 |
 |
LA Poker Classic |
|
| |
|
For those of us who are
not living in the United States of America,
it is hard to grasp just how big the poker
explosion has been there. My latest trip to
Los Angeles had me shaking my head in
disbelief. The National Hockey League
players strike has led to the cancellation
of their season. Had anyone noticed though?
They certainly would have noticed if the LA
Poker Classic had been cancelled.
|
|
|
|
Upon arrival, the cab between LAX and my
hotel passed numerous freeway billboards
such as, 'Watch Hold 'em on TV, Play Hold 'em
at The Commerce Casino', 'The Moneymaker',
'Wednesday Night is Poker Night on The
Travel Channel'. A string of huge
advertisements for online casinos, live
cardrooms, poker on TV and even a poker soap
called 'Tilt'!
|
|
|
|
Having collapsed into bed for 8 hours
recovery sleep from the long haul, my wife
turned on the TV the following morning.
Flicking through the channel she came across
some peroxide blonde geezer wearing a bright
green bet365poker shirt. I was on ESPN 2!
She was well impressed. Right now, the
American public just cannot get enough
poker. The WSOP Omaha final table has been
repeated between two and five times a week
constantly since it first showing last June.
How on earth can you watch the same final
table twice? Surely the result is the same
every time?
|
|
|
|
I walked into the Commerce to register for
the 'PPT' freeroll event. For me, it was
just a free entry with a shot at winning
part of a $500,000 prize pool. An
unthinkable opportunity two years ago. I was
in for a surprise though. It is much more
than that to the American public. Invites to
PPT (Professional Poker Players Tour), are
restricted to the 200 top ranked poker
players in the World. To the American
public, this was an all-star tournament. TV
cameras were everywhere (well there were at
least four anyway). My biggest surprise
though, was the groupies clutching their
'Poker Aces' books. The blonde hair probably
made me the easiest recognisable player in
the book, but none of the autograph hunters
had a chance of pronouncing 'colclough'.
|
|
|
|
My head had swelled to the size of an
average planet by the time the tournament
started. 180 of the top poker players in the
world inter-mingled with half a dozen
wildcard entries. Only 6 places to be paid
though. A very tough prospect indeed. We
were seated within a cordoned off area with
a crowd of several hundred watching. Each
table had it's own little red flag which
read 'all-in'. There was also one 'feature'
table with swing boom TV cameras and
individual hole card cameras.
|
|
|
|
Phil Helmuth of course arrived late. It's
traditional that he gives the field a few
blinds start nowadays. A sort of sporting
chance you might say. He did pull out all
the publicity stops upon arrival this time
though. Just to give the TV cameras their
moneys worth, he requested that the dealer
dealt him the *!%! in. Bearing in mind that
all stacks are always dealt to in
tournaments, and that bad language is being
clamped down on; it was no surprise when the
tournament director issued him a 20-minute
penalty. A few more blinds head start for
the field. A perfect TV interview
opportunity for a Poker God.
|
|
|
|
Within half an hour we saw our first red
flag rise, and the dealer called 'all-in'.
The action had been stopped so that the
mobile TV cameras could rush over, along
with cute dolly bird presenter. The all-in
player was duly interviewed and asked what
his chances were. His red-faced
embarrassment didn't need the verbal
confirmation that he was in the mire. He
wasn't wrong, and we had our first casualty.
The normal manner would be to skulk off
stage left at this point, but not so on the
PPT. The poor victim had to explain on TV
how he had managed to finish 'last', and
then go on to 'sign out' at the PPT desk.
The sign-out procedure was so that the
organisers can log the result on their
database. Statistics and Rankings to follow,
no doubt.
|
|
|
| I made good progress straight
from the off and was soon chip leader at my
table, without any major confrontations.
Phil Gordon's aggressive style was yo-yoing
above my stack and back down again as the
hours progressed. Interestingly, later in
the evening, poker enthusiast Toby
'Spiderman' Maguire is allowed through the
cordon to watch the play. Film stars
watching poker stars. An interesting
hierarchical structure for the home of
Hollywood? He watched as Phil Gordon and
Doyle Brunson tangled in a big
pot. Phil being the 'all-in' red flag
recipient. The TV cameras rushed over to
record his good fortune as he got the better
of the legendary Doyle on the river.
|
|
|
| The US poker phenomenon has
embraced the 75-year-old Doyle as a
grandfather figure. He is probably the most
popular player, well ahead of all the young
guns. The crowd were not happy with Doyle
becoming the short stack at the table. |
|
|
| Two hands later and Doyle was
small blind 200, whilst I was big blind 400.
Running antes of 50 and a limper added to
the blinds, made a pot worth stealing
(1450). Doyle moved all-in for his last
2800, a slight over-bet but probably the
correct play. I looked at my hole cards in
astonishment, as they were two Aces. I
reluctantly called after pondering for the
mandatory 30 seconds (in this company it's
best to take the same amount of time when
making all decisions. These players will be
watching for tells. The biggest tell of all,
is how quickly you act. So I try and
maintain a consistent 30 seconds
regardless). I was calling in the hope of
trapping the limper into the pot as well. He
had a much larger stack than Doyle.
