FULL TILT POKER BLOG

#744 – WSOP 2009 #2 – Seen & Heard #1 – When the Chips are Down, You Want Eli Elezra as a Friend

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[Seen & Heard is a series of features on Full Tilt's pros - interviews, profiles, anecdotes, and anything else that helps you understand that most elusive of species, The Full Tilt Pro.]

Yesterday (Wednesday), when I came to the Media Center to get my credentials for the World Series of Poker, Seth Palansky, Harrah’s Communications Director for the WSOP, greeted me like an old friend. That’s the nature of poker friendships – you work intensely together, then break off contact for an extended period, then start back up again.

“So, Michael, who are you picking to win the $40K?”

Impressed that someone with as much juice as Seth would actually want my opinion, I was quickly on the spot to come up with something good. “Eli Elezra,” I told him without hesitation.

It was a gut reaction but the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. This is an unusual event for the World Series: it’s everyone’s first event; it’s by a factor of four the biggest no-limit hold ‘em tournament at the WSOP; it’s the first test of how the World Series fares in this economic climate; it’s going to draw an elite and eclectic field.

Eli is the perfect choice to win this unusual event. He bridges so many worlds so well: businessman/poker player, Israeli/American, high-stakes/tournaments, sky’s-the-limit gambler/devoted family man.

I’ve liked Eli ever since I met him during the Andy Beal games at the Wynn in February 2006. He became the “captain” of the pro group and, because he knew I had Andy’s ear, introduced himself and began asking me about whether Beal would go for certain changes in the contest. I was honest with him and honest with Andy, and I think Eli appreciated that I must have had something on the ball to get in the middle of this eight-figure clash of skills and egos. Or he decided he could manipulate me more easily if he was friendly. Either way, I came to like him and respect him.

Today, I arrived at the Rio Convention Center just after noon, as they were starting the first level of the $40K. I had with me my assistant from Scottsdale, Shauna, who will be working for Full Tilt during the Series (more on Shauna later). Because it was her first day, she was juggling a variety of items as we exited the car. As I was taking the ticket from the valet, I heard Shana yell, “help!” and saw her legs kicking up from the backseat.

As I made my way around the car, Eli Elezra shot past me. He was in the car behind us and helped Shauna out of the car. “Sorry about that. I dropped my audio recorder back there and couldn’t reach it.” She was a little surprised to see someone other than me pulling her out.

Eli then dove into the back seat and fished around. “It feels like it sunk to the bottom under the seat. I can touch it but I can’t get it out.”

Shauna pulled out a huge baby blue comb and said, “Try using this.”

Elezra dug in and retrieved Shauna’s recorder and handed it to her. Then he smiled, shook her hand, and left. He was late and had to pay $40,000 to play the tournament.

As he walked away, Shauna couldn’t believe it all. “Wow. I called and there he was. And he used this comb to pull up my recorder.” She shook the giant comb for emphasis.

“Eli’s a great guy,” I told her. “And with the right provocation, could have killed someone with that same comb for you.” She was even more impressed when I told her about Eli’s story: decorated soldier in the Israeli Army, coming to America and building a fortune, surviving in constant competition with the best poker players in the world, maintaining a reputation as a good friend and family man.

A total of 201 players entered the $40K so Eli Elezra, like everyone else in the field, is “unlikely” to win. But I still maintain that he’s as good a choice as any.

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