Who is Alan Boston?

Who is Alan Boston?

A professional sports bettor from Old Orchard Beach, Maine.

Four-time final tableist at the World Series of Poker.

And owner of a big fat chip lead here at the end of day two at the Bellagio 5Star.

How fat? Around half a million fat. Far and away the biggest stack in play. Though he's in some pretty lofty (albeit trailing) company: Paul Testud at 369K. Juha Helppi at 335K. Scotty Nguyen at 320. Scott Wilson at 320, too. And then the rest of the field (in no particular order and with the standard disclaimer about accuracy):

BARRY GREENSTEIN -- 190K
KATHY LIEBERT -- 70K
PAUL COSTA --117K
DAVID SKLANSKY -- 112K
ANTONIO ESFANDIARI -- 155K
ANNIE DUKE -- 160K
TOM McEVOY -- 91K
DAVID WILLIAMS -- 220K
JOHAN STORAKERS -- 295K
GREG RAYMER -- 217K
ISABELLE MERCIER --120K
ALEX BRENES -- 80K
HASAN HABIB -- 202K
PHIL HELLMUTH -- 85K
PHIL IVEY -- 101K
JENNIFER HARMON -- 152K
BARRY SHULMAN -- 157K
ALLEN CUNNINGHAM -- 150K
TONY MA -- 130K
PETER COSTA -- 117K
HARLEY HALL -- 81K
ERICK LINDGREN -- 121K
RUSS ROSENBLUM -- 117K

...And the ever-precise Chris Ferguson at 140,100.00, with a margin for error of +/- 0.00. Thanks, Chris, for the accurate figures.

One player counting his every penny -- and many lucky stars -- tonight is Bluff Magazine publisher Eddie Kleid. All-in on the last hand of the evening, holding A-8 suited, and up against callers with pocket kings and pocket queens, he spiked an ace on the turn to triple through. He'll enter tomorrow's action with a new lease on life and a playable stack of 72 thousand.

Not so fortunate was Erik Seidel, who busted out at the tenth level. As did -- sadly so in light of his earlier travails and comeback -- Thomas "Thunder" Keller. Keller got all his money in the middle with pocket kings against AK of diamonds, but two diamonds on the flop and a third on the turn suddenly and explosively sealed his fate.

"That's poker," I heard someone say.

That hardly does the moment justice, if you ask me.

The proper phrase should be, "That's #%&$%#)(@&#&@!!! poker!"

Time to look at pictures of tranquility...



And let all the players, those still in and those eliminated, try to carry tranquility forward until tomorrow, when the conclave will reconvene at noon and continue the difficult task of selecting the next Pope of Poker.

Bad beats. Suckouts. Kings getting cracked. Aces getting cracked. Miracle flops. Unbelievable turns. Stunning reversals. Brilliant traps. Inspired reads. Courageous bluffs. Catastrophic mental meltdowns. "That's poker," folks. And the party's just getting started.

More later, -jv

Bottom of the Ninth

Nine rounds are history. Two days of play are very nearly complete. Among those happy with their current situation, UB's own Phil Hellmuth...



...who has about 80,000 in chips and, despite being short-stacked through most of the first day of play, has not gone all-in once. He's been sharing a table all day with Greg Raymer, and of the Fossilman he says, "Greg's playing real well today." Just what you want at your table: A defending world champion who's on his game. Raymer, meanwhile, has had an up-and-down day, and currently holds 128K.

In other Team UB news, Annie Duke has 130K and Antonio Esfandiari has 150K, but David Ulliott is out of action. Find him, most likely, in the pot-limit Omaha game, giving Williamson a run for his money.

As for my prediction that we were on the verge of another major player shakeout this past round, well, I couldn't have been more wrong. A few players busted out -- we're down to 189 overall -- but most everyone hung tough through that last level. Nevertheless, we see the tournament field starting to resemble a third world country, with a widening gulf between rich and poor, and THIS round, I predict, the shakeout will take place. Blinds are 300, antes 1 and 2K. Price of poker just keeps going up, up, up.

