#829 – 2009 WSOP #87 – Ghost Series #4 – Time Machine

A lot of people noticed that Bobby Baldwin cashed in the Main Event, finishing 352nd, worth $29,911. Not that he needs the money or it was a particularly titanic performance. From a start on the floor of the Golden Nugget working for Steve Wynn not long after Baldwin won the Main Event in 1978, he has become one of the most experienced, most successful, and most wealthy casino executives in town.

Here’s an example of his stature: a magazine asked me a few years back to interview Baldwin about MGM Mirage, which had just completed its merger with Mandalay Bay Resorts and just announced plans for Project City Center. (Baldwin is the CEO of that project.) The magazine chose Baldwin because it had some contact inside MGM, maybe a relative of his. They couldn’t make Baldwin available but instead offered me then-CEO of the entire company, Terry Lanni.

I was curious when Bobby, who occasionally plays some very serious high-stakes poker but rarely plays tournaments other than the Main Event (and probably in many years not even that), cashed at the Series. It’s been fifteen years between cashes for Baldwin, who finished 24th in the Championship in 1994. What preceded that was actually pretty impressive. His previous WSOP cashes were in the Main Event of 1992, 1991, 1987, and 1986.

Bobby Baldwin started in Golden Nugget management along with another top player from the late Seventies, Eric Drache. Drache also made an appearance at the World Series in 2009. I think it’s the first event he’s played in years and he played just one event. That was the Seven-Card Stud Championship, in which he finished second.

Last time Drache cashed at the Series? I’ll give you a hint. He finished second last time, too, also in the Seven-Card Stud Championship. The heads-up was written up extensively in THE NEW YORKER by A. Alvarez; the lengthy article was reprinted as the classic THE BIGGEST GAME IN TOWN. It was 1981, twenty-eight years ago.

I think the winner of the Rip Van Winkle award for 2009 goes to Vince Musso. Musso finished sixth in the Deuce-to-Seven Championship. It was his second cash in the World Series; in fact, it was his second in the Deuce-to-Seven Championship. The first time was thirty years ago, when Musso finished third in the same 1979 event.

Despite the respect paid Doyle Brunson, and the recognition of historic accomplishments by Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan, we generally have a pretty short collective poker memory. It’s cool when some Old Schoolers come back that age matters little in poker. When you’ve got it, you’ve got it.

• No Related Post