(Preliminary
note: there's an old saying in journalism that the story goes
on page one and the retraction goes on page 27. I don't want
that to happen here, so please make sure you go to the end
of this story, and read a few things I have to say about something
I reported on a couple of stories ago)
Rotation games are fairly common at high stakes. The big
money boys and girls like to play games like H.O.R.S.E (Hold'em,
Omaha, Razz, Stud, and Eight-or-Better Stud) or H.O.S.E. (same
game minus the Razz) because they figure, correctly, that
the weaker players won't play at least one of the games well.
Binion's Horseshoe added their own version of a rotation
game to the schedule this year, S.H.O.E, selecting a mix of
games that would produce an acronym appropriate to their venue:
Stud, Hold'em, Omaha Eight-or-Better, and Eight-or-Better
Stud.
|
"When
you can play all the games well, you're a superstar." |
|
|
It's hard enough to be a great hold'em player, or a great
Omaha player. When you can play all the games well, you're
a superstar. That's one of the things I like about the Tournament
of Champions: you have to play four different games to
get the title.
THE SHOE FIT
Whoever won the S.H.O.E. event here figured to be a poker
superstar, and figured to earn even more respect than the
typical bracelet winner does, because he or she would have
to demonstrate a broad spectrum of abilities. We figured right.
The S.H.O.E. fit.
David "the Dragon" Pham earned the 2000 Player
of the Year status in Nolan Dalla's Card Player rankings by
piling up more points in more American tournaments than anyone
else. Lightning can strike anyone once or twice, but to cash
so consistently and in so many different games, you have to
be one superb poker player.
Pham put an exclamation point on his 2000 Player of the Year
ranking by winning the initial S.H.O.E. in style and earning
a very high place on my list of people I'd rather not see
at my table in any game, any time (that's for his ability:
on personality, he'd earn roughly the same place on my list
of people I would like to play with).
181 brave souls started this tournament, and when we started
play at the final table, the chip counts were:
Seat |
Player |
Chip Count |
1 |
Skip Wilson |
$27,000 |
2 |
Cyndy Violette |
$42,200 |
3 |
Art Duncan |
$47,800 |
4 |
David Pham |
$62,100 |
5 |
Paul Darden |
$46,500 |
6 |
Tom McEvoy |
$40,600 |
7 |
Kristy Bidar |
$27,200 |
8 |
"Miami John"
Cernuto |
$68,600 |
|
"Will
you just go ahead and get eliminated, already!" |
|
|
When I entered the tournament area and picked up the sheet
showing the final tablists and the chip positions, I almost
fell over, because when I finished my story at about 4:00
a.m. and wandered downstairs to see if we had a final table
yet, we had nine players left locked in an interminable hand-for-hand
battle to make the final table, and Cernuto had the only short
stack. You could just see everyone looking at Miami John and
the clock and saying, silently, "Will you just go ahead
and get eliminated, already!" I saw him survive several
all-in situations, but headed upstairs, figuring that someone
would get him sooner or later.
Miami John does not go quietly into the night (or in this
case, the morning), I guess.
As Tournament Director Bob Thompson was introducing the players
to the crowd, he got to Miami John last (as he was in seat
8), and ran down a long list of tournament wins, including
an incredible ten major wins in Omaha alone. As Thompson finished
reading this list of achievements, 1983 World Champion Tom
McEvoy, who was sporting one of the most boldly colored purple
silk shirts I'd ever seen, added "and about 16 all-ins
last night."
