Posted by Craig on October 16, 2008
Born in China, Johnny Chan has become one of the best players in World Series of Poker history. Johnny sits second all time with 10 WSOP bracelets just one behind Phil Hellmuth. Chan’s first World Series of Poker cash was in 1983 and he plays a full schedule to this day with 3 cashes in 2008. Johnny is popular on poker television and is widely considered one of the top 5 players in World Series of Poker history. Chan came to the United States in 1968, he is married and has six children. Johnny won is first bracelet in 1985 and his tenth in 2005.
Heading in to the 1987 World Series of Poker Main Event Chan had already had one bracelet to his name, but the Main Event would be where his career truly started. The Main Event final table in 1987 was littered with poker greats like Howard Lederer, Dan Harrington and Mickey Appleman. At the final table Johnny proved that he was a player to reckon with and beat all those top pros and took home the title. Chan beat Frank Henderson heads up and won $650 000. Once again in 1988 Chan made the final table of the Main Event and once again a lot of names you will recognize were at the table with him, guys like Erik Seidel, TJ Cloutier and Humberto Brenes. Once again Johnny showed that he was one of the top pros in the world besting Seidel heads up to take home the bracelet and $700 000. The 1989 Main Event, Johnny was now the man to watch with back to back wins and three career bracelets. This is where legends are born, Chan once again was there in the end. He battled his way to once again being heads up for the title, and what happened was two future poker legends would take battle. Phil Hellmuth vs Johnny Chan, maybe poker fans didn’t realize it at the time, but it was legend vs legend. Hellmuth would take home the title, but Chan would still take home more then $300 000. We will never see another player make three main event final tables in a row, let alone win 2 and finish second once. Johnny had made his name in the poker world, but he wasn’t done there, he would win more bracelets and even make another Main Event final table in 1992.
Chan wouldn’t win his fourth bracelet until 1994 when he won a seven card stud tournament. His fifth came in 1997 when he outlasted Barry Greenstein, Steve Zolotow and Lyle Berman in winning the deuce to seven lowball bracelet. Chan won his sixth bracelet in 2000 and in 2002 he met an old friend in the no limit holdem heads up tournament. That player was Phil Hellmuth and this time Johnny took home the title and his seventh bracelet. His eighth and ninth bracelet both came in 2003 in event 15 and event 24. In 2005 Chan won his then record 10th bracelet in a pot limit holdem tournament. To win that 10th title he had to beat Phil Laak heads up, which earned him over $300 000. Since then Johnny has cashed eight times and most recently finished 4th in an Omaha event in 2008.
Overall Johnny has 10 bracelets and cashed 41 times in his career. Over his 25 year career Johnny has made more then $4 million at the World Series of Poker alone. 25 years and 27 final tables made, Chan is one of the most consistent poker players in poker history. He has had success playing Holdem of all limits and styles, Omaha and seven card games. The first thing that jumps out at me when I look at Johnny’s WSOP record is the amount of great players he has run into over the years. Chan vs Hellmuth will always be debated, who is the best player of there generation. I am not about to pick, but they will forever be linked in World Series of Poker history.
Johnny is more then just the World Series he commonly appears on Poker After Dark on NBC. He also won Poker Superstars and has career tournament earnings of more then $6.5 million. Johnny has written two books, Play Poker Like Johnny Chan and Million Dollar Holdem. He runs his own online poker site, owns fast food franchises and wants to eventually open his own casino. Chan is a business man and a great poker player who will strive for success in all his endeavors.
