World
Series of Poker T+16
So
at 10 a.m. my alarm went off after 5 blissful
hours of sleep, today was the Eric Seidel
vs. Johnny Chan match scheduled for 10
a.m., based on previous cancellations
I wasn't too hopeful. I called downstairs
and Eric was there waiting, so I quickly
got dressed, skipping the underwear, brushed
two teeth, figuring I could get to the
rest later, and ran downstairs.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere's
Johnny? nowhere to be found. This match
has been canceled twice already, the first
time when Johnny couldn't make it at 5
p.m. so rescheduled for 8:30 p.m., then
when he canceled again because he had
dinner reservations for 8:30 p.m. Those
of us encumbered by social graces might
wonder why someone would make two appointments
for the same moment in time, but then
we are not poker superstars. So at 10:15
a.m. Eric is on the phone with Johnny
who is still in his room at Bellagio.
Johnny has been playing all night and
got to bed at 6 a.m., he didn't want to
play. Eric asks him if he got the message
that if he didn't show this time he would
be blinded off, Johnny said he had not
heard that. The deal with the gold bracelet
match play contest is that the players
are supposed to find a 'mutually convenient'
time to play, there is no provision for
blinding off or giving a free pass to
one player if the other can't keep an
appointment three times in a row, I'm
sure that rule will be changed. Eric is
a gentleman extraordinaire, he had been
preparing for this match three times and
was as dumbfounded as I was that Mr. Chan
could show such a lack of consideration,
yet Eric spoke politely and calmly to
him and Johnny finally condescended to
jump in a taxi and play. I don't know
if you've guessed who I was going to be
rooting for.
At
10:45 a.m. we get the news, Johnny has
entered the building, the match is on.
The bad news is that hardly anyone other
than Eric, Johnny and I know about it,
so for the first few minutes the bleachers
will be empty until people finally realize
what's happening. Johnny shows up, mumbles
"OK, let's go", then as an afterthought
an even mumblier "sorry", and they are
off and running. Ironically it's Johnny
who seems mad that he had to get out of
bed, Eric still seems quite cool. So the
big question is, was this all a psychological
game to put Eric on tilt, was the lack
of a real apology meant to get Eric angry,
or do I just not understand the world
of divadom?
Before
we go any further I have to point out
here that I'm not Andy Glazer, I'm not
Mike Paulle, I'm not Mark Napolitano,
I'm not Max Shapiro, and I'm not getting
paid. But I am here and I have pen and
paper, so let the games begin...
Thanks
to me the blinds incorrectly start at
the 25-50 level as they had made a change
to the structure that I wasn't aware of
and we should have started at the next
level, we get that sorted out after a
couple of hands. The players start 'round
2' with 5000 in chips (in each match they
start with double the chips of the previous
match, and at a slightly higher level).
Not
much happens for the first ten minutes,
a few limps and folds on the flop, a few
raises to 300 from the button (i.e. the
small blind) and the big blind folds,
a few limps from the button and the big
blind raises to 300 and the button folds.
This is not going to be one of those Mike
laing matches, this one's serious, neither
player speaks and you can feel the tension
of two people who are not planning on
having a romantic dinner together any
time soon, it looks like Johnny's escapades
may have had an affect on Eric.
Finally
we get a hand, they both limp in, flop
is 872, Eric makes it 300 to go, Johnny
calls. Ace on the turn, they both check.
Queen on the river, Eric bets 400, Johnny
raises 1700 more, Eric folds. oops.
Five
minutes later we get another hand, again
both limp in, both check the T74 (two
diamonds) flop. Jack of diamonds on the
turn, Johnny bets 400, Eric raises 800
more, Johnny calls. 9 of diamonds on the
river, they both check. Johnny had flopped
two pair with his T7o and wins the pot.
Eric is in trouble.
Did
I mention nobody's saying a word yet.
Another 5 minutes go by and we get a classic
hand, Johnny limps in, Eric makes it 300,
Johnny calls. A94 flop, Eric bets 400,
Johnny calls. 2 on the turn, Eric bets
800, Johnny calls. So here I am thinking,
OK, I'm no world class player, but isn't
it a bit odd that Johnny keeps calling
big bets, and isn't it even odder that
Eric hasn't noticed it, I don't know what
the heck is going on. On the river is
a 7 and Eric goes all in, and Johnny calls.
AA for Eric (yay), KK for Johnny, Eric
has evened it up again. go Eeeeeeeeric,
go Eeeeeeric... (hey, if you want unbiased
reporting go read the Washington Post).
Now
this next hand is just plain scary and
a pivotal point in the game. Johnny raises
to 200, Eric reraises 1000 more, and Johnny
calls. Flop is KQ7 with two suits, Eric
bets 1200, Johnny goes all in, and Eric
folds! Aiyah, dat's alotta chips.
Things
don't get any better, a couple of hands
later they both limp. 892 flop and this
amateur reporter doesn't take good enough
notes so doesn't know if the flop was
two s00ted. Eric bets 300, Johnny calls.
Turn is a 3, Eric bets 300, Johnny calls.
River is a 4, Eric bets 500, Johnny calls.
I hope you were all paying attention,
Eric has 62o, Johnny has K3s and wins
with a pair of threes (sorry, I don't
know if Johnny had a flush draw on the
flop, but I don't think he did).
Eric
pulls back a little with a 200 raise,
called by Johnny who then folds to a 400
bet by Eric on the flop. Then Eric calls
a 300 raise and bets 300 on an Axx two
s00ted flop, Johnny folds. Eric now has
2600 chips, Johnny 7400.
45
minutes into the match they both limp.
A62 flop, two s00ted, both check. 3 on
the turn, Johnny bets 400, Eric calls.
8 on the river, Johnny bets 800, Eric
folds, Eric is down to 1500.
A
couple of minutes later Johnny raises
to 300, Eric calls, flop is T65 two s00ted.
Johnny bets 300, Eric calls. J on the
turn, they both check. K on the river,
Eric bets 600, Johnny folds, yay. Is this
the start of the comeback? Well, no.
52
minutes into the game Johnny raises to
300, Eric calls. Flop is J64. Johnny bets
300, Eric raises to 800 more, Johnny calls.
K on the turn, Eric goes all in, Johnny
thinks for a nanosecond and calls. Johnny
has 66, flopped a set, Eric has 75, flopped
an open-ender, no help on the river and
it's all over.
Johnny
now goes on to play Daniel Negreanu, the
winner of that plays Diego Cordovez in
the semi finals. The winner of Jim Lester
vs. Phil Hellmuth plays Steve Zolotow,
and the winner of that plays the other
semi final against Tom McEvoy.
So,
what did we learn? We learnt that Eric
is all class but sometimes nice guys do
finish last, we learnt that Johnny come
lately is still a force to be reckoned
with, and we learnt that you should never
get up early unless both players are already
seated at the table.
Paul
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