Donkey-fest?

I am writing this column on June 20. About 75 percent of the events at the World Series of Poker have been completed. Eleven of the high rollers created a $25,000 entry fee fantasy league for the tournaments. Each of these 11 drafted eight superstars; thus, the league includes 88 of the best, most active tournament players in the world, like Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda, Allen Cunningham, Chris Ferguson, Huck Seed, Gus Hansen, Barry Greenstein, Mike Matusow, Erik Seidel, and Erick Lindgren. It also includes a few Internet sensations, like Tom Dwan, Patrik Antonius, and Phil Galfond. Many of these players have bracelet bets and are trying to play every possible event. Yesterday [June 19], Phil Ivey was at my table in the mixed pot-limit hold’em/pot-limit Omaha event, while also playing in the $10,000 heads-up event and the six-handed no-limit hold’em event at the same time. It is much tougher to multitable [play multiple tables] in live tournaments than online, but he managed to do it. To date, none of the 88 stars has won a bracelet this year. I would have thought the chance of that happening over more than 30 events would be virtually zero. I am confident that this shutout won’t continue to the end of the tournament, but you never know.

Let’s put this into perspective: This group has averaged probably 15 tournaments per player this year, for a total of more than 1,300 events without a victory. This is equivalent to one great player, who plays 20 events a year, going more than 60 years without winning a single event. Yet, every year, a lot of players who are significantly less talented and less motivated than this group make a pilgrimage to Vegas with bracelet dreams dancing in their heads. Perhaps they should find better spots to gamble, especially if they have limited bankrolls.

By this stage of the tournament, a lot of players have managed to go broke. The difficulty of winning in tournaments, the nonstop cash games, and the other attractions of Las Vegas gambling can consume a bankroll very quickly. I have noticed that the most tapped-out players are always those who think no one else can play. I mentioned to Lyle Berman that a player’s opinion of the opposition correlated with his bankroll. Those with low bankrolls had low opinions of their opponents. He extended this concept by adding that the more broke they were, the more convinced they were that they could beat every game playing with your money. Yes, there are a lot of players looking to get staked.

After this column was written, Phil Ivey won the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. event late on June 21, or really in the early-morning hours of June 22. He broke the drought among the fantasy league players. This victory will be expensive for the many high-stakes pros with whom he has bets.

Steve “Zee” Zolotow, aka The Bald Eagle, is a successful games player. He currently devotes most of his time to poker. In the 2010 World Series of Poker, he has played in 10 events at press time, and cashed in four of them; this pushes him over 40 cashes lifetime. He can be found at many major tournaments and playing on Full Tilt, as one of its pros. When escaping from poker, he hangs out in his New York City bars near Houston on Avenue A — Nice Guy Eddie’s and The Library. Almost every Friday, he ends up at Doc Holliday’s, his bar on Avenue A at 9th Street. He has promised to buy a drink for any Card Player reader who tracks him down at one of his bars.