WSOP/C Tunica Player of the Tournament

This is an independent player of the tournament list that I created.

All the rules follow that of the WSOP Player of the Year criteria found at...

http://www.cardplayer.com/rules-poy

I unfortunately could only create a list from ring event stats (Noon Events), as those are the only one's officially posted online at...

http://www.wsop.com/tourney/tourneydetails.asp?groupID=740

I am starting with a list of 45 (9 event results posted), and will add five players to the list for each tournament. By the end I will have a 95 player list.

I, of course, do not have any exciting prizes to offer for any specific winners. Maybe I will find something exciting to give by the end of all of this.

Here it is...

1. D. Johnson - 480 $47,321

2. D. Puza - 480 $22,218

3. R. Hankins - 480 $16,314

4. P. Sullivan - 400 $26,879

5. E. Magrath - 400 $12,956

6. D. Radanov - 400 $9,809

7. M. Crump - 360 $20,185

8. J. Elliott- 348 $19,401

9. S. Brown - 348 $32,397

10. R. Gibson - 335 $8,620 $1,053

11. B. Roberts - 329 $16,782 $1,293

12. M. House - 320 $7,036

13. J. White - 312 $17,129 $723

14. J. Rogers - 300 $12,277

15. J. Mink - 290 $11,184

16. R. McGhee - 276 $15,715

17. K Piel - 255 $13,508 $878

18. C. Dawson - 250 $14,024 $1,503

19. R. Schorr - 250 $10,475

20. R. Enis - 240 $8,738

21. B. Byram - 240 $5,023

22. H. White - 232 $8,402

23. G. Banks - 230 $9,611

24. B. Garner - 215 $5,309 $1,030

25. D. Khuri - 200 $10,892

26. W. McPherson - 200 $4,019

27. R. Curtis - 200 $7,430

28. B. Carli - 184 $6,818

29. G. Thorpe - 180 $6,246

30. K. Buck - 178 $6,006

31. R. Hawkins - 178 $10,025

32. M. Smith - 162 $4,992 $962

33. R. Martin - 160 $3,997

34. L. Stevens - 160 $3,016

35. D. Brown - 160 $8,225

36. L. Beach - 150 $5,304

37. B. Clayborn - 148 $4,867 $1,173

38. J. Kassinger - 145 $4,800

39. D. Dwyer - 145 $8,012

40. R. Salinas - 125 $4,245

41. J.A. Hijair - 120 $3,746

42. A. Stein - 120 $5,458

43. J. Akins - 120 $2,655

44. R. Taylor - 120 $2,006

45. R. Russell - 115 $3,895

See recaps to the events here...

http://www.wsop.com/

Also, if you want to check the points based on the criteria go here..

http://www.cardplayer.com/rules-poy

The Place To Be

I am still a relatively new dealer but I have been in many parts of the country, not many beat Tunica, Mississippi.
Overall, there is not a whole lot to be done if you are not a gambler, but the people here all enjoy themselves and they all make their time and the time of those surrounding them valuable. That little thing called "southern hospitality" is no joke, the people here are as nice as can be.

The tournament has been running perfectly. Bad weather came and went this weekend and we are going back to full force. Besides for that unforeseen problem I don't think there has been another one I can think of.

You can see the field size, prize pool information and results here...
http://www.wsop.com/tourney/tourneydetails.asp?groupID=740

The player's seem more than satisfied with the unbelievably player friendly structures that tournament director Jimmy Sommerfeld implemented. The floor staff has been on the ball and this maybe the first time I have been around a room for more than an day where I didn't hear someone complain about a floor ruling. There are some really great dealers here as well that push me to get better and really focus.

Speaking of dealers, there are a couple of old time dealers here that have been dealing for decades. These dealers have so many great stories. I heard stories about all sorts of old time gamblers, like Puggy Pearson, Stu Ungar, Benny Binion, Jack Binion, Doyle Brunson, Russ Hamilton. Stories like a pool being collected by the regular player's at Binion's for a dealer to fight Stu Ungar as a joke (never done) or hiding money in Christmas boxes for a certain player that was flying home the next day. I could listen to these dealers all day and believe me they will talk all day about it too.
Anyone involved in the poker community back in those days is proud to have been apart of it; these days there are too many dealers that do nothing but complain. I love the history of this game, and to be honest am more intrigued by the old poker lifestyle than the new... though if it was not for the new I wouldn't have a job right now, so I am thankful for it.

