Des Wilson says...

Des' WSOP Report 2008 (23)

July 10th

The headlines:

• 1,300 go into Day Three – half will make money
• Steve Davis prominent in a great Team Ladbrokes effort

Day Two of the 2008 World Series is over and last year’s champion Jerry Yang yesterday joined all of the recent champions in going out (Chris Moneymaker is still hanging on with 50,000).

Roughly 1,300 go on to Day Three and 650 will make the money.

Yesterday’s top chip-winner was Alex Outhred with 486,000.

All eyes are beginning to turn to Phil Hellmuth making his best main event challenge for some time. While at 200,000 he is some way back from the leaders, this is a remarkable no limit hold’em player with a record 11 gold bracelets and his hunger for this title will make him a mean competitor from now on.

Other big names still there with competitive stacks include Jeff Madsen, Phil Gordon, Gus Hansen, Mike Matusow, Allen Cunningham, Johnny Chan, Shawn Sheikhan and Evelyn Ng. And note the name of Nenad Medic, one of this year’s first gold bracelet winners, who has 294,000.

This was a great day for Team Ladbrokes. Currently nine players have over 100,000 chips. One cannot speak too highly of the performance of team leader Steve Davis, who cashed in 2006 and has amassed over 150,000 chips – a truly outstanding performance from a recreational player.

Other great Ladbrokes performances were by:

• Obbe …Kristian Obbarius from Sweden with over 200,000
• Flying_Lambo …Lam Van Trinh from the UK with over 180,000
• JaffaCake …Jeff Kimber Ladbrokes pro with over 170,000
• Balou …Mark Crocker from the UK with over 130,000
• Action Jack …Paul Jackson from the UK with over 120,000
• Peteth …Peter Veh Vilainen from Finland with over 125,000
• Peter4002 …Peter Eastgate from Denmark with over 120,000
• Clavelitto …Mats Robert Clavell from Sweden with over 100,000

Mention should be made also of Louise ‘emotivator’ Duffy who is still in there fighting, the leading Ladbrokes woman player this year.

Big names out include John Juanda, Carlos Mortenson, Phil Laak, Joe Hatchem, and David Singer. Also gone are Padraig Parkinson, Tony Bloom and Mel Judhah.

From the Ladbrokes Lounge

Between periods of manic activity (i.e. the main event breaks) the Lounge was strangely quiet yesterday (Wednesday) because 80 of our 118 players were in the main event and the rest were by the pool or whatever.

This reflects an unusual feature of the World Series of Poker compared with most other major international recreational events; i.e. the big Open tennis or golf events, the Olympics or whatever… whereas with the others, as the event comes to a climax the crowds grow, with the poker everyone but the remaining participants disappear. The result is it gets quieter and quieter.

A lot of the spectators at the World Series are in fact family or friends; as players are eliminated they go. Poker players rarely stay around to see others win; when they’re out they’re off somewhere else. Another day, another tournament.

Tomorrow night, Friday, all those of Team Ladbrokes not playing poker in the main event will gather for an evening that is becoming as popular as the opening party. This is bowling night at the Lucky Strike bowling alley in the Rio. Teams are being formed. It’s going to be no-holds-barred stuff.

Des’s Diary

It was going to be too painful for me to watch everyone going back to play when I was so unnecessarily out, and anyway I have been stuck in the Rio for three weeks, so while out team were performing valiantly in the Amazon Room I decided to take a day off and take a car and drive to Death Valley.

As background to this story I have to tell you that I am wanted in about 20 states for unpaid speeding fines from past years. Give me a fast car, wide roads, and not much traffic and try as I do, I cannot stay within the US speed limits. These can be as slow as 55 mph on a major highway.

During last year’s main event I went to see the Grand Canyon and picked up three speeding fines in two days in three states – Nevada, Arizona and Utah.

So not only do I have to beware a speeding fine but I also have to be careful not to end up in prison for unpaid fines from past years.

Imagine my horror when I heard the familiar siren and saw lights flashing behind me.

The cop was young, dark-haired and unfriendly. I wound down the window:

‘Passport, driving licence and car papers,’ he snarled.

‘Er, was I speeding?’ I asked.

‘Yes,' he tersely replied.

‘Well,’ I said, ‘I do not have my passport but here’s my driving licence.'

‘You from England?’ he asked.

‘Yes,’ I said.

‘Well, have a good day,’ he said and walked away.

That was it.

He didn’t look at the licence.

Not another word.

Just ’have a good day.’

I couldn’t believe it.

Then I guessed what lay behind it.

The war.

A lot of Americans appreciate Britain’s support. He must have been one – and this was his way of showing it.

Now, I don’t want to get political, but I have always opposed this war.

But, as I sat in my car breathing a sigh of relief, I began to see a point to it.

In the evening I had dinner with that marvellous US poker writer and player Michael Craig in a restaurant out of town but with a view of the Las Vegas lights. Prawns served steaming on a hot rock for a plate. As Neil Channing would say, ‘marvellous’!