November Nine Musings and Other Poker Thoughts
There is less than two weeks left until the November Nine takes their seats at the final table of the WSOP Main Event. I must say that I am looking forward to seeing if Phil can make a strong comeback and make a bid at taking this event down. I am more interested in seeing Jeff Shulman crash and burn, especially after some of the downright rude behavior that he is alleged to have portrayed at a recent tournament. Whether he is getting a big head or Phil Hellmuth’s coaching is rubbing off on his personality, he need to put his ego in check.
Normally, I would root for the underdog or the every man in this event. In this event, that would be chip leader Darvin Moon. However, I won’t lie and say I am not railing for Ivey to take this down. There are many other deserving pros at the final table, but I have been and will always be a big Ivey fan. A Main Event bracelet would just further cement his legend.
Mike Sexton has been inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. While I congratulate him on the accomplishment, I do not agree with him being the only inductee this year. While I would have been happy to see Ivey join him, there were others that were deserving, including Barry Greenstein and Erik Seidel. Don’t get me wrong, Mike is very deserving and actually a very nice guy at the tables. I just think they should have put someone else in there with him.
If you have been reading the poker news section, you will see that Sally Anne Boyer is suing Harrah’s for falsely using her image. Using her image for the WSOP Academy is something she really doesn’t have a legal claim against as she likely signed those rights away. However, if they are indeed making false claims and quotes from her, she has a claim. It does look a little suspicious that she waited two years to file a lawsuit. I have speculated elsewhere that she may be busto, but I have no proof there. Something is not adding up here.
In the past, outside of the WSOP and the WPT, the largest yearly poker tournament in the country had to be the United States Poker Championship. Unfortunately, the event took a huge blow last year when ESPN failed to renew the contract and attendance was abysmal. This year, they have a new deal, but I wonder whether it is a year too late. I will be attending the event this year, but I may stick to only cash games. I have been playing more cash lately in live games and want to try my hand when the crowds are in. It will also be a good test of where I am at in my cash game play.
The first WSOP circuit event recently completed with Dan Livingston winning the Horseshoe Hammond title. There really wasn’t anyone of note at the final table and Livingston will likely become the latest in a long line of circuit winners that probably will not be heard from for a while. However, Dwight Pilgrim cashed in this event, making it 5 cashing for his last 6 WSOP Circuit Main Events. Outside of circuit events, Pilgrim hasn’t done much in poker. Perhaps Pilgrim is the Circuit’s version of Mark Lemke. Lemke played for the Braves during their long run of post season appearances in baseball. Lemke was a average player that when it became playoff time would light it up. Everyone has their niche. Perhaps this is Pilgrim’s.
As you may have noticed, we did not provide any updates from the WSOP Circuit event this time. Actually, it appears that coverage of the circuit events may be harder to provide than in the past. I will try and provide updates when possible, but recaps may prove harder due to a lessened media prescience at the events. In all honesty, the WSOP Circuit events just don’t hold the same weight as in the past. Since none of the events are televised by ESPN, there is little incentive for many of the pros to come out. That is not to say that they are not drawing strong crowds for the preliminary events, but it is hard for many pros to justify $5k for an event where they will get very little face time.
Not much else really going on in the poker world at the moment that pertains to this site. The circuit schedule is beginning to heat up a bit and I am contemplating checking out Tunica in January. I have passed on the AC circuit later this year as the events are all Holdem. I will wait for the Tunica schedule to come out before I decide on that one.
Anywho, it is off to the United States Poker Championships for myself. I will update you how things go. Until then, good luck at the tables.
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