A WELL MEANING MAX GIVES ANDY A HEART ATTACK
Actually, McEvoy's shirt was only the second-most purple
item at the final table. Just before we began, Card Player
columnist Max Shapiro, a well-meaning friend who is here covering
the event as the official Binion's reporter, motioned for
me to come across to his side of the table. I wasn't sure
what was up, but I complied, and he introduced me to Bidar,
a tall, attractive brunette, in a one-breath sentence: "Kristy,
this is Andy Glazer, he's a wonderful, highly principled guy
who lives near you in Los Angeles and he's looking for a girlfriend."
|
"I
skipped right past turning red and went immediately to
purple." |
|
|
I skipped right past turning red and went immediately to
purple, and Kristy handled the situation pretty well, saying,
"That's very kind of you Max, but I already have a boyfriend,"
and as the purple slowly receded into the red, I gave Max
a "with friends like you who needs enemies" look,
as boyfriend Bill Gazes, a star player and a friendly acquaintance
of mine, was sitting right behind me.
The preliminaries thus finished, and my composure recovered,
we started off with 17 minutes left on the clock playing seven-card
stud with a $600 ante, $1,200 low card bring-in, playing $4,000-8,000.
The plan for the full rounds was 35 minutes each for the non-split
games, hold'em and stud, and 45 minutes each for the split
games, so a full round was actually 160 minutes, not 80.
On the second hand dealt, Bidar took a chunk out of Darden's
stack, pushing three high cards against a low card bring-in
he defended, only to yield when he continued to catch cards
that would have looked nice if we'd been playing eight-or-better.
Her stack grew to over $40,000.
A few hands later, Wilson, who had virtually shared low chip
"honors" with Bidar when we started play, also duked
it out with Darden, who again had been forced in with a deuce.
Wilson raised showing an ace, and Darden called. Darden caught
a pair of deuces, and check-called into Wilson's A-K board.
On fifth street, the board became A-K-K to 2-2-6, Wilson checked,
Darden bet, and Wilson called. The boards moved to A-K-K-J
vs. 2-2-6-A. Darden bet, Wilson raised his last few chips
all-in, and Darden called.
BEWARE THE SMILING PLAYER
As Thompson called for the hands to be turned over, I saw
Wilson smile at fellow Ohioans Harry and Jerri Thomas, who
were sweating him in the grandstand, and I had a feeling Darden
was in trouble. Major, one-out trouble, we found out: a nice
little (A-K) A-K-K, full house start for Wilson, and (7-2)
2-2-6-A for Darden, who was dead to the case deuce. No miracle
card arrived, Wilson had more than doubled through, and Darden
was on fumes with about $10,000 left.
McEvoy finished him off just a few minutes later, when Darden
raised all-in, McEvoy re-raised to shut out any other interested
parties, then pulled back the excess. They turned 'em over:
(J-J) Q for Darden, (A-Q) 3 for McEvoy, but the rest of the
cards came down
(J-J) Q-9-8-2 (8)
(A-Q) 3-4-2-3 (Q)
McEvoy's catch on the river gave him queens-up, and Darden
was out fifteen minutes after we began play, his chips having
pumped up the three lowest stacks when we'd started.
Two minutes later the clock went off ending the round, which
normally would have meant an increase in the limits, but the
WSOP folks have been working closely with Tex Morgan and his
TEARS program to try to get final tables that last six to
eight hours, and so they had decided that the next 80-minute
round would be played at the same $4,000-8,000 level.
CAN'T HOLD PHAM BACK AT HOLD'EM
We switched over to hold'em, and Pham came out of the blocks
fast and firing, making a big move, raising a number of pots
that no one wanted to contest, and then three-betting a Duncan
raise and winning that pot with a bet on the flop. Pham moved
to over $110,000 with his snappy play.
After getting hurt by Pham, Duncan was short, with only $12,000
left as his big blind approached. He raised under the gun,
got three-bet by Bidar, and called. 8c-9c for Duncan, A-A
for Bidar, no accidents, and Duncan was our seventh place
finisher at 4:47 p.m.
|
"Pham
kept moving at pots, and no one wanted to play with him." |
|
|
Pham kept moving at pots, and no one wanted to play with
him. In between hands, Bidar walked over to Gazes, and had
a whispered exchange with him. Pham joked, "No coaching,"
and everyone laughed. Bidar raised the very next pot, joking
along with "Isn't that what you said, honey?" and
everyone folded, after which she kept it up with an "It
worked, honey," as she showed an ace.
