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WSOP final table profiles

strungout7 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:40:25 GMT

from espn.com...

On the precipice of nine dreams

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By Gary Wise
ESPN.com
Archive

It seems like long ago when 6,494 dreams started sorting the order in which they'd be shattered back in early July. Day after day, hopeful souls marched into the Rio All-Suite Hotel's Amazon Room with their eyes on the prize: $8,546,435, fame, the bracelet and the envy and admiration of the poker world's nine-figure population. Most marched back out tails tucked, telling one sad story after another after their respective decimations.

Enlarge

AP Photo/Laura RauchThe guys were last together on July 16. It'll be quite a reunion at the Rio on Saturday.

Nine players survived the two weeks of main event play in July, and now that ESPN's broadcasts have caught up to the action, we're all up to date on who they are, how they're seated and where they rank heading into the final table. We also can finally look at the storylines that will bind and define them and how those storylines might affect their respective outcomes when play resumes Saturday.

ESPN.com poker editor Andrew Feldman explained here how the schedule will unfold, but he didn't get into two contrasting features of the final table that when weighed will determine how things play out. First, with the small stack at $6.8 million and the big blind just $240,000, there's plenty of play left at this table.

Second, have a look at the payouts:

1: $8,546,435
2: $5,182,601
3: $3,479,485
4: $2,502,787
5: $1,953,295
6: $1,587,133
7: $1,404,002
8: $1,300,228
9: $1,263,602

The important thing to note here is how little the payouts rise through the first few eliminations. Sure, $36,000 is a lot of bread to mere mortals, but when you're assured a seven-figure payout, that kind of dough is ignorable, which means we won't be seeing a lot of Kelly Kim-style stalling one's way up the final standings. These guys will play to make it to the late stages, and that could mean a fast start out the gates. Of course, that will depend on who gets which cards and a thousand other variables. Here's a look at the nine players left standing and a few of those factors that could end up influencing who wins it all.

Seat 1: Darvin Moon -- $58,930,000

Being the chip leader going into the final table is hardly insurance once there. Philip Hilm, the 2007 chip leader, was the first player eliminated. Last year, Dennis Phillips almost met the same fate before staging a comeback to finish third. Still, when the leader's stack is as massive as Moon's, a top-three finish is more or less expected. Greg Raymer and Jamie Gold, whose pre-final-table domination closely mirrored Moon's, both led wire to wire in taking their championships in 2003 and 2006, respectively.

Many questions still surround Moon with just a few days until he returns to the table, many of them concerning whether he'll consent to some kind of sponsorship deal and how he'll cope with the pressures and advantages of being the big stack. We know that he's refused coaching despite reportedly striking up a friendship with Phillips and, thanks to ESPN's "Inside Deal," that he's not planning to use the same game plan he did in July. On the show, Moon told Bernard Lee, "I hope they learn everything I've done, because when I go back, it'll all be different."

Look for Moon to sit on his stack and keep things relatively conservative.

Seat 2: James Akenhead -- $6,800,000

The only player other than Phil Ivey with a pre-WSOP sponsorship deal, Akenhead is the real deal. However, he's dealing from a position of weakness thanks to entering play with the short stack. His preparation has consisted of a lot of travel, with Thailand and London (where he finished ninth in the WSOP Europe main event) among the destinations.

Akenhead has gone on the record saying he's playing for first and the small payout increases leave him little incentive to let everyone mix it up without him. The bet here is he'll be the first player to announce "all-in," with the result of that hand playing a large role in the overall standings.

The Poker Edge: 11/5

Phil Hellmuth joins Andrew Feldman to analyze each member of the November Nine and discuss his coaching of Jeff Shulman.

Seat 3: Phil Ivey -- $9,765,000

In a worldseriesofpoker.com poll asking who will win the main event, an astounding 78 percent of respondents said it would be Ivey. The seven-time bracelet winner has just more than 5 percent of the chips in play. Is it possible the best player in the world is also the most overrated?

When a player is as widely respected by the best players in the world as Ivey is, there's little doubt regarding the skills he brings to the table, but even a force as powerful as Ivey can't completely ignore the math. He does bring an intimidation factor that had many of the Nine talking specifically about their proximity at the table to Ivey, but he will have to get lucky to thrive. One thing's for certain: If any player at this table is unaffected by the pressure, it's Ivey.

Seat 4: Kevin Schaffel -- $12,390,000

No November Niner has had a bigger result since July than Schaffel, who finished second at the World Poker Tour's Legends of Poker tournament for a $471,000 score. Not a bad tune-up. "I'm just playing," Schaffel explained when asked about his preparation. "I played in two other tournaments against two big, good fields. That kept my tournament game in shape. I've played cash three to four times, played online, practiced with some friends, read a little, a bit of everything."

