No-Limit Hold'em Poker Comes to the Mayfair
During the early '80s, New Yorkers started to cash in the
World Series of Poker, both in the main event and some of the other games. I first encountered Stu Ungar at the Mayfair playing rummy, but I don't really count him as Mayfair player, since he played there only a few times, and never poker, or even as a New Yorker, since he had moved to Vegas when he was quite young. But a lot of others were doing good things in Vegas. Jay Heimowitz, owner of a successful beer distribution company and a steady, underrated player, started finishing in the money all the time. He has gone on to win six bracelets. Mickey Appleman, a tiger in the sports-betting jungle, was cashing consistently during those years.
I had been playing in a regular home game run by a friend, who also helped Mickey move basketball games. One night I arrived to find the police had raided the game, but not because of poker. They thought it must be a bookie joint because of the amounts being bet on sports. We started playing poker as they took our friend out in handcuffs. One of the players quipped to the officers, "I'm glad you're taking him; he plays too damn tight, so who needs him?" The officer laughed and asked if a seat was open. When we said yes, he said that he might come back after his shift ended.
Another early-'80s final-table finisher from New York was Ritchie Schwartz. (There is a Vegas player of the same name. The Vegas Ritchie Schwartz had a wild youth and picked up the nickname CK for Crazy Kid.) Our New York Ritchie had a great mind for games and numbers, and quickly became the most successful exotic racetrack bettor in the country. He played in some of the early Mayfair games, but then he got more interested in sports betting and bridge playing than poker, and retired from the game. He is rumored to be getting interested again.
I was partially responsible for hold'em coming to the Mayfair. After some backgammon props, I played Paul "X22" Magriel a series of backgammon-hold'em freezeouts. We'd play a short backgammon match, and then a no-limit hold'em freezeout using the backgammon checkers as our chips. Soon, these freezeouts caught on, and a number of players were playing them. This group included Roger Low and Bob Beimish, who both went on to become successful option traders. The Mayfair had been a bridge club that evolved into a backgammon club, but suddenly, poker was alive there. By the mid '80s, the Mayfair game had taken off. We played no-limit hold'em every evening. Both while waiting for the game to start and when it ended, we discussed hands, plays, and concepts. These discussions would continue at local bars late into the night. Playing, talking, analyzing, and studying created a large pool of very good players. This was due to the fact that most of us had an intellectual approach to games. We played and studied games a lot. At this time, the Mayfair players were clearly the best backgammon players in the world. They also were very good at a number of other games, such as bridge, chess, gin, blackjack, hearts, Scrabble, and a variety of other strange games.
The three best poker players were, in my opinion, (in alphabetical order) Dan Harrington, Howard Lederer, and Erik Seidel. The second tier was also very strong. It included Mickey Appleman, Noli Francisco, Jay Heimowitz, Billy Horan, Jason Lester, Sonny Mendoza, Bill Rothstein, Jeff Rothstein, Mike Shictman, and me. The names you don't recognize are all winning cash-game players who don't play tournaments that often, and I'm sure there were some other tough players I've forgotten to mention. If you survived at the Mayfair, you got very good. Also, remember that at this time, there were very few regular no-limit hold'em games anywhere in the country. (I think there may have been one or two in Texas, but none in Atlantic City, Vegas, or California.)
The Mayfair Starts to Score at the WSOP
By the late '80s, Mayfair players were cashing regularly in
WSOP events. In the 1987 main event, Howard Lederer finished fifth, Dan Harrington sixth, and Mickey eighth. The next year, Erik Seidel finished second to Johnny Chan. Dan's greatest
WSOP successes didn't come until the '90s, but he was always as tough as they come at the poker table. I was more interested in betting sports and playing in the cash games, but every time I looked up, one of my friends seemed to be doing well in a tournament.
The following story will give you some idea of what it was like when the cash games got good.
My Encounter With 'Suitcase Ray'
By the time the next
WSOP occurred, I had quit work to become a full-time gambler. Poker wasn't my primary focus, but I thought that I was already pretty good, and becoming better all the time. Anyway, I put my name on the list for a $5-$10-$25 game (yes, there were still three blinds), and hovered around the table as my name slowly moved up the list to where I was next up. Someone finally quit the game, and I was heading to the open seat when the floorman stopped me. He said, "I know you're next, but Ray is after you and everyone wants him to play."
I was sharp enough to realize that if everyone wanted this guy rather than an unknown New Yorker, he had to be really bad. (There was a saying that I'd heard from a Vegas con man: "Nobody's dumber than a smart New Yorker.") So, rather than protest, I suggested that we make it 10-handed, and allow both of us to play. Everyone agreed, but the table stipulated that if someone left, it would go back to ninehanded. I bought in for $1,000 and Ray bought in for $2,000. I took the seat that got the big blind, and Ray posted. In fact, he didn't just post, he posted his whole $2,000 blind, and ordered a cocktail. At $2,000 a hand, he lost more than $10,000 before he ever won a hand. I heard several players make suitcase jokes that I didn't understand. Whenever he won a hand or two, he would become mildly selective and wait for an ace, suited cards, or a pair. As soon as he lost, it was back to all in blind again. I played supertight as my stack increased, and over the next few hours won nearly $25,000. I have no idea how much Ray was down when he quit, but the game that had had a two-page waiting list immediately broke up. Someone finally explained that Ray would show up with a suitcase full of money and play till it was empty.
Timing Your Trip to the WSOP
It was games like this and players like Ray that made the side games more lucrative than the tournaments. The top players - Chip, Doyle, Roger Moore, and some others - played only the big tournaments. If you look at the current
WSOP schedule, you see a hodgepodge of games and stakes. In the early days, there had been some discussion of lumping all of the tournaments in each game together - first stud, then Omaha, and so on. It was finally decided to arrange the schedule by stakes. All of the small events came first; next came the medium ones; finally, there were the big ones, capped by the main event. In many ways, this was a very sensible schedule, since players who could come out for only a week or two could chose to come at a time when there were tournaments appropriate for their bankrolls. Those wanting to take a shot would show up in the beginning, start with the small events, and try to work their way up. The action was usually best at the beginning, before the really weak players tapped out, and at the end, when assorted well-heeled high rollers came to play the big events.
It seems that I am both running on too long and leaving out a lot of good stories. So, I will wrap up this column by giving you a little practical advice for timing your trip to the
WSOP. The pattern of the best games falling early in the tournament and at the end still holds true today; therefore, the best time to make money is at the beginning and at the end. In fact, those with a real job or a real life should try to come out for the first week. Then, go home, rest, study, and return a few days before the main event. That will enable you to maximize your time at the
World Series.
Steve "Zee" Zolotow, aka The Bald Eagle, is a successful games player. He currently devotes most of his time to poker. He can be found at many major tournaments and playing on Full Tilt, as one of its pros. When escaping from poker, he spends Thursday afternoons and Friday nights at his bar, Doc Holliday's on Avenue A and 9th Street in New York City, where the lovely Joanna will pour drinks and talk poker, if it is not too busy. She is also threatening to come out for the WSOP ladies event this year.