Cyndy Violette, a very strong Atlantic City stud player who
arrived wearing her namesake color (on a break, I asked her
"Can I ask you a dumb question" and she said yes,
so I asked "Is wearing violet some sort of trademark
or good luck thing for you, or was today's outfit random?"
She laughed and told me it was random and that she'd almost
worn red), got in trouble in a hold'em hand against McEvoy,
who raised from mid position, with Violette calling from the
big blind.
"YES!, ER, I MEAN, TOUGH HAND, CYNDY"
The flop came Ac-Jc-8d, Violette checked, McEvoy raised,
Violette re-raised, McEvoy re-raised, and Violette, who was
completely pot-committed at this point, re-raised her last
few chips with McEvoy calling; he was perilously close to
the felt, too. A-9 for McEvoy, A-6 for Violette, and when
the turn and river came 4-2, McEvoy jumped from his seat and
clapped his hands together with a "Yes!" that started
out fervent and then became muffled as he realized his good
fortune probably wasn't being appreciated on the other end
of the table.
Violette was out sixth, at 5:05, and not that long thereafter,
we switched over to stud eight-or-better, with the chip counts
approximately
McEvoy, $60,000
Bidar, $40,000
Cernuto, $65,000
Wilson, $65,000
Pham, $132,000
Five-handed, the dead money was now $4,200 (6x600 + 1200)
for a $4,000 raise.
Wilson finally stopped Pham's run over the table, winning
a $48,000 pot with queens and twos when Pham's starting aces
never improved, but Pham got the money back not that long
thereafter in a pot that was three-way for a while, but eventually
got down to
Pham, (??) Jd-9c-Ad-7d
Bidar, (??) 2d-7h-9c-Jh
Check-check on the river. All Pham could show were his starting
jacks, but Bidar couldn't produce a low or a better high,
and she had only $3,000 left.
McEvoy won a $75,000 three-way pot from him with rolled up
kings, with no one making a low, and on the next hand, Bidar
tossed her last $1,000 chip into a pot that McEvoy had brought
in, and then Cernuto came in behind with a call. Bidar grew
visibly upset as McEvoy and Cernuto quickly checked on every
street until the river, when McEvoy bet, a pretty sure sign
he had the stone cold nuts, and Cernuto folded. McEvoy turned
over 3-4-5-6-7, and Bidar was out fifth, at 5:25.
A little while later, heads-up with Wilson, Pham showed he
knew something about a game other than hold'em when he showed
and mucked kings and eights when Wilson bet out on sixth street
showing 5-5-7-A.
The new chip count was
McEvoy, $100,000
Cernuto, $45,000
Wilson, $42,000
Pham, $175,000
It lasted only momentarily, though, as Pham gouged $40,000
out of McEvoy when his Q-9-5-8 board, into which McEvoy had
been betting all the way with 5-A-J-7, suddenly looked imposing
when Pham raised on sixth street. McEvoy called there and
on the river, but his aces-up couldn't beat Pham's straight.
McEvoy took another tough beat when he and Wilson both made
strong lows, but Wilson's was a bit better, and his A-K also
took the high side. In a matter of minutes, his stack had
been reduced to $35,000, and we switched over to Omaha Eight-or-Better.
NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL POT ODDS
We learned why Cernuto survived so ably the night before
when he made an impressive laydown against Wilson. Miami John
raised from the button, and Wilson three-bet out of the small
blind, with Miami John calling. This call left John with only
$1,200 left in front of him, and $28,000 in the pot. The flop
came 10h-10d-Ks, Wilson bet, John calculated the huge pot
odds he was being offered for his last $1.200, and mucked
his hand. He was probably drawing close to dead, too, because
Wilson showed A-10-J-3.
That last $1,200 went in the next pot under the gun, everyone
flat called, and everyone checked merrily away, trying to
make the former check-down conspirator a victim of his own
proper and perfectly ethical strategy. John made kings and
sixes with his A-2-6-K to take the main $4,800 pot, and Wilson
got the side pot with sixes and fours; amazingly, no side
pot contender had managed a low with a board of 5-2-6-4-K.