I am sure if you took a poll of professional poker players, it would be close to unanimous that Johnny should be considered one of the best players to ever live. With back to back main event titles and 10 bracelets in total Chan has proven that he belongs in that category. He will forever be linked with Phil Hellmuth, and people will wonder who truly is the best player of there generation. Chan is currently sitting tied for second all time in career World Series of Poker wins with poker legend Doyle Brunson, just one behind Phil Hellmuth’s 11 bracelets. I don’t think Johnny is going anywhere, he loves playing poker and I think he will play as long as physically possible. Chan continues to frequently be on poker programming and is still at the top of his game. In the near future Johnny Chan will win his 11th bracelet and the debate will continue Chan or Hellmuth. In a dream world some day they will play heads up to set the record for most career bracelets, but that becomes less likely the bigger the game gets. Chan has proven he could win against the best pros in the world and that he can win in big field events. Johnny Chan is one of the best poker players to ever live, in any generation.
Posted by Craig on October 8, 2008
Every year poker players converge on Las Vegas to compete for World Series of Poker bracelets. As poker has become popular we have become familiar with a lot of the tops professional players in the world. Every year we expect to see guys like Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu and Scotty Nguyen on WSOP programming. All of those players are great and deserve all the publicity they get, but there are other great players you just don’t hear a lot about. Players who have won multiple bracelets, but aren’t as visible as the television professionals. Its time these guys get a little attention of there own for the great accomplishments at the WSOP.
Billy Baxter - Baxter has seven World Series of Poker bracelets and a lot of people don’t even know who he is. Billy is a true legend of the game, winning his first bracelet in a 1975 deuce to seven lowball event and has went on to cash 28 times so far. He won 5 of his seven titles in the 80′s , but only won 1 in the 90′s. He captured his last bracelet in 2002 and has made seven cashes since. The reason you may not be familiar with Baxter is because his wins have come in less popular games like deuce to seven lowball, Razz and Ace to Five draw. Most recently in 2008 he had a final table in event 40 and proved he is still a great player. With 7 bracelets and more then a million in WSOP earnings, Baxter deserves his spot amongst the poker greats of all time.
Layne Flack - You might know who Layne is, but I bet you don’t know that he has 6 WSOP bracelets. Flack has been on television a few times, but isn’t a regular on popular programming. He has more then $2.2 million in career World Series earnings, with 19 career cashes. He won his first title in 1999 in a pot limit holdem event for more then $220 000. His career would take off from there winning bracelets in no limit holdem, Omaha hi/lo and pot limit Omaha rebuy. In 2008 Layne won his first bracelet in 5 years and took home more then a half a million dollars. Throughout his career Flack has 6 titles and has finished in the top five, five times, he had won a couple of those tournaments he would be right up there with career bracelets. Flack is a great holdem player and I hope we get to see more of him in the future.
Berry Johnston - Berry is a main event winner and a lot of people don’t know him. In 1986 Johnston won the main event taking home the bracelet and $570 000. In total Johnston has 5 bracelets and has cashed an amazing 56 times in his career. He has won titles in limit/no limit Holdem, Omaha, Razz and in Heads up. He cashed 3 times in 2008 with his best finish being 10th in the World Championship of Omaha. With over $2 million in career earnings Johnston has definitely had a great career. Johnston is known as one of the tightest and most solid players in Texas Holdem history. The way he plays Johnston is bound to get a lot more cashes in his career and compete for more bracelets. You won’t see him on television a lot, but he definitely is one of the best players.
Tom McEvoy - Another main event winner, Tom took home the title in 1983. He has 4 bracelets in total and 36 career World Series of Poker cashes. He has career earnings of more then $1.2 million and continues to play in the series every year. McEvoy is on a big bracelet drought not winning one since 1992, but he has cashed 7 times in the last three years. 1983 was his best year when he won two events including besting Doyle Brunson at the final table of the main event. His four bracelets are in four different games Limit Holdem, No Limit Holdem, Razz and Omaha. In 2008 in finished in the top 30 twice and made more then $12 000. McEvoy is an excellent player and deserves his spot in poker history.
