Madhouse
It's just beyond belief, to me, that close on 3000 people want to play a $1000 tournament with starting chips of 1000 and 11-handed tables. People were queuing out the door just to be alternates this morning, that is hoping to take their seat when the blinds are 25-50 or even 50-100. You're 300-1 to even make the final, and probably about the same to sit next to one of your poker heroes, if that's your thing. Do people not realise how high the mountain is that they're trying to climb ? Clearly they don't. Oh well.
The single tables are still rocking but on a day like today they need all the space for the tournament, so I only managed a couple of small ones this morning. I have less and less inclination to play a full event every day. The cheaper NL events are all going to be like the above, pretty much. I'm still thinking about the $1000 7 Card Hi-Lo but I'm in professional mode now :-) and I'd rather pay my mortgage off first and then think about spunking off any extra in stratospheric variance reality TV/lottery/poker combos.
Anyway I shall be staying another two weeks at least and moving to the Gold Coast ASAP, even if I have to pay for a suite. If it means I can play one more STT per day it's well worth it. A few blog links for you :
Matt Maroon savages Hellmuth
Shane Schleger calls it like it is
Terrence Chan makes the final
Shane mentions his "skyrocketing makeup figure". If you don't know what this means, most backing deals nowadays, private or corporate, are on a "makeup" basis. If you have a bad run and get stuck say $50K of the backer's money, then anything that you make up to that figure, you have to pay it all back until you're in the black. Then you start taking a cut. I heard a few off the record stories last night about high-profile players whose "makeup" is well into six figures. The more honourable players stick at it and try to win it back ; the less honourable wash their hands of it and walk away. Just one more example of how all is not what it seems.
Tuesday Update : In the end, players started with 1500 chips. This was announced as follows : ""management decided to give you guys a gift and start you all with 1500 chips, so let's give them a hand!". Hooray for Harrahs. The company that can't stop giving.
The single tables are still rocking but on a day like today they need all the space for the tournament, so I only managed a couple of small ones this morning. I have less and less inclination to play a full event every day. The cheaper NL events are all going to be like the above, pretty much. I'm still thinking about the $1000 7 Card Hi-Lo but I'm in professional mode now :-) and I'd rather pay my mortgage off first and then think about spunking off any extra in stratospheric variance reality TV/lottery/poker combos.
Anyway I shall be staying another two weeks at least and moving to the Gold Coast ASAP, even if I have to pay for a suite. If it means I can play one more STT per day it's well worth it. A few blog links for you :
Matt Maroon savages Hellmuth
Shane Schleger calls it like it is
Terrence Chan makes the final
Shane mentions his "skyrocketing makeup figure". If you don't know what this means, most backing deals nowadays, private or corporate, are on a "makeup" basis. If you have a bad run and get stuck say $50K of the backer's money, then anything that you make up to that figure, you have to pay it all back until you're in the black. Then you start taking a cut. I heard a few off the record stories last night about high-profile players whose "makeup" is well into six figures. The more honourable players stick at it and try to win it back ; the less honourable wash their hands of it and walk away. Just one more example of how all is not what it seems.
Tuesday Update : In the end, players started with 1500 chips. This was announced as follows : ""management decided to give you guys a gift and start you all with 1500 chips, so let's give them a hand!". Hooray for Harrahs. The company that can't stop giving.
4 Comments:
It's lucky that hardly anyone plays limit hold'em any more, or I would be really worried that they would read Matt Maroon's piece.
Textbook, perfect limit play from Maroon there. That it sent Hellmuth ballistic was just icing on the cake.
Please post a message on the Gutshot forum about what Shane says about the "teams" and how it contradicts the essence of individualism.
Part of poker's problem is that most people are not individualistic. They like to be in teams. At the moment, this is working to the benefit of poker, with the Gutshot this, the Hendon Mob that, the "team jerseys". But these people tend to follow fashions (which is why they are not individualistic). Eventually, poker will once again become the preserve of individuals, -- that or it will become an official team sport.
I posted a piece on Roswell's site about there being nothing wrong with being an alternate -- that in some ways it was preferable. Certainly the $50 with rebuys in the Aladdin at 1pm is best joined just before the rebuys end, is my opinion. You buy in and add on and have saved an hour of shit. You just go straight into maniac mode and either build up a big stack fast or quickly get into the cash game.
PJ
On the alternate thing, I totally agree, in a regular tournament. In the Orleans, the evening tournament is 700 chips to start plus one 1500 rebuy. The first half hour is almost entirely pointless as most of the field are nursing a paltry 700 even if you have added on immediately, so it's no loss to roll up 45 minutes late.
It seems a bit of a shame to me though if you've built up this big dream of "playing in the WSOP" if you only have ten big blinds when you sit down.
Andy.
Just to be a nit, but the $1k event yesterday started with $1,500 in chips. It's not much I know, but it is a tad better.
Just spotted that myself anon. I think the point still holds in that everyone signed up to it thinking that they'd get 1000.
Andy.
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