Cernuto survived his big blind, picking up another $2,000
on a split pot, and saving that last $1,200 was starting to
look pretty cagey, but Cernuto couldn't pick up any more hands,
and his last $4,800 went into the pot the next time he had
the big blind. McEvoy popped him (possibly without looking)
from the small blind, and John called, I believe, but am not
sure, without looking himself.
UM, LET'S SEE, TOM HAS
J-8-7-2 for McEvoy, 3-3-10-4 for Cernuto, and the board came
down 7-K-4-6-A. It was pretty funny, with all these world
champions around the table, everyone had to stare at the two
hands for a while to figure out that McEvoy had a pair of
sevens for high and a live deuce for low, while Cernuto could
only manage his pair of threes for high and a live three for
low (in their defense, these guys probably aren't used to
figuring out what sort of hands J-8-7-2 or 3-3-10-4 make).
|
"Console
yourself with this confusion the next time it takes you
a while to figure out your own Omaha hand." |
|
|
Console yourself with this confusion the next time it takes
you a while to figure out your own Omaha hand (and use it
as a good lesson in laying your hand down on the table face
up before you fold, just in case you've missed something).
Cernuto was fourth, at 5:35, and the new chip count was
McEvoy, $52,000
Wilson, $105,000
Pham, $205,000
The money moved around the table in small exchanges for a
while, with everyone getting a bit more cautious with the
big money now in sight. Eventually, McEvoy lost a chunk of
change to Pham when the flop came A-7-7 and he had the misfortune
to have a seven in his hand when Pham had A-7 in his, and
then mixed it up with Pham again shortly thereafter on a wild
one.
DON'T SUGAR COAT IT, TOM, TELL US HOW YOU REALLY FEEL
|
"Pair
of fives, make that call!" |
|
|
The flop came Ks-3d-6d, Pham bet, and McEvoy called. The
turn was the 4c, Pham bet, McEvoy raised, and Pham called.
The river brought the 6h, and Pham bet out. McEvoy had about
$10,000 in front of him when he called. Pham turned over A-2-8-Q
for the nut low, but only ace high, and McEvoy turned over
Ad-4d-5d-5h and exclaimed, "Pair of fives, make that
call!" as they split the pot. McEvoy had flopped a monster
draw with his strong low possibilities, open-end straight
flush draw and nut flush draw, but in the end, he was reduced
to "Making that call!" and getting away with
it.
We switched over to seven-card stud, still using the $600
ante, $1,200 bring in, and McEvoy went straight downhill.
We finally lost him when he kept calling as Pham kept leading
with their board showing
Pham, 9h-2d-2h-10s
McEvoy, 9c-4s-10d-As
Pham turned over nines and twos, and McEvoy folded his hand
without showing it; all he would tell me, as he exited is
that "He (Pham) plays real well and he also plays all
that crazy stuff and I can never tell where he is." The
1983 World Champion exited his second final table of the 2001
WSOP in third place at 7:00.
The heads-up duel commenced with Pham leading $213,000 to
$149,000; the boys seemed interested in getting a precise
count before they took a little break to battle it out.
|
"Tex
and the tournament folks made the right move holding the
limit there for an extra round." |
|
|
We played a bit more stud, with no significant moves in either
direction, when the clock buzzed, and it was time both to
play hold'em, and to increase the limits, with the blinds
moving to $3,000-6,000, playing 6&12. Given that we'd
managed to get two-handed at the 4&8 level, it looked
like Tex and the tournament folks made the right move holding
the limit there for an extra round.
A PATTERN EMERGES
We managed to get in 27 hands of hold'em in the next 35 minutes,
with a fairly consistent pattern of Pham as the more aggressive
player, winning more of the small pots, and Wilson trapping
and winning more of the bigger pots. Pham gradually increased
his stack, and almost had Wilson out on hand #24.