Chau Giang - Chau is one of the best characters in poker and I wish we could see more of him. He has 46 career cashes and has won 3 bracelets. Giang had an amazing 2008 with 8 cashes with 3 top 15 finishes. Giang is getting older, but is still an excellent poker player and can win every time he plays. His first bracelet came in 1993 and most recently won a 2004 Pot Limit Omaha event. Chau is a cash machine, finishing in the money 17 times over the past 3 World Series of Poker’s. His biggest cash was in 2006 when he finished 3rd at a Pot Limit Omaha event for almost $300 000. Career earnings of close to $1.5 million Chau is one of the most consistent and best players in the world.
These players may be lesser known pro’s, but they all deserve there place in poker history. All these guys listed have the same or more bracelets then bigger names like Mike Matusow, Howard Lederer, Jennifer Harmon and Sammy Farha. The World Series of Poker has a great history and if you are a true poker fan you should educate yourself and learn about the greats of the game. The WSOP has changed a lot since the boom, now a days players have to beat thousands of players to win a bracelet. Back in the day, the fields were smaller, but they were full of professional players which made it very difficult to win. Winning a World Series of Poker bracelet is an amazing thing and winning multiple will put you in great company. Watch, play and enjoy the World Series of Poker.
Posted by Craig on October 6, 2008
Daniel Negreanu is won of the most respected and most decorated professional poker players of all time. Every time he plays he is a fan favorite and a threat to win. He is coming off a great showing at the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe and remains one of the top players in the world. His style at the table is one that the general public can connect to, he’s talkative and seems to have a lot of fun at the tables. “Kid Poker”, burst on the seen in the mid 1990′s and has continued to have success right up to today. Daniel is a gambler, he also loves to bet on golf and will play any form of poker that is available to him.
Negreanu was born in Canada and is a poker icon in that country. He started his poker dreams playing in backroom games and in Casino’s near Toronto Ontario. Negreanu broke threw as a young man in 1997 at Foxwoods winning two events for more then $50 000 and starting his climb to the top of the poker world. Later on in 1998 “Kid Poker” won his first bracelet in a $2000 Pot Limit Holdem tournament becoming the youngest player to ever win a bracelet at the WSOP. His first bracelet was worth more then $160 000 and would be a sign of future success at the World Series. He didn’t win a bracelet again until 2003, but over that period he had 8 top 15 finishes and came close multiple times. In 2003 he won his second bracelet in a SHOE tournament, he won more then $100 000. 2004 was truly Daniels best year at the Series and he would claim player of the year honors for his efforts. Five times in 2004 Negreanu finished in the top 10 in tournaments, finishing 3rd in a no limit event and winning limit holdem event number 15 for his third bracelet. In 2005 Daniel was still winning, taking home a circuit event for more then $750 000 and his biggest cash at the WSOP. In 2006 and 2007 Daniel didn’t win a bracelet, but he still performed well cashing seven times over the two years. In 2008 Daniel broke threw again winning his 4th bracelet in a limit holdem tournament. He showed up in London recently looking to win his first WSOPE bracelet, although he didn’t win he made the final table at the main event winning more then 215 000 pounds. All in all Daniel has four bracelets, 33 cashes and more $2 million in Career World Series of Poker earnings.
More then just the WSOP Daniel has found a lot of success at the WPT winning two titles. He was the WPT player of the year in 2005 and has 16 WPT cashes in his career. “Kid Poker” has the most career earnings on the WPT and you can commonly see him on television shows like Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker. When you look at Daniels career totals he has earned more then $10 million in poker tournaments and ranks second all time to main event winner Jamie Gold, who won $12 million in one tournament. Negreanu is still young and will no doubt pass Gold some day. The fans love to watch him play and you will continue to see him on television, he even announces from time to time.
