Andy Beal crushes the corporation
If you have read "The Philosopher, The Banker, and the Suicide King" you will know who Andy Beal is.
Yesterday, he left Vegas a winner. Is this good or bad for poker? Here is a snippet from some correspondence I have had (identities protected):
Received by me:
Bluffmagazine forum administrators have reported that Beal took down the corporation for $10,000,000 over the last 3 days. On day 1 he beat Harman for 5mil, beat Todd Brunson for 1.5 mil on day 2, and Ted Forest apparently dropped 3.5 million on day 3.
Sent by me to source:
Any truth?
Received from source:
Yup - and I was there. In fact I had lunch with Andy Beal right after the victory.
Yesterday, he left Vegas a winner. Is this good or bad for poker? Here is a snippet from some correspondence I have had (identities protected):
Received by me:
Bluffmagazine forum administrators have reported that Beal took down the corporation for $10,000,000 over the last 3 days. On day 1 he beat Harman for 5mil, beat Todd Brunson for 1.5 mil on day 2, and Ted Forest apparently dropped 3.5 million on day 3.
Sent by me to source:
Any truth?
Received from source:
Yup - and I was there. In fact I had lunch with Andy Beal right after the victory.
Comments
Interesting how CP haven't posted anything yet, but more interesting how CP said Jenn lost 2 million, rather then 5 according to Bluff.
Good. Extremely good. Chris Moneymaker winning the WSOP good.
ScottyZ
CP doesn't seem to have the most current updates, and Bluff got Craig to write an article for them, thus the better info from Bluff. For "proof by association", apparantly Barry Greenstein contacted Bluff for some updates on what was going on, so it would seem to be reliable.
I'd love to see this match - that would be great TV
I met Mr Craig at the 2005 and fell all over myself complimenting his book. Nice guy. Awesome book. He is writing more on the Andy Beal game.
I have been lurking at Bluff's forum for quite a while (at least a few months), maybe I should sign up one day. According to the forum, Michael will be having a 15K article published in the April edition of Bluff magazine, can't wait.
I see your point, but don't you think it's bad that 10 million dollars is now gone from the "poker world"? You know how poker money gets redistributed all the time... filters down to the lower limits after Jennifer Harman loses 400K to player X in a cash game, player X takes that and loses 200K of it in a smaller game to player Y, player Y takes that and loses 100K of it in a smaller game to player Z, and so on, and so on, until eventually it bankrolls some bad 20/40 players for us to beat up on...
Or am I crazy here.
My two cents
Paul
There is a net in one direction or the other. The operator's of my sponsor online sites tell me that a HUGE majority of money is cashed out of the sites at the bigger levels. Money trickles up. And up. And up.
This $10 million is gone to the poker community. It is, however, a drop in the bucket. I am with ScottyZ, big time. Amateurs beating pros is good press. How inspiring would it be to learn that Gurn Blandson practiced for a year and then beat Tiger Woods. Amateurs would be very inspired and would not care that Gurn had millions to hire the best coaches, etc.
Maybe it gets "shuffled" near the top. But, 90% of the grinders on here, made money at low limits, moved up, lost.
Went back down, made money, moved up, won, moved farther up, lost and repeated...
My guess is most of the money finds it way to the top of the pyramid.
I don't think it will bring a bunch of amatuers to the game, but it gives all of the players out there hope that they too can beat the big game. They just need the dough to get there -- right?
The reality is that Andy's study of the game got him to this point -- and the top pros really don't like to study. Heck, they can't even get up in the morning for the biggest game they every played (todd brunson had to let his dad play one of the sessions until he could get up in the afternoon).
There's going to be a new breed of top pros, and they will put this current crop to shame. Kind of like the hockey world (I don't know other sports). Used to be that raw talent got you to the top ranks. Once there, drinking smoking and lots of RR during the off season was the general practice. These days, if you're not in top shape all year round, you're sucking wind in the minor leagues.
Good, very good.
Cheers
Magi
Just my two cents...
That 10 mil likely represents all the chips members of the 'corporation' keep in safety deposit boxes in Vegas. Sure their net worth is much bigger but it's not readily accessible for gambling. So ya, the loss is a big deal to them. And it will put a damper on high stakes poker in Vegas since it'll be a while before that money is replenished.
As an aside, what do you think the total income (gambling and all the other ventures) and net worth of the corporation is? Compared to Andy Beal, I expect it is peanuts. As I understand it, his recipe is to increase the stakes to the point where the corporation is effectively playing with scared money. If the stakes are immaterial to Beal, he just has to ride the variance rollercoaster and get off at the top. Last time, I hear he stayed on too long...
I know I saw a story about that.
The $10 million, however, makes him a net winner lifetime.
I think he has lost this edge. Members of the corporation have pieced themselves off. He may have it now that they have been stunng for $10 million since if the game goes again (I hear it will, maybe this week) then they are that much closer to getting broke.
http://bluffmagazine.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2691&PN=1
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Posted: 23 February 2006 at 8:33pm | IP Logged Quote MichaelCraig
My apologies for the delay. Ivey wins $10 million today. Beal is done with poker. More to follow.
Interesting read, thanks for the link
Over/under 6 months anyone?
until there's a new reload bonus?
So what's the right approach? I assume that the pros have the math down cold, for the most part.
It seems to me that the differentiator is a pathologic disregard for the value of money and an intuitive ability to determine where you stand vs. your opponent.
Andy Beal made his edge by raising the stakes to the point where it causes the pros some discomfort (IMO).
Barring becoming a billionaire first, how do you "train" to be a poker pro? Meditation? Study? Provigil?
Sean
P.S. I can't wait to see the stories in Bluff magazine...
Phil Ivey is Darth Vader when he crushes that dudes neck.
Phil Ivey is the bull when it is ramming his horn up some poor bastards cornhole in Pamplona.
Phil Ivey is Chuck Norris in that funny Chuck Norris email.
Phil Ivey is the great wall of china when that dude tried to jump it on his bmx.
I could go on with the metaphorical superlatives...but seriously, is there anyone on this board who doesn't think Phil Ivey is the best poker player on the planet?