WSOP Main Event Discussion Thread (Spoilers Possible)

[larrymcg421]

Really really fucking hate him.

[Jas_lov]

Well this sucks. Still not coming up. Cable provider told me to wait for the replay and if it doesn't come on then I'll get a refund. Can't beleive it's working for some and not working for others. I guess I should have known my cable provider would screw me again.

[Lathum]

when is the replay

[RPI-Fan]

Well this sucks. Still not coming up. Cable provider told me to wait for the replay and if it doesn't come on then I'll get a refund. Can't beleive it's working for some and not working for others. I guess I should have known my cable provider would screw me again.

Haha, I bet you they're referring to the weekly show starting in September/October.

[larrymcg421]

Sigh. Moneymaker put Brenes all in, he did not call all in. Why does everyone remember this hand wrong?

[Jas_lov]

Anyone who wants to watch it for free go to 2+2 and they have a link where you can watch it for free. I am watching it now and feel like a sucker paying for it. I'll probably just call my cable provider and get a refund tomorrow and get it for free online. Go to the 2+2 forums, WSOP discussion, then open the thread that is titled "Sucks if you actually paid to watch the ESPN coverage..." then go to page 6 and jhennis has a link to watch it free. Enjoy.

[larrymcg421]

Well that's great.

[Logan]

Sweet.

[Toddzilla]

Dope!

Gold is getting advice (presumably) from the audience. Call? Fold? Raise? Phil Gordon said it was unethical if he really were doing so.

[Toddzilla]

Erik Friberg calls from under the gun and Jamie Gold raises to $1,000,000 from the button. Friberg moves all in and Gold immediately calls. Friberg shows Jhttp://www.cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/club.gifJhttp://www.cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/spade.gif but Gold turns over Qhttp://www.cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/diamond.gifQhttp://www.cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/heart.gif. The board comes 7http://www.cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/club.gif3http://www.cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/spade.gif2http://www.cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/heart.gif10http://www.cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/club.gifQhttp://www.cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/club.gif and Erik Friberg has been eliminated in 8th place.

[Jas_lov]

Down to 7! Erik Friberg is eliminated by Jamie Gold. QQ holds up vs. JJ. I hope someone can beat Jamie Gold because I'm with larry, i don't really care for this guy.

[Jas_lov]

Michael Binger all in vs. Cunningham on a Q J 8 flop. Cunningham has AQ, Binger A 10. Turn K, River A. Binger doubles up with the Ace high straight. Binger only had 3 million so it's not too big a hit to Allen.

[Toddzilla]

59. Michael Binger raises to $700,000 from under the gun and Allen Cunningham calls from the big blind. The flop comes Qhttp://www.cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/heart.gifJhttp://www.cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/spade.gif8http://www.cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/club.gif and Cunningham checks. Binger moves all in for $2,250,000 and Cunningham makes the call. Binger turns over Ahttp://www.cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/spade.gif10http://www.cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/spade.gif but Cunningham shows Ahttp://www.cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/diamond.gifQhttp://www.cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/diamond.gif for top pair. However, the turn is the Khttp://www.cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/spade.gif, giving Binger and ace high straight. The river is the Ahttp://www.cardplayer.com/images/common/suits/heart.gif and Binger has doubled up.

[Toddzilla]

Donkey! Binger calls an all-in w/ A-9 vs AJ.

[Toddzilla]

And now Wasicka doubles through Binger.

[Logan]

Sam Rosen! Voice of the Rangers!

[Lathum]

Can anyone lookup for me if there will be a final table replay on sunday or monday. I am on vacation with dial up so 2+2 isn't an option and I would like to see it. If someone could send me a PM that would be great since I want to avoid the spoilers in this thread.

[GoldenEagle]

Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negranu are doing color commentary on Sirius. It is pretty interesting.

[Logan]

I can't believe I'm actually watching this thing. Gotta say its much more interesting watching without knowing the cards or hearing the revisionist commentary.

[Jas_lov]

Down to 6 as Doug Kim is eliminated by Wassika when they get all their chips in on a 4 4 3 flop. Kim had 99 and Wassika had QQ. Look for the top 4 to push around Binger and Butler, the two short stacks who have considerably less than Cunningham, Gold, Wassika, and Lee.

[kcchief19]

Wow ... Cunningham calls Gold and takes down a pot with A high. He's got a read on him.

[Jas_lov]

Wow. Cunningham just won a big pot on the river, calling with A9 high on an 8 3 3 2 Q board off of Jamie Gold. Gold showed 23 for a big bluff earlier and maybe Allen picked up on something, but that was one hell of a call by Allen. Hellmuth was pretty interesting in the booth. I wish they would just put both Phils in the booth and let them go at it.