As for me, I have been dealing long hours, but I have loved every second of it. The player's here make the time just fly by. The honest feeling I have in the box is that I am just hanging out with friends for a half hour and then moving on to another group of friends the next half hour. Throw some food in there every once in a while with dealer friends and that makes for a pretty good day.
I have been running good all around. Besides for the long hours and better than average wage I have also been running good at the poker table, in the little off time I have been given a chance to play. The cash games are beyond soft here.
The only thing I wish is that there was more of a mix of games going on. No Limit Hold Em is probably my least favorite game to deal, just because I deal it too often. I have dealt some different games in the live action, but not nearly enough different games. Where are all the mix game players around here. I might during my shift request to start an interest list for as many games as I can think of, that are not running, just to add some new excitement.

I put my name on an interest list to deal Reno's World Poker Challenge that will be going from Feb. 25th to March 14th, but I don't think my seniority will get me there. I am really crossing my fingers though, as there is 100k being added in total to the prizepools a 7-game freeroll and a big list of different games, which will be yummy.

Here is a copy of the schedule...
http://grandsierraresort.com/custom/uploads/files/2010WPC%20Tournament% 20Schedule.pdf

I also put my name up for Rincon (San Diego) from the 18th of March until the 30th of March. The event last year was apparently a good success with even more expected out of this year. I think I may have a chance to get into that event, and look forward to it if that is the case.

Here is a copy of the schedule...
http://www.wsop.com/tourney/tourneydetails.asp?groupID=749

Click on the schedule pdf in the middle of the page to view all events, including 4pm and 6pm events and satellite information.

Last and not least is an event I already have got into and that is St. Louis. That event will be massive and should be crazy fun. There are ton of players here in Tunica that are all going and as I said before all the people here are sweethearts.

Oh yeah and the schedule looks great too. Be there for all the action and for me to deal your opponents some bad beats.

Here is a copy of the schedule...

http://www.wsop.com/tourney/tourneydetails.asp?groupID=752

Click on the schedule pdf in the middle of the page to view all events as well.

Also, you can follow up with event updates from staff, questions being asked and answered from circuit regulars here...

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/65/tournament-circuit-wsop/st-louis-wsop-c-schedule-announced-648878/

*** Disclaimer: This is a personal blog that is not associated with or endorsed by any of the companies or individuals mentioned. The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of any associates or employers. ***

Don't Call It A Come Back!

I am back, this time with young wandering sister of the WSOP, the WSOP-Circuit.

I got here two days ago and am staying at a Harrah's Tunica hotel and dealing at the Harrah's Tunica Casino.

http://www.harrahstunica.com/casinos/grand-casino-resort-tunica/hotel-casino/property-home.shtml, a link to the Harrah's Tunica website.

http://www.wsop.com/tourney/tourneydetails.asp?groupID=740, a link to the schedule for all ring events. Please click on the "Schedule" button up top for information on other tournaments held, as well as structures.

Last year's tournament had great turnouts and giant prizepools.

http://www.wsop.com/tourney/tourneydetails.asp?groupID=508, a link for last year's results.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/65/tournament-circuit-wsop/wsop-tunica-01-20-10-02-11-10-a-639673/ , a link to a thread about the event where you can post questions and the tournament director himself, Jimmy Sommerfeld, and/or others playing the event will answer them.

This is all in Robinsonville, Mississippi which is about 10 minutes away from Tunica.

The town was a man-made almost island in order to meet a destination for the masses within the Mississippi Gaming Code. It is very easy to get in and out, and if you are here long enough you are going to want to do that.

There are, I believe, 9 casinos and not much else. Though you can get almost everything else in the casino, I will say that this is mainly a gambling town, the entertainment seems to be a distant second. But again, if you have a way out you can make your way to Memphis (20 minutes away) or other large cities for entertainment. I know I am going to try to catch a Memphis Grizzlies game.

This is going to be a really great event, because not only will I be getting a lot of work in but also almost every dealer will be staying in the same hotel. This has made it for a fun last couple of nights with many more to follow.

Thankfully us dealers know how to have a good time without much money being involved (even though we are really good at spending money also), because I am pretty broke right now.

There is some good gambling action going on, and the poker rooms are nice, but I will have to save all that for after I get some money coming in.

I am stoked that they have a Fudrucker's inside the Harrah's Casino, that will probably be one of my best friends while I am here.

I am making this a short blog entry as I have to get ready to head down to the gaming office and get some paperwork finished. The Wi-Fi here is not cheap, and I have yet to find a free location, so though I wanted to make this a daily blog it looks like it may only updated a couple of times per week.

