2010 WSOP Day 11: Durrrr Hangover, Hooker Quota, and Orange Tossing

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV


Well, how do you follow up the intensity and drama of the Durrrrament when Tom Dwan had the entire high-stake community by the collective balls?

It was a slow day with only four tournaments on the agenda and just a single final table. On Day 11, the moment I walked into the Amazon Ballroom, everyone was talking about durrrr's runner-up finish. I never heard that much chatter about a second place finish. Shit, just 11 days into the WSOP, the biggest story of 2010 is that durrrr didn't win a bracelet.

Yes, this is durrrr's world. We're just tourists. Where's my souvenir t-shirt?

Some days I struggle to find a good story, and other days the stories write themselves. What I really should write about are the prostitutes. That's why so many of you come here, right? To read about the nasty side of Vegas and that some of your favorite pros are banging hookers three and four at a time. Heck, I know one pro who has a special slush fund set aside for this monthly hooker tab.

I gotta say that the overall working girl sightings this year have been in a decline. I dunno if the powers to be are doing a better job at policing the area, or if that the hookers are in such high demand that you barely come across because they are too busy servicing clients.

Enough of the hooker talk. I just needed to fill a quota, sort of like the time you got pulled over by highway patrol for going six mph over the posted speed limit. Plus, I need to generate enough hooker content to keep the webots happy and maintain my high-hooker-poker-SEO ranking, not to mention I gotta keep a legion of loyal readers happy with the occasional Vegas hooker rant.

So what was the big story on Day 11 besides the durrrr hangover? Kara Scott playing one of the deepstack non-bracelet events. Seriously. That's what Benjo decided to cover because it's simply more interesting. How can you disagree?

I keep hearing two things about the cash games... the dealers are bad but the players are worse. I have yet to play a hand, and was tempted on Monday night. There's so much dead money in there I'm kinda surprised that players are opting for tournaments instead of the human ATMs in the front of the pavilion.

How bad are the players? Let's just say that many members of the media are killing the cash games. Destroying them. That's absurd because most members of the media are horrible poker players (which is why they are on the sidelines writing about poker instead of playing), and if they are winning consistently night after night... then the cash games have to be fucking juicy. By the way, I'm just kidding about my friends in the media who can't play a lick of poker. Well, not really. Some of them are pretty sick players and then you have guys like Michalski who are utterly horrendous.

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On slow nights at the WSOP (usually around 2am during a Stud 8 event), for a sixth summer in a row I can count on Flipchip to tell me WSOP Horseshoe stories from the 1970-80s.


Flipchip in action during the Durrrrament
"When Benny Binion was around, you got treated really well," Flipchip said. "There was no media restrictions. Hell, anyone could walk up to the tables at any time. That was the fun of it."

Flipchip had been taking photos of the WSOP since the 1970s... with and without media credentials. That's why I love it when he'll stop by to describe the olden days.

"Of course back then, everyone smoked. Cigarette smoke was everywhere. With the low ceilings, you couldn't see across the Horseshoe."

When I asked him what he missed the most, he didn't blink... "The fist fights. That was part of the fun and excitement. It could happen at any time. You don't see as much as that anymore. Oh, and how could I forget the druggies passed out in back room? It was the 70s after all. Deals were going on in the bathroom and sometimes right at the table. Some days the entire Horseshoe smelled like weed, and you knew that Teddy and some of the guards were in the office smoking away."

One of Flipchip's favorite memories was a precursor to lime tossing. Apparently, a variation was created in the 70s involving oranges. Back in the day, the buffet was located on the 22nd floor of the Mint. The top floor also had a pool and sometimes people ate outside when it wasn't too hot.

"A bunch of players, I don't remember who, were betting each other if they could throw oranges onto a parking deck across the street. Most of them missed."

I'd love to got back in time and engage in degen orange tossing from the roof of the Mint with Otis.

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Bouncin' Round the Room on Day 11...

Event #13 Donkulus 2.0 Day 2: N/A. I just couldn't bring myself to care about this event until it hit Day 3.

Event #14 2-7 Low Ball Final Table: The one guy I was rooting for, Alex 'KGB' Kravchenko, busted out in 7th place. Seth Palansky said that Kravchenko mentioned that he was playing in 2-7 for the first time... ever. I called bullshit. Maybe this is Alex KGB's first 2-7 tournament, but you know he's played it before. And... if by chance, he's telling the truth, you gotta love the fact that Alex KGB has money to burn to play in events he's never played before. Nick Binger busted out in third, and Mike Wattel couldn't close the deal. He busted out in second place, losing the bracelet to Yan Chen.

Event #15 Stud 8 Championship Day 2: This event re-started in front of my press box so I kept an eye on things. I chatted with Chainsaw on the break and he mentioned that he drew Gus Hansen and Phil Hellmuth, but managed to double up. Durrrr began Day 2 as one of the short stacks after getting anted down during Day 1 when he focused on the final table in a Donkament (er, Durrrrament). Mike Sexton sat at the table closest to the press box and he has such a distinct voice that it's sort of odd to see him engaging in conversation at the poker table when I'm used to hearing him announce the action and offering up color commentary.

The Stud 8 event attracted all of the railbirds inside Amazon. The crowd was rather thin for a Monday night, but the few inside flocked to the outside of the Stud 8 event. Even with 50 or so to go, the field was still somewhat packed with Gus Hansen, Phil Hellmuth, and John Juanda.

Just before the money bubble broke, Brandon Adams and Mike Sexton hit the rail, while a short-stacked Jen Harman went on a mini-run to stick around. When time expired on Day 2, action was still on the money bubble. Chainsaw, Jen Harman, Dario Minieri, and John Juanda are all still alive.

Event #16 Six-Handed NL Day 1: I'm a fan of short-handed events, but I couldn't set foot into the Pavilion on Day 1 with 1,600+ runners. Even a donk with short hands is still a donk. Wait, a donkey doesn't have any hands. Short legged? I'm afraid to write about declining numbers at the WSOP because that makes the bean counters nervous, so I'm going to of out of my way to say that Event #16 had an increase in entrants... from 1,459 to 1,663. That's good for poker, right?

Photos courtesy of Michele Lewis and Harper/Benjo/Wam-Poker.