But if you survive this round, you go to tomorrow... now just 90 minutes of play away. Here's a partial list of the hopefuls:

HARLEY HALL -- 350K
SCOTTY NGUYEN -- 270K
DAVID COLCLOUGH -- 350K
THOMAS KELLER -- 112K
DAVID SKLANSKY --95K
ISABELLE MERCIER -- 85K
ALEX BRENES -- 120K
TOM McEVOY -- 108K
JENNIFER HARMON -- 115K
PHIL IVEY -- 100K
HASSAN HAB IB -- 226K
JUHA HELPPI -- 200K
KATHY LIEBERT -- 65K
ALAN CUNNINGHAM -- 170K
RUSS ROSENBLUM -- 80K
JEFF SHULMAN -- 210K
BARRY GREENSTEIN -- 170K
MAUREEN FEDUNIAK --100K
BOB FEDUNIAK -- 46K
BARRY SHULMAN -- 135K
DANIEL SHAK -- 163K

And Chris Ferguson, with 122,100. He insisted that I list his chip count to the last digit, no matter how obsessive it makes him look. Your wish, Chris, my command...

I got the full 411 on how Wil Wheaton went out, and it's a tale of true brutality. He had pocket kings cracked not once but twice in the space of ten hands. The first time, his opponent's all-in reraise with A-Q offsuit was rewarded with a flop of Q-Q-x; the second time, an A-K holding rivered an ace. Wil played both hands -- in fact pretty much the whole tournament -- flawlessly, and only busted thanks to truly monumental bad luck. That's cold comfort, for sure, but comfort just the same. When asked how long it would take him to recover from the beat, he said, "About the time they start this tournament next year."

Meanwhile, down on the tournament (killing) floor, some player is no doubt facing his "wait till next year" moment even as we speak. I'd better go check it out. In the manner of watching a train wreck, I can't seem to tear my eyes away.

I'll be back in an hour or so with unofficial closing numbers for today's play, so stick around for...

More later, -jv

Rolling Thunder

Level 8 was a very good level for Thomas "Thunder" Keller who started the round down around 3500 in chips and finished an hour and a half later at 115K. To what does he attribute this astounding turnaround? "Native intelligence and a lot of good luck." Here's Thomas...



Here's his chip stack "before"...



... and "after."



Thomas (also known as Gummybear to is his UB friends) is a strong new presence on the tournament trail, ably chronicling his experience in Card Player magazine and impressing one and all with his class, grace, and unflappable good spirits. Roll on, Thunder, roll on.

To the "no longer rolling" roll we can now add, alas, Chris Bigler, Daniel Negreanu, and Tobey Maguire. Among the living as round 8 gives way to round 9...

JEFF SHULMAN -- 190K
GREG RAYMER -- 118K
PETER COSTA -- 100K
ISABELLE MERCIER -- 95K
ERICK LINDGREN -- 90K
HASSAN HABIB -- 208K
TOM McEVOY -- 133K
JENNIFER HARMON -- 115K
ANNIE DUKE -- 107K
MAUREEN FEDUNIAK -- 120K
BOB FEDUNIAK -- 58K
DAVID WILLIAMS -- 120K
BARRY GREENSTEIN -- 160K
CHARLIE SHOTEN -- 170K
RUSS ROSENBLUM -- 105K
PHIL HELLMUTH -- 65K
PHIL IVEY -- 50K
CHRIS FERGUSON -- 38K
ALEX BRENES -- 100K
ANTONIO ESFANDIARI -- 160K
SCOTTY NGUYEN -- 210K
DAVID SKLANSKY -- 93K
ERIK SEIDEL -- 90K
ALAN CUNNINGHAM -- 175K
BARRY SHULMAN -- 150K
DAVID ULLIOTT -- 90K

Unfortunately Wil Wheaton's day came to an end in the opening minutes of round 9. He had built his stack up to 140K, but a couple of bad beats sent him packing. Well, he got some great stories for his blog, and if you want to see the tournament from his point of view, I suggest you look in on wilwheaton.net.