Daniel Negreanu’s style is unlike a lot of the other top pros you will see. He doesn’t sit like a statue with his sun glasses on or sit silently so that players can’t get reads off of him. I believe this is why he is so popular, he is entertaining. His game is unique, he loves to play pots and be in the action, probably more then any other big named professional player. Daniel is known for his love of playing small suited connectors and hands that most players will throw away without a second thought. Negreanu doesn’t need pocket aces to win, he’ll play small pots and take advantage of weaknesses in his opponents. He can do this because of his excellent ability to read players and figure out where he stands in a hand. We have all see it before in World Series of Poker programming, when Daniel calls out the hand of his opponent perfectly. He relies of this skill and it has won him a lot of money over the years. Sometimes it is as if he can see the hole card cameras, when he works his way back threw the hand and guesses is competitor raised with a Queen Eight. Undoubtably some of that skill is natural, but he has worked hard on it and you know he has been wrong a lot of the time. Because he relies of his ability to read opponents, when he isn’t playing good or if he is card dead Texas Holdem becomes very difficult for him.
Daniel “Kid Poker” Negreanu is one of the best poker players to ever play. He has more world wide career money earnings that great players of his generation like Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey and Allen Cunningham. He loves to play poker and he loves to golf and his life is great when he is in the action. Daniel has four bracelets and counting, your guess as much as mine of how many he will win throughout his poker career. Negreanu is fun to watch and is very entertaining at the table. Be aware if you get the chance to play with him, everything is calculated everything he says while in a hand with you is designed for him to have the best outcome. Someday Daniel will be the biggest money earner in poker tournament history and should be considered one of the top players of all time. “Kid Poker” is a great player, he is highly respected and a fan favorite all over the world.
Posted by Craig on September 24, 2008
“Texas Dolly” Doyle Brunson, stands alone as a living legend in the poker world. He still plays a lot of competitive poker and it is hard to imagine him not at the World Series of Poker. Doyle has won 10 WSOP bracelets and is still trying to get his 11th. Doyle won his first bracelet in 1976 when the World Series was much smaller and won his last bracelet in 2005. Its been a long journey for Brunson, the kind of journeys you make movies about. I imagine Mr. Brunson could tell stories for days about the old days of playing in back rooms and risking his life to be a poker player. He has been through it all and played against the best in four different decades. Whether you think Doyle is the best ever doesn’t matter, everyone respects him and knows he is one of the best players to ever play the game.
Super System, known as the “poker bible”, was written by Doyle, changed the poker world forever. 1978 the average player now had the ability to see how the pros were making money playing Texas Holdem. If you haven’t read Super System, go out and get it. The book is still relevant today, and will teach you how to play the game like a pro. Doyle said that the book has cost him a lot of money, the amateurs got better because of it.
Doyle is known as a Texas Holdem player, but he might be the best all around poker player to ever live. Brunson has won bracelets in No Limit Holdem, Deuce to Seven Draw, Seven Card Stud, RAZZ and HORSE. In 1979 Doyle even won a Mixed Doubles event with Starla Brodie. With 10 bracelets in total ‘Dolly” won four of them playing No Limit Holdem. The biggest cash that Doyle has at the World Series was he last one when he won the Shorthanded No Limit Holdem bracelet for more then $350,000. That will help you realize how much the game has changed, in 1976 Doyle made $230,000 for winning the main event. In ‘76 Doyle won two bracelets the Main Event and the Deuce to Seven Draw.
The 10 – 2 is Doyle’s hand, he won back to back main events holding those two hole card in 1976 and 1977. In ‘76 Brunson beat Jesse Alto Heads up coming from behind to make a full house, again in’77 holding 10 – 2 Doyle came from behind making a full hose against Gary Berland. 10- 2 is one of the worst hands in poker and forever will be known as “Doyle Brunson”, Doyle will play the hand from time to time when he is on television just for show. Poker has changed a lot since Doyle was winning main events in ‘76 there were 22 players in the tournament and 34 in ‘77 compared to the thousands who enter every year now. Doyle won six bracelets in the 1970′s, but did not win any in the 1980′s. In 1991 Brunson won his first bracelet since 1979, when he took home the $2,500 No Limit Holdem event for more then $200,000. In 1998 Doyle won a RAZZ tournament, and in 2003 he proved he could still win big tournaments when he won the HORSE event. “Texas Dolly” won his tenth World Series of Poker bracelet in 2005 taking home the Shorthanded event.
