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.

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In a zero-sum game, both these men should NOT be smiling.

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[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.

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MICHAEL CRAIG (The Full Tilt Poker Blog) vs.

ALCANTHANG (Poker From the Rail)

Who Will Last Longer in the FTOPS XIV Warm-Up?

The Stakes? Read on ….

The initial idea was Al’s, but I take most of the credit – or the blame – for the stakes.

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Phil Ivey is an intimidating presence at the poker table. When you see that stare, it is not an illusion or an exaggeration. When I watched Phil heads-up against Andy Beal for three days in February 2006, I felt intimidated by it – and I was just watching.

But Phil also has a lighter, more playful side. I don’t know if he exudes charisma or whether it is just a contrast to his glare, but Phil Ivey’s smile can light up a room.
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On Monday afternoon, Ted Forrest sent me a message to meet him at a sushi restaurant a few blocks east of the Strip. I had asked for a meeting to catch up with Ted – the last time we talked, he was in Thailand – and also to ask him for some insight for my “Looking for Ivey” series. He gave me some helpful information but, like all encounters with Forrest, the excitement was in the journey.

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Don’t be fooled by the name or the fancy digs. I made Shauna stay at the Gold Coast.

The trip started with such promise and ended in emptiness. That’s my unorthodox way of saying my trip to Las Vegas last week went “well” by Blog standards – meaning I obtained signficant information for future posts – but I didn’t get to do much gambling. Most important, I didn’t get to play in the WPT event at the Bellagio. In fact, the only gambling I did was playing in three WPT satellites that lasted a total of twenty-one minutes.

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This is a photo Heather B took of Phil during the NL Deuce-to-Seven event in which he won his sixth bracelet last June. Interesting thing, though: this was on Day One.

Just after noon on October 21, nearly 200 poker players convened in a temporary poker room tucked into a pocket of the Bellagio that otherwise functioned as the Fontana Bar. They were contesting the Festa al Lago WPT Championship at twenty tables, with the overflow – there were eventually 275 entries – housed in the regular poker room across the casino past the cashier’s cage, players club, and endless banks of slot machines between the Starting Line Bar and the Cirque du Soleil Store.

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