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WSOP Update: Let them play

For the second time so far this WSOP, the tournament staff, as required, has stopped an event with just a few players in contention. Event 8, the $1,000 no-limit hold ‘em event, was down to its final three players when the WSOP followed through on its hard stop rules put in place in 2011. Now, I understand that it’s beneficial for many people, such as the tournament staff, media and camera team most of the time, since they know when play will conclude. But it’s not always in the players’ best interests. I’m not saying it’s never in the players’ best interests, but not always.

Here are the chip counts for the final three:

Sadan Turker — 7.9 million in chips Sean Getzwiller — 3.9 million in chips Jon Turner — 1.6 million in chips

There are a few schools of thought regarding the cessation of play early Wednesday morning, and in full disclosure, I haven’t spoken to any of the remaining players (this is merely my outsider’s opinion). If you’re Sadan Turker and hold this huge chip lead, you probably just want to finish this thing out. Of course, he may have been tired and loved to see play end for the night, but with such a substantial chip lead and momentum in your corner, do you really want to sleep on it for a night and let your opponents return to form? The other two players could feel the same way and might just want to wrap the event up, but that’s not an option this year.

If I’m Jon Turner, the most experienced player out of these three, I might be slightly happier to have the break. I come back with 21 big blinds and know that I’ll be rested and able to think clearly after some sleep.

Regardless of chip counts, you’re at a pivotal point in a tournament, and I think it’s unfortunate that the hard stop rule applies to final tables. Would a baseball game stop in the eighth inning when there’s no rain and players are fully capable of continuing? Would the NFL stop a game just before it goes into the final two minutes? There’s no chance that this would happen in any other event, and I think, and hope, that 2012 will bring a change in perspective by the WSOP. I love the idea that play during the first few days should be capped to ensure that players are at their best, but I think stopping a tournament during these late stages is just wrong. Let them play it out.

In my eyes, the options are to complete all final tables once they have begun or gather the opinions of the remaining players at the start of a day that might run long. I also am scared to think of what happens on the Nov. 9 bubble when nobody wants to go home and it’s 3 a.m. There needs to be some leniency, and I don’t think the rules, while in the best interests of the players, have taken this into consideration.

The final three will return to the felt Wednesday afternoon to crown a champion. Where they return to might be another question; according to Bluff, there was an issue with the cards underneath the feature table lights early Wednesday morning. It seems that marks were able to be seen on the low spades (2-5) only in the feature table area, and thus play was moved from the arena to the outside tables where players could not identify any marked cards.

All three players have locked up at least $274,005 for the biggest cashes in each of their careers.

Event 10: Six-handed no-limit hold ‘em

Fifteen players remain out of the once-huge field of 1,920 players, and Jeffrey Papola is again the story when it comes to a six-handed event. In 2010, Papola won his first bracelet in the $5,000 six-handed event just days after he finished second in a $2,500 six-handed event. Now, entering Day 3 of Event 10, he’s in the lead and looking for yet another six-figure score in a shorthanded event.

Right behind Papola is Alex Wice, who is making his second cash of the 2011 WSOP. Wice has a third-place finish from the 2010 WSOP eight-game mixed event along with a final table at EPT Deauville earlier this year. Unlike Papola, Wice does not have any six-handed scores to his name. Day 2 chip leader Anthony Spinella also remains in the race and will enter Day 3 in eighth place.

Event 11: Omaha high-low split World Championship

The second $10,000 buy-in of the WSOP is down to the final 22 players out of the starting 202. Canadian Guillaume Rivet is the overwhelming chip leader and has already secured the second-largest live cash of his career. He cashed in the limit Omaha high-low split event last week, finishing in 15th. In second is Alessio Isaia, who just continues to put up results at the WSOP and is hoping to improve on his runner-up finish in Event 5. With at least a fifth-place finish in this event, Isaia will break the $1 million earnings mark in 2011.

This event will have a big impact on fantasy teams, as well, since Michael Chow (Baldwin), Mikael Thuritz (Negreanu), Steve Billirakis (Holloway), Shaun Deeb (Pilgrim) and Freddy Deeb (Seif) are still in contention. A few non-fantasy notables among the 15 are Mike Sexton, Josh Arieh, Kirill Gerasimov, George Lind, Richard Ashby and Eric Buchman.

Event 12: Triple Chance no-limit hold ‘em

The only event that started on Tuesday was the Triple Chance event, where each player begins with 1,500 in chips and has the ability to add 3,000 more at any point during the first four levels. Peter Hernandez leads the surviving 160 players and will enter Day 2 with a two-big blind lead over Jonathan Karamalikis. Third place belongs to WSOP bracelet-holder J.C. Tran.

Play will continue on Wednesday just 16 spots short of the money. The field of 1,340 dictated that 144 will earn a return on their investment with a minimum payout of $2,822.

Fantasy Update

I definitely didn’t think I’d be able to say this after 10 events, but I’m winning. Here’s a look at the current standings through Event 10:

Feldman: 207 (8 points from Mercier in Event 11 not included) Bradley: 185 Baldwin: 117 (Points from Chow tbd in Event 11) Pilgrim: 94 (Points from Deeb tbd in Event 11) Lee: 65 Chops: 63 Phillips: 43 Wise: 32 Seif: 17 (Points from Deeb tbd in Event 11) Negreanu: 6 (Points from Thuritz tbd in Event 11) Holloway: 0 (Points from Billirakis tbd in Event 11)

The Big Picture

It’s a great sign that the WSOP continues to sign corporate sponsors. In my inbox today, the WSOP announced they had secured a deal with GoDaddy.com, the web hosting provider. GoDaddy will have placement on the felt at the WSOP which will be easily visible on ESPN’s WSOP broadcasts. Additionally, the Sheets Energy Strips also can be found along the rail of the feature table. At a time when the poker world is searching for partners, it’s great to see a few new companies step up this year and join the fun.

Finally, two events begin on Wednesday, the $1,500 no-limit shootout and the $3,000 limit hold ‘em event.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, July 3rd, 2011 and is filed under Gambling Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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