Who’s the person that everybody looks to when asked about the most tight or aggressive player? I’ll give you a hint; he started as champion backgammon and chess master. Still not sure? Well I guess I’ll tell you then. It’s Dan Harrington, just ask anybody who knows anything about poker. He started his poker habits at New York’s Mayfair club and in the 80′s earned a little more experience. During that time he played Erik Seidel, Howard Lederer, Jay Heimowitz, and Steve Zolotow.
Harrington finished sixth at the WSOP in 1987, which was when people really began to notice him. You might remember this as the very same year Johnny Chan managed to win his first title. It was 1995 before Dan won the NL Holdem Event for $2,500, taking home his very first WSOP bracelet. Later in the year, he walked away with his second bracelet and the $1 million prize pool after winning the Main Event. Harrington at different points of the final table tried to talk players into accepting a deal but they would not agree and he ended up walking away with all the money.
Even though that prize pool and the title would be considered a major feat for most players, Dan Harrington managed to top himself. It was the year 2003, and Harrington had again went to the Main Event. This time, he finished third. This was when Poker really boomed because of the unexpected win of Chris Moneymaker. The very next year, there was a huge increase in the number of people that showed up. There were 2,576 people on the field. It was a new record! There were so many people there that Harrington had to work to find his way to that final table. He failed to win the tournament, and received only fourth place, but his achievements was is still considered one of the greatest in the history of poker.
Harrington doesn’t only have his accomplishments in the World Series of Poker. He’s also made two final tables in the World Poker Tour. He took second in his first final table at the Doyle Brunson North American Championship winning $620,730. When WPT made the decision not to randomly raise limits in 2007, Harrington made the final table for the Legends of Poker. Harrington managed to win his very first WPT title, which ended up being the longest final table in the entire history of WPT.
Dan Harrington won well over 6.5 million dollars in tournaments. While winning his poker tournaments, he wrote books and worked as real estate as well as a stock investor. He wrote five different books dedicated to poker. They were Harrington on Holdem: volumes 1 through 3, all of which focus on tournament play. He also wrote two books entitled Harrington on Cash Games, both of which keep their focus on ring games.
Though it may seem boring, if you want results, Dan’s tight and aggressive approach is the way to go. Even if it is in business you want to go, having his solidness and business smarts will help you become a winner.
The WSOP Circuit recently completed a stop at the Horseshoe Southern Indiana. Unlike many circuit events over the years, this event saw a sharp decrease in the number of overall participants. The prior record low for the Main Event of a WSOP Circuit event was 99. This event drew a paltry 84 players. Noticeably absent from this event were big name stars of the poker world. The only significant name in the field was Bernard Lee and he was eliminated before the end of Day 1.
Just to give an idea of how small this field was, play that was scheduled to last until 3 a.m. in the morning on Day 1 was suspended at around 10 pm. Day 2 was also another very short day, lasting just under 5 hours. A husband and wife pair made it deep into Day 2 in the David and Stacy Kopacz, but only David would make the final table.
Due to the small field size, only 9 players finished in the money and in the end this is what the final table looked like:
Seat 1: Jerry Martin 139,500 Seat 2: David Kopacz 151,000 Seat 3: Samuel Oberlin 229,500 Seat 4: Jamin Stokes 189,500 Seat 5: Dean Schultz 114,000 Seat 6: Joey Couden 128,000 Seat 7: Derek Whelan 117,500 Seat 8: Ray Lynn 17,500 Seat 9: Len Ashby 177,000
In the end, play ended up three handed between David Kopacz, Samuel Oberlin, and Jerry Martin. Martin had a massive chip lead and in one hand took a dominating lead when he eliminated David Kopacz after flopping a set with pocket queens.
Heads up play saw Martin enter with almost a 5 to 1 chip lead over Oberlin. Martin had just over 1 Million in chips and Oberlin was just over 200,000. It only took one hand to put Oberlin back in contention. Oberlin moved in with pocket queens and was called by the K-J of Martin. Queens held and Oberlin had over a half million in chips.
Oberlin took the lead with some strong betting a few hands later and then another huge confrontation occurred between the two. With the flop showing Jc-4c-5h, Martin moved all-in against Oberlin and Oberlin called. Again, Oberlin was holding pocket queens. Martin was holding J-7 and needed help. Help did not arrive and Samuel Oberlin overcame a massive chip deficit to win the first WSOP Circuit Title of the season.
Oberlin took home $143,064 as well as the gold circuit championship ring. His win goes to prove that when you reach heads up play, many times the player that catches the cards wins up the winner.
