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WSOP: Affleck vs. Damon
Stephen Nover
Any small doubts about a true poker explosion quickly become erased walking into Binion?s Horseshoe casino. The venerable downtown Las Vegas hotel is packed with poker activity of all shapes, sizes and minds.
From Hustler Magazine owner Larry Flynt in his gold wheelchair to Ben Affleck, the place is wall-to-wall players and visitors drawn to the World Series of Poker. The winner of the weeklong no-limit hold?em final event, which begins Saturday, figures to take home $3 million of an estimated $10-million purse.
?There?s nothing even close to the World Series of Poker in terms of prestige,? said Nolan Dalla, media director of the WSOP, oddsmaker and one of the top poker writers. ?People play here from all over the world. You become immortalized when you win the World Series of Poker and get your picture on the wall (of fame).
?I don?t mean any disrespect to any place, but if you win a tournament at another casino your name is yesterday?s news the day after the tourney. The World Series has a sense of posterity that no other tourney can match. No other tournament comes close.?
This year?s no-limit tournament could draw 2,000 people, which would easily double last year?s record field of 839. Entry fee is $10,000, although many competitors earn their way in by winning a satellite contest at a much smaller ante. This final event is so large now half the field will begin on Saturday, with the other half starting Sunday. By the end of the weekend, though, half the contestants will be eliminated.
Some Internet sportsbooks are taking action on who wins the WSOP, including betfair.com, BoDog, Olympic and Pinnacle, which in addition to future odds has 36 matchups. Affleck faces fellow actors Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio in two of the matchups.
?Ben Affleck can play, James Woods can play,? said Larry Grossman, a gaming analyst and host of the popular Las Vegas radio show You Can Bet on It. ?Just because they?re actors doesn?t mean they don?t study it or get involved. If Affleck gets some cards, he?ll know what to do with them.?
These guys aren?t there for the publicity. They love gambling. So do a lot of young poker players, who are much more savvy because of various Internet poker sites and increased television coverage. Chris Moneymaker, last year?s winner, is only 28. He?d never played live in a big tournament until the 2003 WSOP, having earned his seat winning an online satellite tournament.
?It used to be the older generation would see a 27-year-old guy across from them and they would think we have a fish in the game,? Dalla said. ?Now you can?t make that assessment and be accurate. We already have five gold bracelet (event) winners this year under 25.?
Right outside a poker room on the second floor, where different events leading up to the no-limit hold?em final are being contested, there are around 55 different poker books being displayed and sold. The top four biggest selling poker books are ?Positively Fifth Street? by James McManus, ?Super System: A Course in Power Poker? by Doyle Brunson, ?No-Limit Texas Hold?em: The New Players Guide? by Tom McEvoy and Brad Daugherty, and ?Middle Limit Hold?em Poker,? by Bob Ciaffone, according to Bob Wynne, manager of Playersbooks.com.
?Poker has gone mainstream,? Wynne said. ?You go into a bookstore and you?ll find just about any type you?re looking for, and the rest you can find at gambling specialty stores.?
Because of the size of the field and the increased sophistication level, it?s really impossible to project a winner.
?When the tournament was 200-300 players theoretically you could put numbers on guys because you could eliminate half the field as dead money,? Dalla said. ?There were tiers of favorites with a super elite class of about 15-25 players. But now, with maybe 2,000 entries, it?s impossible to say the odds on the favorite. Phil Ivey, for example, might be no better than 400-1 or 500-1.?
Grossman is even blunter when asked about anointing a pre-tournament favorite.
?It?s absurd to try to pick the winner,? he said. ?Anybody who thinks they know who is going to win is an idiot. I?d play the field. I?d rather have 1,500 people than 500.?
Judging by the last six years, the field would be the way to go. Scotty Nguyen won in ?98. Dalla said he might have been a field entry. Noel Furlong, the ?99 winner, would have been in the field. Dalla also said the past three winners (Carlos Mortensen in 2001, Robert Varkonyi in 2002 and Moneymaker) definitely were all field entrants. So luck also is a huge factor.
?If you make one mistake you?re dead,? said Ted Sevransky, a professional gambler, who competed in the WSOP last year. ?That?s the nature of the game. It takes a lot of luck to go with any skill you might have.
?The biggest mistake newcomers make is they get impatient. The World Series of Poker is set up where the best players will find chances over the course of time. With the blind structure moving up so slowly - you get two hours - you have ample time to make a move.?
