Looking Back at 2005

2005 was a watershed year for poker. Never in history have so many players competed for such large amounts of prize money, and not just at the World Series of Poker. It was both an exciting and disappointing year for me personally. I got very excited when I won the Professional Poker Tour event at Bay 101 in San Jose, California, last March. In addition to the $200,000 prize money, I was at last going to make my television debut at a final table. However, it was not to be. Litigation with the Travel Channel has tied things up in court, and it is uncertain when the PPT events (inaugurated by the World Poker Tour) will appear on television.



Naturally, this was a major disappointment for me, as I was hoping that my performance would lead to my being invited to other televised events. But thus far, I have been largely ignored for the TV invitational tournaments. This has been a sore point with me and with other older players who have done many good things to promote poker over the years. To be more or less passed over in favor of the younger faces does not seem either fair or good business. With ESPN doing an amazing amount of television coverage of the WSOP, you would think it would consider a special tournament for past main-event champions, or at least feature some of them more than they have.



Actually, I had a very good year playing poker. I made several final tables, including a second-place finish in the championship event at the Yellowhead Casino in Canada, which is part of the Canadian Poker Tour. I also came in fourth in the main event at the Fall Poker Roundup at the Wildhorse Casino in Pendleton, Oregon. I might have won it, but a lowly 10-6 offsuit knocked off my mighty A-Q with six players left at the final table. Of course, the 10-6 was the raiser, not the caller. I had that honor, and ended up being victimized by Jeremy Beasley, a young player with enormous potential, who put my chips to good use and went on to win the event. Jeremy's father, Eldon Beasley, is a friend I first met in Billings, Montana, more than 20 years ago. I hosted a small tournament in the card club he ran there at the time. Eldon has been a winning player for years, but is not well-known on the tournament circuit. That may change, as he finished 36th in the $15,000 WPT main event at Bellagio recently. To both father and son, I extend a hearty congratulations. I also managed a money finish in the $25,000 WPT Championship in 2005. I was disappointed that I had only one money finish at the World Series, and I did not get to play any of the WPT events after the WSOP concluded. But taking the bitter with the sweet, it was still a great year for me, and a great year for poker.



There are three players I think deserve mention for their fine performances in 2005. My good friend Dan Alspach knocked off a Bellagio tournament in October for $200,000. At one point he was down to $6,000 in chips with six players left and the blinds at $3,000-$6,000. He kept moving in and his opponents either called and doubled him up, or folded. Soon, Dan was back in the hunt, and he eventually defeated Chip Jett in the finals. This was about the greatest comeback I have ever seen. I felt like a proud papa, as I have been working with Dan and coaching him for quite some time, and I could not have been happier if I had won it myself.



Another player worthy of recognition is J.J. Liu. In my opinion, she has been underrated as a player. Early in 2005, she won a major hold'em event in Reno that paid her more than $70,000. At the $15,000 WPT championship event at Bellagio in December, she went into the final day with a slight chip lead. After going pretty much card dead, she still managed a fourth-place finish to win more than $360,000. J.J. comes across great in person and on television, and she wore her lucky hat and many attractive outfits throughout the tournament. She should definitely get more airtime.



Last and certainly not least, Kathy Liebert deserves special mention. Nobody except Kathy had four top-13 finishes in $10,000 events on the WPT in 2005. She came in third at the Borgata for about $430,000, 12th in Tunica, 12th at the Taj, and 13th at Bellagio. Kathy also won a tournament on the Isle of St. Kitts. What a year!



2005 was a great year for poker players. Now, let's hope that 2006 will be an even better year, and will find us meeting in the winner's circle.



Tom McEvoy is a representative of PokerStars. He is also the voice of ProPlay, a new and innovative way to learn winning poker strategy. Find out more at ProPlayLive.com/TomMcEvoy.