players would be determined. Play would then resume on July 4th. However, after Monday’s action, there were still 17 players left. Therefore, WSOP officials decided to bring everyone back on July 3rd to play down to the final table, which will still be played on July 4th. The schedule may be modified even further, though. There are two events taking place on July 3rd – the Ante Up for Africa charity tournament and the $25,000 Six-Max – so there is a chance that one or more of the TOC players will already be playing in an event. If that is the case, the TOC will resume on July 4th at 9:00am so that there is enough time to determine a champion. Here is a look at the current standings:
1. – 85,500
2. – 73,000
3. – 68,600
4. – 64,700
5. – 64,300
6. – 58,900
7. – 58,900
8. – 44,100
9. – 42,600
10. – 39,900
11. – 38,800
12. – 34,200
13. – 30,800
14. – 30,100
15. – 29,900
16. – 24,400
17. – 21,400
There were three other tournaments running on a busy day at the Rio on Monday. Event #47, $1,000 No Limit Hold’em, completed its second day with just 33 of the original 3,128 players remaining. Manuel Davidian tops the field with 889,000 chips, 176,000 more than his next closest competitor, Adam White. Of note is recent bracelet winner , who in 24th place is gunning for his second win of the 2010 WSOP. Here is what the top ten looks like:
1. Manuel Davidian – $889,000
2. Adam White – $713,000
3. Jason Riesenberg – $635,000
4. Owen Crowe – $607,000
5. Justin Young – $449,000
6. Laurence Stein – $442,000
7. Paulus Valkenburg – $439,000
8. Pekka Ikonen – $435,000
9. Shawn Busse – $432,000
10. Olivier Busquet – $377,000
Event #49, $1,500 No Limit Hold’em, is entering its second day with 315 of 2,543 players remaining, so the field is still 45 players away from the money. Giuseppe Zarbo leads the chase to the $609,493 first prize with 156,500 chips. Other players of note are still alive, including George “Jorj95″ Lind III (96,400), David “” Pham (83,300), J.P. Kelly (61,600), Mark Gregorich (55,600), Shane Schleger (54,800), (43,400), Roland de Wolfe (38,400), (36,600), and (35,000). Play will resume at 2:30pm local time.
Finally, Event #50, $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha, also concluded its first day. Almost half of the original 460-player field is still alive, so it is a long way until the cash bubble bursts. , a member of last year’s November Nine, leads all players with 178,900 chips. Also among the leaders are Jarred Solomon, who just made the final table of the $2,500 Mixed Hold’em event, 2005 Main Event final tablist and this year’s $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha champ John “Tex” Barch, 2010 $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha 8/b runner-up Dan Shak, and inaugural WSOP Europe Main Event champ Annette “” Obrestad. First place pays over $500,000. The players will be back at 3:00pm local time to continue their quest for a bracelet.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for more updates from the 2010 World Series of Poker.
Continued here:
06 29th, 2010
When I read about Shaun Deeb, David Sesso, and other men playing in the Ladies Event at the 2010 (), I just shook my head. It was the same sort of slow, disappointed head shake that I would use while watching my daughter poke and prod my dog’s face for the 500th time only to get snapped at. Both are just bad ideas that make me wonder what they were thinking.
I’m not so offended by the stunt that I’m going to call the guys idiots or draw some odd comparison to the BP oil spill like Dusty “Leatherass” Schmidt did in his blog. But to me, it is still pretty unbelievable that some people would actually think that doing this was a good idea. I know Deeb explained in a video message that he did it because he supports women in poker and was protesting gender segregation in tournaments, but I just don’t buy it.
At the beginning of his statement, which corresponds to published news reports, Deeb said that he lost a prop bet with his friends and, as a result, had to play in the Ladies Event dressed in drag. So what was it? Did you lose a bet or did you have some greater mission? In my opinion, it appears to be the former. It looks like Deeb, Sesso, and friends basically considered the Ladies Event a joke, which is why their punishment in the bet was to play in it.
I will give Sesso some credit, though. In an , Sesso admitted that he realized it was wrong to infiltrate the women’s tournament and apologized for it. But Deeb, in his video, tries to make us believe that, despite his saying so earlier, the prop bet was not the reason why he entered the tournament, but rather he wanted to stand up for gender equality. Come on. Over 1,000 women played in the tournament – obviously people like it.
It is so tilting to me when people complain about the Ladies Event, saying that women are just as capable and intelligent as men and don’t need a separate tournament. For instance, , a well known opponent of women’s events, told this website, “Poker is not like tennis. Men are not mentally stronger than we are, so it makes no sense to separate it out. If there were a men’s-only event, people would be encouraging women to play.”
Women’s events do not exist because women can’t compete with men in at the WSOP. They exist because, in general, women don’t compete with men at the WSOP. I think we all know that the ratio of women to men at the WSOP is tiny. So, one way to get more women involved is to have a tournament that caters to them. It’s obvious and everyone has heard this reasoning before, but there are still people who discount it.
Women don’t need the Ladies Event, people over 50 years old don’t need a Seniors Event, and poker players in general don’t need a Hold’em/Omaha hybrid event. But you know what? They like them, and that’s what matters. Of course, opponents will make the argument that just because people like something doesn’t mean it should exist. Sure, but this is a poker tournament. A women’s-only event doesn’t hurt anyone. If it becomes unwanted, then the registration numbers will dwindle and the WSOP will do away with it.
“But Dan, if you think a women’s event is fine, do you think a men’s event is fine?” That’s not the same thing, and you know it. Live poker is already basically a men’s club, so take those inappropriate arguments somewhere else.
It is just mind-boggling to me that there are people who care so much about trying to make such an unimportant statement that they want to ruin something enjoyable and harmless like a poker tournament. Put your energies and outrage into something that could really use some attention, not a fake women’s equality issue. And for guys like Shaun Deeb who feel like crashing a party because they think they are better than the attendees, don’t get upset when people call you out on it. You knew what people would think of you; don’t try to make us think you were making some heroic statement.
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