Too bad. I had my "Where there's a Wil" headline all revved up.l

On another subject, last post I reported on the "unforced error" committed by Davidson Matthew, who accidentally put a 10K chip into the pot, and had to live with the fact of his unintended raise. I wondered if anger or remorse would put the man on tilt, so during this break I took the opportunity to ask him. In a word, "Yes." Within a few hands of that unforced error, he had bled off more than 100,000 chips. But, to his credit, he has since righted the ship and built his stack back up over 250K. "Where there's a Davidson there's a way" anyone?

The point of the story is that tilt happens, but it doesn't have to last forever. Look, folks, we do stupid things every day, even guys like Davidson who had parlayed several online tournament wins into a sort of "self-satellite" buy-in for this one. The important thing is to put the past behind us as quickly as possible, and push on. It's difficult, I know, but it can be done. Just ask Robert Williamson III -- seen just moments ago happily ripping them up in the big pot-limit Omaha game.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Just ask Thunder. Just ask Matthew.

Just don't ask me, 'cause all this tension's about to do me in.

More later, -jv

Once More into the Breach, Dear Friends

Before we get to the 7th round numbers, here's a reminder that other people get their kicks other ways around here.



One thing about a slot machine: If it puts a bad beat on you, you can't say you didn't expect it.

Okay, the 8th round of play is underway, with antes of 200 and blinds of 600 and 1200. It's a small jump for the blinds, but a big double for the antes, so each round of poker will now cost players 3800 in chips, at least at a ten-handed table. If you've got 225K like Scotty Nguyen, you can laugh at that. But if you're sitting on less than ten grand, like, say, Paul Wolfe or Tobey Maguire, you can pretty much bet that your hour of the outburst is at hand.

Sad to say, there are no more UB Warriors in the field, Nathaniel Fox and Kevin Newman having been lately eliminated. But they've had a good time here, and Kevin, for one, has set his sights on Aruba. Based on the strong and steady way they played these days, I won't be surprised to see all our UB Warriors there.

Team UB, meanwhile, continues to persevere. Annie is on 115K, Antonio has 100K, Phil is at 70K and Devilfish has 108K. Call me a shameless partisan, but... "Go UB, Go!"

We've got at least one closet UB Warrior in the field. Daniel Shak (screen name Oiltrader, last seen not acting his age at the Aruba Home Game, 2004) has a tidy 180K. Go Daniel. Go team.

And go all you luminaries and lesser lights:

ISABELLE MERCIER -- 102K
SAMMY FARHA -- 20K
HASSAN HABIB -- 160K
TOM McEVOY -- 64K
CHARLIE SHOTEN -- 159K
CHRIS FERGUSON -- 21K
BARRY GREENSTEIN -- 140K
RUSS ROSENBLUM -- 105K
DANIEL NEGREANU -- 38K
JENNIFER HARMON -- 95K
JUHA HELPPI -- 177K
DAVID WILLIAMS -- 140K
KATHY LIEBERT -- 36K
ALAN CUNNINGHAM -- 189K
BARRY SHULMAN --95K
ERIK SEIDEL -- 65K
PHIL IVEY -- 35K
GREGY RAYMER -- 49K

And from out of nowhere, one RED WHITE, with 220K.

I had a pleasant chat just now with wide-eyed Wil Wheaton, who's having the time of his life, on what may be the ultimate freeroll. Seems he came in third on the WPT's televised Hollywood Home Game. A seat in this tournament was the prize for that game, but neither the first nor second place finishers was free to take the seat, so it defaulted to Wil. He tells me he'll be happy -- thrilled, in fact -- with any money finish, but frankly he'll need all the monkey mojo he can muster, because just now he finds himself modestly stacked and sharing a table with the likes of David Sklansky, Erick Lindgren, Jennifer Harmon and Annie Duke. Not a lot of dead money there, Wil; good luck.