The WSOP Circuit will be heading to Hammond, IN next. Starting the 24th, the first circuit event in the Chicago, IL area will take place. Details about the event can be found at www.worldseriesofpoker.com. It will be interesting to see the interest in the Chicago area for this event. Hopefully the recent trend in low attendance will start to reverse. With the current state of the economy, it is hard to tell.
Barbara Enright is the first woman to ever make the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event. In 1995, Barbara Enright headlined a final tabled that featured Chuck Thompson, Captain Tom Franklin, and eventual champion Dan Harrington. It took an unlucky outdraw by Brent Carter to eliminate her from the event, but her legend remained.
Enright followed up her performance in 1995 by becoming the first woman to ever win an open event at the World Series of Poker. She took down the 1996 Pot Limit Holdem event for $180,000 and the coveted gold bracelet. This was her third overall bracelet. She won bracelets in the Women’s Seven Card Stud event in both 1986 and 1994.
Enright is known around the poker world for her ability as a stud player. In fact, many of her earlier tournament wins and cashes were in Stud. She has proven herself as a competent No Limit Holdem player as well, holding numerous cashes and 4 titles in No Limit Holdem. In 2007, Enright was inducted into the Professional Poker Hall of Fame with 11 time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth.
2008 has been a banner year for Enright. She has 10 cashes so far this year in tournaments, including 6 final tables and 3 wins. Earlier in 2008, Enright was inducted into the Women’s Poker Hall of Fame. A tournament was held as part of the induction festivities. Enright showed the field why she was in the Hall of Fame by winning the event.
I actually know Barbara from traveling around the tournament circuit and she is one of the friendliest professionals that you will ever meet. She can play every game inside of a casino and she plays them better than most men. Her friendly personality is not just an act she puts on either. Whether I see her in LA, Las Vegas, or wherever, she always is friendly to anyone that approaches her and is very gracious in either victory or defeat. Barbara also was gracious enough to teach me a thing or two about the game of Razz and her advice got me started on becoming a solid Razz player.
Some of us were sitting with Enright in the 2006 Orleans Open discussing the issue of Women’s Only No Limit Holdem events. Barbara spoke up and said that she enjoys playing in them for the fact that she can go in them and be very aggressive. She says that most women play the game too soft and that when a woman goes into a tournament and plays aggressive like a man, they can do very well.
Barbara Enright is an old school professional poker player that has been around the block quite a few times. Even at her age, she is more than a match for many of the players that she faces. Regardless of the fact that people claim poker to be a young person’s game, Enright proves that anyone at any age can play this game at a high level.
If you want a mix of beauty, intelligence, and No Limit aggression, then the woman you want is Vanessa Rousso. Rousso was born February 5, 1983 in White Plains, NY but spent most of her childhood in Paris, France. As a result, she is a dual citizen of France and the U.S. Her parents divorced when she was 9 and her and her mother moved to the United States.
Throughout here grade school years, Rousso stayed very active with many extracurricular activities besides her academic pursuits. She played Basketball, Softball, and Lacross and was also a member of her school’s debate team. She graduated from high school as Valedictorian and accepted a full scholarship to Duke University in 2001.
At Duke, Rousso still stayed heavily active outside of school while majoring in Economics with a minor in Political Science. She graduated cum-laude in 2004 and entered law school at the University of Miami.
While in law school Rousso started playing more live poker and started to cash in various circuit events and even at the Ladies Event at the 2005 World Series of Poker. 2006 proved to be Rousso’s breakout year in poker. She bubbled the final table at the Five-Star World Poker Classic in 2006, which earned her $263,625. She then signed a sponsorship deal with PokerStars.com and then put together a streak of several cashes before winning a preliminary event at the Borgata Poker Open in September 2006 for $285,450. Shortly after her win at the Borgata, it was announced that she was dating poker pro Chad Brown. They later got engaged and are currently planning their wedding.
After her win at the Borgata, Rousso fell off of the poker map for much of 2007. Other than a 2nd place finish in a televised UPC event, Rousso only had other live cashes for a grand total of around $90,000. It seemed a little of the shine had fallen of the rising stars.
The World Championships of Online Poker are held each year by Pokerstars.com and many top pros will come out and take their shot at the big prize pools and the online bracelets. The Main Event of the WCOOP saw Vanessa Rousso achieve her biggest poker score to date. She made the final table of the event and went on to finish 3rd for $463,940.50. Later, it was discovered that the winner of the event had violated PokerStars rules and was therefore disqualified. As a result, Rousso was awarded 2nd place and her payout now became $700,782.50.
The strong finish at the WCOOP seemed to kick start Rousso as she has had a fantastic 2008 so far. She has had eight cashes this year so far, including a final table at the EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final and her first ever cash in the WSOP Main Event.
