All Mucked Up: 2012 World Series of Poker Day 18 Live Blog

June 14, 2012

All Mucked Up is a live blog of all the stuff you want to know at the 2012 World Series of Poker, besides hand histories and bad beats. Well, we might add a few in here, everyone loves a good bad beat story — unless it happened to you. Check back often for polls, soundbites, celebrity sightings, and who knows what else!

Four by Four with Terrence Chan

We caught up with Terrence Chan this morning and asked him for four answers on a few questions in honor of today's Event #28: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Four Handed.

What are four things that tilt you?

1. Players who play slowly.
2. Players who are abusive to other players.
3. The price of a salad in the poker kitchen.
4. Ten handed hold'em.

Who are four players you don't want to see at your table today?

1. Ivey.
2.durrrr even though that seems pretty unlikely right now.
3. Hellmuth, because I don't want to have to listen to him all day.
4. Anyone who plays slowly.

What are four tips you have for an amateur coming in to today's event?

1. Be observant.
2. Re-raise a lot.
3. Don't play slow.
4. Have fun.

We'll catch up with some players on break and get some more fun answers for even more questions so make sure you stay tuned to All Mucked Up.

We Love Four-Max!

All the buzz at the Rio today is about Event #28: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Four Handed.

Here's what some of the players are saying:

We over heard one of the older gentlemen in the field talking to a tablemate at the start of the tournament. "We already agreed that there would be no bluffing for the first two hours of the tournament." The tablemate grinned and laughed. Unfortunately sir, I don't think that's going to fly.

We'll catch up with some of these players on break and see if they will let us do a four by four interview with them.

Excuse Me Sir, We Have Some Money For You

Daniel Negreanu went to pick up a cash today from earlier in the 2012 World Series of Poker, and this is what he had to say about it:

#mustbenice

A Sicko At Every Table

We've been perusing the Brasilia room to see if we could find some sick tables, and trust us, there's at least one sicko at every table. This table had three sickos:

In seat 1 was Shawn Buchanan, in seat 3 was Faraz Jaka, and in seat 4 was Noah Schwartz. There was no seat 2, but we feel sorry for the poor sap who gets sat down at this table.

So Many Wizards

We found this gem on twitter. Lauren Kling and Brian Hastings have apparently been texting back and forth during Event #28: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Four Handed. Here's what they're saying:

And here are the texts:

The Box Game

Bracelet winner Sean Getzwiller and Josh Evans have been playing heads up for an entire level over on Table 70 in Event #28: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Four Handed.

"I want to play heads up," Chance Kornuth said from an adjacent table.

Shaun Deeb, who was at a third table, agreed.

"One of them has an edge," Deeb said. "I'm not going to say who though."

Getzwiller and Evans were playing the popular "box game" as well. To win, you have to fold your two cards into the box designated for the flop, turn, and river, without touching the lines. The two were playing for $20 a toss.

"Hey," Deeb piped up again. "Are you guys just folding and taking that guys stack?"

There was a third stack at the table that was blinding out, but Getzwiller and Evans weren't just folding every hand.

"Why are you even thinking of that?" Kornuth shouted to Deeb. "Just because you have no integrity...and no shoes..."

We didn't understand the latter part of that statement until we looked down at Deeb's feet, and saw that they are bare.

Four by Four in the Four Max, Part 2

We caught up with Joe Cada and Lex Veldhuis during break in Event #28: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Four Handed for another set of "Four by Fours."

Joe Cada

Who are four players you don't want to see at your table today?

1. Phil Ivey
2. 'Doc' Sands
3. Tom Marchese
4. William Reynolds

What are four things that tilt you?

"Oh jeez. I don't know," Cada said.

1. Traffic

(That's the only answer Cada could come up with.)

Who are four people you want to see in the WSOP commentator box?

1. Joe Stapleton
2. Phil Ivey, although I don't think that would ever happen.
3. Some of the better ranked online players.

(Joe couldn't think of a fourth answer.)

"Man, I suck at this," he said.

What are four tips you can give to amateur playing this event?
1. Open up your game. You can't play the same way you play in a nine handed tournament.
2. Pay attention and adjust to your opponents.
3. Pay attention to stack sizes. I wouldn't do a lot of calling with a stack under twenty big blinds.
4. Mix it up and be aggressive. It will help to throw your opponents off.

Lex Veldhuis

Who are four players you don't want to see at your table today?