Sometimes you make your own luck -- good or bad. Case in point: Davidson Matthew. During the last round of play he went to call a 6000 bet, but instead of putting in six 1K chips, he put in five 1K chips and one 10K chip. Of course it was an accident, but one immediately punished by the other player in the pot, Patrick Mackie, who reraised all-in. Matthew appealed to the floorman to declare his raise a call, but the chips were over that dreaded yellow line, so the call was clear: The raise stood, and the reraise was a problem Matthew would have to deal with as he saw fit. He laid down his hand, but you could see the dark glower on his brow. Such situations are always a test of a player's character. Can you transcend your own mistakes and keep your game on track, or will anger and regret turn you into "a cork, bobbing on the sea of poker?"

The truth is revealed under pressure, so we shall see. At times like these, I'm reminded of that old poker player's lament, "The only one who can beat me is me -- and I usually do." Stay tough, Matthew; stay tough all.

More later, -jv

Why Is This Man Smiling?

Here is the indefatigable Robert "Always Good for a Goofy Pose" Williamson III, still clinging to life as we enter round 7 here at the 5Star.



Robert's chip count is some 28K, and he's been bobbing and weaving since, well, practically since the tournament started. Late in round 6 today, he refused to be put all in by an opponent who may or may not have had a hand. In a situation where the rest of us (and by the rest of us I mean mainly me) would have said "what the eff," and leaned on luck to see us through, Robert made a measured decision and put his hand to bed. Maybe that's why he's still alive and kicking, despite a ton of tournament adversity.

Others still alive and kicking at the end of the first round of play today:

THOMAS KELLER -- 105K
ANNIE DUKE -- 117K
ERIK SEIDEL -- 70K
PHIL IVEY -- 52K
ERIC WEINER -- 220K
NATHANIEL FOX -- 33K
STEVE ZOLOTOW -- 65K
DAVID ULLIOTT -- 95K
ANDY BLOCH -- 122K
DANIEL NEGREANU -- 64K
GREG RAYMER -- 143K
ALEX BRENES -- 90K
ISABELLE MERCIER -- 85K
BARRY GREENSTEIN --135K
SAMMY FARHA -- 50K
KEVIN NEWMAN -- 31K
DAVID WILLIAMS -- 130K
PHIL GORDON -- 69K
PHIL HELLMUTH -- 80K
CHARLIE SHOTEN -- 160K
BLAIR RODMAN -- 155K
BOB STUPAK -- 46K
JUHA HELPPI -- 89K
PAUL WOLFE -- 20K
RUSS ROSENBLUM -- 90K
DANIEL SHAK -- 130K
TOBEY MAGUIRE -- 90K
JENNIFER HARMON --48K
ERICK LINDGREN -- 160K
WIL WHEATON --60K
CHRIS FERGUSON --75K
HASSAN HABIB -- 90K
TOM McEVOY -- 68K
BARRY SHULMAN -- 60K

Doyle Brunson busted out just before the last break, when his AK could not improve against pocket 9s.

Now level 7 is underway, with blinds of 500 and 1000, and antes of 200. In the natural ebb and flow of tournament play, I think we can expect to see a lull in the carnage for a while now. During the 6th level, a lot of short stacks were busted out and the chips in play consolidated among significantly fewer players. With the blinds rising only incremenetally -- from 400 and 800 to 500 and 1000 -- and the antes standing pat for one level, more of the remaining players suddenly find themselves in a more comfortable position, relative to the price of poker.

You see this a lot in tournament poker -- a periodic pause in the bloodletting -- and it's a natural result of tournament poker's tidal nature. For a while, the blinds and antes put pressure on a lot of small stacks. The small stacks go bust (or grow back to big stacks) creating a circumstance where there are fewer wounded animals to feast upon. When stacks consolidate -- especially if the blinds aren't rising fast -- most players have a chance to revert to a wait-and-see style of play. Without the need to make desperation moves, the bustout rate drops down. But then... inevitably... the blinds do rise, turning medium stacks into small stacks and increasing the frequency of all-in confrontations, leading us once again to another "hour of the outburst."