In total, Vanessa Rousso sits at around $1 Million in live tournament wins. She is mainly known as a No Limit player but from my personal observation, I have noticed that she is beginning to improve in all facets of poker. It shouldn’t be too long before we see Rousso take down a major poker title or win her first bracelet.
The World Series of Poker Circiut season has kicked off with its first stop in Elizabeth, IN. The WSOP Circuit are groups of tournaments held at various locations around the U.S. This gives players exposure to the World Series of Poker, but on a smaller scale. Most tournaments are around the $500 buy-in range, but there are higher buy-ins with the Main Event of the circuit event coming in at a $5,000 buy-in.
The winner of each circuit event receives a gold ring in addition to the first place prize money. Winners of the Main Event of each Circuit series will receive an entry into the Main Event of the next year’s World Series of Poker Las Vegas. This year’s circuit schedule is below: October 2 — October 14, 2008 HORSESHOE SOUTHERN INDIANA October 24 — November 2, 2008 HORSESHOE HAMMOND (Chicago area) November 6 — November 16, 2008 HARVEYS LAKE TAHOE (Nevada) December 5 – December 18, 2008 HARRAH’S ATLANTIC CITY January 20 – February 9, 2009 HARRAH’S TUNICA (Mississippi) February 12 – February 25, 2009 HORSESHOE COUNCIL BLUFFS (Iowa) March 4 – March 14, 2009 CAESARS ATLANTIC CITY March 19 – March 29, 2009 HARRAH’S RINCON (San Diego) April 12 – April 29, 2009 CAESARS PALACE (Las Vegas) May 8 – May 20, 2009 HARRAH’S NEW ORLEANS Many of the events in the WSOP Circuit are No Limit Holdem, but the Circuit does try to mix the events up on occasion offereing H.O.R.S.E., Limit Holdem, Omaha 8 or Better, 7 Card Stud, and on rare occasions Stud 8 or Better. The larger of the circuit events is held in January in Tunica MS. I personally have played in 3 Circuit events in Tunica, and I must say that the staff at Harrah’s run a fantatic tournament. They have an entire area set aside for the events and it truly feels like a mini World Series of Poker.
Many view the WSOP Circuit as the minor leagues. You will find that many of the preliminary events are headlined and won by virtual unknown players. It is not uncommon for a first time poker player to play in an event and take one down. This is partially what the circuit was intended for, to give players at all levels a chance at WSOP glory.
Professionals tend to fly in for the Main Event of the various WSOP Circuit Events. The $5,000 buy-in is part of the attraction. The other is the opportunity for media exposure as many of the Main Events are covered by various media outlets.
Also, like the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, you can satellite your way into any event at the WSOP circuit. $65 satellites can win you an entry into the $500 events. $125 satellites win you’re an entry into the $1,000 event. You can play all the way up to $550 satellites to take your shot at the $5,000 buy-in Main Event. Mega satellites are also held.
For those of you that like to hustle cash games, the WSOP Circuits usually have a decent spread of cash games going at all times as well. So no matter what your game, there should be a Circuit event for you. Check www.worldseriesofpoker.com for more information about the WSOP-C.
For the next couple of hours there was a lot of back and fourth going on between the two players. Neither player gave much ground to the other. The chips were about the same as the last chip count update when a large hand occurred between the two. Juanda raised from the button to 100,000 and Alekhin made the call. On a flop of Qd-9h-6h, Alekhin checked to Juanda who bet out 105,000. Alekhin raised to 285,000 and Juanda made the call. The turn fell the 6h and Alekhin bet out 375,000 chips. Juanda made the call. On the river of the 7d, Alekhin bet out 725,000 in chips and Juanda released his hand. Alekhin revealed 5h-8h for the straight and took a pot worth nearly 750,000 chips.
At hand 355 this event is officially the longest event in WSOP history as far as the number of hands played. The 2006 $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event only lasted 354 hands. At this point, the final table had run 17 and ½ hours. And there was still a lot of poker to be played folks.
Alekhin rasied from the button to 100,000 and Juanda made a reraise to 325,000. Both players saw a flop of 2c-Ks-4h. Juanda bet out 365,000 and was called. The turn fell the 10d and Juanda bet out 480,000 chips. Alekhin started stacking chips. Before he could put them in the middle, Juanda folded his hand. Alekhin showed pocket queens. At this point Alekhin has retaken the chip lead at 4.66 Million to Juanda’s 2.61 Million.
