Phil Ivey did not need to play the first two days of the World Poker Tour Bellagio Cup VI. In a unique situation, The Bellagio Cup held late registration into the third day of play. Many pros waited and signed up on that day. They sat in with only 20 big blinds, but that was more than enough for Phil Ivey to drive his way to the final table of the event. He is, after all, Phil Ivey.
The final table of the World Poker Tour Bellagio Cup VI will begin play today July 15, 2010 at 4:00 pm local (pacific) time. thats 7:00 pm you people on the east coast. Because of the late registration available, this tournament attracted 353 players who paid up the $10,300 buyin. The prize pool of $3,424,100 was distributed to the top 50 players. Maybe the WPT is following an online lead here, but that 14% payout is a bit more than the standard 10% you see at most live tournaments. The more people paid means that the lowest payout gets only $13,594. The WPT used to have one of the more top heavy payout structures in live tournament play. They used to always try to make sure that the winner would pocket $1 million. They seem to have changed that approach by paying more of the field and only awarding $875,150 to the winner.
Of course, the real prize is getting to that six-handed TV table. That is where the exposure might get you a better deal from sponsors, or your play could garner you some instant fame. Your six players pursuing that dream and their chip counts:
1 John Caridad 5,120,000
2 Moritz Kranich 2,750,000
3 Justin Smith 2,100,000
4 Robert Akery 1,980,000
5 Phil Ivey 1,595,000
6 Eric Afriat 620,000
Though Phil Ivey’s stack is small in relation to the 30,000-60,000 blinds, he does have 26 big blinds to play with. Heck, that is more than the number that he began the tournament with. Good Luck gentlemen. Make sure you shower and dress well for your big date with the TV lens.
Texas Hold’em uses what is called a dealer button to indicate the theoretical dealer of each hand. After each hand is completed, the dealer button moves clockwise to the next active player. This player will be considered “the dealer” for that hand. In this way each player has equal opportunities to be in early, middle and late position. The two players immediately to the left of the dealer button place “blinds” to start the pot. The player to the left of the dealer button posts the small blind (usually equal to half the lower stake). The player to the left of the small blind is required to post the big blind, equal to the lower stake limit. All the blinds in Hold’em poker are considered live bets and the players who posted them will have the option of checking, calling, raising or folding when the betting returns to their position.
Once the blinds have been placed, two cards are dealt face down to each player (“hole cards”), after which the first betting round starts. The player to the left of the player who placed the big blind starts the betting for this round.
Each player now has the option to place his bets in the first round, which is set at the lower limit of the stakes structure. (For example in a $10/$20 Hold’em game, the value of each bet is $10 for the first round. Therefore, when a user makes the move “bet,” this is equal $10, and “raise” is $20…a raise includes a call on the previous bet placed and one additional bet.)
Bets can be placed by playing Bet, Call or Raise. These options are available depending on the action taken by the previous player. Each player always has the option to fold. The first player to act has the option to bet or check. Subsequent players have the option of calling or raising if a bet has been placed, or betting or checking if not. To call is to bet the same amount as the previous player has bet. To raise is to match the previous bet and increase the bet.
Every player participating in the hand should have equal amounts of money bet as the previous players. Until the time all the players have placed equal amounts in the pot, the betting will continue. There is a limit on the amount and the number of bets a player can place during a betting round (four bets for limit games).
After the first round of betting is over, the Flop (the first three community cards) is dealt. The community cards are common to all the players participating in the hand.
After the Flop (and in each subsequent betting round), the first active player left of the dealer button is first to act. The second betting round also limits the value of bets and raises to the lower limit of the stake structure. So in a $10/$20 game, the value of each bet is $10 for the second round.
After this the fourth community card is dealt; this is known as the Turn. The betting limits now increase to the higher limit of the stake structure for the remainder of the hand.
After betting on the turn is complete, the fifth and final community card is dealt; this is known as the River. Betting continues as on the turn.
Once all the bets have been made, there are two possible outcomes: either all the players but one have folded (and hence that person wins the pot), or the remaining players reveal their hands and the best hand wins the pot.
The game play remains same for both No-Limit and Pot-Limit Hold’em game with a few exceptions to the rules mentioned above:
In limit Hold’em a maximum of four bets are allowed per betting round. This includes a (1) bet, (2) raise, (3) re-raise, and (4) cap, but in No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Hold’em there is no limit to the number of raises that a player can make. The only limit is that you cannot raise yourself. If all the other players in the hand only call or fold, the player would not get an option to raise, because the last raise was done by him.
Peter Eastgate, the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event winner has given up the poker life. Eastgate is only 24 years old. I guess I can see wanting to get away from the poker circuit and try new things at 24 years old. This is a standard deal with these kids anyway. they run all over the globe and do the poker lifestyle bit. there is always a new tournament to go to somewhere. Rather than just say they are taking a break and cooling it at home for a while to recharge, they get into absolutes and talk about their soul and identity. In a couple years they will pop back onto the poker scene and talk about their “renewed passion for the game” and being a “more balanced person now”. So good luck in finding yourself Peter Eastgate, see you in a couple years.
From the Pokerstars Blog:
“When I started playing poker for a living, it was never my goal to spend the rest of my life as a professional poker player. My goal was to become financially independent. I achieved that by winning the WSOP Main Event in 2008. The period following has taken me on a worldwide tour, where I have seen some amazing places and met many new people; it has been a great experience. In the 20 months following my WSOP win, I feel that I have lost my motivation for playing high level poker along the way and I have decided that now is the time to find out what I want to do with the rest of my life. What this will be, I do not yet know. I have decided to take a break from live tournament poker, and try to focus on Peter Eastgate, the person. I want to thank Pokerstars, my friends and family for their support over the last 20 months and for their support in my decision to take a break from poker.”
Michael Holmberg, Pokerstars Nordics Director had this to say:
“We know that poker will miss this world class player and world class role model, but Pokerstars has only the deepest respect for Peter’s decision. Poker is about determination and excitement and if Peter lacks this in his game, the right decision is to take a break, Peter has played amongst world champions and he has carried his title in the most admirable fashion. Tournament after tournament, the young poker player from Odense, Denmark has achieved great results and has established himself as one of the greatest natural talents the poker world has ever seen.”
Phil Ivey did not need to play the first two days of the World Poker Tour Bellagio Cup VI. In a unique situation, The Bellagio Cup held late registration into the third day of play. Many pros waited and signed up on that day. They sat in with only 20 big blinds, but that was more than enough for Phil Ivey to drive his way to the final table of the event. He is, after all, Phil Ivey.