[Jas_lov]

Binger doubles up on Cunningham who makes a questionable call with QJ and Binger had AQ. Allen is still in good position, but just lost about 4 million to Binger who is back in the hunt.

[cartman]

Binger doubles up on Cunningham who makes a questionable call with QJ and Binger had AQ. Allen is still in good position, but just lost about 4 million to Binger who is back in the hunt.

That's not really a questionable call heads up against a short stack. QJs is a pretty good hand in heads up.

[Simms]

I can't believe I'm actually watching this thing. Gotta say its much more interesting watching without knowing the cards or hearing the revisionist commentary.

I agree...this is fascinating. I'll take this over Lon and Norm any day.

[larrymcg421]

Yeah, as Phil Gordon said, he was getting the right price if it was a pocket pair or even AK. He just got unlucky that it was AQ and he was dominated. Against the range of possible hands he could have been moving with, I think it was a decent call.

[Jas_lov]

Yeah, Allen had to call $2 million more after his raise to 720k. He thought about it a long while before calling. It's a borderline call I guess. If he has anything like KQ, KJ, AJ, AQ, he's dominated though. Maybe he put him on a small pair.

[larrymcg421]

Well, I certainly wouldn't be moving in against a preflop raiser with KQ, KJ, and probably even AJ if I still had a pretty decent stack in relation to the blinds and there was another short stack at the table. I doubt Allen strongly considered those hands.

[cartman]

Also, since he'd doubled up a couple of times already against him, I'm sure Cunningham had to take that into account. 3rd time isn't always a charm. :)

[larrymcg421]

Wow! Gold takes out Lee with another QQ vs. JJ showdown and now has $51 million chips. Gonna be hard for even Cunningham to catch him.

[cartman]

Wow! Gold takes out Lee with another QQ vs. JJ showdown and now has $51 million chips. Gonna be hard for even Cunningham to catch him.

Not necessarily. If Cunningham can double up even just one time against Gold, it'd be $38MM to $26MM. If Wasicka does it, it would only be $40MM vs. $20MM. If Gold knocks out anyone else before then, the match is just about over. But in heads up, anything can happen.

[SirFozzie]

I think it's unhealthy how much the 2+2 ers hate Gold :)

[hoopsguy]

I watched about four hours of the event tonight and I didn't hate Gold based on anything I saw. I thought he was foolish talking to Cunningham on the hand he got called. I didn't think it was a great idea to show the 32o bluff and then raise/fold on the next hand. But he didn't strike me as this enormous dick.

The times he got involved in table talk he was generally very strong.

If there was anything I hated, it was seeing the worst player at the table win three all-ins against Cunningham. Or the play with JJ pushing all-in against the limp/re-raise by Gold - the only guy at the table who could bust him.

Gordon was very good, enjoyed his interviews although I wonder why every single interview with Doyle involves 50% of the time telling Doyle how wonderful he is - we get it already.

[Jas_lov]

1st big suckout as Wassika and Gold get all their chips in the middle on a K Q 2 flop. Wassika has K 10, Gold has AK. Turn is the 10, River 8. Gold playing good big stack poker, just gets unlucky here. Good thing for all 2+2ers as this may have sealed the deal for Gold if he won it. Gold still has a huge chip lead, but Wassika now has about half of Gold.

[SirFozzie]

Gold comes back and knocks off Butler.. Takes a nice pot too

[larrymcg421]

I can't fucking believe he folded an open ended straight flush draw there.

[cartman]

And it's over. Gold wins the main event. On a Q85 board Wasicka bets and Gold raises to put him all in. Wasicka flips over TT while Gold has a Q. Turn was A and river was a 4.

[Butter]

I knew you guys couldn't make it through this whole thing. They need to move the Main Event Final Table to Friday night.

[kcchief19]

Here's an interesting note that underscores how lucrative the main event is to the finalists ... three of the top six players in career lifetime tournament earnings on CardPlayer.com were at among the final four players. Gold is now the leader by $4 million on Hachem. Cunningham has moved up to third with his showing. Wasicka now ranks sixth with just over $6.3 million thanks to picking up $6.1 million this morning.

I'm not surprised so many people are ganging up on Gold. Unless it's a name pro, I think the general mood among poker players will be that the winner got lucky unless they back it up later. The feelings about Raymer changed overnight when he made his run deep in the ME last year, and I think people certainly look at Hachem differently after his great play this year. Gold will be in that Moneymaker/Varkonyi group until he proves it wasn't a fluke.