Savvy players know this, of course, and adjust their play accordingly. Just when the field is getting content and sleepy, the sharks wake up and start attacking. They know that players who are feeling comfortable are less likely to gamble, and opportunities abound for blind stealing and other assorted larcenous acts. The name of the game, then, is not just to sit on your consolidated gains, but to expand and extend them, so that when the next hour of the outburst arrives, you'll still be sitting pretty, and can benefit from the desperation-largesse of others.

Of course this doesn't mean that you can't still find your way to the felt, as Blair Rodman has just found out. Jon Regashus too; his pocket tens were beaten by KQ, ending his tournament run. Congratulations to UB Warrior Regashus for making it as far as he did.

...and, sadly, just now Robert Williamson III has lost his titanic struggle.He made the best of a bad situation, but no one lives forever on borrowed time.

More later, -jv

Rubber, Meet Road

I don't know, you know... Maybe it was the tournament structure, which offered no upside for radical moves early. Maybe it was the fact of two flights: With the field split in two, there seemed to be some essential sense of realness missing from the tournament floor during Day One and Day One A. Well, that realness is here with a vengeance now. You could really feel it all across the tournament floor -- two floors, really, as the tournament is split between the main poker area and the Fontana Lounge -- as Day Three play began today. Unlike yesterday and the day before, stacks either are or can easily become imperiled. Decisions that are made today will increasingly become Tournament Life or Death. Rubber, meet road.

The trip, of course, will be easier for some than for others (though not particularly easy for any, when one misplayed hand or one unfortunate card fall can spell disaster). Your chip leaders (including Sammy Farha, pictured here) are sitting relatively pretty, with chip stacks up above 150K and blinds at just 400 and 800 as we start play today.



Here are the top ten at the start of day three:

SCOTTY NGUYEN -- 233,750
ERIC WEINER -- 231,450
STEVE STOLZMANN -- 200,625
NIKOLAS FRANGOS -- 189, 775
ROBERT ALEXANDER -- 180,725
JOHN ESPOSITO -- 173,600
SIAGZAR PAYVAR -- 157,050
SAMMY FARHA -- 156,575
GREG RAYMER -- 153,625
JOSEPH CORDI -- 153,456

Other names of note:

TEAM UB:

DAVID ULLIOTT --92,800
ANTONIO ESFANDIARI -- 79,075
ANNIE DUKE -- 67,675
PHIL HELLMUTH -- 58,650

UB WARRIORS:

NATHANIEL FOX -- 50,375
SAM MURPHY -- 33,700
KEVIN NEWMAN -- 22,500
JON REGASHUS -- 18,675

At this point, though, all numbers are subject to radical change without notice. Why, just in the first half-hour of play today, as I scrambled to post this info, we have lost Gus Hansen, Howard Lederer, and a half a dozen other players. And Not only does the rubber meet the road, it leaves a nasty rash.

And speaking of precipitous falls from high places, it has just been reported to me that Robert Alexander is out. Alexander started play today in 5th place, but after a series of mean hits, culminating in a heads-up raising war that went the wrong way for Robert, well, to put it as nicely as possible, he's got the rest of the day off.

It's weird, you know. I'm sitting at my computer pumping out the results as fast as I can, but every couple of minutes my cell phone rings, and when it does I answer with foreboding, for I know it means that my able assistants Tommy and Alejandro are calling to report another man overboard. I don't know how much carnage I can stand! It's like hearing about a death in the family 20 or 30 or 50 times a day.

Well, today we'll play another five levels, and more or less halve the field. Right now we're at blinds of $400 and $800 and antes of $100. By the close of play at 9pm, it'll be $300 antes and $1K and $2K blinds. Lots and lots of carnage between here and there, you betcha. Let's never forget that when the rubber meets the road, the road usually wins.

