WSOP 2005 Day 5 part 2
I arrived at my ESPN interview and met Norman Chad. I think that Dave had spoken with him about me before the interview. He was really nice to me... he said he'd be cheering for me if it wasn't for my stupid Wilco t-shirt. I said "You don't like WILCO?!?!" He said he was just kidding, and that he thought they're an amazing band, as did one of the camera operators. I told them that the lyrics to 'War on War' had been going through my head for the duration of the tournament. Much like Amir Vahedi's quote, the lyrics are: "You gotta learn how to die, if you wanna be alive". I said these lyrics reminded me a lot of poker, and they agreed.
I took a quick look at their lighting set-up: very contrasty, and therefore dramatic, just as expected. A girl sat to the left of the camera, and I was to look at her when I answered her questions.
There were a LOT of questions about Team Canuck Poker, are we the Canadian version of "the crew" etc... I replied that I guess you could say that, but we're more about having fun with poker. It's a game, we like to treat it as such, not take it too seriously, not throw fits, etc. The answer seemed to please her, and Norman. She asked me about my beaver card marker, trying to keep a straight face. I replied, with a small grin, that I'd seen a lot of nice beavers in my time, but this one, this one, was particularly nice. The camera guy cracked up. Will it make it to TV? Probably not, but I hope so.
More questions about me, my background in drama, does that help me at the poker table, etc. Actually, the interview went on for much longer than I'd anticipated. If I remember anything else about it, I'll add it at some point.
I was then taken to another room which had almost the same set-up as the one I'd just left. Same poker table, same chips, and similar lighting. Different camera configurations though... in this room, they had a PortaJib and a still photographer, so I knew what they wanted. It wasn't an interview, it was cutaway shots. Me staring directly into the moving lens, looking tough, confident, proud, happy, mean, etc. I knew what they were after, and I gave it to them. I asked the camera guy if I looked like a doofus. He told me that no, I looked confident. Well, I could fool a camera, but could I fool a table of poker players? Time would tell.
Then I wolfed down my styrofoam prime rib with the top-notch cutlery. I was sitting at a table with a guy who was also eating out of styrofoam, but he had a burger and fries. He made a comment about the difference in our meals, I explained the situation, and he wished me the best of luck. Annie was at the next table, having a discussion on her phone with a tournament director, I assume. From what I could tell, in one of the last pots Annie had played, there was some sort of discrepency in the chips. Either she had lost more than she should have, or she didn't win as much as she was supposed to. I sat there thinking: well, they're not going to let you back into the tournament now, so why bother? I kept my mouth shut though.
The interview with Amy and PokerPages came shortly after. I tried not to sound like a moron, and it was over. Then I went to the final table, and stood there in the middle of it for a moment, taking it in. The crew was bustling with activity, and I stood stone still, marvelling at where I was and what I was about to do.
We got our microphones, and our instructions about how to look at our hole cards. We were encouraged to be animated. They let the crowd in, and Johnny Groomis performed the introductions. When it came to me, I was disappointed that he didn't mention Team Canuck. I had it on my sheet, but he didn't mention it. Arg. Furthermore, throughout the tournament, he kept referring to me as 'the angry beaver', referencing my card marker. If you look at the thing, it's anything but angry, and I told him so, repeatedly. He would say "the angry beaver folds" or something, and I would say "it's a HAPPY beaver". At one point, I even added the word "goddammit".
We were also told, before the cards were dealt, that in all-in situations, the cards would be dealt excruciatingly slowly for this and that reason. At some point, someone came and put a small piece of black tape on the back of my (Dave's) jacket, covering the "com" in "www.canadianpoker.com". I heard Bob say from the stands: "www dot canadian poker dot... gee, I forget."
Bob, Dave, and Ralph were the loudest guys in the place. When my name was mentioned they slammed their butts up and down on the benches, I guess emulating the way a beaver acts with its tail in the water when it gets excited.Â
They were embarrassing, in an endearing sort of way.
Shuffle up and deal. I started the final table with, I believe, the second largest stack. That meant nothing. I wasn't kidding myself... 7 or 8 of our stacks were close enough to each other to make it anyone's game, particularly when you consider the size of the blinds. The structure almost made it a no-limit game, that's how committed you were to the hands you played.
Hands? What hands. I didn't get any. Who cares though, I'm not here to complain. Far from it. I will, however, tell you about the hands I remember.
