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#610 – CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT – The Winner of Tournament Star
The judging for this essay contest, in which entrants were asked to choose a coach for the final table of the Main Event of the World Series of Poker and describe payment and responsibilities, was very difficult. There weren’t any killer jokes to make an entry stand out, though some tried. There wasn’t a “right answer” – though if I had entered I’d have told you otherwise (see next post on the contest for the right answer). And the reasoning for the entrants was generally pretty similar.
Still, the entries were extremely interesting to read and fun to tabulate. Based on my subjective opinion, the winning entry was that of AlanRubin81.
Here is his entry:
I would hire Mike Matusow for several reasons. 1) He has made two WSOP ME final tables with one of them being against a table similar to this one in terms of the lack of big names. 2) Mike while being aggressive at times would be able to convey to Scott the importance of chip conservation as Mike doesn’t throw away chips too often. 3) Mike made it deep into this tournament, and has probably played against of the other players in that time. I would pay him $100,000 with the promise that if I win he would get an additional 5% of my winnings. Mike would do it because it’s a chance to make some nice coin, and not to mention help feed his ego in terms of his poker abilities. His role would be to see if he can pick up any tells, compare my opinions of how my opponents play, give me advice on how to deal with the pressure that comes with being in a ME final table, and his newfound positivity would be a great encouragement.
Here is what I liked about this entry: (1) It points out Matusow’s experience, both in WSOP final tables and against these players (having gone deep in the 2008 Main Event himself). (2) It emphasizes the importance of the stealing game – how to pick up chips without confrontations and, almost more important, how to get away to stay in action. (3) The $100k upfront and 5% is reasonable, though I have to deduct points because he doesn’t explain the compensation for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. I’m sure Mike would like $100k, but I think he’d like a percentage, but not ZERO if he horse finishes anyplace but first. (4) I think he is a little vague, but the idea of getting in-game coaching (during breaks) is intriguing. Almost all the entrants who mentioned that got some “points” from me.
Let me emphasize how close this contest was. Two others who picked Mike as their coach had similar reasoning, but for pretty small reasons I thought AlanRubin81’s entry was a little bit better. In addition, one of the entries choosing Daniel Negeanu as coach was solid in both reasoning and the description of compensation. I’ll make a separate post of these entries, as well as some of the other interesting things I learned from the contest.
Congratulations Alan. $216 in tournament credit is coming your way as soon as I hear from you.
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