Pham raised this one from the small blind on the button,
with Wilson calling. The flop came 10h-5s-6c, Wilson bet out,
Pham raised, and Wilson called. The 4h hit the turn, Wilson
checked, Pham bet, Wilson raised, and Pham called. The 3h
hit the river, Wilson bet straight out, and Pham called. Wilson
turned over the Ah-8h for the nut flush, runner-runner, and
Pham showed 10-3, the most unwanted second pair he'd had on
the river for quite a while. Play gets pretty wild heads-up,
eh? Don't plan on getting to a final table and using your
full ring game tactics when the game gets shorthanded.
This big score got Wilson back into the game, and after he
won the first hand of stud at the new $1,000 ante, $2,000
low bring in level, the chips were nearly even again.
Two big hands proved decisive. On the first, Pham bet out
all the way, and was called all the way, with boards of
Pham, (??) 10-Q-7-K (?)
Wilson, (??) 10-4-2-K (?)
Pham turned over the two jacks he'd started with in the hole,
and the ace he caught on the river for Broadway, an ace-high
straight, and Wilson mucked, now down $262,000-$100,000.
WHEN IS A BLUFF NOT A BLUFF?
On the second big one, Pham brought it in with the 10c, and
got action from Wilson and his Qh. Pham caught the 5h while
Wilson caught the 6d, Wilson bet out, and Pham raised, with
Wilson calling. Pham bet and was called both on fifth and
sixth streets when he caught Qh-Jh and Wilson caught 9c-3s.
Each man had already put $43,000 into this pot, and Pham bet
the river. Wilson thought for a while, and called. Pham didn't
look optimistic turning over his pair of tens
but Wilson
couldn't beat them, and had $45,000 left to Pham's $317,000.
On the final hand, Wilson started with about $20,000, and
Wilson bet his Ac-2h start, with Pham calling each time showing
5s-Qd. Pham caught the 5d for an open pair on fifth street,
led out, and Wilson called catching the 8c. Pham led again
when he caught the 6h on sixth, and Wilson called for his
last $7,600.
|
"An
appropriate card, a black queen, fell into Wilson's hand
on the river, giving David Pham the title." |
|
|
Pham turned over the pocket threes he'd started with for
two pair, fives and threes, and Wilson turned over his 9-3,
giving him a low draw. An appropriate card, a black queen,
fell into Wilson's hand on the river, giving David Pham the
title.
Wilson, from Westchester, Ohio, maintains two homes, living
there in the summer and in Las Vegas in the winter, when he
plays most of his poker, usually at the 30-60 level, with
stud high his favorite game. He also follows the tournament
circuit around, and had made four previous WSOP final tables,
with this his best finish. He's a manufacturing consultant,
consulting to a business he used to own and then sold.
"I knew it would be tough against a player like Pham,"
he said. "It doesn't bother me too much, really, I feel
like I played pretty solid against him."
For the diminutive David Pham, a native of Vietnam, collecting
his first World Series bracelet was very special, even though
he was Player of the Year in 2000.
HIS FIRST MAJOR, I'D EXPECT MORE
"This means a lot," he said, "because even
though I have won many tournaments, I have never won at the
very big major tournaments. I have been second and third a
lot there, but this was my first major win, very special to
win it in a multiple game tournament."
Pham has been playing poker for about ten years, but gave
it up for a while in midstream, returning to the business
world from 1994 to 1998, when he decided to come back as a
professional. During that time, he was mentored by his cousin,
no less a player than Men "the Master" Nguyen himself.
|
"One
more family story for the 2001 WSOP." |
|
|
"Men is the reason I have become so strong," Pham
said. "He taught me so many things, I am grateful, will
always be grateful." One more family story for the 2001
WSOP.
Those of you who have read my tournament reports from the
1999 Tournament of Champions and the 2000 WSOP know I'm a
pretty big Star Wars fan, and it was tempting, to compare
Pham to Men the Master by pulling out the old Darth Vader
(to Obi-wan Kenobe) line, "When last we met, I was but
the student, now I am the master."
