Travis Johnson Wins Event #7 and $666,853

Posted by pokerguru on June 6, 2009

One common theme throughout these multi-day tournaments is the frustration that you see start to show on players that are not mentally ready for the grind. Most players are used to their home games or the single day tournaments that they play at their local casinos. When they get into this kind of a field and have to play for 3 or 4 days, it starts to wear on them. The last day of Event #7 was proof positive of how that frustration can cost someone a tournament.

Steve Karp was in this poker tournament the whole way until the last few hours. Travis Johnson literally bullied his way to the bracelet as his aggressive play frustrated and wore down Karp. It became more noticeable in the last hour as Karp had seemed to have about enough of it and looked like he just wanted to go to bed. He got his wish and Johnson got the bracelet. Here is the final hand recap.

Karp had the button and limped in and Johnson immediately applied more pressure and pushed all in. Karp took no time at all to make the call. The cards were rolled and Karp had 55 to Johnson’s AQ. Karp managed to dodge the flop with K-10-4, but more outs had been added for Johnson. The Q in the turn but him behind to a 2 outer and the river J buried him.

In other tournaments….

We had already mentioned Phil Ivey’s win in our last post, but it definitely deserves another blurb. Ivey play phenomenally all night long and against a very good player and showed why always feared at a table. The only shame of it all was that he had already bought in for the $10,000 mixed event and did not get over there until very late and ended up busting out on the first day. I am sure the bracelet and the 7 figure side bet winning will help him get over that though. He said that he plans on taking a couple of days to get himself back together and then will be right back at it. Ivey seems poised to have a great series.

Event #9, the Six Handed $1,500 NL Hold’em event did not get to the final table, but they are pretty close. There are only 8 players left and play will resume today through to the bracelet winner. We think the two players to watch out for here are Peter Gould and Praz Bansi. They are both hurting a bit for chips here, but one good run and they can start to put some pressure on. Here is your chip count and standing for the day:

1) Charles Furey (1,690,000)
2) Bryce Yockey (1,489,000)
3) Carmen Cavella (1,059,000)
4) Peter Gould (780,000)
5) Bryn Kenney (656,000)
6) Praz Bansi (630,000)
7) Ken Aldridge (411,000)
8) Manny Minaya (339,000)

Event #10 concluded its second day with only 29 players remaining. The ever annoying Hevad Khan still has chips and we all know how lucky this guy can get. Daniel Makowsky has the chip lead and also some WSOP experience with a second place finish under his belt. Hopefully we will not have to endure the little rain dance that Khan has become so infamous for.

Event #11 finished day one in much the way the other tournaments have, by railing over 85% of field on the first day of play. This one started out a little slow and then it just took off as player after player was sent packing. The name to look out for here is the always dangerous Phil Hellmuth. He has chips and the money is sneaking up on the players. Chip counts were still up in the air on this one, but it would appear that one of the wonder kids is leading the pack as Scott Hall as about 140,000 in his stack.

All eyes are now on Event #12, the$10,000 World Championship Mixed Event. Play was a little slow as there is still about 60% of the field standing, but this was a late starting tournament and they did not have the full day to play. Already out are Phil Ivey, Greg Raymer and Mike Matusow. However, the story is the players that are atop the leader board. We are still loaded with some significant pros and Kid Poker leads the pack. Negreanu has a grip on the overall chip lead and it is hard to imagine him giving it up. It has been a while since he has had a strong showing in the WSOP and hopefully this can get him turned around. There is nothing better in poker than watching Kid Poker on a final table.

Two more events get kicked off today and all in all, we will have 6 tournaments going and hopefully 2 more bracelets getting awarded.

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Filed Under: WSOP 2009

Tags: Bryce Yockey, Bryn Kenney, Carmen Cavella, Casinos, Charles Furey, Daniel Makowsky, Greg Raymer, Hevad Khan, Ken Aldridge, Kid Poker, Manny Minaya, Mike Matusow, NL Hold’em, Peter Gould, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Praz Bansi, Steve Karp, Travis Johnson, WSOP

The Excessive Celebration Rule at the World Series of Poker

Posted by James on September 12, 2008

In the 2007 WSOP, the world met Hevad Khan. He was a loud, boisterous, and overbearing player the worked his way all the way to the final table before eventually being eliminated. For years there have been players that would do things to try and garner themselves some camera time. Handstands on chairs, loud outburst after winning a pot, or even a comical routine such as Humberto Brenes and his shark were part of the game. Hevad Khan took things to what was considered the extreme and the one example that seemed to prompt change was his antics when he took a chair and started dancing around with it. At this point, ESPN told Hevad that enough was enough. As a result the rule known as the “Hevad Khan rule” was instituted.

The rule states “Excessive celebration through extended theatrics, inappropriate behavior, or physical actions, gestures, or conduct may be subject to penalty. Any player that engages a member of the tournament staff during the celebration or utilizes any property of Harrah’s will be penalized in accordance with Rules No. 31 and/or 51. Harrah’s property includes but is not limited to chairs, tournament tables, and stanchions.”

I was all for this rule when it came out. When I saw Khan’s antics in 2007, I was embarrassed for our game. I was happy that something like that was instituted.

Then I went to the 2008 World Series of Poker.

Harrahs has more or less decided that they will enforce this rule with a ZERO TOLERERANCE policy to any type of significant outburst. If a player shows any amount of high excitement or energy, a Harrah’s floor person is immediately over to the player issuing a warning. I saw this occur time and time again. There were some instances where it was warranted. One example was Day 1b of the Main Event. A man stood up in his chair after “shuffle up and deal” was announced and clashed a pair of symbols. A floor man was right there to issue a warning and tell him to keep them put away. That was an appropriate use of the policy. Then I saw another example where it was unwarranted. A player won a big pot on Day 3 of the Main Event. Day 3 is the day players reached the money. This guy was in a big pot for either most or his entire stack. He won the hand and exclaimed “Whoo! That’s what I’m talking about.” He wasn’t overly celebrating. He was loud, but not overly celebrating. Lon McEachern was standing right there beside me and said that, “The way they are enforcing this is ridiculous. You have to have some emotion.”

I agree with Lon. I think that the spirit and the intention of the excessive celebration rule were just. However, I think that the way Harrahs is enforcing the rule is harmful to the game. If you don’t understand what I mean, watch the Main Event coverage on ESPN. You will find the coverage to be bland and somewhat boring compared to the last few years. To be honest, the Main Event was indeed boring. Sadly, the cameras at ESPN caught the Main Event the way that it really was.