Unfortunately, this didn't work and the
limper passed.
|
|
|
| Perhaps the limper knew what
was involved, and didn't want to be the bad
man who knocked out the old hero. The hole
cards were on their backs, the red flag was
raised and the attractive female presenter
rushed over to interview the King. Doyle's
10 J suited didn't look too healthy she
enthused, but the poker gods favoured the
great. The crowd held their breath as a QK
gave Doyle an open-ended straight. The TV
cameras zoomed in and a huge roar greeted a
9 on the river. Doyle stays in the game with
a straight. Fortunately, I was not asked for
an interview.
|
|
|
| An hour later, and I had
another deja vu attack. This one was not as
disturbing as usual though. My big blind
600, Doyle's small blind 300, running ante's
of 75 and two limpers for 600 a piece.
Surprise, surprise, Doyle moves all-in for
his remaining 3900, and I look down at my
hole cards. I wait for 30 seconds before
reluctantly calling. The limpers aren't
fooled this time either, and quickly pass.
Doyle looks at me as the red flag is raised.
The grin spreads across his face. He knows I
have the two Aces again. This time his KQ
does not get lucky. The crowd can only clap
politely, and the TV cameras are left with
some foreigner with bleached hair in a
bet365poker shirt stacking the King's chips.
|
|
|
| The hours passed. Phil Gordon
finally fell along with a host of other red
flags and broken dreams. After 12 hours of
play an end was called to the proceedings.
Only a fifth of the field was left standing
for the following days proceedings. Peter
Costa and Tony Bloom were the only other 2
Limeys left, assuming that Sheffield's Asher
Derei still claims to be Israeli. Funnily
enough, the three of us were to be drawn
together for the next day's play.
|
|
|
| Tony and Peter were in fact
both early casualties the next day. The
players were re-drawn again as we dropped to
the last 3 tables and 27 players. At last I
was drawn with Daniel Negraneu on the
feature table with the TV cameras. I believe
there are 3 players who appear to be 'the
best' at the moment. Daniel, Eric Lindgren
and John Juanda appear to be playing
slightly different to the 'old school'.
Daniel's term, not mine. The only way to
learn from the best is to play with the
best, so I was glad to get further
opportunity to study Daniel's game.
|
|
|
| As it happened, Daniel
Negraneu was to retire into his slow gear
for the next few hours. He had built his
stack, and was sitting on it. Alternatively,
I had seen my stack shrink on a day of few
hands. Now, on the feature table, the tide
changed direction though. I managed to put a
re-raise on Andy Bloch when I thought he had
a marginal hand. He passed suspiciously, and
I collected an average pot.
|
|
|
| A few hands later on my small
blind I found AQ suited. Everyone passed
around to Andy's button. He duly raised, and
I quickly re-raised. Andy was sat with A3
and obviously thought that I was picking on
him. He decided to call the re-raise. The
flop was KQ3 and I decided to check.
Surprisingly, Andy now moved his whole stack
in. I am pretty sure he would have made a
smaller bet with top pair, so I called. The
red flag was raised as Andy squirmed. My
pair of Queens stood up, I scooped a big
pot, and I was now one of the big stacks
again.
|
|
| When we dropped to 18 I was
moved off the feature table, and sat with my
other two piers: Eric Lindgren and John
Juanda. Hmmm. I could now smell the money. I
had a big stack, and wasn't so keen on being
given a learning experience any more.
Especially, at my expense.
|
|
|
| Perhaps, my head wasn't
right, perhaps I was a victim of
circumstance, but when we dropped to 9
players I was no longer a big stack. John
Juanda had been sat on my left and just
basically outplayed me. This isn't something
I remember admitting to for a long while. I
didn't clash much with Eric, but marvelled
at the way he turned a small stack into a
monster in barely an hour. He had nerves of
steel, as he called bets on the flop, turn
and river. Most players would have folded or
raised at much earlier points. The pots he
won were therefore, considerably bigger.
|
|
|
| So here I was at the final
table of the PPT with all three of them.
Eric Lindgren and John Juanda were the two
chip leaders. John Negraneu was a small
stack like myself. We were to play down to 6
players, who would make the money.
|
|
|
| The action was fast as we
lost one player, shortly followed by John
Juanda. 7 left, and I was definitely the
shortest stack. I moved all-in with an AQ
and got called by a pair of 9s. The cameras
zoomed in as an Ace hit the flip.
Yabbadabbadoo! My joy was short lived though
as a 2 on the river gave a board of A2345.
Split pot with a straight, and I am still
the man under pressure.
|
|
|
| I only had 58,000 chips left
which would not last me 20 hands. So when I
was dealt a pair of 6s, they were all
deposited in the middle. It was Chris
Bigler's obligation to be executioner. He
called with a pair of 8s, and I didn't get
lucky. I was out on the so-called 'bubble'.
No consolation money for 23 hours of mental
anxiety, torture and pain. I struggled to
string a sentence together on my exit TV
Interview. The attractive, cute presenter
felt sorry for me. I was gutted . . . but I
did wake up the following morning with a
smile on my face. It had been fun. I think?
|
|
|
| Dave |
|
|