I will, however, be posting event entry and prizepool information on my twitter account.

http://twitter.com/wanderingdealer

Lastly, much thanks for Poker Tournament Consultants for giving this guy a job, much appreciated.

http://pokertournamentconsultants.com/

Joao

The End

Back at home and wish I wasn't.

Long drive and a lot to think about... Out of the 3 options I had for my future plans went out the window and the two others still remain uncertain. One thing is for sure, I need to do something quick as I did not get to save as much money as anticipated ( I know shocker, right? ).

Day 4 was eventful for me, as I came into work and was told to be a runner. A runner's responsibility was to take a the most recent player who busted out of the Main Event to the proper cage to get paid out. I pretty disappointed that my last there I wouldn't even get a chance to deal. I do think there is a chance I may have got on ESPN, as I went behind the table of some dramatic situation with Phil Hellmuth on the table.

My overall experience at the Series is a really great one. Sure you heard your complaints of people on how much they were making, but for those that have limited financial responsibilities and no wife and kids to go home to I would have done it again for even less.

I forever can say that I dealt the 2009 World Series of Poker. I became a much better dealer, I had tons of fun in one of the most fun cities known to man, I met some great people, and I got a couple of doors opened up for me... I have no complaints.

Here is a top five list of things I will miss and not miss about the World Series of Poker...

Miss:

1. The girls you see everyday on the rail, crazy!

2. Playing Chinese Poker in the break room

3. Dealing the Omaha 8/b 75-150 game. I learned so much from sweating that game from the box.

4. Dealing some horrendous bad beats or coolers

5. From time to time being complemented on doing some aspect of a job you love well.

Not Miss:

1. Being told to chop a 2 dollar chip or 5 dollar chip, so they can give you one of it.

2. Being berated when you are right and the player is wrong

3. Scooping up a bet or cards from the player in seat 7 ( I am lefty )

4. Your table breaking out of an event you really wanted to deal in

5. The Bobbie Sandwich

I would also like to say that the staff did a tremendous job, no joke. Sure there were some rulings you kind of just shook your head at... but everyone was extremely professional, knowledgeable and very helpful. How they can run a 7 week series with that many players floating about and endless options with seemingly no hitches is just astounding to me.

A special thanks to Kim Smith for giving me this opportunity, now I wish she would just return her emails as I would like to make sure she knows how grateful I am.

And an extra job well done to Monica, Collins and Dan the swing shift Dealer Coordinators for being well organized and most importantly fair.

I am stoked to watched the taped events on ESPN and seeing people I know and dealt to... that should be a lotof fun. I can't wait to watch the Final Table too, mainly because Phil Ivey will be there... the man is sick, two bracelets this year, millions of cashes and millions of dollars in prop bet wins.

My goal next year is to work on my dealing enough to deal one or more Event Final Tables.

I cannot wait to go back next year and do it all over again.

Main Event and Misc.

I will try to keep it brief, but there is a lot of stuff I have seen or heard the last couple of days that I want to blog...

First of all, dealing Day 1d was as boring as boring can be. Everyone plays wicked tight during the Main Event first day it is scary... I don't blame them but it is just boring. Check-call on all streets with a set, non-bets with flushes on a paired board, things like that. Pre-flop is a different story, there was a lot of 3 bets and so forth, but everyone played post-flop like a knit. I did not knock out one single person. I did have some all-in calls but never busted anyone. Sick, right?

I did deal 14 straight downs as there was a sellout crowd of over 2800 players for that day alone... which I was stoked about, since I had a bet for over 6200 and we ended up having just about 6500. We would have had over 7k, but over 500 people got turned down because it soldout. How much would that suck, to be turned down to the one tournament you always dreamt about playing or have been waiting all year for? But to defend my employer, registration has been opened online since March and at the Rio since late May. Still... not fun! WSOP Staff will surely have to come up with some sort of system to balance the play for each day, since this kind of thing does not happen again.

The best thing that happened to me was on the last hand of the day...

I am pitching all of my cards and it gets to the very last card on the button and it flips over, a queen of clubs. I give the guy his new card and nothing is said. 2 people limp and then the button makes a raise to 2100 and the first limper calls.

Flop 7d-4s-2c

Check, bet 3300, calls

Turn 10c

Check, bet 5600, calls ( caller says " I guarantee I have you crushed" )

River 9h

Check, bet 12k-ish, calls

Button flips over hand and says "I have nothing, ace high". Limper flips over a set of fours.

