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#198 – WSOP #47 – Every Hand of Poker Makes Someone Unhappy
Sitting in my room at 6 PM, I’m looking at the Pokernews.com coverage of Day 1-A, and some big names are starting to bust. In particular, I notice that both Greg “FBT” Mueller and John D’Agostino have gone out in the last few minutes. I had conversations with them both over the last few days which I hadn’t had the time to post.
I saw John at the Lederers/Z/Full Tilt party and he came up to me, congratulating me on my two final tables at this Series. D’Agostino strikes me as a super-nice guy in that he is very friendly with me even though we don’t know each other well and he didn’t have any interest in sharing knowledge for the STRATEGY GUIDE.
I felt a little funny acknowledging the compliments from someone I regard as one of the world’s most skilled players. “It’s better than I’ve done,” he said.
We talked not about the Main Event but the HORSE, which we agreed was more fun (at least as an observer/reporter) last year. He said that he really looked forward to that event and expected always to play it and always to look forward to it. I wasn’t taking notes or generally putting people “on the record” but I think he said he picked Day 1-A because if it wasn’t going well, he didn’t want to have to stick around for too long.
I caught up with Mueller as he and some friends were about to buy into the Main Event. I didn’t really know Greg before the Series and we talked a couple times about getting together for me to write something about him. I had a moment to ask him one important question about his World Series experience. He was already a pro and already successful. Was the tournament success and the higher profile going to change him?
“Not a bit. I’m primarily a cash game player, so I guess the change is that I added $400,000 to my bankroll. But I’m still going to play cash games as I have, and play only televised Main Events and the Series. At the Legends of Poker, I’m flying in four days before the Main Event, playing cash, and then playing the Main Event. Just like I had already planned, only with a $400,000-larger bankroll.”
Again, another really nice guy. Not someone who’s part of “my group” of pros I’ve befriended over the last three years but genuinely friendly and open.
All the same, poker’s a brutal game and that’s two more pros I “outlasted” in the Main Event.
