World Poker Tour Championship - Season Four Part I: Records and Riches

The elegant Bellagio is the flagship property of the 10 hotel/casinos owned by MGM Mirage. From the botanical gardens to the seven fine-dining establishments, everything is first-class at 3600 Las Vegas Boulevard South. Poker is no exception. The beautifully appointed 39-table room is professionally managed by Doug Dalton and spreads games from $4-$8 to $4,000-$8,000. For 21 days in April, professional players and hopeful amateurs attended the Five-Star World Poker Classic, now in its fourth iteration. The annual World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship caps off the series of satellites and no-limit hold'em tournaments. Once again, the finale resulted in a record number of entrants (605) and prize money ($14,695,500, with $3,766,350 going to the winner and 100 players cashing in). Here's how the first six days shook out.

Day One: Each competitor in the first flight (296 players will see action today) exchanged his/her $25,500 receipt or satellite voucher for $50,000 in tourney chips. Play began shortly after noon with players to the left of each button posting a $50 small blind and a $100 big blind, respectively. Five limits (90 minutes each) were scheduled to be completed.



I'm watching table No. 45, featuring Minh Ly, David Grey, Young Phan, and Dan Harrington. With proportionally small blinds (seven days from now, the winner will be photographed behind $30,300,000 in chips), the players are chatty and careful in their play. It makes little sense to take a big risk to protect a small blind early on. Care should be taken to avoid going to the mat with a big, second-best hand in the first few rounds.



Phil Hellmuth Jr. strolls in a few minutes past 3 p.m. The 2005 National Heads-Up Poker champion and holder of nine World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets is known for his late arrivals. I shake my head and make a caustic comment to a friend/rival reporter. Folks, don't arrive fashionably late when you play tournaments. Come on time and watch your opponents. Many decisions are borderline and dependent upon your opponents' propensities.



So, how did Phil do? An hour and 13 minutes after arriving, he knocked Gus Hansen out, and finished the day with a respectable $81,875. Gus is fun to watch. He's more talkative at a table when he knows opponents, and this was such a setting with Barry Shulman and Juha Helppi present. With Phil in the big blind, Gus takes a stack of eight $100 checks and topples them into the pot. When Phil is the last to fold, Gus laughs and says, "Phil, it's so much fun to steal all your money." Of course, at the end of the day, Phil has the last laugh. Simon Moussa (unknown to me) flies out to the lead with $269,925.



When the second flight concludes on Wednesday, Moussa still stands at the top of the 473-player heap. Simon is followed by Greg Fondacaro ($260,150) and Tony Bloom ($244,575). Notables in pursuit include Chip Jett (sixth place), Patrik Antonius (seventh), Evelyn Ng (11th), Doug Lee (12th), Mark Seif (17th), and John D'Agostino (20th). An average stack is $64,000.



Day Three: The two flights are combined at level six ($400-$800 with $100 antes). We are still playing 10-handed, thus each pot contains $2,200 when the cards are dealt. A comfortable five levels will be played today, thus players should be gone by 9 p.m.



I decide to watch James Woods play. He displays a fierce game face and fits in with his table, where not a word is spoken, other than "raise," for hands at a time. The talented actor who celebrated his 59th birthday on the first day of this event is wearing black clothing and sunglasses. After folding nine hands, he plays from the small blind in a raised pot. When an ace flops, he bets $5,000 and is raised to $15,000. The board contains two clubs, but no straight draw. After 27 seconds, Woods shows the A and mucks. I like the fold, but I'm puzzled as to why he showed that he is willing to be taken off top pair. Perhaps the man reputed to have a 180 IQ is setting an image trap for his opponents. This hand reinforces the value of position in no-limit poker. Had Woods reraised on the flop and been called, his next move would have been difficult. James jousts very well for the next eight hours and finishes with $341,700, good for 15th position out of 204 remaining.



I move to Freddy Deeb's table just in time to see the likeable star take a bad beat.



He decides to take a smoke break on the veranda of the Fontana Lounge. I follow him. As we view the water show below us, Freddy tells me he has only $18,000 left (about 20 percent of an average stack). Is Deeb worried about being blinded off? Apparently not, since we chat for 12 minutes. Did his "cooling off break" work? Absolutely. Whether it was the changing of the cards (do a search on "butterfly effect") or my incredibly sage parting advice of "Go get 'em, Freddy," the man who played his way into this event by winning $1 million in Aruba is on fire for the next four levels and closes the day in 12th place with a whopping $354,500.

At the ninth level ($800-$1,600 with $200 antes), the two most "love 'em or hate 'em" Americans in poker – Mike Matusow and Phil Hellmuth – hook up. I elbow my way forward and see all of Mike's chips in the pot with 5-5 in front of him. Phil needs help for his A-10. "The Mouth," who often laments about never getting his share of luck, winces as Phil spikes an ace on the flop. With the delivery of those three community cards, Matusow plummets from a 54 percent favorite preflop to a 90 percent underdog facing the turn. Phil's aces hold. He has $41,700 when the day ends.



