From an online poker player’s perspective here’s some of the biggest stories after the first week and a half of the 2010 World Series. Tracking some of the biggest online Texas Hold’em poker pros and stories so far…
Tom Dwan aka Durrrr noted Hold’em and Omaha poker expert doesn’t win a bracelet. This is notable on a ton of levels. First off he’s never won one, and this is the closet he’s ever been. If tieing is like kissing your sister, second place is like kissing your sister on the mouth with tongue. For Dwan it was worse. He’s rumored to have over 15 million dollars in action on the side bets.
As this online poker blog mentions he easily could have offered his heads up opponent 2 million to throw the final table and still been up thirteen million on the afternoon. Plenty of old school gamblers would have done just that, and that includes many of the folks he made his bets with. So credit to Dwan’s honesty and self-belief on one hand and debit to his naivety.
Chainsaw jams. Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler a noted online forum contributor, min-cash specialist, and tight is right believer, almost shocked the internet by winning a bracelet before Tom Dwan. The Chainsaw brought every skill to the table in the 10k Stud 8 event and was in the midst of a heated battle with some of the poker boom’s best. He outlasted Jen Harmon, John Juanda, Steve Zolotow, and this years Ville Wahlbeck (Vladimir Schmelev who added his third final table to his resume and his quick start to the player of the year race). He couldn’t outlast the similarly named Frank Kassela, a Memphis pro, who has been quietly improving on the tournament circuit every year. His first place was his biggest winning–same for Allen Kessler even though it was his second second.
Kassela’s bracelet was made sweeter by the fact he almost didn’t play the event. He bubbled the final table earlier of the Limit Hold ‘Em event and with nothing to do walked up to the cage and took a shot at the Stud 8 event. Now he’s a bracelet winner. Incidentally, noted online player and live poker pro Matt Matros won the event Kassela bubbled.
Terrance Chan noted online limit hold ‘em poker stud came up just short in the Limit Hold ‘em tournament. Chan might have outlasted Kassela but he had nothing left in the tank as Matros pipped him. This is a bit of a surprise trend as save the largest donkaments the live players have had more success this year than the online players. The pendulum swings back and forth and after heavy pushing by the up and comers it appears the vets have started to push back a bit. Just when it seemed like everyone was convinced the best internet players had become simply the best players.
Phil Laak did something many online players do every other week or so. Those guys lock into marathon sessions at home with a pile of red bull cans and a fridge full of delivery left overs. Poker is a four day binge to some, yet Laak did his four day binge away from home. Laak set a world record for playing for 115 hours continuous (with a weird allotment of five minute breaks that could be banked for showers and other purposes) but did it in the Bellagio poker room.
The attendance for the World Series is generally down. Perhaps, the scarcity of satellites online to access the tournaments has contributed to the lower numbers (off 17%) but more likely the poker economy has caught up to the world economy. The Main Event will provide the biggest litmus test of all. At one point it was speculated Jaime Gold’s year could be surpassed now it’s not looking like it. Still, the WSOP has a chance to trend upwards as many players were shut out from playing last year.
Posted by pokerbat 
