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Up top Down Under

This weekend will see the Australian Open, tennis’ first grand slam of 2010, come to a close in the sweltering heat of Melbourne Park.

However, on the other side of the city, an equally important tournament is taking place at the famous Crown Casino: The Aussie Millions.

The links between poker and tennis are quite close, and go much further than Caroline Wozniacki’s friendship with her fellow Dane Gus Hansen, who recently lost a reported €1.4million betting on Rafael Nadal to win the 2009 French Open.

Danish tennis star Caroline Wozniacki

While noted tennis pros such as Boris Becker and Yevgeny Kafelnikov have been seen taking to the felt, you may not know that some of poker’s biggest names were promising tennis juniors.

If things had turned out differently, the likes of David Benyamine and Patrik Antonius could have easily found themselves spending their summers on the green grass of Wimbledon rather than the green felt of Las Vegas.

Indeed Benyamine, now a regular at the ‘Big Game’ in Bobby’s Room, was one of the top tennis prospects in France before injury curtailed his career.

So what has prompted the love affair between poker and tennis?

Anyone for…poker?

On the face of things, the two could not be further apart. One is a physically exhausting endeavour, while the other is one of the sternest tests of mental agility.

But if you dig beneath the surface, the similarities are there for all to see.

Tennis is one of the few major sports focusing on individual achievement rather than team effort. As such, it requires a great amount of self-confidence and self-motivation for anyone to reach the top.

The same goes for poker, where ego is often your friend not your enemy. Mike Matusow, after a number of trials and tribulations, has publicised the importance of taking a positive mental attitude with you to the table, and this strategy has served him well.

Another aspect common to the two pursuits is a willingness to do everything within the rules to increase your chances of winning.

No, I’m not talking about bluffing. I’m talking about what some people in poker circles refer to as ‘angle-shooting.’ It happens in tennis too, you know.

David Benyamine has excelled at both poker and tennis

Since the advent of the Hawkeye system, this has only increased. While the system makes the game fairer in some respects, eliminating the margin for human error which has infuriated the likes of John McEnroe in the past, it also adds to the uncertain morals played out on the sport’s mental battleground.

Now challenges can be made simply to disrupt the rhythm of opponents, or to allow oneself more time to recover between points. It’s all another way of generating even the slightest of edges.

Meanwhile, the mind-games element of poker perhaps reached their logical conclusion at an EPT event last year, in a hand between Roland de Wolfe and Tobias Renkemeier.

After seeing his bet called on the river, charismatic English pro de Wolfe announced ‘king-high’ but declined to reveal his second card. German youngster Renkemeier, fully aware of the rules, demanded his opponent turn over the other card or else send his hand into the muck.

De Wolfe opted for the latter, at which point the German jubilantly slammed his cards down on the table, revealing only queen-high. He could not beat king-high, but the Englishman’s actions meant that Renkemeier, as the only player technically left in the pot, won the hand.

It may have been a morally questionable move, but rules are there to be exploited.

And that demonstrates why poker and tennis are so closely aligned. To get to the top of either you need a never-say-die attitude, a good balance of ego and talent, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to win.

Beating the rush

This week, Full Tilt Poker made an announcement they feel will change the dynamics of the online poker world.

Rush Poker, the company’s new brainwave, will see the waiting time between hands minimised as players are moved to a different table and dealt new cards as soon as they fold.

Former world champion Chris Ferguson has described Rush Poker as ‘the greatest innovation in online poker since poker started on the internet.’

2000 World Series of Poker champion Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson

Still, putting superlative statements from Team Full Tilt members to one side, Rush Poker is definitely something to be excited about.

Original November Niner Scott Montgomery famously described himself as being part of the ‘ADD Generation’, and this new strand of the game should help to tackle issues of patience and concentration within the game.

Many players get bored playing one table at a time online, and some have resorted to multitabling to get round this issue.

And this emphasises how much of a risk Full Tilt are taking with the introduction of this new system.

With some former-multitablers trying out Rush Poker as an alternative, the site may lose rake on tournament and cash table entries.

