Poker News
WSOP The Pros Rule
By Poker Man
Aug 5, 2008

In the last six years running of the World Series of Poker, the amateurs have been emerging victorious in the Main Event, whisking away the prizes from under the noses of the pros. This has been the longest stretch of successive wins since WSOP was initiated in 1970. This year, however, in the WSOP at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino, the pros seem determined to show the world who the experts really are.

So far, in the 25 out of a total of 55 WSOP tournaments, nineteen pros have prevailed. In fact, most of the final tables have been dominated by the professional poker players. Old hands like Barry Greenstein, David Singer, Daniel Negreanu, Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow, Erick Lindgren, Nenad Medic and John Phan have secured prizes already.

This year seems to be geared towards pros, with a ‘filled with skill’ format. This means that the longer the tournament, the greater the skill involved. The WSOP tournaments in this series have been structured by the Players Advisory Committee, who have allocated more time to the back end than the front end. So that when the stakes are really high, there’s a chance for the best players to showcase their skills, since hard skill is needed towards the end of the series.

Phil Hellmuth has been at it this week, burning the midnight oil in several games. He’s been having trouble with ‘bubbling’, a phenomenon where a player narrowly misses a win. Phil felt he was playing well in the $1,500 buy-in Limit Hold'em tournament, but was disappointed to wind up 48th, when 45 players earned money. The next day, in the $2,000 buy-in No Limit Hold'em game, Phil just missed winning again. That, he says, was “frustrating to say the least.”

But his luck changed at last, when he entered the $5,000 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha event with unlimited re-buys at $5,000. Daniel Negreanu spent $85,000 in re-buys at this tournament, but Hellmuth made his 64th WSOP win, and made it to his 40th WSOP final table, with just one buy-in – a record. Phil is proudest, though, of his amazing eleven WSOP gold bracelets.

A close competitor of Phil’s, Johnny Chan, had one buy-in, and had made it to the final table, too. He was hoping to get his eleventh bracelet, and Phil was urging him on because “he is a great guy…”

This particular final table was a challenging one – there were 28 bracelet holders at the game, with Phil’s eleven, Johnny’s ten, Daniel’s four and John Juanda’s three. No other table had so many champions playing. There were more experts at that table, like David Benyamine and two online poker stars, among the best players in the world.

Finally, it was Phil, from Madison, Wisconsin, who conquered all and earned the big prize. Phil Hellmuth is from the same place, but this was Phil Galfond, online poker hero who won.

Hellmuth, after coming in eighth, entered the $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold'em tournament in competition with 2,378 other players, and won his 65th prize. So far, Hellmuth’s winnings in 15 of 30 events add up to a $106,896.

There has been a fair amount of discussion about the time period of the final tournaments. WSOP has decided to put the date of the final table forward, from July 15 to November 9 this year. A lot of people are wondering why there should be such a long gap between the Main Event and the final table.

Some believe that there is a danger of the finalists losing impetus during the interval before the finals. In any case, all the finalists are in the same position. Others feel that players might try to hone their skills, perhaps even getting special training and sharing their winnings with the tutor. There isn’t much, though, that a player is going to learn in four months – besides, it’s not likely that an unskilled player would make it to the finals, anyway.

Phil Hellmuth believes the idea is a good one. He says, “The support amongst the pros for this delayed final table idea is more lopsided than for any other issue I've ever seen in the poker world.”

There will be tremendous publicity with the delayed finals. There will be a build-up of excitement, and people will be rooting for their favorite finalists, who will be splashed all over the media. What’s more, the finals will be telecast on ESPN, a bonus for poker fans everywhere.