At this point Stanislav Alekhin started turning on the pressure to Juanda. He started chipping away at Juanda’s stack over the course of the next hour or so to the point where Juanda was left just 940,000 chips. John Juanda at hand 399 decided to raise to 150,000 and Alekhin put him all-in. Juanda called showing As-Kc and Alekhin showed Kd-Jd. The flop fell Jc-4c-4s and Juanda is far behind. He would need help to win. The turn card fell the Qh and Juanda could now win with an Ace, King, Queen, or 10 on the river. The river fell the 10c and Juanda doubled up to 1.78 Million in chips.
A few hands later, Alekhin raised to 150,000 preflop and Juanda called. The flop fell Ad-4h-6d. Action is checked around and the 2 fell on the turn and Juanda bet out 275,000. Alekhin called. A 10s fell on the river and Juanda bet out 475,000. Alekhin immediately moved all-in and Juanda stood up. He then said, “Alright, I call” and Alekhin showed Qd-2h for a pair of ducks. Juanda showed Ah-6c for two pair and doubled up to take the chip lead. After the double up Juanda moved up to 3,850,000 in chips and Alekhin had 3,370,00 in chips.
For the next few hands Alekhin was able to pick up a few chips and after hand 420, the chip counts looked like such:
John Juanda 3,620,000 Stanislav Alekhin 3,600,000
Where is John Phan to go all-in blind?
Play litereally went back and forth for the next couple of house. Alekhin was able to retake the chiplead and was around 4.2 Million in chips when a huge confrontation occurred between the two.
Preflop, Juanda raised to 165,000 and Alekhin made the call. On a flop of Kc-Qh-7c, Alekhin fired out a bet of 325,000. Juanda then moved all in and was called by Alekhin. Juanda held Kh-6h for top pair and Alekhin held 4c-3c for the flush draw. The turn fell the 9s, leaving Alekhin needing one of 9 clubs. The river fell a harmless 4h and John Juanda doubled up through Alekhin. Juanda held 6.6 Million in chips, and Alekhin was crippled with about 600,000.
At hand 484, Alekhin moved all in from the button and is called by Juanda. Alekhin held Ac-9s and Juanda held Ks-6c. Juanda flops a near miracle when the 6d-6s-2d hits the board. Alekhin needs running aces or nines to win. The turn fell the Qc, which left Alekhin drawing dead. To add insult to injury, the river card was the 6h, giving Juanda quads and the title. Stanislav Alekhin finished this Main Event as the runner-up and will take home £533,950 for his fantastic showing.
After 22 hours and a marathon heads-up session that saw him come back from the brink multiple times, John Juanda is the Champion of the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event. This is the fourth bracelet for John Juanda. Each of his bracelets have come in different games. He now holds bracelets in No Limit Holdem, Pot Limit Omaha, Seven Cards Stud, and 2-7 Lowball. During his interview he stated, “It’s so long ago when I won my last bracelet, I can’t remember. It’s embarrassing. Some people have to keep up with the Joneses. I have to keep up with the Iveys and Cunninghams and Negreanus.” “I wondered if I will ever win again. Today there are so many young excellent tournament players from all over the world. Like the two young Russians and the Scandis. Much more than it used to be. Daniel Negreanu said that we have to step up our game.”
362 players came out to take their shot at poker immortality and the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event Title. Man top pros weaved their way through the field, but it was John Juanda that came out on top in the longest final table in World Series of Poker history. In addition to his gold bracelet, Juanda will take home £868,800.
Congratulations to John Juanda, Champion of the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe.
Stanislav Alekhin 4,143,000 John Juanda 2,335,000 Ivan Demidov 790,000
Little did we know at this point that there was still a lot of poker to be played.
A pair of pots allowed John Juanda to retake the chip lead. First, Stansislav Alekhin raised to 75,000 and Juanda reraised to 160,000. Alekhin made the call. The flop fell 2h-9d-2c and Alekhin checked to Juanda. Juanda checked as well. The turn fell the 4s and Alekhin checked to Juanda. Juanda bet out 260,000 and Alekhin made the fold. Two hands late, the two tangle again. Juanda raised to 70,000 and Alekhin followed along. The flop fell 8s-6d-7h and Alekin checked to Juanda who bet out 110,000. Alekhin made the call. The turn fell the 4h and Alekhin bet out 230,000. Juanda made the call. On the river of the 7d, Alekhin made a bet of 500,000. Juanda went into the tank for a bit while counting out a call. Finally he said, “I raise all in.” Alekhin folded and Juanda moved up to 3.5 Million in chips.
