The World Poker Tour Goes to Aruba

Lights, cameras, makeup, action! It's just like the movies, but it's poker, real poker for big money, where the pros, semipros, and rank amateurs vie for huge prize pools in various locales all over the world. It's called the World Poker Tour, and its latest stop was Aruba.

Steve Lipscomb, the producer for the filming of the WPT, stated, "If I can capture the you [the poker player], the real you, for the 50 million TV viewers, your world [poker] will forever change." I believe this is exactly what took place when Ultimatebet.com took 100 online poker players to Aruba to play the finals of its huge Ultimate Poker Classic.

I was honored to win my way to Aruba and not only have the opportunity to participate in the finals and all the festivities, but to see for myself the impact that both the WPT and Internet poker are having on the poker world. There were many poker players there who had never played one hand of "live" poker until they arrived in Aruba. Upon their departure, they couldn't wait for their next visit to not only the Internet site, but to the nearest brick-and-mortar poker room.

Promotions get the attention of poker players, who are fierce competitors, and the more they can play for, the more interested they become: money, big money in a huge freeroll, or a gold bracelet to rival any championship bracelet ever awarded, or an all-expense-paid trip to a tropical paradise. How about all three rolled into one big promotion? That is exactly what the UB brainstormers came up with to offer their regular online poker players. Players logged hours to accumulate points to use as buy-ins for any of the eight prelim tournaments. All eight final tables, plus a second-chance tournament, plus a $50,000 freeroll, plus a "David and Goliath" match, plus UB parties, seminars, Beach Olympics, and various other fun activities were held in Aruba, with UB picking up the tab. Now that is a promotion!

This promotion began last April, word spread like wildfire, and the first annual Ultimate Poker Classic was off and running. On Oct. 7, the finalists showed up in Aruba, literally from around the world. The festivities began with a "Welcome" pool party at the Holiday Inn Aruba, where the Excelsior Casino and the only poker room in Aruba are located. The party offered attendees an open bar, an array of grilled and barbecued foods, vegetables, fresh fruits, and desserts - all of which were enjoyed under the stars and rustling palms overhead, with the lapping ocean waves a short distance away. Announcements and introductions were made, and online players met counterparts and learned real names and hometowns. Tom McEvoy admitted surprise and embarrassment when he met an online player who had "beaten his brains out" on more than one occasion. The player's screen name means death in Greek, and Tom expected a rough-and-tumble, hard-talking young man. Instead, he met a petite and beautiful blonde.

The following morning, a poker seminar was held in the poker room that was attended by about 60 players. On the panel - with great points, suggestions, and answers to many questions - were Annie Duke, Jennifer Harmon, Phil Hellmuth, John Bonetti, and Howard Lederer.

That afternoon, the first four final tables were held. Famous poker master of ceremonies and tournament director extraordinaire Jack McClelland was on hand to officiate. McClelland is the nuts when it comes to running and commentating any final-table action. Running four final tables simultaneously made Jack a little nuts, but he did a terrific job on both days for all eight final tables, wearing running shoes and breaking a sweat, but never missing a beat. To give credit where credit is due, Jack's wife, Elizabeth, did give him a helping hand. He not only ran eight final tables flawlessly, he found time for a few of his famous McClellandisms along the way. Of his very brightly colored, floral Hawaiian shirt, which surely glowed in the dark, he quipped, "I'm doing my Tom McEvoy impersonation."

All players were assigned a UB team and given a team-color T-shirt and matching hat. There were four teams - pink, blue, green, and yellow. Team captains were Annie Duke, Scotty Nguyen, Phil Hellmuth, and Russ Hamilton, respectively. The teams participated in the UB Beach Olympics, and the fun began. Keep in mind that all participants were poker players, and therefore competitive by nature. Other beach goers became aware of our competition when the loudspeaker blared the uplifting music of We Are the Champions and the Star-Spangled Banner, which was followed by the whoops and cheering of the teams. There were many beach "railbirds" and "sweaters" cheering for their favorite teams, and you would have thought the teams were playing for a $1 million prize pool, as hard as they were trying. There were four referees and one official scorekeeper. The games included the "Great Balloon Blow-Up Race," followed by the "Cantaloupe Cuddle," the "Snorkel Shuffle," the "Wacky Water Race," and last but certainly not least, the "Great Tug of War." The competition was fierce and team huddles took place before each event. After the Wacky Water Race, team captain Annie Duke knew her team was in trouble in the points race. She gave them a pep talk and ended it with, "And if all else fails - cheat!" It was a close race all the way, but the champion was Russ Hamilton's yellow team.

Back to the poker tables the following day, eight pro players played the UB Celebrity Championship event down to four finalists. The final four included Jennifer Harmon, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Gordon, and Scotty Nguyen. At the same time, the UB Classic of 100 nonpros played down to four finalists (screen names): Peasant, Cathy, TexWaller, and Solidwoo. Cathy, who is Kathy Liebert, has now been dubbed "Queen of Tropical Poker" after also winning the PartyPoker.com Million.

All along the way of this adventure, the WPT's cameras were rolling. On the last day, the set was fantastic: It was located on the second floor of a thatched-hut restaurant, overlooking palm trees, the beach, and the Atlantic Ocean. The final four pros played down to the champion - the humble, talented, low-key, funny, tall, good-looking Phil Gordon. The final four nonpros played down to one of two young players from Finland, Juha Helppi. He played heads up with his buddy, whom he had taught to play no-limit hold'em only three months prior! For a while, it looked as though the student might teach the teacher a difficult lesson, but Juha pulled it off and emerged victorious.

Next on the agenda was the David and Goliath match, which pitted the amateur Helppi against the pro Gordon, who said, "Something went wrong. He beat me like a drum! I have never felt so humbled at a poker table in my life. It's the most helpless feeling to be completely cold-decked. After he raised for the ninth consecutive time, I said, 'What the hell,' and poured a glass of ice water over my head. It didn't change anything, it didn't help, but it felt good. Oh well, my mom will be proud anyway. If he's selling any of himself in the $25,000 event at Bellagio, I am buying!"

What a great thing for poker! The young David crucified the big, strong, talented giant to prove once again that poker is poker; it's unpredictable and can make a star out of a good player overnight. In addition to loads of cash, a beautiful gold bracelet, and bragging rights for a year, Juha also won a $25,000 seat in Bellagio's WPT Grand Championship tournament and a chance to win millions! This event will be the grand finale for the World Poker Tour, which is forever going to change our poker world.u