[twothree]

I could be wrong, but I doubt we will ever see Gold at another final table. In fact, I think Gold will stop playing "TV level" poker tournaments with the possible exception of next years "Main Event". That is if Harrah's can persuade him to enter the Main Event next year.

From his interviews before the final table took place, it appears he doesn't want to go the Moneymaker, Raymer, Hachem route of being a poker ambassador. Looks like he wants to avoid the public spotlight.

[Jas_lov]

After watching Gold's post victory interview on Cardplayer I've changed my opinion about him because he seemed like a pretty good guy. I agree with Chief in that people at 2+2 come up with reasons to hate this guy because he's not one of their own or not a well known pro. I think a lot of people didn't like his I don't want to win, just playing for 2nd and the money talk. But twothree has a point. This guy just wants the money and to be left alone so can we really fault him for that? Phil Ivey is the same way, but in order to get endorsements he realized he had to become somewhat of a public figure. I think when Gold realizes how big this is for him, he'll play some televised events. The champion is usually invited to play in the Heads Up Tournament on NBC and Poker Superstars on FSN to name a few, and he can buy in to any tournament he wants now plus Pokerstars will probably try and sign him up. I wasn't a big fan of his table talk, but I agree that everyone just needs to give him a fair shot at this.

[QuikSand]

Speaking of Moneymaker ... kinda odd that he was absent from the little "past winners" presentation last night. Maybe he couldn't afford bus fare into town?

[digamma]

Interesting ME story last night in our home game. I mentioned in the other thread that I've played with Pat Poels before (he played in our home game before I was a regular). Our host had been in Phoenix earlier this week and played with Pat there. Pat told him his ME bust out story. (He lost with JJ vs. KK, getting his money in on either the flop or the turn (don't remember) on a rag board.) Apparently it was the last hand of the night, and he had a read that the guy was trying to make a play on him to steal the last hand (because people are anxious to leave and may not be paying attention or care as much). To add to it, the guy makes his big bet and then looks down at the table with his head in his hands, refusing to make eye contact with Poels. Poels notices that the top if his head (he was balding) is starting to turn very red. This adds to Poels's read that the guy just doesn't want a call here. So, after thinking it through, he makes the call. The player turns over kings and lets out a huge breath. He had been holding his breath in order to make his face and head change colors.

[kcchief19]

I could be wrong, but I doubt we will ever see Gold at another final table. In fact, I think Gold will stop playing "TV level" poker tournaments with the possible exception of next years "Main Event". That is if Harrah's can persuade him to enter the Main Event next year.

From his interviews before the final table took place, it appears he doesn't want to go the Moneymaker, Raymer, Hachem route of being a poker ambassador. Looks like he wants to avoid the public spotlight.
Maybe it was just me, but I thought that stuff about not wanting to win was very disingenuous. Maybe the guy will go into hiding and never been seen again. Personally, I think he'll be poker whoring it up every chance he gets. If he's not that way already, the money has a good chance of changing him.

[Subby]

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/5811/chanicecreamkl1.gif

[IMetTrentGreen]

Maybe it was just me, but I thought that stuff about not wanting to win was very disingenuous.

indeed
http://defamer.com/hollywood/agents/jamie-gold-not-as-agenty-as-previously-claimed-194172.php

[Honolulu Blue]

ESPN's broadcast of the Main Event starts today. 8800 or so people competing for a huge prize pool, the $12 million first prize, and perhaps most importantly, that bracelet.

Lon & Norm, I'm sure, will be up to their old tricks. We may or may not hear Lon explain to us how to play Texas Hold'em, Levitra won't be back, and we probably won't get to see Jesus in the fridge again. But Norm is sure to criticize someone for:

1) Being young and cocky, or
2) Going all-in on JUST A DRAW!!

Norm will be sure to point out the people that get "whamboozled" and "squadooshed". And, of course, Norm will remind everyone that (player) needs a (card) and a (card) only to win. And when that miracle river card hits (and it will, many many times), listen for Lon's voice to go up two octaves - "OH, IT'S A (CARD)!" Norm will rely on his two favorite jokes - "I'm a really bad poker player" and "I've got a zillion ex-wives". Lon will chuckle along.

Our fearless sponsor will bring down the wrath of Paul Bunyan-sized beer cans to squash pansies who seem short of testosterone. And our other fearless sponsor will bring us the "All-In Moment".

Too many people will be spotlighted for what they did besides playing solid poker. Some of our favorite poker stars will play some silly game for small stakes (for them) on some edition of "The Nuts". On the other editions, we'll get the usual screams, cut-ups, and all-out wackiness. In the end, Joe Barnhill is still going to wonder why they're still crying over them. And Sexy Announcer Lady will be there to string everything together.

Are you ready?