But the company must feel confident that they can attract more players from rival sites: players who (a) want to be among the first to try out this new and exclusive system, and (b) have until now seen multi-tabling as a necessary inconvenience, and believe they have something to gain from Rush Poker.

More than just a hobby

There is, however, one element of Rush Poker which I would consider to be a potential stumbling block.

Players like myself, who have something of a superiority complex at the table, value their ability to pick up on reads and patterns.

This is particularly true of players in the higher echelons of the game (myself not included, sadly), as evidence by the amount of money spent on programmes like Sharkscope which give insights into the history or playing style of opponents.

Furthermore, the recent controversy surrounding Brian Hastings and his fellow Team Cardrunners members exchanging hand histories before Hastings took on online prodigy Isildur1 demonstrates how the best players in the world like to look for ‘tells’ away from the live circuit.

Brian Hastings recently won over $4million with the help of hand histories

With the advent of Rush Poker, the ability of players to ‘do their homework’ is diminished. They will face different opponents every hand, leaving them insufficient time to pick up on their rivals habits and eccentricities at the table.

On the basis of this, it is difficult to see Rush Poker having a significant impact on the ‘nosebleed’ games, or even on mid-stakes tournaments.

One can only assume, therefore, that Full Tilt will be targeting the lower-level games, where the rake is higher and their is more money to be made. It would seem that they are confident enough of generating significant revenue to overcome the diminishing returns from multitabling.

It will be interesting to see if Rush Poker takes off. And, if it does, how will Full Tilt’s competitors respond?

Tiger Woods and Phil Ivey – a lesson in media management

It has emerged recently that Phil Ivey, one of the best and most famous poker players in the world, has been granted a divorce from his wife Lucaietta.

Phil Ivey with ex-wife Lucaietta

This news marks a sour end to a productive 12 months for Ivey, who won two World Series bracelets and reached the final table of the main event in Las Vegas.

Ivey’s nickname is ‘The Tiger Woods of poker’, and many commentators will be afforded a wry smile at these recent developments coming to light so soon after Woods’ own marital problems.

However – unlike the American golfer – Ivey may feel he deserves more privacy during what is hardly likely to be an easy time for him.

Comparisons will inevitably be made between Ivey's divorce and Woods' marriage to Elin Nordegren

Throughout his career, the California-born pro has made efforts to separate his private life from his professional life, so as not to put any unnecessary stress or attention on Lucaietta or indeed on his parents.

Consequently, any biographical article on Ivey will focus on his numerous poker achievements, and many will say this is the way things should be.

It therefore seems unlikely that fans or outside observers will delve too deeply into his marital situation.

Tiger Woods has lost a number of sponsorships, including a multi-million dollar deal with Gillette

Some might say that Woods is undeserving of the criticism and media attention which has come his way since allegations of unfaithfulness first surfaced.

But the fact is he has – through signing up to multi-million sponsorship deals with the likes of Gillette and American Express – set himself for public scrutiny.

In contrast, the one major endorsement deal to come Ivey’s way is his involvement with Full Tilt Poker, and it is stretching it a little to even call this an endorsement deal.

Instead, I would argue that it is more comparable with Woods’ deals with Titleist and Nike, whose relationship with the golfer fits in with his professional life.

And, to go one step further, Ivey’s position as one of the Team Full Tilt partners arguably alters his association with the company to an altogether professional relationship, in that any promotional work he does directly benefits a group to which he belongs rather than an external party paying him to indirectly boost its own bottom line.

Ivey's relationship with Full Tilt Poker will remain unaffected by his divorce

Some might argue that poker is an easier profession in which to keep a low profile, as its popularity is yet to reach the same heights as golf and other more mainstream sports.

But let us compare Ivey to his namesake and counterpart Phil Laak, whose relationship with Family Guy actress Jennifer Tilly is well-publicised.

Indeed Ivey himself is well-known worldwide, yet by distancing his wife from the poker world he has kept her out of the spotlight.

Jennifer Tilly and Phil Laak, arguably poker's most famous couple

Furthermore, few golfers’ wives are as well-known as Woods’ other half Elin Nordegren: despite no outward efforts to put her in the public eye, their relationship was reasonably well-documented even before the recent developments.