I remember staying out of some massive pots. One player beat flopped sets twice, once by hitting a gutshot on the turn. After seeing big hand after big hand being shown down, I thought to myself that I better get one or two of those big hands, or I was going to be crushed.
And crushed I was. But not before four other people got crushed before me. Here are some hands I played, in no particular order except for the last one:
I picked up KTo in MP and raised after it was folded to me. BB called. Flop came 3 low cards. Check check. Turn was a queen, he checked, I bet, he folded.
I picked up KQo in EP and raised. BB called. I forget what the flop was, but it missed me completely. No high cards. He checked, I bet, he called. Turn paired one of the low cards on the flop. He checked, I bet, and he thought for a while. I thought to myself "I have a pocket pair I have a pocket pair I have a pocket pair". He folded, and said that my blind steal worked. I told him that was a long way for me to go to steal his big blind, and he said that's part of the reason why he folded.
I picked up JcQc in the BB. UTG raised, and only I called. The flop was AT8 with 2 spades, giving me a double belly buster. I checked, he bet, I called. The turn was a brick... a low card, not a spade. I checked, he bet, I called. The river paired the ace, not a spade. I bet out, hoping that he didn't have an ace. Hoping he was betting a flush draw the whole way. Hoping, basically, that he had a hand he could fold. He raised, and I folded. He told me he had AT.
I picked up aces on the button and raised and got no callers.
I had AQo UTG and raised. The player to my left 3 bet. The button flat called the 3 bets. Blinds folded, I called. 3 of us saw a flop that was something like 883. I checked, player to my left bet, button raised, and I folded. Other guy called. Turn was a queen, and I had mixed feelings. That card would have either saved me or killed me by giving me a strong second best hand. The button eventually won the pot without showing, and told me later he had pocket kings. I asked him why he didn't cap preflop then, and he said he wanted to see a flop without an ace in it first. We'll see.
I picked up ATo in the BB and had to fold it preflop after the pot was raised and reraised. I would have missed, anyways.
Folded to SB -- an aggressive player -- who raised my BB. I defended with K6o. The flop came T63 or something. He bet, I raised, he called. The turn was a jack, I think. Check check. The river was another card, I forget which one, he bet, I called and he showed me pocket kings, saying "you were supposed to bet the turn". I mucked.
Last hand to follow.
I took a quick look at their lighting set-up: very contrasty, and therefore dramatic, just as expected. A girl sat to the left of the camera, and I was to look at her when I answered her questions.
There were a LOT of questions about Team Canuck Poker, are we the Canadian version of "the crew" etc... I replied that I guess you could say that, but we're more about having fun with poker. It's a game, we like to treat it as such, not take it too seriously, not throw fits, etc. The answer seemed to please her, and Norman. She asked me about my beaver card marker, trying to keep a straight face. I replied, with a small grin, that I'd seen a lot of nice beavers in my time, but this one, this one, was particularly nice. The camera guy cracked up. Will it make it to TV? Probably not, but I hope so.
More questions about me, my background in drama, does that help me at the poker table, etc. Actually, the interview went on for much longer than I'd anticipated. If I remember anything else about it, I'll add it at some point.
I was then taken to another room which had almost the same set-up as the one I'd just left. Same poker table, same chips, and similar lighting. Different camera configurations though... in this room, they had a PortaJib and a still photographer, so I knew what they wanted. It wasn't an interview, it was cutaway shots. Me staring directly into the moving lens, looking tough, confident, proud, happy, mean, etc. I knew what they were after, and I gave it to them. I asked the camera guy if I looked like a doofus. He told me that no, I looked confident. Well, I could fool a camera, but could I fool a table of poker players? Time would tell.
Then I wolfed down my styrofoam prime rib with the top-notch cutlery. I was sitting at a table with a guy who was also eating out of styrofoam, but he had a burger and fries. He made a comment about the difference in our meals, I explained the situation, and he wished me the best of luck. Annie was at the next table, having a discussion on her phone with a tournament director, I assume. From what I could tell, in one of the last pots Annie had played, there was some sort of discrepency in the chips. Either she had lost more than she should have, or she didn't win as much as she was supposed to. I sat there thinking: well, they're not going to let you back into the tournament now, so why bother? I kept my mouth shut though.