[larrymcg421]

I want Norm to explain to me why you're supposed to "discourage action" when you've made trip queens, top kicker.

[Barkeep49]

I'll miss Chris in a fridge.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I can't wait to find out who wins.

[Logan]

I can't wait to find out who wins.

Wanna bet on it?

[Simms]

Interesting read here: hxxp://potcommitted.blogspot.com/2006/08/jamie-gold-sued.html (hxxp://potcommitted.blogspot.com/2006/08/jamie-gold-sued.html)

She's a pretty well-respected (and connected) poker blogger, so I don't doubt what she says, but I haven't followed up on her links myself.

I'm not sure this will end well, though. :)

[digamma]

Here's the Las Vegas Sun article on the lawsuit:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/2006/aug/22/566635576.html

[JS19]

Is Helmuth not playing in the main even this year?

[rkmsuf]

Is Helmuth not playing in the main even this year?

you do realize the coverage is taped

[JS19]

[quote=rkmsuf]you do realize the coverage is taped[/quo

Not sure I see where you are coming from here. I understand it's taped, but I figured they would have mentioned him by now or showed some of his footage.

[Samdari]

you do realize the coverage is taped

Not sure I see where you are coming from here. I understand it's taped, but I figured they would have mentioned him by now or showed some of his footage.

They showed his entire main event experience (which was short) last week. Overall, I think he had a pretty good WSoP, winning his 10th bracelet.

I think the point is that if you were curious about whether or not he played, you could have simply looked it up.

[rkmsuf]

[quote=rkmsuf]you do realize the coverage is taped[/quo

Not sure I see where you are coming from here. I understand it's taped, but I figured they would have mentioned him by now or showed some of his footage.

The correct form of your query should have been:

"Did Helmuth play in the Main Event this year?"



Thank you.

[Toddzilla]

Is Helmuth not playing in the main even this year?I suppose that point could be up to interpretation. Do you mean was he entered in the ME? Did he actually play in the ME? Did he play much in the ME?

[QuikSand]

Is Helmuth not playing in the main even this year?

I'll take another stab at this.

The "day one" coverage for the main event this year is broken into four pieces, as was the first day of play for the 8,000+ entrants. So, there is an hour of ESPN coverage focusing on "day one" for each of the four groups.

If you watched just one episode, it might not have been clear that you were really only seeing a fourth of the field on their first day, and not seeing any mention of the remaining players. If you were really looking for Hellmuth, and were watching an episode other than the second (I think) you missed his day one, where he was indeed at the ESPN featured table and got quite a lot of camera time.

Hope that helps.

[rkmsuf]

Police search house of local poker winner

Web Posted: 08/30/2006 12:39 AM CDT

Lomi Kriel
Express-News Staff

San Antonio police Tuesday night searched a home owned by Richard Lee, the recent winner of nearly $3 million at the World Series of Poker, for evidence of an extensive illegal Internet gambling operation.
"This operation is the largest here in San Antonio," said police spokesman Joe Rios, who confirmed the search warrant was served on a Shavano Park home in the 100 block of Geddington Street.






According to Bexar County Appraisal District tax records, the home belongs to a Richard Lee, who TV reports and a police source said is the same Richard Lee that placed sixth at the World Series of Poker three weeks ago.

Police have investigated the home for months, Rios said, before procuring enough evidence to secure the search warrant.

Inside the home, they found dozens of receipts for deposits on payouts from gambling proceeds, Rios said.

"We're talking payouts well over $500,000," he said. "It was a pretty well-oiled machine they were running out here."

Although one of several houses searched, Rios called the home owned by Lee the "brains or the nerve center of the operation."

A money-counting machine; five Lexus cars, including two sports utility vehicles and three sedans; multiple plasma-screen TVs; and a large amount of cash were seized, he said.

No one was arrested, Rios said, "although now that we have found the evidence, we can move forward."

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA083006.03B.gamblingarrest.36e0fb0.html

[Maple Leafs]

Is Richard Lee the 2+2 guy?

[SirFozzie]

Ouch. Sounds like Doyle got screwed.. Got this email from Bodog who had an article about the dealers debacle this year.

Poker legend Doyle Brunson was thrown a major curve ball when a dealer mistakenly took $5,000 in chips from him. Brunson’s opponent went all-in and Brunson called with the larger of the two stacks. His opponent won the hand but after the dealer had collected most of Brunson’s chips it was realized he had taken $5,000 too much. A tournament director was called but the table play wasn't videotaped, so it was ruled that the chips could not be returned to Brunson. It was early in the tournament and $5,000 was a critical loss. Brunson discussed the incident with Bodog Nation and said it caused him to go on tilt and bust out soon after.