Saturday, July 15, 2006

The adjective amazing comes to mind. Exciting, intriguing, riveting, all
those descriptors work. Hell, I'll just say it, the 2006 World Series of
Poker $50,000 H.O.R.S.E tournament will have the most exciting final table
ever played. Statistics alone prove this point. Combined, the final nine
players in WSOP Event #20 have three WSOP Main Event Championships, two WPT
Championships, 27 WSOP gold bracelets, 116 WSOP final table appearances and
more than a century's worth of high-stakes poker experience. If you move
beyond the statistics it gets even better. Imagine this heads up match:
Doyle Brunson versus Phil Ivey, the greatest player ever versus the heir
apparent. Think of it terms of this.Jack Nicholson versus Tiger Woods,
Michael Jordon versus Lebron James, Babe Ruth versus Barry Bonds, heck, I'll
even go there - Muhammad Ali versus Mike Tyson. And that's just one
match-up. Pick any of the legends sitting as this table and you have a true
poker fan's dream. The threesome of Brunson, Chip Reese, and TJ Cloutier
make up a trifecta of players that basically made the sport. Even though the
game has changed since their heyday, these guys continue to dominate, raking
in bracelets and money in waves. If you like history, it's about to be
written. Pick two of those three players and you have the greatest WSOP
heads-up pairing ever.

Then, there are the others guys. Andy Bloch may be the best poker player to
never win a gold bracelet. In one day, Bloch could sit atop the Pantheon of
Poker and shed any doubts about his place.

Jim Bechtel is the 1993 WSOP Main Event Champion. Dewey Tomko has 20 WSOP
final table appearances and three gold bracelets. Poor David Singer and
Patrik Antonius. Even though they are two of the rising stars in a rising
sport and have endorsement deals that would make anyone jealous;
experience-wise, they're lightyears behind. Yet, if either of them win
tonight, they instantly become the greatest player in the sport.

My final point of intrigue- it's a mixed game event, a chance for the cream
of the crop to rise out of the WSOP No-Limit Hold'em mire. To thrive in an
event that switches games at every level takes true talent, true mettle, and
true lasting power.

There is one problem. Taking away from perhaps the greatest tournament ever
played is the structure of the final table. After battling the game's
toughest field through both a sunset and a sunrise, the mixed game experts
will now finish the tournament playing ESPN-friendly No-Limit Hold'em.

My associate Aaron Todd, who is covering the event live for Casino City,
called the switch to No Limit Hold'em a sham job. He's a nice guy. I'm going
to call it a freaking joke. When Aaron said the players should boycott the
final table and tell ESPN to shove their rule change, he bordered on Poker
Prophet. Again, I'll take it one step further. I think they should stand
around the table refusing to play until they change the rules, and they
should do it in style - by flipping off the cameras (to avoid the F-Bomb
penalty).

It's bad enough that the tournament started with used decks and marked
cards. It's a travesty that WSOP officials ended Day One far too early
Wednesday, only to watch as the tournament ran so long on Thursday that they
contemplated making it a four-day event. The final table controversy only
proves the WSOP has tried everything they can to ruin this tournament, and
couldn't.

Regardless of the flaws, I'll still be glued to the riveting live blogs and
Internet reports. The statistical appeal, the exciting drama, and the lure
of watching poker history unfold is unfortunately far too intriguing to let
a ridiculous rule keep me from watching.

Simply put - it's going to be amazing.