I'll be back with events as they happen, but let's close this blog with a picture of the World Poker Tour's Mike Sexton, along with (l to r) Wendy Meadly and Brian Balsbaugh of Poker Royalty, and Audrey Kania of the WPT.



It's worth noting that Poker Royalty is a firm in the business of representing poker celebrities, and if you don't think poker has entered a brave new world of popularity, just try imagining such a business gaining traction even five years ago.

Of course poker is huge. Who doesn't like a little carnage?

More la--

Whoops, hang on... NEWS FLASH! Nikolas Frangos, another one of the top five starters today just managed to bust himself out when he flopped top pair of jacks but lost to pocket queens.

And another one bites the dust: Even as we speak, TJ Cloutier has taken his A-6 up against David Chiu's pocket jacks for his remaining 40K. A flop of J-x-x has remove the venerable TJ from the fray.

Man, they're dropping like flies. Eric Brenes is out. Men "the Master" Nguyen is out. Alas, UB Warrior Sam Murphy is out.

A little carnage? Make that a LOT!

More (obits) later. -jv

A Tale of Two Players

Here's a little quiz, and then a parable of poker to set the mood as we prepare to start play today on day three (but really day two) of the Bellagio 5Star World Poker Classic.

First, the quiz. What are we looking at here? (Answer below.)

Now the parable.

Once upon a time, there were two tournament poker players of equal ability but very different approaches to the game. Clint was a young gun, the new breed of poker celebrity. He looked like a film star, partied like a rock star, and made love like a porn star. He "liked his women like he liked his coffee: hot, and bitter." Frank, on the other hand, was a sensible, down to earth type. His idea of a reckless adventure was ordering a pay-per-view movie on his hotel TV. Not an adult one, either.

At a certain major tournament in a certain major city, both Clint and Frank were entered, and both played well enough on the first day to make it through to the second. But when tournament play ended for the day on day one, they each spent their overnight respite in very different ways.

Frank went back to his room, where he had laid in a supply of whole-grain wheatgrass sandwiches and cold-pressed carrot juice from the local Organic Food Dump. He read three chapters in his favorite poker book (the excellent Killer Poker by -- oh, never mind; even I can't be that shameless). Then he watched the local news, brushed his teeth, and put himself to sleep using mind management techniques he had mastered over the years. In the morning he awoke early, worked out at the hotel gym, had another meal of organic gack, went to the tournament room, and settled himself into his seat well before the start of play, there to review his game plan for the day ahead.

Clint had a very different night. As soon as the tournament ended, he hit the first bar he could find for a couple of wind-down Coronas, then set out on a "rake's tour" through this given major city, hitting a stunning array of pubs and nightclubs, strip joints, and "places where the tourists don't go." Somewhere along the way he acquired the company of a shapely lady named… well, to tell the truth, Clint couldn't remember her name, which provided at least one awkward moment when he woke up beside her the next morning. Late the next morning, one might add; late enough that Clint had to jump out of bed and scramble to the tournament floor. By the time he stumbled into his seat, unshaven, unfed, wearing yesterday's clothes and stinking of stale smoke, the tournament was well underway.

As luck would have it, Frank and Clint were seated at the same table. As economy of storytelling would have it, it wasn't long before they both picked up pocket aces and both got all their money in the middle. As the plot twist would have it, a third player entered the pot as well, and though he held slightly more chips than Frank and Clint, he held the much worse hand of T-9 offsuit, but played anyway because "he thought they were suited." As the Gods of Irony would have it, the flop came T-T-9, and Frank and Clint were done for the day.

And the moral of the story is: No matter how well or poorly you prepare for tournament play, there's always some slackjaw somewhere waiting to iron you out.

Good luck to all players today. May the slackjaws be sitting elsewhere.

Answer to the quiz question: That's the carpet on the floor of the Fontana Lounge, where tournament play will resume shortly, and where I now must go.

More later, -jv