25 Sep 2009

WSOPE WHEEEE!

Chris Tessaro gives us a glimpse into the happenings at the WSOPE in his latest poker blog.

I have been an embedded journalist here at the WSOPE for the better part of a week, and let me tell you, it's been interesting. There has been lots to see, some to do, and much to talk about in the past few days.

First off, there has been one constant throughout this whole tournament: a swell lad by the name of Paul Zimbler. You see, Paul, in a moment of complete insanity, agreed to try to break the Guinness World Record (which, by the way, has NOTHING to do with beer, much to my dismay) for playing the longest poker session. He started playing on Monday. Heads up, against all comers, for a minimum donation of 10 pounds (that's about $113,276 Canadian dollars).

First of all, the events have been tremendous. Event #1 was won by local-kid-makes-good JP Kelly. Now, despite being the first Brit to cop a bracelet on English soil, Kelly does already have another bracelet from the other side of the swimming pool in Vegas. Interesting to note: Phil Hellmuth, out in just a few hands.

In the meantime, Paul ZImbler played on.

Event #2 was a more serious field, with quite a few more pros involved. The play was awesome and had a final table that included fellow canuck Eric Cajelais, as well as villain Men 'The Master' Nguyen. For those that haven't had the pleasure, Men is one of the most abusive, nasty people you will ever encounter at the poker table. Luckily, the stars were aligning here in London and the villain went out while the Super Canadian (the OTHER super Canadian, Cajelais) won the event. Interesting to note, Phil Hellmuth out in just a few hands.

In the meantime, Paul Zimbler played on.

The pros have been kicking around a little bit here and there at the Empire but, despite having some real heavyweights here like Ivey, Dwan, Lederer, Nguyen, Matusow, Hellmuth, etc, the anticipated cash games never got going. The folks at the Empire even arranged a private table and two million pound (that's about $8.79 Canadian) float for the high stakes game.

In the meantime, Paul Zimbler played on.

Event number three, the five thousand pound pot limit Omaha event produced a great field, where almost every second chair was occupied by a pro of some renown. This led to some great action, and when you added in the swings of PLO, it has been awfully fun to watch. Young and legendary Tom Dwan has been up and down with his chip stack, but looks to be setting up a run to the final table. Interesting to note, Phil Hellmuth out in just a few hands. Boy, he must be building up some steam inside!

In the meantime, Paul Zimbler played on.

I have also had a chance to catch up with some pros here, and I had a nice chat with Phil Hellmuth the other day. Phil was telling me how the city council didn't really want him riding into the Empire Casino on a chariot to kick off the main event. The city has finally relented, which means, unfortunately, that we will be seeing Phil yet again in his Caesar outfit, something not for the weak of stomach.

I also arranged for Phil to guest on the Hardcore Poker Show on Wednesday night, and Phil chose to take the opportunity to go off about some things that were bothering him. Perhaps it was all that steam he has saved up from his short stints in the WSOPE events thus far. It made for a lot of follow up calls and emails, since the story was big news. But that's for another day.

In the meantime, Paul Zimbler played on. In fact, on Wednesday, I played him for the second time. The first time, I had crushed him pretty easily (luck!). This time, we made a prop bet that was based on his guest appearance on the radio show. If I won, he had to call me 'The Best Canadian Poker Player in the room' on the air. If HE won, I had to call him 'Paul Zimbler, Paul Zimbler, the man so great they named him twice'. I lost.

But Paul Zimbler played on. In fact, as I write this, he is just about to break the record. He deserves a lot of credit for his effort, and for the money he has raised for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

In the meantime, the imminent Caesars Cup should be fun!

Oh, and Paul Zimbler will be asleep...