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Jesse May in
Las Vegas |
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End of Day One
I crashed after the dinner break,
and I’m not even playing. This WSOP tournament will be so incredibly
grueling that white flags will be raised at every stage. 839 players kicked off
the 2003 WSOP officially, which means there will be 63 places paid and a $2.5
million paycheck awarded to the winner. This doesn’t represent an increase
from last year, it’s a darn explosion. The World Series of Poker has
changed from a marathon to a double triathlon. Will a good player win this
year? Well, if not, he or she sure will be by the time it’s finished.
If ever there was a standing ovation needed, it is for the
Binion’s tournament staff after Day 1 of the World Series of Poker. The
biggest standing joke in the halls was what was the over under on what time the
tournament would start. I mean the scheduled start time was 1pm, but with 839
runners and a line to sign up that stretched out the door, players in the know
were talking about showing up at 2pm, just to see how long it would be from
there. Imagine the surprise when the tournament clock started ticking down at
ten minutes to one with all the dealers in their places and sitting there with
decks in their hands and chips apportioned to every seat. The buzz went like
wildfire. “What do you mean they’re dealing at 1pm, whether the
players are in their seats are not? They can’t start on time!” Well,
they did. And it went without a hitch. Tables broke on schedule all day long,
and to my knowledge there was not one decision taken that made any player feel
like they received anything but a square shake. The news on the grapevine is
that Binion’s might decide to play Day 3 all the way down to 45 players.
This might be necessary to ensure the tournament being able to finish on
Friday, and to keep Day 4 from going all the way through to Day 5. It’ll
be a long Day 3, however, and I’ll take the over on 4am. The amphetamine
salesmen on Fremont street had better order in some extra supplies.
Day
1 results are in. Phil Hellmuth and Phil Ivey leap out of the top 20 list like
unstoppable freight trains. Phil was down very low on chips for most of the
day, his head hung over and not a peep from the king of gab. But late in the
day is the bewitching hour always, and those who know this tournament inside
and out, guys who excel in five day tournaments, the sweetest sounds to ever
hit their ears are those two words that are announced after the dinner break
and for the next four hours. Running Antes. Running antes mean that each player
has to ante in addition to posting the blinds, and the effect is that it makes
the pots bigger to start out, every pot is all of the sudden worth stealing,
and guys like Phil can power it through. Hellmuth finished the day with a smile
behind his gold rimmed glasses, and I look for the mouth to loosen up on Day 2,
when you’ll probably be able to hear him from across the room. Phil Ivey
goes tournament favorite, in my book. I know there’s 384 players still
left in, but if you want to make Ivey more than a 25-1 shot, I’m buying.
King of the steal? Ivey just robs them all day long. I make it a 90% certainty
that table 63 will be chosen as the TV table, where Ivey will get to mix it up
all day long with the likes of Howard Lederer and Daniel Negreanu.
Both
the Nguyens, Scotty and Men, have chips that they won’t give up anytime
soon. Scotty is a former world champion, and Men Nguyen has been knocking the
door forever and is already having a ripping World Series. Don’t overlook
Marcel Luske, the flying Dutchman. He may be unfamiliar to Americans, but in
Europe he’s been hotter than a firecracker, and as a guy who plays a lot
of hands and is always on the steal, Marcel Is a very dangerous chip
accumulator. The best player from the Internet this year may be the previously
unknown Priyanand Hallan, better known as simply Pre. Pre qualified on
Ladbrokes.com to play in this series, and he’s shown his mettle online as
a most dangerous English player who is never scared to make the second raise
for all his chips without a thing in his hand. Unfortunately, though, Pre
picked an inauspicious time to start playing live games.
I watched
Annie Duke for a while yesterday, at a table near the downstairs door. She sits
on her feet and is high at the table while flat calling a sunglassed checker
shirt goatee wearing big boy on the turn for a dime. When Annie leads out on
the river for a medium size bet, your man just looks hot like a firecracker,
and folds. Annie and Lucy Rokach were at the same table for a good part of Day
1 with twelve angry young men. Anyone who feels threatened by women at the
table is in big trouble because they may be the two toughest female no limit
Hold’em players in the history of the game, and don’t believe in
lying down easy.
Over? This one has just begun. It’s anyone’s
ballgame, and the cream is rising, always rising.
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