WSOP Final Thoughts

The six weeks of insanity has finally come to an end....and what a late night it was for those still around at Binions when the 2005 WSOP Main Event World Champion was crowned. Joe Hachem, an Aussie, was crowned this years champion..."Aussie!, Aussie!, Aussie!, Oy!, Oy!, Oy!" was the cry you could hear from his railbirds whenever he scooped a pot. Wonder how much they had left in the tank when he scopped the final pot after running for nearly 14 hours---ending after 6:40am local Vegas time.

First I have to give it up for DrPauly---without whom I would have been relegated to trolling other lesser sites hoping to get little nuggets of the action. Instead, I was armed with his railside (and even closer at times....you have to go read about his bathroom experience with Hellmuth and Matusow during the final night) musings, and I couldn't be more appreciative. I came across his blog shortly before the WSOP, but his writing ability and sense of humor have hooked me as a 'post WSOP' reader. I can't wait for his book to come out!

SO---check his site out: http://taopoker.blogspot.com

First recap of the WSOP will be around my 3 predictions...to recap:
*Farha not at the final table
*Raymer and Ivey at the final table
*Remaining 7 at final table relative unknowns

So, the first prediction came through. I just had it in my gut that Farha hadn't adapted his style enough to avoid the pitfalls of playing against potentially very loose players

Raymer and Ivey both made VERY good runs, making it to the second to last day. Raymer finished 25th, Ivey 20th...both taking home a cool $304,680. For a few days straight, it really looked like these two were going all the way. While my prediction was off...they both put up good showings, and I don't feel like I was far off the mark.

The final table had a makeup similar to what I had predicted, except in the place of Raymer and Ivey, your only "name" pro was Mike the Mouth Matusow. This was a bummer for me, since I'm not his biggest fan. However, I knew he would bring a little bit of flair to the final table if nothing else. I have to say that I was disappointed to see him get knocked out relatively early in the final day in 9th place. A $1M payday---not bad for a weeks work.

Some other overall observations:

Far reaching group of talent:
This years expanded field of over 5600 players really showed the far reaching attraction of the WSOP, and poker in general. Not only did you have a very diverse field---Men, Women, International players, all ages, etc.---but you had just as diverse a group of spectators and press (from what I can tell in reading about the event...I was not in attendance, unfortunately) From the "Aussie!, Aussie!, Aussie!, Oy!, Oy!, Oy!" chants heard from Joe Hachem's followers, to the big contingent covering the Irish players---and especially Andy Black---this is becoming a Global event for ALL to follow.

Races were the name of the game:
Of all the big hands that were reported on, it seemed like 70-80% of them were races....with neither player having more than a 55/45 advantage or so. This is interesting to me. One thing that it goes to show you is that now, more than ever, the player very skilled at stealing blinds/bets for free, and luring players into post-flop betting into their strong hand has more of an advantage than ever. These are not easy skills to come by, and are generally traits of the top professional players. These players that can maximize their winnings on marginal pots without having to risk races can find themselves in a position late in the game where a few lost races won't hurt them (or knock them out). I really think that from here on out, most big tournament winners will be the ones that set themselves up with a chip cushion such that they can gamble with a few races and not be crippled.

How big can it get?:
With a field of 5600+, this years main event was monstrous. It had a day 1 that was really 3 days (and caused its own controversy), and more players and spectators that the Rio could seem to comfortably hold. Poker Stars alone sent 1,100 players to the main event. Not sure what will happen for next year, as the top online sites are sure to start qualifiying satellite winners starting immediately. Can it get to 10,000 entrants, for a $100,000,000 purse? If so--I think the tournament directors have a great deal of planning to do to make sure they can comfortably accommodate a tournament of this size. My gut tells me that groups may have to play at different casinos until the field gets paired down into a manageable number.


First place payout only $7.5M?
With a field more than double the record field of 2004, this years grand prize payout was only 50% more than last? This doesn't make much sense to me. Last years $5M grand prize was roughly 20% of the overall purse. This years prize wasn't even 15% of the total. The one argument that I heard is that Harrah's wanted to have more people running around with $12,500 or more in their properties after they got paid. I know its their tournament, and they can payout however they like, but my humble opinion (and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone) is that a $10M first prize or greater would have made for manic press. $7.5M is still big, but 8 figures+ would have been tremendous.

That's all from me for now.

One more thing---I got my first ping from a current poker blogger. Be sure to check out Chasenfold @
http://chasenfold.blogspot.com
For another quality poker blog. I am going to make a list soon of those poker sites/blogs that I recommend and add that list to the right hand side. I am also considering spotlight on a poker site of the week....we'll see.

Final thought:
(taken from Pauly's blog)
WPBT "Charlie" Tournament = This Sunday!!

If you don't know the story... feel free to read: A Guy named Charlie.

Here is the tournamnet information (thanks to BG):WPBT "Charlie" Tournament

When? 6PM EST Sunday July 17th
Where? PokerStars... Check under the Private Tournamnet Tab
How Much? $20 - every penny goes to charity

What Do I Get When I Win? The comfort of knowing you're doing something good for someone else. No, Really... No. Really.

All proceeds to go to wherever Charlie Tuttle's family wants them. The tournament is open to bloggers and readers.