Schaffel, who has cashed in the main event twice, seems to have inherited one of the tougher seating situations at the table. His growing friendship with Steve Begleiter has been well documented, but now he finds the third-place "Begs" sitting to his left and second-place Eric Buchman one more seat beyond. It seems almost inevitable that at some point Schaffel will clash with one of the two, but he's philosophical about the arrangement. One could hear the smile in his voice when he said, "I'm happy to have any seat at the final table."

Seat 5: Steven Begleiter -- $29,885,000

Although Ivey has gotten the majority of the media attention, Begleiter's place at the final table hasn't gone unnoticed by the mainstream media thanks to his former employment with felled financial giant Bear Stearns.

Begleiter is one of only two amateurs at the table. (Moon is the other.) As the more aggressive of the two, one has to think some of the assembled pros will be lining up to take their shots (much like Norman Chad has throughout the broadcasts ). To protect himself, Begleiter may have enlisted some help. If Phil Hellmuth is to be believed, Begs may have brought in single-table sit 'n' go specialist Jon Little as coach. It says here that the choice would make a lot of sense.

Seat 6: Eric Buchman -- $34,800,000

With all the talk of Moon, Ivey and Begleiter, Buchman has gone largely unnoticed despite a long, successful track record as a pro and the largest stack not being piloted by a logger. He also happens to be very happy with his seating arrangement. "I'm glad Moon is on the other side of the table," he said. "I'm glad there are a few short stacks to my left." Buchman's preparations for the tournament have seen him stay away from poker, as the second-to-last paragraph of this article says. Despite his sole focus on this tournament, though, he understands he has only so much control over his fate. "It's like this," Buchman explained. "First place is the only place where you get complete satisfaction. You're the world champion, you get the big prize, complete satisfaction. Anything else is going to be disappointing. All that money will help you dry your tears, though. I wouldn't say I won't be happy if I finish in the top four, just not completely happy."

Seat 7: Joseph Cada -- $13,215,000

This year's online player of choice, Cada, at 21 years old, comes poised to break Peter Eastgate's record for youngest champion. With numerous online successes to his name, one can be sure Cada is confident in his own game, but he'll probably get some advice from backers Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy and Eric "Sheets" Haber, who stand to benefit greatly from any moves the kid makes up the standings.

Cada is another player who likes where he's sitting. "I love my seat," Cada said on Inside Deal, pointing out he was happy to have Begleiter and Buchman on his right. "Those two are a little more aggressive than Darvin, so I'd rather have them to my right and him on my left. I'm also exactly center from . I have a good draw at the final table."

The quote brings up the questions of whether Cada was intimidated by Ivey in July and whether he'll have gotten over those feelings when he sits down Saturday.

Seat 8: Antoine Saout -- $9,500,000

Saout was an afterthought in August. He was an unknown, inexperienced professional with a small stack and little English to hang his press clippings on. Since then, however, he's forced the world to recognize he's a real threat at this table should he manage to accumulate chips in the early going.

Saout seemingly has prepared for the final table by playing nonstop, scoring five cashes since August, including a seventh-place finish at the WSOP main event. On top of his hot streak, he has one other advantage: naivete. "I didn't realize how big a deal it was when I qualified," Saout admitted in an interview last week. "I don't think I even understand it now, but it's cool." It's hard to feel pressure when you don't know it's there. Seat 9: Jeff Shulman -- $19,580,000

We've all heard about the bracelet and the garbage by now, but that's behind us. Shulman has withdrawn his July statements and is now focused on the goal at hand, but where the table-quiet Shulman is concerned, few eyes will be on him.

Not only is Shulman sitting directly to the right of man-of-the-moment Moon, he's also being coached by none other than Phil Hellmuth, who was brought in to share the secrets to his final-table success and his winner's mentality. Shulman has admitted that Hellmuth's enthusiasm has started to become infectious, instilling a belief that "I could actually win this thing!" The question is whether Hellmuth's positive influences could be undermined by the potential combustibility he brings to more or less any situation in which he's involved.

There you have it. Nine guys, nine stories, nine potential champions. Keep your eyes on ESPN and ESPN.com to see how it all unfolds starting Saturday.

Forum: Articles, Single-hand Questions, and Events

Results 11/04/09

Rob_T — Thur, 05 Nov 2009 06:30:40 GMT

Wednesday Night, November 4, 2009.

