Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
This week I decided to wait until after ESPN aired their coverage of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event before posting anything. the previous 90 episodes were full of nothing but big bustout hands, suckouts, or inane rants by players looking for their half second of TV exposure. There wasn’t a lot of action they could really cover outside of the two feature tables and the players were doing them no favors by busting out at an incredible rate. At the end of each day, which always ended earlier than anticipated, someone would say “tomorrow, that’s when the stacks and blinds will catch up”. During most tournaments this indicates that play will pick up pace as the blinds begin to force action on the shortstack, the WSOP Main Event was the opposite.
It was nothing to see a player shove 50 big blinds in the middle preflop with any Ace Face. You have a slim draw with an overcard? Ship it in and walk away. Holding a baby pair? It’s the nuts. We saw it over and over again. The last few episodes you can see some of that action but to witness in person was a sight to behold. Still waiting for the best hand of the tournament, it’s already queued up for next Tuesday’s broadcast.
We walked into the Amazon Room on Day 8 fully expecting a very long day/night/morning. Predictions were floating around amongst the media members that we’d be looking at a 2am…4am…sunrise finish with such huge chipstacks in relation to the blinds. A third of these players were going be all over the poker press from July til November, surely that would finally slow the action to a respectable pace of play. As an anonymous member of the media stated that day, “these players are making Jack Eiffel look like a genius”.
It took less than 10 hours of play to lose 18 players.
ESPN dedicated this week to the first 9 knockouts, next Tuesday will bring the field from 18 players to the November Nine. You can click below if you’d like to catch up on our series handicapping each of the final 9 players. While it is being broadcast I will be on a plane west to see which one takes home the bracelet.
2009 World Series of Poker November Nine Part 1
2009 World Series of Poker November Nine Part 2
2009 World Series of Poker November Nine Part 3
My favorite Main Event picture, the Amazon Room on Day 8
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