My Prediction Was Off By a Week

Exactly one week after Greg Raymer won the World Series of Poker Championship, there was another $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em event at the Plaza in Downtown Las Vegas. There wasn't any hype about it, and very few people knew that the event was taking place. Through word of mouth, the tournament got 68 players, even though Fox Sports, which was taping the event, had hoped for 108. It was a three-day event loaded with superstar players, and 36 of them made it to day two. The great thing about the event was that day two was shorthanded play.

With all tables starting with six players instead of nine on the second day, the strategy was much different than that of any event I had played before. Players had to play more hands because the blinds came around quicker. However, the event was filled with shorthanded-play experts who can sense weakness and tell when someone is raising just to pick up the blinds.

I had the privilege of sitting next to Ted Forrest for the two days I lasted. This guy is a poker-playing machine, and it seems that he plays every hand. This makes it difficult to put him on a hand. On day two, Ted and another player showed up very late. Thus, I was playing shorthanded with Paul Phillips, Captain Tom Franklin, and Mike Sexton. Each of us took turns trying to steal Ted's blinds while he wasn't there. I was excited that Ted, one of the chip leaders and seated to my left, wasn't at the table for a while. When Ted showed up, he was a little bummed out when he learned that he had missed so many blinds because we were playing sixhanded. It took him about one reraise to get all of his blinds back, though. Oh, the beauty of having chips.

Enough about Ted Forrest because he won just third place. The funny thing about poker is, when you get that close to winning and don't, it feels like you lost. The other five players who made the final table were Gavin Smith, Layne Flack, Freddy Deeb, Daniel Negreanu, and Dan Alspach. Negreanu ended up playing heads up with Deeb. Freddy is a very fun guy who also plays a ton of hands, and plays them well.

Two issues ago Daniel Negreanu was on the cover of Card Player with the caption, "Will He Win the Big One?" We meant to say, "Will He Win the One After the Big One," because that's exactly what he did. Good job, Mr. Negreanu. I am sure it is boring to read about Daniel every issue, but he won't stop winning.