At this point we start our bagging button players proceeds to say "Dealer to you realize how much money you have lost me? I would have had A-Q!". I was in utter shock, the guy still would have had no pair... but regardless he 3-barreled bluff on the last hand of the day against a guy that is clearly playing a defensive game to get to day 2,and he is calling your bets and tells you he has you crushed. I am sorry but don't blame me for playing your hand like complete garbage, especially since it would not have made a lick of difference. Crazy Stuff! I wish I could have just laughed at his face.

I had the day off during Day 2a, but just dealt Day 2b tonight. A little bit more exciting play and a lot more emotion being shown.

I dealt a sick big hand, real early...

Average stack at this point was less than 60k and blinds were 400-800 with a 100 ante.

MP player with a stack at around 150k raises to 2200 everyone folds to the SB, who is this loud British guy who has to be in his late 50's or 60's. He 3-bets to 6k, and MP player calls.

Flop Ad-7d-3d

British guy goes all in for 67k. MP player goes in the tank for like 2 minutes and makes the call with Ah-Qs. British guy shows Kd-Ks

Turn 9d

All of the sudden the guy jumps out of his seat and lets out a scream and then he says " London, can you hear me!", as loud as he can. Of course, I am laughing at how silly this guy looks and so is everyone at the table but the guy who just lost the pot to him.

After I push him the pot one of the floormen comes over and issues him a warning for excessive celebration.

I dealt to Shane Schleger two days straight, and he has to be open-raising more pots than anyone else in history. I mean honestly at least 3 hands an orbit.

Toto Leonidas, who I also dealt to, was also open-raising a ton and also doing a lot of 3-betting.

Dealt to Nick Schulman and he seemed genuinely upset at how card-dead he was. Also, at one point I heard one of the ESPN producers ask one of the print media employees who he was, since this employee kept eyeballing his stack. I thought at this point I may have have got some TV time, but nothing doing... I will tell you what though the girl who is one of the ESPN producers is seriously distracting me, she is so damn cute it is ridiculous. I keep honestly starring at her, and I know she has caught me more than one time.

As it gets time to go home I am starting to get multiple possible options to keep dealing. I have an interview today for a job here in a Vegas casino, the other is something I recently heard about dealers being needed in NH and me having a connection to possibly getting into there, and the last is possibly opening up my own business back at home ( involving poker ). My first option would be to stay here, but I would take any of the 3 at this point. As soon or if one becomes a reality and not just a possibility I will take it.

I am staying until Day 4, and I am sure by that time things will be a lot more exciting since we will be in the money at some point during that day.

Main Event News

Yesterday was the first day of the Main Event.

Nutty stuff, but not as nutty as I would have anticipated. Last time I was here, when I played in 2006, you could barely move it was so crowded... not so much this time.

We had 1100+ players the first day, and that was not far from last year at 1300+. But for whatever reason they decided that it would be a smart idea to have day 1b on the 4th of July... of course they got just around 900 players, the lowest total for any day one since 2003. I still say we will have about 5500, but that is not good news for me as I have a bet with a co-worker where I took over 6200 and he took the under...

I made this bet at the start of the series when every tournament was exceeding expected turnout... but come to find out it was because the Online sites were not giving entries to the WSOP Main Event like usual, but rather 10k and you can buy-in to whatever tournament. So, of course tons of people opted to play multiple smaller events than take one shot at the 10k Main Event.

Dealing Day 1a was fun though. We had media all over the place, taking pictures, filming, or even standing there taking notes on what happened during some of the bigger hands dealt.

We also were told any time we had an all-in and a call we were to yell this out, so if the ESPN crew cameras were around they could film it. I had this happen my very first table of the night...

Blinds 150-300

UTG, a older gentlemen with around 8k behind, raises to 800.

MP, a European PokerStars sponsored player who cameras were taking a lot of photos of, re-raises to 2200.

Folds around to UTG who makes the call

FLOP: Qd-Js-X

UTG goes all-in

MP player insta-calls

Hand is flipped over

UTG ( Kd-Qc )

MP ( Ks-Kh )

"ALL-IN CALL ON TABLE 71"

ESPN Crews come, Pokernews comes, and like 3 other media writers stand there with notepads...

TURN: 10s

River: 9d

Chop-Chop

So nothing too exciting, but I did get my ten seconds of fame... well, at least my arm did.

Unfortunately today I got stuck dealing Satellites, as there are still a ton of people hoping to find a way to play this event for cheap. But, I do hope to deal the Main Event tomorrow, as it should be the busiest of all the days and a mad house.