There are only two problems with that one. First, I don't
want to try to compare David Pham to Men Nguyen; they're both
very tough players. Second, David Pham is such a sweet guy,
even if he believed in his heart he had surpassed "the
Master," he'd never say it.
Maybe I can get him to teach Max Shapiro when not to say
the wrong thing. Nah, I'll just wish for some more attainable
goals, like world peace, and me winning the Big One this year.
Final Official Results, $2,000 S.H.O.E.:
181 entrants, total prize pool $351,140
1. David Pham |
$140,455 |
2. Skip Wilson |
$70,230 |
3. Tom McEvoy |
$35,115 |
4. "Miami John"
Cernuto |
$21,070 |
5. Kristy Bidar |
$17,555 |
6. Cyndy Violette |
$14,045 |
7. Art Duncan |
$10,540 |
8. Paul Darden |
$7,030 |
19th-12th, $5,265 each: Michael Don Gambony, Paul Phillips
(!), Nicholas Partenope, Aurel Nicholas DeHollan.
13th-16th, $3,510 each: Thor Hansen, Bruce Yamron, Jeffrey
Calkins, Stan Goldstein.
HOW DOES HE DO THAT?
I just finished up tonight's story, and wandered downstairs
to see who had made it in for tomorrow's Limit Hold'em final,
and saw that the final tablists would be
Paul Ladanyi, $182,000
Minn Ly, $96,000
Alex Brenes, $76,000
Phi Nguyen, $70,500
Jim Lester, $63,500
Hung La, $32,500
Jaeggi Alphons
Phil Hellmuth, Jr., $21,500
Mike Shi, $8,500
Phil Hellmuth making another final table (he's won an event
already and came ninth, one away from a final table, in another)
wouldn't be newsworthy, except that his table was right near
the final table today-I could hear him from my seat-and when
I sent over to look at his chips on the dinner break, he was
on fumes, with about five chips left in front of him (and
not big chips either). So I assumed he was history, another
non-victory for "assuming" things. As soon as I
saw the list, my eyes bulged and I said out loud (to a group
of people who assumed I had come unzipped), "How does
he DO that?"
With the blinds at $4,000-8,000, Phil will have to find a
hand fast, but just making it is a minor miracle
and
I wouldn't want to be sitting there if he doubles up early.
I wish I knew how he does these things, but if I did, he'd
be writing the book about me, instead of vice-versa.
THE PAGE ONE RETRACTION
In my article about Barry Shulman's win in the Seven-Card
Stud Hi-Lo Split event, I mentioned, towards the end, that
Vince Burgio had gotten frustrated, and tossed (note I said
tossed, not threw or fired) his cards towards the dealer,
when one of them bounced onto the floor. I expressed some
concern that my friend was going to get a penalty for this,
but that Bob Thompson had just joked "On the next one,
you'll get an hour" (a standard penalty for an actual
rules infraction is 20 minutes).
A big discussion started about this on the rec.gambling.poker
newsgroup, which shouldn't have surprised me because most
of the time this group should be called rec.gossip.poker,
but in this case, the discussion, which I didn't read, but
only heard about second-hand (the only thing faster than the
speed of light is the speed of gossip), did me a favor in
that it allows me to create an injustice.
Even though I prefaced my remarks by saying that Vince Burgio
was one of the nicest guys in poker, and that the frustration
was out of character, I did him an injustice by mentioning
the incident, because I was unaware of the precise WSOP rule
about a card hitting the floor. If I had known the rule, I
would not have bothered to report the card.
The following is what I posted on RGP today:
I haven't read the thread(s) yet. I don't have time. The
schedule and workload here to crank these daily WSOP reports
out fast is grueling.
Nonetheless, I've heard, via the grapevine, that the Vince
Burgio "card on the floor" incident became big news
on RGP, so I want to speak directly to it. I'll be doing the
same in my next news report.