17 players, 3 rebuys

1st Place George (57 points) $220

2nd Place Nicola (38 points) $120

3rd Place Ramon (19 points) $60

Bubble Jake ( 9.5 points )

Forum: Hudson County Wednesday Night Poker League

"impossible" sum/product puzzle

strungout7 — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:26:13 GMT

even the venerable 1900's genius mr. seymour may find this one a bit daunting...

Mr. S. and Mr. P. are both perfect logicians, being able to correctly deduce
any truth from any set of axioms.  Two integers (not necessarily unique) are
somehow chosen such that each is within some specified range.  Mr. S.
is given the sum of these two integers; Mr. P. is given the product of these
two integers.  After receiving these numbers, the two logicians do not
have any communication at all except the following dialogue:
<<1>>   Mr. P.:  I do not know the two numbers.
<<2>>   Mr. S.:  I knew that you didn't know the two numbers.
<<3>>   Mr. P.:  Now I know the two numbers.
<<4>>   Mr. S.:  Now I know the two numbers.

Given that the above statements are absolutely truthful, what are the two
numbers?

Forum: Game Announcements

"einstein's" logic puzzle

strungout7 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:17:06 GMT

the story goes that einstein created this puzzle and claims are that only 2% of the world's population could solve it at the time... so are you smarter than 98% of the world in the early 20th century????

FACTS OF THE PUZZLE

There are five houses in five different colours.
In each house lives a person of a different nationality.
These five owners drink a certain beverage, smoke a certain brand of
cigarette and keep a certain pet.
No owners have the same pet, smoke the same brand of smoke or drink
the same drink.

HINTS

The Brit lives in the red house.
The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
The Dane drinks tea.
The green house is on the left of the white house.
The green house owner drinks coffee.
The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhill.
The man living in the house right in the center drinks milk.
The Norwegian lives in the first house.
The man who smokes Blend lives next to the one who keeps cats.
The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
The owner who smokes Blue Master drinks beer.
The German smokes Prince.
The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
The man who smokes Blend has a neighbour who drinks water.

The question is: WHO OWNS FISH?

Forum: Game Announcements

results 10/28

strungout7 — Thur, 29 Oct 2009 13:20:09 GMT

i'll leave it to robbie to calculate the points, quick down and dirty results post...

10 players, 0 rebuys

bubble - andrew reedman
2nd - jake - $40
1st - max - $160

Forum: Hudson County Wednesday Night Poker League

Results 10/21/09

Rob_T — Thur, 22 Oct 2009 05:36:50 GMT

Wednesday Night, October 21, 2009.

15 players, 2 rebuys

1st Place Suspicious James (48 points) $200

2nd Place Terry (32 points) $100

3rd Place Dave K. (16 points) $40

Bubble Charlie ( 8 points )

(corrected original error.)

Forum: Hudson County Wednesday Night Poker League

step in the right direction...

strungout7 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:11:37 GMT

Justice Dept. to Stop Pursuit of Medical Marijuana Use

By DAVID STOUT

Published: October 19, 2009

WASHINGTON People who use marijuana for medical purposes and those who distribute it should not face federal prosecution, provided they act according to state law, the Justice Department said on Monday in a directive with political and legal implications.

In a memorandum to federal prosecutors in the 14 states that allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes, the department said it was committed to the efficient and rational use of its resources and that going after individuals who were in clear and unambiguous compliance with state laws did not meet that standard.

At the same time, the department emphasized that it would continue to pursue those who use the concept of medical marijuana as a ruse for drug trafficking. Marijuana distribution in the United States remains the single largest source of revenue for the Mexican cartels, the department said in pledging that prosecuting the makers and sellers of illegal drugs, including marijuana, would remain a core priority.

The Justice Department policy statement, foreshadowed since shortly after President Obama took office, was laid out on Monday in an announcement by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., who made public a memo from David W. Ogden, the deputy attorney general, to the United States attorneys in the affected states, most notably California.

The announcement formalizes the Obama administrations departure from the policies of former President George W. Bush, under whose administration federal agents raided medical marijuana distributors that violated federal statutes, even if the distributors appeared to be complying with state laws.

Advocates of medical marijuana say the substance can reduce chronic pain, nausea and other ailments associated with cancer and other serious illnesses. In 1996, California became the first state to make it legal to sell marijuana to people with doctors prescriptions. The other states that allow some use of marijuana for medical purposes are Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

This is a major step forward, said Bruce Mirken, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project, which supports legalizing the substance. This change in policy moves the federal government dramatically toward respecting scientific and practical reality.