And, while Woods has arguably taken his sport to new heights in terms of popularity and TV viewing figures, such advances have not forced his counterparts at the top of the game to generate such a high media profile.

Although Woods’ supporters might argue that the press are responsible for the attention given to his private life, it is a two-way system and the likes of Ivey have shown that – if you don’t want anyone delving into your life away from the green grass or green felt – you can make every effort to ensure you get this kind of privacy.

Of course, I would never wish ill fortune on anyone away from the sporting arena, even if I may cheer against them on the field of play.

But I think the respective cases of Woods and Ivey are useful in showing the realms of golf and poker – and the sporting world in general – that there are two ways of going about your business.

And, in an analogy which resonates with the professions of both men, when you take risks you have to be prepared to take the rough with the smooth.

The Lost Boyd

Let me take you back to 2004. Poker was in the midst of the ‘Moneymaker Effect’, the world was captivated and confused in equal measure by Greg ‘Fossilman’ Raymer, and The Crew were set to take over the world.

Led by Russ ‘Dutch’ Boyd, and featuring an assortment of exciting young players including bracelet winners Brett Jungblut and Scott Fischman, The Crew were seen by some to be emblematic of the first wave of young internet pros.

But the game has passed them by somewhat, with Fischman the only member of the group close to keeping pace with the even younger and even more aggressive twentysomethings coming through towards the end of the decade.

Even Fischman’s final table at 2008s WSOPE Main Event pales in comparison to the expectations surrounding The Crew when they burst on to the scene in the first half of the decade.

Now Boyd is back in the news, but it’s not for his poker play.

[picapp align=”none” wrap=”false” link=”term=scott+fischman&iid=1861118″ src=”0/1/d/3/NBCs_4th_National_b189.jpg?adImageId=9578592&imageId=1861118″ width=”428″ height=”594″ /]

Crew member Scott Fischman

……….

2+2=5

It emerged recently that the 29-year-old is being sued by popular poker forum Two Plus Two for trademark infringement, with regards to the domain name ‘twoplustwopoker.com’ which he registered in 2004.

Despite the name having expired, Two Plus Two owner Mason Malmuth continues to seek damages from Boyd for what he has described as a “blatantly infringing, bad-faith registration.”

As Boyd’s site – when it existed – offered links to other poker-themed websites, so it is easy to see why Malmuth would take issue with what he might see as an exploitation of the respected ‘Two Plus Two’ banner for Boyd’s personal gain.

So, what has caused someone like Boyd, who once had the potential to let his poker do the talking, to find himself back in the headlines for all the wrong reasons?

Spot of bother

This is not the first time controversy has courted the University of Missouri graduate. Back in 2001, before his WSOP breakthrough, his ‘PokerSpot’ online cardroom landed him in all sorts of difficulties.

When PokerSpot closed down, it was alleged that the company failed to return players’ funds to the tune of around $400,000.

After months of silence, during which a number of players were unable to withdraw funds from the site for a variety of reasons, Boyd provided this open letter.

And the main issue to this day is arguably not the failure to recompense people who deposited money on PokerSpot per se, but rather the alleged reneging on promises – that’s right, promises – that the money would be returned.

Of course I’m just playing devil’s advocate here, but if this money is still yet to find its way back to its rightful owners, then might Boyd be able to pay back any existing debts with the money earned through his more recent venture twoplustwopoker.com?

Dutch courage

It is certainly true that the online game is not what it once was. The top players are increasingly aggressive, the pots are getting bigger, and the variance is growing to unprecedented levels.

And while many pros have no trouble making money from the online game, several of them have begun looking elsewhere to generate a more steady income to augment the money they make playing poker.

Howard Lederer, once one of the best players in the world, has arguably found it hard to compete with the best of the best as the structure and makeup of the game has changed.

But he is now seemingly set for life due to his involvement with Full Tilt Poker, a company which brings in many millions a year for the 14 pros who make up ‘Team Full Tilt.’

