Live With the World Poker Tour in San Jose - Part I

I have always wanted to observe a World Poker Tour taping. I got my chance recently for the final table of Bay 101's Shooting Star event. Having $5,000 bounties added excitement. And having the most exciting finish of any WPT event so far – an occurrence that may never have happened before on the last hand of any major tournament – added even more.

The Shooting Star tournament is a week of events, culminating in the three-day WPT $5,000 buy-in main event, which awarded a $25,000 seat in the WPT Championship in addition to first-place prize money.

What makes this tournament different from any other WPT event is embodied in the Shooting Star name. There were 23 tables, and each had one "star" with a $5,000 bounty on his/her head. The stars included one movie celebrity, James Woods, and 22 luminaries of the poker world: John Bonetti, Vince Burgio, "Miami" John Cernuto, T.J. Cloutier, Paul Darden, Annie Duke, Chris Ferguson, Gus Hansen, Jennifer Harman-Traniello, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Chip Jett, John Juanda, Howard Lederer, Kathy Liebert, Tom McEvoy, Chris Moneymaker, Daniel Negreanu, Men Nguyen, Scotty Nguyen, Erik Seidel, and Amir Vahedi.

In addition, Mimi Rogers, winner of the first WPT Hollywood Home Game, played and made it into the money.

Many other famous poker stars were part of this stop on the tournament trail. They all know each other. I have been to many tournaments, often as an observer, and it's like old home week at each one. I talked to frequent WPT finalist Andy Bloch. Titltboy Perry Friedman flew up from Southern California to participate in the event. WPT winner and champion of champions Ron Rose played. Card Player's Adam Schoenfeld and Daniel Negreanu played, and finished in the money.

On day one of the event, I went to the players/media brunch, where I talked with lots of friends whom I see only at these events. Afterward, local poker celebrity Chuck Thompson introduced each shooting star and the tournament began with 230 players. Alternates were permitted for the first few hours, and 13 took seats as players busted out, bringing the total player count to 243, and total prize pool to $1,125,000 ($90,000 in bounties was paid from the prize pool).

I talked to WPT producer Steve Lipscomb, right after he was interviewed by two local TV stations for the evening news and one local news radio station. The World Poker Tour has brought much favorable publicity to poker, as evidenced by the large media presence. In addition to the broadcast media, reporters from local newspapers covered the entire tournament, as well as one from the Wall Street Journal. I congratulated Lipscomb on his vision, and found him very personable and accommodating. When I lauded him for making stars of poker players, he graciously replied, "Poker is the star."

What had brought home to me the phenomenon of poker players as stars was what I had observed in the Bay 101 lobby. Each poker celebrity was surrounded by a mob of fans, all wanting various artifacts autographed, including hats and T-shirts. Poker champions gamely and graciously posed next to all comers who wanted their pictures taken with their favorites. Shana Hiatt told me later at lunch that she was overwhelmed by those who wanted her autograph or a photograph taken with her. She said, "I'm not a star; these players are the stars." I laughed and said that what was truly amazing was I had been asked by at least three strangers for my autograph – and two others had wanted their pictures taken with me. I mean, she is a star; I'm just a writer and columnist. These are truly amazing times for poker – and I believe it's just starting. With major corporate sponsorship of tournaments and players possibly just around the corner, I believe it's going to be like the BTO song, You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet!

Chris Ferguson was the first star to bust out, which earned back the player's $5,000 buy-in who beat him. The Shooting Star tournament is unique with its bounty concept, and it should make for interesting television. The bounty definitely affected play on at least one hand. Amir Vahedi lost almost all of his chips when his two pair was beat by a flopped straight. That left him with $150. The blinds were $50-$100. He had just enough to put in the small blind and have one $100 chip remaining. As the cards were being dealt, Tournament Director Matt Savage, humorously anticipating the action, said, as each player received his second card, "Call, call, call," because, of course, everyone would want the bounty. In fact, three players limped in, but another had his own idea of who should get the bounty, or who should win the pot, and made a substantial raise. Vahedi thought for a long time. Later, there was amused speculation among observers that it would have been ironic if he had mucked his hand at that point, to punish those limpers who had hoped to get an inexpensive shot at $5,000 – and maybe find a better hand in one full round to invest his $100. But the return for that one chip of more than 5-to-1 was too much enticement, and he tossed in the chip. The original opener agonized for a long time, and finally called the raise with K-9. When a king came on the flop, the opener bet out and the raiser folded. Amir had played 9-4, and didn't get help. The opener collected the bounty, immediately presented to him in the form of an envelope stuffed with $100 bills.