On an unrelated note, I have been playing Chinese Poker and Rummy at the Employee Break Room non-stop. We have been playing Chinese a dollar a point with just random employees... 2-7 in the middle and +1 on scoops, nothing fancy. As for Rummy it is usually just for fun, though I would like to throw around some action on that... but we have been playing 4 card runs only and you must have a set and a run to laydown; which makes the game insanely more complex and more strategical.

Almost time to pack and leave this place, and to be honest I don't want to. I have a handful of options, none of them concrete... some involve me staying out here, and that will be my first choice.

Half & Half Part 2

So here is the scoop on that half PLO and half PLO 8/b game I played...

We were playing with almost every player doing a five dollar button straddle and every player being at least 200 bb's deep. Game was very limpy and was playing lagy post-flop.
There was an even mix of players, some horrendous, some average, some good. So to be honest I was not sure what my strategy overall should be, as the players who were good were lagy and the average players were tag post-flop and the horrible players were just overall involved in every hand.
Overall, I ended up doing a lot of open limping from early on with hands that were playing well multi-way, and was loving those hands much more than any premium hand from early as you could never limit the field with a pot-sized raise (if they wanted to play they would no matter the early raise)... and was raising for value in late position with multiple hands to isolate ( a pot-sized raise here actually could thin the field ) and disguise my hand better.

Here are a couple of the hands that I was involved in...
1. PLO 8/b, As-2s-Qd-10d.
No Button straddle this hand. Playing six-handed, 2 limpers, I am on the button and raise to 10.
Both limpers call.

Flop Qs-10c-3d
I hit the flop decently, but am not getting married to it, surely. But I did want to maintain my bet-sizing a little smaller, in case I got check-raised ( which was happening often in this game ) and putting me to a tough decision.
Checked to me and I bet 18.
First limper folds and second limper ( who is a very good player, capable of a bluff with a blank queen here or air ) check-raises me to 75.
I am putting him on a K-J-( A or 9 )- X wrap, a queen and a wrap or turning a Q or 10 into a semi-bluff. I didn't place his range to include a set, because he was observant enough to notice that my c-betting frequency was not big, since most flops were playing very loose and extremely multi-way. Not to mention if he held a set he did not want me to get a free card on a board that more than likely hit my hand ranges either really big or piss poor.
I decided I did not want to play for the rest of my money on the flop ( began the hand with 350-ish ), and was going to go with it if a non-wrap clincher card came on the turn... as I knew he would probably fire pot-sized or close to it even if he missed.

Turn 10s
Gin!!! I am not going anywhere now.
He fires 120. I've got around 270 at this point and decided to make a quick call, trying to make him believe I was just taking a stand with aces and if he hits maybe he will fire off the rest of his chips on the river and give him a chance to bluff the river.

River 4h
He checks the river! NO!!!!!
So now I fire the rest, as I felt I couldn't pull out some weird bet size that would get called. Of course, he folded.
Bummer.

2. PLO, Ad-Qd-Js-9c ($450)... I think I played this hand real poorly and got lucky to win
Button straddle to start and I am in the small blind. I raise to 15, bb called, mp caller and button calls.

Flop 10c-8c-3s
I check, and for no particular reason why. Checks around

Turn 5d
I bet 45. Again, unsure why it was okay to bet now and not before. I had no real plan in the hand, I just played it like a complete fool.
Button thinks for a long time and smooth calls.


River Ac
I start to analyze the hand for a second before doing anything... and the button's indecisiveness gave me the instinct that he had a set of 5's or 3's. I decided if I applied the pressure with a pot-sized bet he would fold, as he seemed to be playing squeaky clean after being up a couple of bills for the night.
So I bet 140. He mulls it over for about a minute and folds.

Funny how this game is... one minute you have a plan for the entire hand and you win and then you enter the next one with no real hope and still pull one out of your ass.

Another awesome incident that happened at this table and a first for me, through a decent amount of years playing live...
This older gentleman, who was playing horrendously bad was down 20 dimes in this game and when he went to reach into his pocket for another 500 his wife came in behind him and started to scold him. He said he would be done in a half hour... she just drifted back about 25 feet and had this look to her like her head was going to explode.
About 5 minutes later he lost 300 dollars check-calling a flop, turn and river bet with one pair and a gutshot. After that hand a Rio security guard tapped this guy on the shoulder and said " Sir, it is about time you go up to your room ", he then immediately picks up his cheques and leaves.
I know some people like to think of me as a degenerate at times, but I have never got to that level... and I sure as hell hope I never do either.

Main Event starts in two days. Let's see what kind of mob we will have at the Rio then!