A while later, Ivan Demidov raised to 70,000. Juanda reraised to 215,000 and Demidov decided to move all-in. Juanda went into the tank for a while before finally calling. Juanda showed Ad-Js and Demidov Kh-10h. The flop gave Demidov the lead when it fell 10s-4d-3d. The turn gave Juanda a gutshot straight draw when the Qs fell. The river fell a harmless 3c and Demidov doubled up to nearly 2.2 Million in chips. Juanda fell back to nearly 2.4 Million.
At this point it was literally anyone’s game:
Stanislav Alekhin 2,634,000 John Juanda 2,381,000 Ivan Demidov 2,191,000
Play went back and forth for quite a while. After another couple of hours of play, the stacks were not significantly different, with Demidov only giving up about 200,000 in chips that were distributed between Juanda and Alekhin.
Finally we had a big showdown between John Juanda and Ivan Demidov. Juanda raised to 105,000 from the small blind and Demidov made the call from the big blind. The flop fell 8s-5d-3d and Juanda checked to Demidov. Demidov bet out 170,000 and Juanda made the call. On the turn, Juanda again checked to Demidov who bet out 450,000. Juanda then moved all-in and Demidov made the call for his tournament life. Demidov held Qd-10d for a flush draw and a gutshot straight draw. Juanda held Ad-Ac. Demidov had 12 outs to win the hand. Juanda missed each one as the Js fell on the river. Ivan Demidov finished in 3rd place and will receive £334,850. Ivan Demidov is the first player in WSOP history to make the Main Event final table of both the Las Vegas and Europe Main Event and the first to do it in the same year. Now we will get to see if he can improve on this finish when he goes for the Las Vegas Main Event title in November.
Going into heads up play, here are how the players stood in chips:
John Juanda 4,420,000 Stanislav Alekhin 2,850,000
At this point, many spectators started wondering how long that heads up play would last. Nobody had any clue of what was in store.
John Juanda had steadily chipped away at Alekhin’s stack for a while and was in a commanding lead of nearly 5.9 Million to 1.38 Million of Alekhin. Then the two entangled in a hand that saw Juanda raise to 80,000 and Alekhin reraise to 260,000 preflop. Juanda then moved all-in and Alekhin made the call. Juanda held Ad-2d and Alekhin held As-Qd. Alekhin took a massive lead in the hand when the 8s-9s-10s fell to give him a nut flush draw and a gutshot straight draw. The turn fell the Ah, which left Juanda needing a non spade deuce to win the bracelet. The river fell a harmless 5c and Alekhin doubled up to 2.85 Million in chips.
Back and forth, up and down the two players went over the next hour or so, with neither player budging much. In fact, Alekhin still held on to around 2.6 Million in chips before getting entangled in yet another big hand with Juanda. John Juanda just doubled the big blind on the button, making it 100,000 total. Alekhin reraised to 300,000 and both players saw the flop. The flop fell 10c-7h-5c and Alekhin bet out 350,000. Juanda moved all in and Alekhin made the call. Juanda held Qd-10d while Alekhin held Js-Jc. A turn card of the Jh sealed the deal for Alekhin and he doubled up to 4.6 Million in chips. Juanda was left with 2.66 Million in chips. Oh how quickly the tide can change.
Alekhin then went on a mad little rush, taking down the next five pots. Juanda had fell below 2 Million in chips. Then he made a preflop raise from the button to 100,000. Alekhin reraised to 300,000 and both players saw the flop. The flop fell 10c-4h-10h and Alekhin bet out 400,000. Juanda made the call. The turn fell the 2d and Alekhin moved all in. Juanda called and showed Ah-10s for trip 10’s. Alekhin showed pocket jacks. Alekhin would need one of two Jacks, or Juanda would double up. A jack did not fall on the river and Juanda doubled up to 3.35 Million in chips.
Then it was Juanda’s turn to be the aggressor and go on a little bit of a rush. Juanda proceeded to win 5 of the next six hands to move his way up to 4,240,000 in chips. Stanislav Alekhin was sitting on 3,030,000 in chips.
This was beginning to turn into one massive heads up battle. As you may remember, Andy Bloch and Chip Reese were in an epic heads up battle at the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event that became the longest heads up battle in WSOP history. This heads-up match looks like it might just challenge that record.
The rest of the action of the final table will be included in my next post. Stay tuned.
Who’s the person that everybody looks to when asked about the most tight or aggressive player? I’ll give you a hint; he started as champion backgammon and chess master. Still not sure? Well I guess I’ll tell you then. It’s Dan Harrington, just ask anybody who knows anything about poker. He started his poker habits at New York’s Mayfair club and in the 80′s earned a little more experience. During that time he played Erik Seidel, Howard Lederer, Jay Heimowitz, and Steve Zolotow.
