Poker Blog from Full Tilt Poker by Michael Craig

#916 – Heads-Up with Joe Cada, Part II

mcraig — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:37:38 +0000

To win the match Joe Cada had to let Darvin Moon back in. His best way of closing out Moon was to let Darvin over-extend himself on a bluff or a marginal hand. But because Moon was betting so often, this also put Cada on the path to having to make some expensive lay downs. [...]

Post from: Poker Blog from Full Tilt Poker by Michael Craig

#916 – Heads-Up with Joe Cada, Part II

#915 – Heads-Up with Joe Cada, Part I

mcraig — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:53:08 +0000

The final table looked a lot different on TV than when I watched it live. For that matter, Joe Cada looked much different playing heads-up compared with how I saw him on ESPN on Tuesday night. Heads-up, he dominated Moon and seemed like a very savvy player. He was much less a focus of my [...]

Post from: Poker Blog from Full Tilt Poker by Michael Craig

#915 – Heads-Up with Joe Cada, Part I

#914 – It’s a Won-DURRRR-ful Life

mcraig — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:11:07 +0000

Tom Dwan has hit the ground running as the newest member of Team Full Tilt. He has started a new blog and his initial post shares some fun details from the life of one of the world’s highest-stakes, most successful, and youngest poker players. Tom also promises some juicy details about his game. I recommend [...]

Post from: Poker Blog from Full Tilt Poker by Michael Craig

#914 – It’s a Won-DURRRR-ful Life

#913 – The Moonies Represented

mcraig — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:13:44 +0000

Bless their hearts; Darvin Moon’s friends did their best to keep up with the Joe Cada cheering section. They did a fine job, but like their representative at the final table they were overwhelmed by the prospect of Michigan actually being first in something. These salt-of-the-earth folks even created their own celebrity. Chainsaw Guy. Chainsaw Guy [...]

Post from: Poker Blog from Full Tilt Poker by Michael Craig

#913 – The Moonies Represented

#912 – The Kids are All Right

mcraig — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:24:36 +0000

Harrah’s better watch what it wishes for. It tried to make the Final Table of the 2009 World Series of Poker into a spectator sport and tournament director Jack Effel encouraged the audience to behave like spectators. Unfortunately, they did exactly that. Although nothing bad happened, no one at Harrah’s seemed to understand that you can’t [...]

Post from: Poker Blog from Full Tilt Poker by Michael Craig

#912 – The Kids are All Right

#911 – Magic Time Heads-Up

mcraig — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:03:31 +0000

What is the highest goal TV poker can attain? To me, the best TV poker makes you want to PLAY POKER. For the most part, the way poker is televised fails to do this. I don’t necessarily blame TV for that. Their goal is to get people to watch, not to get them to play. [...]

Post from: Poker Blog from Full Tilt Poker by Michael Craig

#911 – Magic Time Heads-Up

#910 – The Over-Under Was Almost One

mcraig — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:27:31 +0000

Shortly before final-table heads-up play began last night between Joe Cada and Darvin Moon, there was considerable speculation in press row about how long the heads-up match would last. Sorry, but by the end of a poker tournament, the media almost always wants it to end fast. Even though the players had 60-135 big blinds, [...]

Post from: Poker Blog from Full Tilt Poker by Michael Craig

#910 – The Over-Under Was Almost One

#909 – Learned All I Needed During the First Minute

mcraig — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:08:46 +0000

It took more than four months and nearly 7,000 opponents, but I figured out who was going to win the heads-up match for the 2009 WSOP Main Event Championship between Joe Cada and Darvin Moon in less than a minute. Way less than a minute, in fact. The giveaway was the first action by the [...]

Post from: Poker Blog from Full Tilt Poker by Michael Craig

#909 – Learned All I Needed During the First Minute

#908 – Congratulations to Joe Cada, the 2009 World Poker Champion

mcraig — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:14:20 +0000

At 1:24 AM on Tuesday, November 10, 21 year-old Joe Cada became the youngest-ever World Poker Champion, defeating Darvin Moon in just over two-and-a-half hours of heads-up play to capture the Main Event of the 2009 World Series of Poker at the Rio in Las Vegas. I approached the heads-up showdown different from how I typically [...]

Post from: Poker Blog from Full Tilt Poker by Michael Craig

#908 – Congratulations to Joe Cada, the 2009 World Poker Champion

#907 – Silly Sunday, Part II – It’s 1 AM, But This Ain’t Binion’s

mcraig — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:32:08 +0000

As I mentioned in this Blog, I failed to outlast Poker From the Rail blogger AlCantHang in the FTOPS Warm-Up. Consequently, I agreed to play the worst tournament he could find in Las Vegas. We originally thought this would be the 2am at Binion’s. For those of you expecting a tale of late-night filth and [...]

Post from: Poker Blog from Full Tilt Poker by Michael Craig

#907 – Silly Sunday, Part II – It’s 1 AM, But This Ain’t Binion’s