Gus Hansen played while wearing huge noise-damping headphones, listening to music from a portable player. He didn't make it to the second day. Recent WPT winner and also second-place finisher Paul Phillips, the subject of a Card Player cover story, was another also-ran.

They played down to 45 on the first day. It was a grueling day, lasting until nearly 2 a.m. Adam Schoenfeld was the chip leader at day's end.

The next day, they played down to six, those who would be at the final, televised, table.

The WPT uses the same set for every show. At Bay 101, they cleared the main cardroom of all of its tables, and workers spent the entire day assembling the set. First they laid wooden flooring down over the carpet. Then, they erected the familiar set, and installed overhead scaffolding for lights. They put up bleachers at each end. A curtain separated the set from one edge of the cardroom, which was used for the second day of play.

Before the start of play on the second day, I joined Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, Mike Sexton, and Dave Lamb for lunch, and Vince Van Patten sat with us briefly. After he left, Shana Hiatt came and stayed for lunch. She is just as lovely in person as she is on TV, and is a very personable young lady. I found her a delight to chat with.

Play started with the final 45 at five tables in a small area surrounded on two sides by a marble rail jammed 10 deep in spectators.

Five women were among the 45. The same five also made it into the money. They were Susan Kim (who made the final table), Jeri Thomas, Marsha Waggoner, Kristy Gazes, and Mimi Rogers.

With a coveted official WPT media pass to wear around my neck, I sat along the edge of the playing area, and could see many of the crucial hands.

It was pretty crowded in my corner, because a cameraman had set up a huge tripod topped by an industrial-sized camera on the marble perimeter of the playing area, behind which fans were jammed. Next to me were a sound guy and two other support personnel. They were doing atmosphere shots, the background stuff you see on some shows that depicts the preliminary action. Shana Hiatt was rehearsing some lines about the lives of professional players that will probably appear on screen for less than a minute in the final edit. They had to do several takes, because she flubbed her lines or the camera angle wasn't right or they had to move something out of the background. When she messed up, she stopped and made a face at the camera. She told me later that that's how she relieves the tension of the moment. Usually, they edit this out, but once in a while the grimace does not end up on the cutting floor, as observant regular viewers can attest. For each take, she walked between the tables toward the camera. The perfect take ended with her finishing her words and stopping her walk right behind Howard Lederer just as he made a power play that took down a big pot. It should be a dramatic moment for the show.

When play got down to 28 players, they started playing hand-for-hand. All of the last 27 would be in the money. At 27, three tables remained, clearing up considerable room.

Mimi Rogers busted out first, winning $5,700. She was happy with her performance. It had been her goal to make the money in a major tournament, and she did just that. Her next goal is to win some real money.

During second-day play, Phil Gordon took the first of his two bounties. He raise-opened, Howard Lederer went all in for a moderate amount of chips, and Gordon quickly called. Lederer had been making a play for the pot with a suited 10-6, and Gordon's K-Q held up. Lederer shook Gordon's hand, and exited (in 22nd place) in his usual gentlemanly fashion.

During the second day, Gordon beat pocket aces an astounding three times. The plays were all straightforward, he told me. Never did he risk more than 10 percent of his chips. The only desperation was on the part of the holders of those aces, who must have felt devastated to lose to the self-described "suck-out artist."

The second day lasted as long as the first. David Plastik was the unfortunate "WPT bubble boy." With six remaining players, chip counts were taken and everyone went home.

Next issue: the final day.