With this in mind, Boyd’s early venture with PokerSpot showed him to be ahead of his time. But the bottom line is it didn’t work out for him, in terms of income and reputation.

And surely the best option for Boyd is to stay away from controversy, stay out of the headlines, and go back to doing what he does best so he remains well-known as a poker player.

At this stage I do not want to say too much, as as far as I can tell the talks between Boyd and Malmuth are still ongoing and the argument – if not necessarily ‘raging’ – is still very much alive.

All I feel justified to comment on so far is the fall from grace of a player who had the potential to become one of the game’s greatest.

Now, unless a resolution can be found, it looks as though Boyd may be travelling down the same road once trodden by his namesake Russ Hamilton – a road which may end in him being remembered for something other than his poker ability.

And I think we can all agree that this would be a huge shame, as – regardless of the dated and sometime-ridiculous marketing of the crew – there is no doubting the talent and intellect of Dutch Boyd.

…

Scott Fischman’s website: http://www.scottfischman.com/

Howard Lederer profile: http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/howard-lederer

Team Full Tilt: http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/our-team

Ad of the decade

Hi there,

It’s been a while since my last post. The poker world has not been moving at such a whirlwind pace since the WSOP finished.

But now I will return to the fray with a post inspired by a debate raging in the Cardiff Journalism School newsroom – what is the TV advert of the decade?

This of course follows on from debates about the Sporting Icon of the Decade and the Album of the Decade.

After Ciaran Jones started proceedings, I have decided to throw in my two cents – I feel there can be only one winner in this debate:

A good advert has to be snappy, memorable and easily tieable to the product it is advertising. My choice has all these things.

When you add into the mix humour and a recognisable celebrity face, you can see that Full Tilt’s offering has all the ingredients needed for a classic ad.

Death of a true great

In lieu of a traditional blog post this week, I thought I would pay my respects to Annie Negreanu, the mother of top poker pro Daniel ‘Kid Poker’ Negreanu.

Annie passed away in her sleep in the early hours of Monday morning, after a long illness

Annie Negreanu celebrating with her son after his World Poker Tour victory

Daniel and his mother were very close, and no one would begrudge him some time away from poker as he comes to terms with his loss.

Annie, always a bubbly and friendly character suffered a heart attack earlier this year and, in her son’s words, ‘Has been through a lot.’

She was a devoted mother, caring for her son and cooking him and his poker-playing friends delicious food.

And, far from taking her for granted, Daniel has used his relationship with his ‘mama Negreanu’ as an example which he sets out for others to follow.

So all that remains to be said is RIP Annie

Just a kid with a dream

Nothing excites young poker fans more than an unknown player emerging from nowhere to take on the big guns.

The classic example of such a player is Phil Hellmuth, who was a new name for many when he became world champion in 1989.

But the rise of internet poker has added a new dimension to the journey of the challenger – complete anonymity, save for a screen name.

The daily grind

As soon as a new name sits down at the same online table as Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius or one of the many other high-stakes pros, speculation begins as to his or her identity.

Occasionally it will emerge that the player in question is a regular in mid-stakes cash games who has decided to ‘take a shot’ at the big time.

Of course, such a decision is a huge gamble for most players, but they could do worse than taking a leaf out of Tom Dwan’s book.

Top high-stakes pro Tom 'Durrrr' Dwan

Dwan, known online as ‘durrrr’, started out with a bankroll of $50 and played $6 tournaments to build this up to an amount which he could take to the cash tables.

He patiently decided to grind his way up the stakes, before taking on the big names only after attaining plenty of cash-game experience.

And look at him now. At just 23 years of age, durrrr is the newest member of Team Full Tilt, entitling him to a percentage of the lucrative Full Tilt Poker company and ensuring he will probably never have to worry about money again in his life.

But how much did you lose?

Dwan claims that he has never gone broke in all his time playing poker, despite reported seven-figure downswings, but who knows if the same can be said for some of the other youngsters who flirt with celebrity and poker immortality.

Within weeks of sitting down with $250,000 at a high-stakes online cash table, even a few days’ absence from the tables can lead to an online ‘superstar’ being ‘confirmed busto’ by the often-unforgiving Two Plus Two forums.