The Justice Department indicated that the memo should not be interpreted as legalizing marijuana. Rather, this memorandum is intended solely as a guide to the exercise of investigative and prosecutorial discretion, the department said.

But there will inevitably be clashes, in political arenas and in courtrooms, over what constitutes clear and unambiguous compliance with state laws, and whether marijuana distributors ostensibly in business to provide the substance for medical use are being infiltrated by drug cartels.

Solomon Moore contributed reporting from Los Angeles.

=====================

Department of Justice shifts medical marijuana strategy

The Department of Justice released formal guidelines on medical marijuana to federal prosecutors Monday, signaling a shift away from prosecuting facilities that provide legal marijuana and the patients themselves.

Attorney General Eric Holder said federal prosecutors should instead focus their efforts on major drug traffickers, and those who claim their activities are covered by state laws that allow medical marijuana use.

It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on medical marijuana, but we will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with state law to mask activities that are clearly illegal, Holder said in a statement.

This balanced policy formalizes a sensible approach that the Department has been following since January: effectively focus our resources on serious drug traffickers while taking into account state and local laws.

Fourteen states have laws on the books addressing the use of marijuana for medical purposes, among them California, Michigan, Hawaii and Colorado.

Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden sent out the directive to U.S. attorneys, stressing the administration is not legalizing marijuana use broadly.

But he warned that some medical marijuana dispensaries could try to mask illegal activities by claiming legal status. Federal law enforcement should not be deterred by such assertions when otherwise pursuing the Departments core enforcement priorities, Ogden said.

Ogden said that prosecution of marijuana cases remains a core priority of the Justice Department. Marijuana distribution in the United States remains the single largest source of revenue for the Mexican cartels, according to the department.

"This is a huge victory for medical marijuana patients," Steph Sherer, executive director of Americans for Safe Access, the nationwide medical marijuana advocacy organization said in a statement. "This indicates that President Obama intends to keep his promise not to undermine state medical marijuana laws and represents a significant departure from the policies of the Bush Administration.

The group noted that more than 200 federal raids occurred in California alone under the Bush administration alone.

Asked if the new directive is a way to signal to states that medical marijuana should be legal, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that the new memo, adds guidelines to a decision that Attorney General Holder talked about in mid-March and has been administration policy since the beginning of this administration in January.

Im not going to get into what states should do, he said.

Forum: General Discussion

Results 10/14/09

Rob_T — Thur, 15 Oct 2009 05:24:04 GMT

Wednesday Night, October 14, 2009.

16 players, 2 rebuys

1st Place Terry (51 points) $210

2nd Place Dan V. (34 points) $100

3rd Place Nicola (17 points) $50

Bubble Jordan ( 8.5 points )

Forum: Hudson County Wednesday Night Poker League

Results 10/07/09

Rob_T — Thur, 08 Oct 2009 05:31:20 GMT

Wednesday Night, October 7, 2009.

12 players, 1 rebuy

1st Place Rob (36 points) $170

2nd Place Charlie (24 points) $70

3rd Place Lou (12 points) $20

Bubble Joe U. ( 6 points )

Forum: Hudson County Wednesday Night Poker League

9/30/09 live updates...

strungout7 — Thur, 01 Oct 2009 00:21:01 GMT

8:26 pm... everyone still in

Forum: Hudson County Wednesday Night Poker League

lots of guests right now?

strungout7 — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:22:09 GMT

hi guests. where'd you all come from tonight? sign up, post some hands, join us!

Forum: General Discussion

10,000th post

strungout7 — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:21:14 GMT

slowly but surely getting to that 10,000th post. who's it gonna be?

Forum: Game Announcements

Results 9/23/09

Rob_T — Thur, 24 Sep 2009 04:34:58 GMT

Wednesday Night, September 23, 2009.

11 players, 0 rebuys

1st Place Jordan (30 points) $160

2nd Place Charlie (20 points) $60

Bubble Dave K. ( 5 points )

Forum: Hudson County Wednesday Night Poker League

donde esta el plb?

strungout7 — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:34:52 GMT

the pld updates seem to have gone the way of pete and dave, dan's regular attendance at the game, and the bolo necktie. where's the action charlie? 4 of us care out here and we want our plb.

Forum: PLB Daily Roundup

Results 9/16/09

Rob_T — Thur, 17 Sep 2009 05:26:35 GMT

Wednesday Night, September 16, 2009.

13 players, 1 rebuy

1st Place Dave K. (39 points) $180

2nd Place Rob (26 points) $80

3rd Place Dan V. (13 points) $20

Bubble Caba ( 6.5 points )

Forum: Hudson County Wednesday Night Poker League