WSOP
2003 Days 35, 36 & 37:
The Final Curtain
What
an amazing end to my trip, the final table
was as exciting as you could hope for,
Dan and Rich from PokerStars have their
faces locked in permanent smiles, it was
a great day for on-line poker, an even
greater day for PokerStars.
But
first let me catch up with the last couple
of days, although it seems like forever
ago now. I played in 'The Seniors Second
Chance' event at the Orleans. Patti B.
has already posted about the event, she
was spot on. The tournament director treated
the staff like they were idiot children,
verbally abusing them over the microphone
and making himself look like a fool. Then
there was the 'raise' rule which they
changed half way through, no tournament
clock, started 30 minutes late because
they decided people arriving late should
be able to keep the rest of us waiting.
Don't even get me started on why on earth
they would call it "The Seniors" when
actually anyone could play, they only
meant that it was being sponsored by the
seniors. I approached them to suggest
that they may have lost a whole bunch
of players because like me they assumed
it was only for seniors. They countered
with 'it says right on the ad that anyone
can play'. Well that's nice, but I never
saw the ad, I heard about the tournament
from a friend. As for the tournament,
I played well enough, lost a big pot with
AK vs AQ, got short stacked, couldn't
recover and went out soon after.
The only thing to do after losing a tournament
is to go for another expensive meal. I
did that tonight with a friend, at Renoir
in the Mirage, $125 with tip for an excellent
meal with excellent service. If you ever
give it a try, glass of Merlot, duck appetizer,
braised rib entree, chocolate trio dessert
is the way to go. They even let you take
home an original Renoir off of the wall.
I could be wrong about that.
Dutch treat: Russ "Dutch" Boyd has glared
at me for two days now, I've glared back,
no words have been spoken, although I'm
sure he was thinking of a few. Even after
cashing out he has been around for the
final day, I guess he doesn't fear those
who would like to meet him. Unfortunately
I missed his exit from the tournament,
but I was present to witness something
else and have the most incredible inside
information that I only wish I could share,
but I can't so please don't ask; let me
just say two things, 1) justice was partially
served, 2) he proved yet again that he
lives his life by a different set of rules.
But
enough of that, today was about poker
at its very best, Chris Moneymaker is
the worthiest of champions, as fearless
as Stu Ungar, as astute as Johnny Chan,
as unexpected a winner as Robert Varkonyi.
Yes, he got lucky a couple of times, but
I think when we see the hands on ESPN
we'll be as amazed as we were when we
watched John Duthie bluff his way to victory
in Poker Million. I think we'll also see
Sam Farha (who otherwise played brilliantly)
throw away presto in a crucial hand that
could have swung the pendulum back to
him. What we won't see are any missing
chips, the count has been perfect for
the whole series right up to the end,
and we won't see any creditors seizing
$8,000,000, everything went smoothly with
no incidents. And one more thing we might
not see is a replacement for Matt next
year, I think they finally realize that
you shouldn't mess with perfection, and
this was the most perfect of tournaments
in every way. I only hope they also realize
the contribution of Steve McDonald who
kept it all running like clockwork and
George Fisher whose awesome marketing
skills got 839 people to show up for the
final event. The press conference afterwards
brought some embarrassing questions from
the national press that Chris handled
perfectly, one asked him how he was going
to explain his playing on-line poker in
a state that doesn't allow it ("I can't
answer that without my attorney present"),
another asked how much he earned in his
regular job, ("Less than this"). I guess
as poker becomes more mainstream we'll
have to expect more of this type of investigative
journalism.
Well,
this is my last night, it's been an amazing
five weeks. I should have gone stir crazy
and been bored to tears by now, but instead
I'm sorry to see it end. I've met up with
so many old friends, made so many new
ones, and had fun every single day. I
hope you enjoyed sharing my trip as much
as I enjoyed writing about it.
ighn.
Paul Westley
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