The latest to try their luck goes by the name of ‘Isildur1’, but who knows how long he (or she) will last before being replaced by another magnet for applause and abuse.

Online poker is a fickle business.

Danger is my middle name

It seems as though the gamble doesn’t pay off for a number of young pretenders, but the few who succeed are in line for huge rewards and even greater acclaim.

One prime example is Di ‘Urindanger’ Dang, who won the biggest pot in the history of online poker when his pocket aces defeated the pocket kings of none other than durrrr.

Di Dang (right) and his brother Hac (middle) are two online pros who have proven to be no flash in the pan

And many other online whizzkids have adapted their skills to the live game, with Matt Graham and Matt Hawrilenko winning bracelets at this year’s World Series of Poker and Joe Cada taking down the Main Event title.

With all these success stories, no wonder they keep coming back.

…

Tom Dwan signs for Team Full Tilt: http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/tom-durrrr-dwan-signs-to-team-full-tilt

Full Tilt Poker: http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/

Congratulations Joe Cada – 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event winner

So, after a marathon final table, the World Series of Poker 2009 has come to a close.

Congratulations to Joe Cada, who – at 21 – has become the youngest player to claim the world title.

But it was not easy for Cada to break Peter Eastgate’s record. He had to survive 17-and-a-half hours of play just to reach the final two.

And, despite holding a dominant lead over Darvin Moon after eliminating Antoine Saout in 3^rd, the pendulum swung back and forth over the 86 hands of heads-up play before Joe’s pocket nines held against Darvin’s queen-jack of diamonds.

World champion Joe Cada is mobbed by his team of supporters

It marked the end of a remarkable comeback for Cada, who was down to under 2.3 million in chips at one stage during the final table.

But the 21-year-old managed to fight back with a lot of nerve and a bit of luck to take the crown.

A long and winding road

In the lead-up to the final table, all the talk was of Phil Ivey, and whether he could reaffirm his tag as the best player in the world by taking the title.

It was not to be, however, as Moon got lucky when his ace-queen outdrew Ivey’s ace-king to send the Vegas pro packing in seventh place.

Phil Ivey hoped to be celebrating an eighth WSOP bracelet, but at 32 his chance will surely come again

Before Ivey’s exit, two other players had hit the rail after two very different aces-vs-kings encounters.

First out was James Akenhead. After having his chip-stack decimated when his kings ran into Kevin Schaffel’s aces, Cada finished him off to send the Londoner home $1.2million richer.

The next to follow was Schaffel himself. He looked to have put himself back in contention to win the event when he moved all-in with aces again and got a call from Eric Buchman’s kings.

But if the king on the flop wasn’t demoralising enough, Buchman made four of a kind on the turn to end the 52-year-old Floridian’s dream of Main Event success.

And then there were six

Following Ivey out of the door was Steve Begleiter. The former Bear Stearns exec was few people’s favourite to win after making some questionable plays en route to the November Nine, but he seemed to have improved his game after receiving coaching from multiple WPT champion Jonathan Little.

And ‘Begs’ was hugely unlucky in a hand against Saout, where he made a wonderful call on the flop with second pair against the Frenchman’s flush draw only for Saout to leave the New Yorker drawing dead after a third heart hit the turn.

To compound his ill-fortune, he got the last of his chips in with pocket queens against Moon’s ace-queen, but gt outdrawn once again.

Jeff Shulman was unable to emulate his father Barry's success, but he should be pleased with his performance

Next out the door was Jeff Shulman. The 34-year-old pro, who had finished 7th in 2000, didn’t really put a foot wrong throughout the final table. He played a patient game, no doubt influenced by the coaching of former world champion Phil Hellmuth, but it was not his day.

Shulman still managed to get his chips in with the best of it when his pocket sevens led against Saout’s ace-9, but a 9 on the flop ended his main event agonisingly short of the $8.5million first prize.

Crunch time

Eric Buchman must have thought the bracelet was his to lose after his elimination of Schaffel early on, and the New Yorker continued to bide his time and stay out of trouble throughout the early proceedings.