1. Viktor Blom
2. Viktor Blom (Veldhuis decided Blom was worth two spots on his list.)
3. Scott Seiver
4. Dario Minieri, I don't actually know if he's here, but he can be pretty annoying to play with.

"When I give players, does that mean I don't respect them?" Veldhuis joked.

What are four things that tilt you?

1. When players are obnoxious to their dealers.
2. Players forgetting to put their antes in every time.
3. Players who smell like dead rats.
4. Players who don't recognize personal space.

Who are four people you would like to see in the WSOP commentary box?

1. Olivier Busquet is really good at that.

"Is it ok if I just don't give any more names?" Veldhuis asked. "I don't really watch all that much."

We decided to let him off the hook and move on to the next question.

What are four tips you could give to an amateur playing this event?

1. Don't play too loose out of position.
2. Don't get annoyed by aggressive players.
3. Don't try to take revenge for lost pots.
4. Don't register for this event if you don't want to go home early.

We'll see if we can get a few more players to do a "four by four" interview on the next break.

Late Much?

There was a little controversy last night over whether to stop the heads-up match in Event #24: $5,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better, but with Scotty Nguyen tired, the tournament directors suspended play for the night and sent the players home.

Maybe it was a revenge play, but Joe Cassidy, who was frustrated with the decision to stop play, showed up 14 minutes late for his own heads-up match today. Here's what Jason Mercier had to say about it:

Poker T-shirt of the Day

We got this one courtesy of Karina Jett:

What's Your Handle, Sir?

Quality things happen when youth meets experience. Adam Junglen has provided us with a quality tweet regarding one of the older gentlemen at his table:

Stinger: No Omaha 8 fish

Brian ‘Stinger’ Hastings may have some action on his hands after issuing a twitter challenge to Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow late last night. Matusow, while commentating on Event #24 $5,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better, called Hastings a ‘stone idiot’ when it came to playing Omaha hi-lo split-eight or better.

Hasting obviously heard rumors of this comment, and asked his twitter followers to clarify just what was said. After getting some responses, Stinger said:

We’ll try catch up with Hastings or Matusow today to see if any heads-up grudge match will go down during this years World Series Of Poker.

Is that Erik Seidel?

An older gentleman was on the rail and he turned to one of our live tournament reporters and asked, "Excuse me, can you tell me, is that Erik Seidel?" The man pointed to someone in the field, and it was not Erik Seidel at all. In fact, it was Allen Cunningham.

We kindly informed the man that it was not Erik Seidel, but we want to know, do you think Erik Seidel and Allen Cunningham look alike?

Another Four by Four with Matt Matros

We caught up with three time bracelet winner Matt Matros on break in Event #28: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Four Handed, to do one more "four by four" interview.

Who are four players you don't want to see at your table today?

1. Jonathan Jaffe
2. Phil Ivey
3. Mark Darner
4. Vanessa Selbst

What are four things that tilt you most?

"Oh man, I almost never tilt," Matros said.

1. Abbreviations
2. Bad music
3. Rudeness
4. Feeling sorry for yourself

Who are four players that you want to see in the WSOP commentary box?

1. Shaun Deeb
2. Antonio Esfandiari
3. Vanessa Selbst
4. Andy Bloch

What are four tips that you can give to an amateur playing this event?

1. Don't go too crazy.
2. Defend your blinds.
3. Don't over value the antes, there is only four players.
4. Focus, focus, focus.

The Boy Is Back In Town

We met up with Dubliner Eoghan O’Dea right after he busted Event #27 $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. just after making the money. O’Dea told us how his day went:

“I actually got pretty lucky. I had a really low stack coming up to the money, but I made it in. I had a rough hand a short while back where I ‘misclick’ called with AQ and my opponent flopped a flush with J4s. I was pretty tilted after that, and I was on life support”.

O’Dea is best known for his appearance on the 2011 Main Event Final Table. We asked him how it felt to be back in Las Vegas a year on, and what his plans were.

“Yeah it’s cool to be back. This is only my second event so I’m just getting going. I plan to play 8 or 9 more events, mostly Hold’em but some PLO too. I’m definitely going to play the Main Event again too”.

“I’m staying over in Vdara at moment. A few of the Dublin lads have a house here together, but it would be too mad staying there. It would be too messy” laughs Eoghan “My dad Donnacha O’Dea] is here too, he’s not around the Rio today, but he’s playing some cash in the Bellagio I think”.

