WSOP
2004
T25-T32: Why 2K, Why Not 2.4K?
Well
if nothing else this trip at least I did
accurately predict at the very beginning
that my daily trip reports would soon
turn into weekly ones. For want of an
excuse, it's simply that there haven't
been enough hours in the day; by the time
I finish setting up the four clocks every
night, donating to the poker events, going
out drinking, eating and partying, and
doing some real work in between (yes,
I actually have a real job contrary to
what my friends will tell you) I end up
with a few hours sleep and then it's time
to do it all again.
The highlight of last week was the garden
party, as expected it was amazing, I doubt
Buckingham Palace could do any better.
It had a Chinese theme, complete with
dragons and Chinese food, and it was populated
by the who's who of poker, and me. Unlike
last year, this year the gatecrashers
had their fingers broken at the gate,
and their cars cut in two by security,
before being sent back to the Harrah's
buffet.
My
satellite run continued, I won a couple
and chopped a few, but then in one disastrous
day I gave back $1,200 while trying to
get into the 3K No Limit, which I ended
up not playing. There are some $1,000
tourneys being added during the week of
the final event, but hopefully I won't
be able to play in them, so I will be
ending up under budget for the trip. Well
actually I'll be quite a bit under budget
once I win the 5 million.
Yes,
that's FIVE million, Harrah's should be
hearing today that they have approval
to add 40 more tables, if they fill them
the final event (1,900 signed up as of
today, about 1,000 of them have come from
the internet compared to 100 last year)
could have 2,400 players, and a prize
payout of $5,000,000 for first, $3,500,000
for second, $2,500,000 for third, $1,500,000
for fourth, a pathetic hardly worth bothering
with $1,000,000 for fifth, and then on
down to a 180th. place of your money back.
Now
about those cheating incidents I mentioned
in my last report. There were four:
1)
A famous player in a Chinese Poker game
was accused of switching his hand around
once he saw how another player had set
his hand. The gaming board were brought
in to examine the tape, but someone had
stood up and blocked their view at a crucial
point, however, the conclusion was that
no foul play had taken part. But if you
listen to the eye witness, the most reputable
of top players, he is 100% sure it was
switched. No further action was taken.
2)
Four players were left at a second round
table of the No Limit shootout, two players
were to advance to the final table. The
two large stacks were soft playing eachother
because neither wanted to get into a confrontation
when the two short stacks would soon be
blinded out. Jim Miller was called over
to watch them and during one hand one
had K2 , the other 93. The flop was K94
(I might be wrong about the 2, the 3 and
the 4), the turn was 9, the river was
a blank. Neither of them bet the whole
way, Jim jumped in and turned both hands
face up, saw that they had soft played
eachother, and gave them each a 20 minute
penalty. Now that's a pretty serious penalty
with 4 players left, it gave the small
stacks time to rebuild a little (although
both still got busted). I didn't understand
the situation fully when I first reported
this, now I understand it even less, I
don't see why soft playing in this situation
is illegal, it seems to me that each player
is looking out for his own interest, not
trying to collude for the benefit of the
other player. I am hoping this situation
generates some discussion of just what
is meant by soft play and collusion.
3) In the razz tournament while a player
was away from the table, the tapes showed
a player accidentally picking up his own
whole card, plus the card of the absent
player next to him. What happened next
is unclear (to me). Just as he was throwing
away the extra card the dealer saw what
had happened. They reviewed the tape,
it seems to show that it was an instant
motion of him picking up the extra card,
realizing it wasn't his, and tossing it
back. No action was taken.
4)
This is the most troubling one, in the
Stud 8 or better a player checked in last
position on the river with the nut low
and the second nut high. He also checked
them on 5th and 6th street. As far as
I can tell this player is 'known' to be
part of a team of players who 'know eachother',
and was playing against another member
of his 'team'. The player was given just
a warning not to do it again with the
threat that next time he would suffer
serious consequences. The fear for Harrah's,
and for the tournament official making
the decision, is that throwing out a player
could lead to serious legal issues, he
could sue for the money lost in that tournament,
and he could sue for loss of income if
he is a pro not allowed to play in future
events. Talking to other officials I get
varying stories on how severely they would
have punished the player, from a 20 minute
penalty to immediate barring, but in all
cases the legal issue was a prominent
factor.
I don't want to play with cheats, I want
them barred, maybe it's time to have a
case go to court so a precedent can be
set. I have made a suggestion that a list
should be kept of players given penalties
(and what the penalty was for) at WSOP,
and similarly at all other events, and
possibly even across events running under
Tournament Director Association (TDA)
rules, so that the first time the player
is given a time penalty, the second time
he gets barred. If this was made clear
up front in the rules it might be a good
start to combating collusion.
Yesterday my friend drove into town, driving
through the night and 36 hours with no
sleep was not enough of a deterrent so
off we went the California to take another
shot at the full pay deuces. This time
the Hawaiian gods knew not to mess with
me, we got wild royals, 5 of a kinds,
4 of a kinds hand after hand after hand,
and then finally the mystical four deuces,
for a profit of $400 in one hour. Not
to mention a whole bunch of free drinks!
I
was playing in a single table satellite
the other day, the players at the next
table had just made a $20 'last longer'
bet (the player lasting the longest gets
the $20 from each of the other players
in the pool). One of the players announced
that he has last longer bets all the time
with his girlfriend, he said she always
wins.
Today
is the media event, I might be playing,
but it's going to be a FAST tournament
so if I end up winning it's unlikely I'll
be claiming how clever I was, more likely
how lucky I was. It's all for charity,
no entry fee and some added prize money
going to the charity of your choice. It
should be fun. And then tomorrow is Day
1, the first day of the final event, all
I have to do is beat 2,399 players over
the next 7 days and I'll have a nice new
piece of jewelry. Hey, it could happen.
Paul Westley
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