But he opened up his game when the tournament got four-handed, and lost a monster pot with ace-queen against Saout’s ace-king and exited soon after.

Yet again it was a questionable call from Moon which ended a player’s tournament, after the logger’s king-jack outdrew Buchman’s ace-five to send the 30-year-old back to New York with over $2.5million.

With three players left, Saout was most onlookers’ favourite to claim the crown, but two pivotal hands sent the chip-leader crashing out in third place. Who knows what would have happened if the Frenchman’s pocket queens had held against Cada’s pocket twos, or if his eights had held against Cada’s ace-king?

Antoine Saout probably deserved better than third place for his play

The final countdown

But in the end that coinflip ended Saout’s main event. He had turned an original stake of $50 into $3.5million, but still had cause to feel disappointed.

And his exit left Moon and Cada to fight it out for the bracelet. At the start of heads-up play Moon’s stack had barely deviated from the $58.93million with which he started the final table, while the chips of the other eight players had somehow all found their way to Cada.

Despite being less than half the age of his opponent, Cada’s greater experience of heads-up play (as well as his chip advantage) made him a strong favourite to defeat Moon, but it was far from easy.

The chip-lead swung back and forth over nearly three hours of play between the two rivals, but in the end Cada edged across the finish line and stepped into poker history.

November 9 preview #4 – the unknown contenders

The final table of the World Series of Poker is drawing ever-closer and there are still four men in contention who I haven’t mentioned.

Eric Buchman

Of the four, the individual with perhaps the best chance of victory is Eric Buchman.

Eric Buchman is in second place with over 34 million in chips

The 30-year-old pro from New York is making his second final-table appearance of the series after finishing 6^th in the $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo event, an event won by none other than fellow November Niner Phil Ivey.

And an impressive array of live cashes over the course of his career, coupled with the second-highest chipstack at the table, makes Buchman a force to be reckoned with.

Steve Begleiter

Few people would show any ill-will towards someone who has bounced back from losing their job to go on a deep run in a tournament like this.

But when you consider that Steve Begleiter was the head of corporate strategy at Bear Stearns bank, you can see why a number of casual poker fans might hold a grudge against the 47-year-old.

Some people have been eager to point the finger at the New Yorker, as he has been catapulted into the public eye by his poker success and can be tangibly linked to the bank collapse which cost many average joes a lot of money.

When you add to this some of the questionable plays that have helped propel Begleiter to the final table with the third-highest chipstack, it is clear to see that ‘Begs’ is not most people’s first choice to win.

Kevin Schaffel

At 52 years of age, Kevin Schaffel is the oldest player remaining in the main event, but he has some pedigree at this level.

You may remember the Floridian from 2004, when he finished 42^nd in Greg Raymer’s victory year (you can see him here – blink and you’ll miss it), and Schaffel also cashed in last year’s main event.

He also looks to be one of the form players coming into the final table, after cashing in an EPT event and finishing runner-up to Prahlad Friedman in August’s WPT Legends of Poker.

But Schaffel remains a casual player in truth, and a win for him would be a big surprise. But this is the World Series of Poker and anything could happen.

Joe Cada

The final player in the field is Joe Cada, who starts the final table in 5^th position, marginally ahead of Schaffel.

Cada is the only player left who is capable of breaking Peter Eastgate’s record and becoming the youngest ever world champion. He is only 21 years old, and consequently this is his first ever World Series of Poker.

He has taken to the live game well, cashing in two No Limit Hold ‘Em events for just under $30,000 before the main event, but the online game is where he has had the most success.

Known as jcada99, he has reeled off a series of notable results, includ first place finishes in a WCOOP event on Pokerstars and in the Full Tilt Poker $750,000 guaranteed, both of which earned him comfortably over $100,000.

These victories show that Cada is more than capable of doing well at the business end of big tournaments, but it remains to be seen whether he can make it happen on the biggest stage of all.

So close you can almost touch it.

As I write this, play at the final table is less than an hour away. Can you feel the excitement? I know I can.