I did some things right, and I did one thing wrong, and I
want to make all those points very clear.
There are a number of people in the poker world I like and
respect a great deal, and Vince Burgio is near the top of
the list. There are also a number of people in the poker world
whom I dislike, do not respect, and try to have as little
to do with as possible.
When I am reporting on a tournament, it is inevitable that
my feelings and judgments are going to leak through my attempts
to be impartial, but attempt to be impartial I am. I'm here
as a reporter. That means I report what I see, even if I see
something on which I'd rather not report.
Here is what's true, what's not true, and where I erred:
I was watching VERY carefully at the end of this tournament,
because I was trying to get a read on all three players' emotions.
I was watching VERY carefully when Vince's card hit the floor,
because, the hand before, he had obviously been frustrated
and had lofted (that's lofted, not fired) his cards across
the table when he folded, a sign of frustration, and I was
worried, because he is my friend, that one of them might bounce
and hit the floor.
Why was I so worried? Because I have been playing a lot of
tournaments at the Bicycle Casino, where the rule is very
clear: "If you accidentally land a card on the floor,
you will ("accidentally") get a 20 minute penalty."
No discretion whatsoever, even in cases where it is absolutely
clear that the player wasn't upset in the slightest and was
trying to return the cards to the dealer. This isn't the time
to go into whether or not the Bike's rule is a good rule:
there are arguments on both sides of that one.
The Bike's rule is not the rule at the World Series of Poker,
and that's where I erred.
The rule at the WSOP is that if you throw cards at the dealer,
you will get a penalty. The only discretion involved is determining
whether you are throwing cards at the dealer, or returning
the cards to the dealer. The rule at the WSOP about cards
hitting the floor is different. In that case, the floorman
is supposed to use his discretion to determine if the player
is throwing cards in an attempt to disrupt the game, or otherwise
intentionally misbehave. In other words, if a card hits the
floor, you MAY get a penalty. The rule calls for judgment,
which I feel is appropriate. If air accidentally gets under
a card, or a card bounces onto the floor accidentally, there
is no penalty.
Because I had been concerned about Vince's first "loft,"
I was watching closely on the second one. He absolutely definitely
did not throw cards at the dealer. There is no way that anyone
watching the incident, even Vince's worst enemy (if a guy
that nice has any enemies), could have interpreted Vince's
actions as throwing cards at the dealer. He did not curse,
and did not misbehave. He was frustrated (my judgment) because
he had been short-stacked, gotten two premium starting hands
in a row, and then seen both of them bricked into submission.
So on the second loft, he tossed (the word I used in the
original report) the cards towards the dealer, very softly,
not even strongly enough to reach the dealer, much less hit
him. The cards went maybe eighteen inches into the air, one
of them bounced, and it hit the floor.
At the Bike, this would have meant a penalty. At the WSOP,
it doesn't. I made an assumption I should not have made, did
not ask the questions I should have asked, in part because
of my "Bicycle conditioning" and in part because
of Bob Thompson's joke about giving Vince an hour penalty
on the next one. Because so many truths are spoken in jest,
I assumed (there's that word again) that there was some truth
behind this one.
If I had known the precise WSOP rule, I might not have chosen
to report on the card hitting the floor at all. Because I
did not know the rule, I reported on something that probably
need not have been mentioned. If anything, I reported on it
because Vince IS my friend, and I try to bend over backwards
to make sure I do not show my friends undue favoritism when
reporting. It looks to me like I bent too far here.
I do not believe Bob Thompson showed Vince Burgio any favoritism.
Vince's intent was clear, and his action relatively innocuous,
and I believe that Bob would have made the exact same "no-call"
for any player sitting in that chair.
I offer my apologies to Vince, for any concern this caused
him, and indeed to the poker world at large, for making assumptions
and failing to ask the questions that led to my including
the matter in the report.
Andrew N.S. Glazer, Editor
Wednesday Nite Poker
For more information on this newsletter read "What
to Expect from Wednesday Nite Poker".
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