Our leader is getting to be a familiar name in poker, Patrik Antonius. He has $554,500. Fondacaro follows with $540,400. David Williams ($497,500) and Erick Lindgren ($472,300) are in hot pursuit. First-day leader Simon Moussa struggled and dropped to 32nd place.



Day Four: Let's take a look at world-class tournament action from three feet behind one of poker's prominent players. John D'Agostino is on the youthful side of 25, but through Internet play and a zeal for competition, "Dags" has gained a substantial amount of experience and wealth ($1,473,020 in graded tournament earnings).



We'll join him during level 12 ($2,000-$4,000 with $500 antes). All tables are now ninehanded, there are 167 combatants in action, and John sits behind $240,000. During the hour that I observe, Dags is the most active participant at the table, playing 11 hands (seven opening raises, one preflop call of a raise, and three blind defenses). He wins five times uncontested before the flop, and twice by betting on the flop. However, he drops $30,000 when Dapo Fadeyi reraises preflop. John calls the table chip leader, but folds on a ragged flop when Dapo moves $200,000 forward. While taking a short walk after that hand, D'Agostino laughs and confides, "The day I stop calling reraises, I'll be all right."

During the fourth orbit, this pivotal encounter takes place: Dags moves $11,000 forward from under the gun. Jason Strochak, to his immediate left, calls. After the next player folds, Chad Brown decides to play. Dapo also joins the fray. The flop is 7 3 2. John thinks for 36 seconds and moves all in for $106,500. Jason and Chad muck as Dags stares straight ahead. The brim of his FullTiltPoker cap is pulled down to shade his eyes. After a minute of thought, Dapo shrugs and calls, showing the 8 8. John's overcards and flush draw (K J) combine to give him the lead (Dags is a 54-to-46 favorite). After a low red card turns, John survives when the J is delivered on the river.



At the break, I count his $340,000 and ask John about his thoughts as he works his way through day three. Sometimes, players have a tendency to overcomplicate matters, but Dags tells me he tries to keep things simple: "I'm just trying to pick up some pots and take advantage of a big hand, if I get one. Like last night, I went from $150,000 to $200,000 by raising lots of pots preflop, and they kept folding. This table is more contentious, so I'm being more selective with my raises because they know I play a lot of pots. I tried a few raises and they worked, but then he (nodding in the direction of Dapo) reraised a few times and I didn't really have anything. And a few times, I raised, got called, and missed the flop. So, I decided to sit back and wait. Hopefully, I'll pick up a couple of big hands and get some action." At this stage, with 140 players remaining, D'Agostino is more than $100,000 in chips above par, so his plan seems solid to me. He has incorporated adjusting to his opponents, changing gears abruptly, and awareness of relative chip value – three keys to winning tournament play.



Alas, as the clock strikes 8, D'Agostino goes broke reraising all in with the 9 9. His 53 percent favored hand goes into the muck when Paul Wisicka, holding the A Q, spikes an ace on the flop. Dags walks away with $18,435 in profits. While nice cash for three days of work, the top pros always have their eyes on the big prize.



Victor Ramdin, fresh off his win at the Foxwoods Poker Classic ($1,331,889 in prize money), leads the field of 71 with $1,169,000 in chips. Gary Maresh has $1,013,000. Freddy Deeb has risen from the ashes to third place ($1,005,000). Chad Brown had a big day, closing with $893,000. Roland De Wolfe (2005 Grand Prix de Paris champ) is fifth with $889,000.



Day Five: The blinds have moved to $6,000-$12,000 and antes are now $2,000. Due to numerous player reshufflings (table changes) as we reach multiples of nine combatants, this will be our longest day of play, although with the last hand dealt at 9:20 p.m., it's still a comfortable environment for all.

The media gathers around Phil Hellmuth Jr. like none other. Are we looking for great play, interesting chatter, or the big explosion? With Phil, we usually get the trifecta, and today was no exception. Adeptly maneuvering his way to well over $700,000, and chatty in a friendly way, he seems to have a nice foothold on advancing through the day. But all of a sudden poker hell breaks loose. After three folds, James Van Alstyne (34 cashes in the last 28 months) opens with a $40,000 raise. His opponents fold to Hellmuth, who takes very little time reraising $75,000. With his children (chips) in the pot, I expect James to call ($75,000 to win $191,000 represents a good investment for a wide range of hands). He thinks for 40 seconds and calls. The flop is Q 8 6. Will Phil attempt to pick up the pot? No, he checks. James checks in kind. The turn card is the 7, as you will soon see, a "bingo" for both players. Phil fires $100,000 immediately. Assuming Van Alstyne has a spade, Phil has given his opponent insufficient pot odds to try for his flush. But James already has five spades. He raises $200,000. Phil instantly says he's all in. James calls just as quickly, revealing the nuts, the A 10. With a set of sevens, Phil has outs, but the dealer releases a true hold'em card, the 2. The "Poker Brat" leaps out of his seat, looks to the crowd, and exclaims, "He called $75,000 with ace-ten" (referring to James' initial call). I expect James to shout, "He called off all his chips against the nuts!" But, James says nothing. He is watching the dealer count out Phil's chips, to make sure he has the 1989 world champ covered. The crowd is buzzing with their assessment of the hand. Phil continues berating the play, and finally leaves the room muttering, "I can't believe I'm out." Hellmuth played well, and had he hit his full house, he would have been a huge threat.