The family man, Doyle married his wife Louise in 1962. Doyle and Louise had three children, his son Todd became a professional poker player himself. Todd and Doyle were the first father / son combination to win World Series of Poker bracelets. Pamela, Doyle’s daughter also plays and found some success in the 2007 Series. Doyle overcame great obstacles in his life, he had cancer in the early ‘60′s that was said to incurable. After he had an operation no cancer could be found and the doctors said it had to be a miracle. His daughter Doyla passed away at the age of 18 and Doyle turned to religion to get him through the tough times.
To this day Doyle Brunson frequents the biggest cash games in Vegas and plays multiple tournaments a year. He plays in the World Series of Poker every year in both Las Vegas and in Europe. He has made more then $2,800,000 in his World Series career, and continues the chase for his 11th bracelet. In 2008 in had big runs in tournaments twice, finishing 21st in event eight and finished 16th at the World Championship of HORSE. Doyle has finished in the top 10 at a WSOP tournament 23 times and that number will continue to rise in my opinion. He has had 31 total cashes throughout his career and has had six in the last three Series. The HORSE tournament may be the best chance Doyle has at winning more bracelets in the future, he still is one of the best all around players in the world. He has cashed in HORSE events four times since 2003 and sooner rather then later he may win it again.
Doyle revolutionized the game of poker with his writing and after the poker boom he has re-established himself as one of the best players in the world. A lot of people see “Texas Dolly” as the face of poker. Doyle is to poker what Babe Ruth is to baseball, Wilt Chamberlain is to Basketball and what Gordie Howe is to hockey, a legend. The difference is you can compete with Doyle you can play a tournament or sit in a cash game and test your skills against the most legendary poker player of all time. Take the time watch Doyle play, listen to his stories and just enjoy the fact that you got to see a true legend of poker.
Posted by James on September 22, 2008
Day 3 of the £1,500 No Limit Holdem event saw 90 players gather to play their way to the final table in the first bracelet event of this World Series of Poker Europe. Pros in contention included Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda, Andy Bloch, Jason Gray, Marc Goodwin, Jac Arama, Surider Sunar, Brandon Cantu, Phil Laak, Michael Binger, and Erik Seidel.
Michael Binger was one of the first pros eliminated from today’s action. Binger pushed all in with pocket aces. His opponent held pocket threes. Binger must have read Phil Ivey’s book on busting out of this event. The flop came with both remaining threes, giving his opponent quads. The river did not fall an ace, and Binger was eliminated.
Marc Goodwin moved all in on a flop of 5s-3c-10d. Both Tony Duffield and Fuad Serhan pushed all-in behind him. Duffield showed Ah-10h for top pair, Goodwin showed As-Ac, and Serhan showed 5h-5d for a set of fives. Serhan had both opponents covered. The turn and river came running fours, giving Serhan the pot and eliminating two players.
Level 11 saw the end of Phil Laak’s tournament. Phil Laak moved all in holding Kc-Js. He picked a bad time to make a move as Sid Harris made the call with As-Ah. The board missed both players and Laak rocketed out of the tournament.
Shortly before the end of level 11, John Juanda moved all in on a flop of 6s-4d-9h and was called by Tim Pennington. Juanda held 9s-7s against Pennington’s Jh-Jd. The turn card of the 7c put Juanda head. Unfortunately for Juanda, the river fell the 6c, giving Pennington a better two pair.
Erik Seidel started the day as the third shortest stack in the tournament with only 7,000 chips. Seidel was able to double up a couple of times early on but his run finally came to an end in Level 12. Seidel moved in with A-K and ran into pocket queens. The board missed both opponents and Seidel will be available to play in tomorrow’s H.O.R.S.E. event.