The interview with Amy and PokerPages came shortly after. I tried not to sound like a moron, and it was over. Then I went to the final table, and stood there in the middle of it for a moment, taking it in. The crew was bustling with activity, and I stood stone still, marvelling at where I was and what I was about to do.
We got our microphones, and our instructions about how to look at our hole cards. We were encouraged to be animated. They let the crowd in, and Johnny Groomis performed the introductions. When it came to me, I was disappointed that he didn't mention Team Canuck. I had it on my sheet, but he didn't mention it. Arg. Furthermore, throughout the tournament, he kept referring to me as 'the angry beaver', referencing my card marker. If you look at the thing, it's anything but angry, and I told him so, repeatedly. He would say "the angry beaver folds" or something, and I would say "it's a HAPPY beaver". At one point, I even added the word "goddammit".
We were also told, before the cards were dealt, that in all-in situations, the cards would be dealt excruciatingly slowly for this and that reason. At some point, someone came and put a small piece of black tape on the back of my (Dave's) jacket, covering the "com" in "www.canadianpoker.com". I heard Bob say from the stands: "www dot canadian poker dot... gee, I forget."
Bob, Dave, and Ralph were the loudest guys in the place. When my name was mentioned they slammed their butts up and down on the benches, I guess emulating the way a beaver acts with its tail in the water when it gets excited.Â
They were embarrassing, in an endearing sort of way.
Shuffle up and deal. I started the final table with, I believe, the second largest stack. That meant nothing. I wasn't kidding myself... 7 or 8 of our stacks were close enough to each other to make it anyone's game, particularly when you consider the size of the blinds. The structure almost made it a no-limit game, that's how committed you were to the hands you played.
Hands? What hands. I didn't get any. Who cares though, I'm not here to complain. Far from it. I will, however, tell you about the hands I remember.
I remember staying out of some massive pots. One player beat flopped sets twice, once by hitting a gutshot on the turn. After seeing big hand after big hand being shown down, I thought to myself that I better get one or two of those big hands, or I was going to be crushed.
And crushed I was. But not before four other people got crushed before me. Here are some hands I played, in no particular order except for the last one:
I picked up KTo in MP and raised after it was folded to me. BB called. Flop came 3 low cards. Check check. Turn was a queen, he checked, I bet, he folded.
I picked up KQo in EP and raised. BB called. I forget what the flop was, but it missed me completely. No high cards. He checked, I bet, he called. Turn paired one of the low cards on the flop. He checked, I bet, and he thought for a while. I thought to myself "I have a pocket pair I have a pocket pair I have a pocket pair". He folded, and said that my blind steal worked. I told him that was a long way for me to go to steal his big blind, and he said that's part of the reason why he folded.
I picked up JcQc in the BB. UTG raised, and only I called. The flop was AT8 with 2 spades, giving me a double belly buster. I checked, he bet, I called. The turn was a brick... a low card, not a spade. I checked, he bet, I called. The river paired the ace, not a spade. I bet out, hoping that he didn't have an ace. Hoping he was betting a flush draw the whole way. Hoping, basically, that he had a hand he could fold. He raised, and I folded. He told me he had AT.
I picked up aces on the button and raised and got no callers.
I had AQo UTG and raised. The player to my left 3 bet. The button flat called the 3 bets. Blinds folded, I called. 3 of us saw a flop that was something like 883. I checked, player to my left bet, button raised, and I folded. Other guy called. Turn was a queen, and I had mixed feelings. That card would have either saved me or killed me by giving me a strong second best hand. The button eventually won the pot without showing, and told me later he had pocket kings. I asked him why he didn't cap preflop then, and he said he wanted to see a flop without an ace in it first. We'll see.
I picked up ATo in the BB and had to fold it preflop after the pot was raised and reraised. I would have missed, anyways.
Folded to SB -- an aggressive player -- who raised my BB. I defended with K6o. The flop came T63 or something. He bet, I raised, he called. The turn was a jack, I think. Check check. The river was another card, I forget which one, he bet, I called and he showed me pocket kings, saying "you were supposed to bet the turn". I mucked.
Last hand to follow.
Comments
Ralph and I were also gambling on every flop and on every hand. That only lasted for about an hour (I was stuck a dime) and we got bored of that.
Of course this is about adrenaline (Dave Scharf) / body language but I thought it was interesting you were doing this at a WSOP final table. This was in Negreanu's blog yesterday...
I knew you'd say that!