(off my daily "blankets" emailing)
WSOP: Affleck vs. Damon
Stephen Nover
Any small doubts about a true poker explosion quickly become erased walking into Binion?s Horseshoe casino. The venerable downtown Las Vegas hotel is packed with poker activity of all shapes, sizes and minds.
From Hustler Magazine owner Larry Flynt in his gold wheelchair to Ben Affleck, the place is wall-to-wall players and visitors drawn to the World Series of Poker. The winner of the weeklong no-limit hold?em final event, which begins Saturday, figures to take home $3 million of an estimated $10-million purse.
?There?s nothing even close to the World Series of Poker in terms of prestige,? said Nolan Dalla, media director of the WSOP, oddsmaker and one of the top poker writers. ?People play here from all over the world. You become immortalized when you win the World Series of Poker and get your picture on the wall (of fame).
?I don?t mean any disrespect to any place, but if you win a tournament at another casino your name is yesterday?s news the day after the tourney. The World Series has a sense of posterity that no other tourney can match. No other tournament comes close.?
This year?s no-limit tournament could draw 2,000 people, which would easily double last year?s record field of 839. Entry fee is $10,000, although many competitors earn their way in by winning a satellite contest at a much smaller ante. This final event is so large now half the field will begin on Saturday, with the other half starting Sunday. By the end of the weekend, though, half the contestants will be eliminated.
Some Internet sportsbooks are taking action on who wins the WSOP, including betfair.com, BoDog, Olympic and Pinnacle, which in addition to future odds has 36 matchups. Affleck faces fellow actors Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio in two of the matchups.
?Ben Affleck can play, James Woods can play,? said Larry Grossman, a gaming analyst and host of the popular Las Vegas radio show You Can Bet on It. ?Just because they?re actors doesn?t mean they don?t study it or get involved. If Affleck gets some cards, he?ll know what to do with them.?
These guys aren?t there for the publicity. They love gambling. So do a lot of young poker players, who are much more savvy because of various Internet poker sites and increased television coverage. Chris Moneymaker, last year?s winner, is only 28. He?d never played live in a big tournament until the 2003 WSOP, having earned his seat winning an online satellite tournament.
?It used to be the older generation would see a 27-year-old guy across from them and they would think we have a fish in the game,? Dalla said. ?Now you can?t make that assessment and be accurate. We already have five gold bracelet (event) winners this year under 25.?
Right outside a poker room on the second floor, where different events leading up to the no-limit hold?em final are being contested, there are around 55 different poker books being displayed and sold. The top four biggest selling poker books are ?Positively Fifth Street? by James McManus, ?Super System: A Course in Power Poker? by Doyle Brunson, ?No-Limit Texas Hold?em: The New Players Guide? by Tom McEvoy and Brad Daugherty, and ?Middle Limit Hold?em Poker,? by Bob Ciaffone, according to Bob Wynne, manager of Playersbooks.com.
?Poker has gone mainstream,? Wynne said. ?You go into a bookstore and you?ll find just about any type you?re looking for, and the rest you can find at gambling specialty stores.?
Because of the size of the field and the increased sophistication level, it?s really impossible to project a winner.
?When the tournament was 200-300 players theoretically you could put numbers on guys because you could eliminate half the field as dead money,? Dalla said. ?There were tiers of favorites with a super elite class of about 15-25 players. But now, with maybe 2,000 entries, it?s impossible to say the odds on the favorite. Phil Ivey, for example, might be no better than 400-1 or 500-1.?
Grossman is even blunter when asked about anointing a pre-tournament favorite.
?It?s absurd to try to pick the winner,? he said. ?Anybody who thinks they know who is going to win is an idiot. I?d play the field. I?d rather have 1,500 people than 500.?
Judging by the last six years, the field would be the way to go. Scotty Nguyen won in ?98. Dalla said he might have been a field entry. Noel Furlong, the ?99 winner, would have been in the field. Dalla also said the past three winners (Carlos Mortensen in 2001, Robert Varkonyi in 2002 and Moneymaker) definitely were all field entrants. So luck also is a huge factor.
?If you make one mistake you?re dead,? said Ted Sevransky, a professional gambler, who competed in the WSOP last year. ?That?s the nature of the game. It takes a lot of luck to go with any skill you might have.
?The biggest mistake newcomers make is they get impatient. The World Series of Poker is set up where the best players will find chances over the course of time. With the blind structure moving up so slowly - you get two hours - you have ample time to make a move.?
(off my daily "blankets" emailing)