This first event of the WSOP Europe will pay 45 spots and we reached the bubble period during level 12. Pete Linton became the unfortunate bubble boy. Linton was all in with Ah-9s against Ad-4s. Linton stayed ahead on both the flop and turn, but a river 4h sent Linton to the rail with the same prize as the other 365 player, $0.
Shortly after the bubble burst, pro Surinder Sunar moved all in with A-7 against Arkadi Kilman’s pocket fours. The board missed out and Sunar took home £ 3,075.
Level 13 saw the end of Brandon Cantu’s day. With only 8,100 chips remaining, Cantu moved all in with Qs-10c. Adam Junglen made the call with Ad-9s. Cantu exclaimed “Give me a ten, dealer” as the flop was dealt and his wish was granted with a Kd-4h-10s flop. The turn fell a disastrous Ah, leaving Cantu needing a queen, ten, or jack. The river card fell a harmless 4c, and Cantu was eliminated.
Level 13 appeared to be an unlucky level for Daniel Negreanu. First, Negreanu was forced to fold a hand on the river that cost him about 1/3 of his stack. Finally, during the color up period, Negreanu raised preflop and Christoph Bommes moved over the top all-in. After tanking for a while, Negreanu made the call showing 9s-9c. Bommes held As-Kd. Bommes immediately spiked a king on the flop, giving him a commanding lead. Negreanu needed one of the two remaining nines to win the hand. A nine did not fall and Negreanu busted out in 24th place.
During level 14, Jason Gray made a raise to 11,000 from late position. Warren Woodall made the call. The flop fell Ah-10d-9c. Woodall checked to Gray, who bet out 14,000. Woodall then raised to 45,000. After tanking a bit, Gray moved all-in and Woodall made the call. Gray held As-Ks for top pair, and Gray held 10c-9s for two pair. The river missed both players with the 3d. The river card of the Qh failed to help Gray and Gray headed for the rail.
Level 16 saw the end to Andy Bloch’s tournament. Jesper Hougaard made a raise from the button and Andy Bloch moved all in from the big blind. Hougaard insta-called with Qc-Qd. Bloch held Kh-Jh. The flop fell 7s-Ah-10s to give Bloch a gutshot straight draw. Neither a queen nor king would fall on the turn or river. Andy Bloch finished in 15th place and earned £ 7,072.
Play was down to ten handed when Christoph Bommes called an all in bet from Yevgeniy Timoshenko preflop. Bommes held Jh-Jc and Timoshenko held Ad-Kc. The flop fell 7h-Ac-5c to put Timoshenko in the lead. Bommes was unable to catch a jack on the turn or the river and he became the final table bubble boy.
Nine players will return tomorrow at 1 p.m. to play for the bracelet in this £1,500 No Limit Holdem event. This is the breakdown of the final table:
Seat 1: Fuad Serhan 61,000
Seat 2: Daniel Nutt 207,000
Seat 3: Yevgeniy Timoshenko 345,000
Seat 4: John Dwyer 511,000
Seat 5: Ian Woodley 153,000
Seat 6: Jesper Hougaard 89,000
Seat 7: Linda Lee 121,000
Seat 8: Neil Channing 199,000
Seat 9: Adam Junglen 795,000
Linda Lee is the last woman standing in this first event of the WSOP Europ but she will have a long road to travel to win this bracelet. Adam Junglen enters as the chip leader for this final table with John Dwyer right on his heals. Jesper Hougaard was chip leader for a good portion of the day, but wound up the second short stack entering the final table.
Tomorrow also marks day one of the £2,500 H.O.R.S.E event. Play will begin at 2 p.m. tomorrow and promises to sport a very strong field. As has been the case, I will be back tomorrow to bring you a recap of the action of both the final table of Event 1 and the first day of the £2,500 H.O.R.S.E event.