Here's Van Alstyne's take on this key hand: "Well, Phil was critical of the play, but I thought it was pretty straightforward. I'm not gonna fold for $75,000 more after I raise to $40,000. I mean, we're playing $6,000-$12,000 and there's another $2,000 in blinds out there from everyone. I'm not gonna give it up with that amount of money out there. I did catch a dream card on the turn, almost like a movie script."



Will James be playing the lead when the final hand is dealt in two days? Van Alstyne vaults to the top with (I'll begin rounding these big numbers, occasionally) $4.2 million. Roland De Wolfe follows with $3.3 million. Carlos Zambrano is in there pitching with $3 million. Victor Ramdin goes to sleep with $2.7 million. Erica Schoenberg and Vanessa Rousso, both high on my LGPG list, are in seventh and ninth place, respectively. What's LGPG stand for? Look Good, Play Good. Thanks to Robyn the Poker Babe for that acronym.



Day Six: We begin at level 21 ($20,000-$40,000 blinds and $5,000 antes). Chad Brown takes out Surinder Sunar eight minutes into play, and the players redraw for seats at two tables. Men Nguyen is sandwiched between my two LGPG young ladies. "The Master," a ladies man extraordinaire prior to his current "taken" situation, orders a Corona beer and chats up the two blonds as players are taking their new seats. Men began the day in 18th place with $375,000. He sees me, walks over, and asks me to wish him luck. I do. He needs an immediate dose of fortune, because he moves all in on the next hand with the A K, but trails Simon Moussa's pocket nines. Based on their holdings, Men rates to be sent to the rail more than 55 percent of the time. But luck rides with the four-time player of the year; a king arrives to double Men up. Simon leaves in 18th place 34 minutes later.

The Master is back at it the next hand. Men and I have previously discussed getting on a rush. He believes in pushing when he is running hot. Everyone folds to his raise. He shows 10-10. The Vietnam native likes to raise if his table is playing snugly, and he showed his hand as if to say, "When I raise, I have something good." Other than Erica, a young, solid, contemplative player who adjusts beautifully to opposition, and Carlos Zambrano, a 27-year-old with the right skills, demeanor, and focus to do very well, this is an action table.



Erica has battled back from short-stack problems several times during the past few days. The fan favorite is now a few hundred thousand above $1 million. The sometimes verbally combative David Matthew, who has played aggressively and unpredictably, raises to $120,000. Erica reraises another $200,000. David moves all in, jumps up from the table, and heads to the veranda. Erica contemplates calling $1.1 million. David returns, and after only two minutes and 20 seconds of moving in, he calls for the one-minute clock. With 18 seconds remaining until her hand is dead, Erica says, "I call." Her A-K has David's K-Q dominated. After the 4-3-2 flop, she is 87-to-13 to prevail. However, Matthew hits his queen on the turn. This $2.7 million pot proves fatal for Erica (she builds her remaining $65,000 in chips beautifully, but leaves a few hours later with $117,165 in cash). That pivotal hand is a financial boon for David, who goes on to make the final six.



Rousso has been very active over the past few days. Naturally aggressive, she has demonstrated excellent self-control when reraised. The Duke graduate (attended on a full scholarship and graduated in two and a half years) is fearless. Weren't we all at 23? In her first year of tournament play, Vanessa has become the youngest woman to make final tables at WSOP and WPT open events. The cheerful, double-jointed Miami University law school student, who can complete a Rubik's Cube in less than five minutes, is attempting to become the first woman winner of a WPT open event.

The dangerous Victor Ramdin has been up and down today, but is now our short stack. Rousso KO's the man who wears number 26 on the back of his FullTiltPoker jersey when she calls his $260,000 preflop raise and moves all in on a flop of Q 6 4. Her A-Q holds up against Victor's A 10 draw.



The TV final table is determined at 7:50 p.m. With the blinds at $80,000-$160,000 and antes at $15,000, Vanessa comes over the top of Van Alstyne's $485,000 preflop raise. James ponders, but calls her additional $1 million. The players board their cards. James has the A J. Vanessa leads with the A K. But, a jack turns, and the pretty blond with the huge personality is out on the TV bubble and off to the cage, where she will pick up $263,625.



As play comes to a halt, the diminutive, talkative, California resident places the smallest amount of checks into his sealable plastic bag. How did Men navigate through trouble during the eight-hour day? What makes him so great? Surely it's a combination of skills, but his ability to recognize all of the subtleties involved in the play of his opponents is probably unmatched. In addition, he maintains constant focus. One would think the Corona beer would take its effect, but it doesn't. Even when he's out of pots, Nguyen catches minor dealer errors and players who put in the wrong amount of chips.

In Part II, we'll find out which of these six survivors will walk away with $3,766,350:

Lee welcomes your questions, comments, and suggestions for future articles at [email protected].