It’s 2 PM and they’ve played about 25-30 hands. Because they continue to play as I write, this entry is going to be a little choppy. You can follow the hand-by-hand on Pokernews.com – and their coverage is great – but here are some things I noticed that will hopefully put you a little closer to the action.
It’s 12:34 PM as I write this. We are officially 11 minutes late. Someone was doing some short interview before the final table introductions so, after telling the audience to make a lot of noise – no encouragement needed – they pleaded with the audience to be quiet for a few minutes. It was like trying to ask for your virginity back.
At 12:38, tournament director Jack Effel announces, “The biggest day in poker history has finally arrived.”
It’s 11:25 AM on Saturday as I start this post. I’m in the Penn & Teller Theatre, thanks to the personal exhortation of Penn Jillette himself. Cards are supposed to be in the air for the Final Table of the Main Event of the 2009 World Series of Poker in exactly 58 minutes, so I’ll try to cram as many introductory notes and details into this post as I can before play starts.
What is it that makes Phil Ivey such a great poker player? It seems like he is so successful in so many areas of poker – all kinds of cash games, online and live, all forms of tournament poker – that he is doing something that everybody else isn’t.
I don’t think it’s anything that mysterious or elusive. Phil hasn’t developed some strategy that is unique or better than what everybody else has developed. Essentially, he does the same things as everybody else. He just does them BETTER.
These next several days will be among the busiest in the history of The Full Tilt Poker Blog by Michael Craig. So you know what to expect and when, these are the activities you can expect to read about: [By the way, my Relay For Life Charity Tournament on Full Tilt is not until November 22 at 18:00 ET but I'm still looking to write some gushy column about the forums that are going out their way to help promote the cause. Let me know what you and your chums are doing, mrchaotic@aol.com.]
Read on below for the full blog to find out what’s coming in the next several days in the following areas:
*FTOPS XIV
*The Main Event Final Table
*Looking For Ivey
*Blogger-Showdown Payoff
*Vegas travel features including the conclusion of Adrift in Vegas.
I received a copy of a message that appeared on someone’s Facebook status yesterday. This person, who we’ll call Lucy, updated her status as “Looking for Bugatti Veyron 16.4, another day in the life of my job.” Anybody reading this would have one of two questions: (1) What is a Bugatti Veyron 16.4? and (2) Who is it for?
As I told you in The Ivey Code, Phil spent his off-time during the 2008 World Series of Poker drumming up action. His bracelet bets were the talk of the Seriess. But remember, Phil Ivey bets on EVERYTHING. During one event, I was sitting at a table with Howard Lederer when he told me he got a call from Erik Seidel that day at 3am.
We almost had several close encounters with Mike Matusow. Mike’s opinions about the Final Table would be valuable because (a) he has opinions about everything, (b) he has twice appeared at the Final Table in the last decade and in 2008 came extremely close to the Final Table, and (c) he is a good friend and frequent competitor with both Phil Ivey and Jeff Shulman. Matusow is easy to reach, generous with his time, and visiting with him is always an adventure.
[This was originally part of a longer post about Phil Ivey's gambling philosophy. I'm posting it in two parts with Part IIB coming on Monday. I can also tell you, based on my notes and outlines, that I'll be posting new and original Looking For Ivey material several times between now and the Final Table. Check this space daily for your Phil Ivey fix.]
An essential part of Phil Ivey’s success can be attributed to his gambling philosophy. It is a simple philosophy:
(1) gamble on anything;
(2) gamble on everything;
(3) gamble with everybody;
(4) gamble all the time; and
(5) gamble as high as you can.