We’ll keep tabs on O’Dea in the coming weeks, and see how he’s preparing for the monster grind that is the WSOP Main Event this year.

The Michael Godard Art Booth

We got a chance to stop by the Michael Godard art booth today, which had just set up today. An employee at the booth gave us a little run down on the artist, Michael Godard, and what's for sale at the booth.

Godard is an artist living in Las Vegas. He attended the University of Las Vegas. His paintings are strong influenced by his life, and living in Las Vegas. Godard, the employee told us, is the number one selling artist in the United States. Many of Godard's paintings are gambling themed, since he likes to play craps, but Godard doesn't play poker.

Many pros have come to the booth and to the gallery upstairs in the Rio to buy paintings. In the gallery, there is a painting selling for $100,000, the employee told us.

Godard also paints pictures of Nascar and children.

The most expensive painting at the booth is currently selling for $4,500 and is titled "The Olive Cash." Here is a picture of the painting:

Godard usually sells anywhere from 60 to 80 paintings a month, and some pros have even bought paintings from the booth. If you're interested in seeing more of Godards work, you can visit his website, or visit the art booth set up right across from the Amazon room.

When In Doubt, Check Out The DeepStack

Today has been a slow day - in terms of players wearing fabulous hats. With Event #28 $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em / Four Handed full of serious internet kids and Event #27 $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. in the money and choc-full of big name pros too, this is no surprise.

In times like these, we on the PokerNews team like to wander through the Daily Rio DeepStack tournament in the Pavilion room to see what we can find. They’re never short of cowboy outfits, untamed facial hair or shiny tracksuits in there. Today we spotted these two players in nice straw boater hats…

Check out that big field!

It’s definitely worth noting how much value is in these fields. There were over 1,000 entrants today as there has been many days so far. Check out this tweet from AlCantHang:

On The Rail

The Amazon room seems eerily quiet as the break for Event #26 $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha begins. For the last hour or so, there’s been a tremendous amount of support coming from Khiem Nguyen’s cheering section. Nguyen’s sweaters are wearing Germany football jerseys, are all drinking cocktails and have a custom chant for Nguyen – which is one word, 'KHIEM!'.

Nguyen has had several cashes in the WSOP before, all in No-Limit Hold’em, but this will be his first bracelet if he can battle through this tough final table. We hope Nguyen goes deep tonight, because the atmosphere at final table is as exciting as it’s been this series.

Car Of The Day

Roaming through the valet parking lot we came across this Aston Martin.

We don't know whom it belongs to. It still has the dealer plates on it thought. It’d be nice to take it out for a test drive.

Lunch With Mickey Petersen

We sat down briefly with Mickey ‘MementMori’ Petersen while he was on his dinner break from Event #28 $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em / Four Handed. We had a casual discussion that touched on Mickey’s table, his flawless American accent and tomorrow’s senior’s event.

‘I’m doing ok in the 4-max at the moment” MementMori tells us. “ But man my table is so tough. Just loads of internet guys that I know from online but don’t know in real life. It’s aggressive and shows no sign of breaking just yet”.

Regarding his flawless English, Petersen told us:

“It comes from watching too much American TV and films I suppose. I did English in school, all through school, so that’s where the language comes from. The accent is from watching TV”.

We asked Mickey what the next event he was playing would be:

“I don’t think there’s much going on tomorrow? The senior’s event? No I can’t play that, I’ll be back in a few years though. You write the muck? Good luck getting stories tomorrow then” Petersen called after us, as we left him to finish his apple and get back into the fray.

Four By Four With Annette Obrestad and Team PokerStars Pro Mickey Petersen

We caught up with Annette Obrestad and Mickey Petersen for another round of four by four, as they were coming back from dinner break in Event 28: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em - Four-Handed

Annette Obrestad

Who are four players you don't want to see at your table today?

1. Phil Ivey
2. Sorel Mizzi
3. Team PokerStars Pro Lex Veldhuis
4. Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst

What are four things that tilt you?

1. People who take forever
2. People who don’t win gracefully
3. Berating dealers
4. Asking dealer to reshuffle deck

Mickey Petersen

Who are four players you don't want to see at your table today?

1. Chris Moorman
2. Andy Frankenberger
3. Jason Koon
4. Galen Hall

What are four tips you can give to amateurs playing this event?

1. Defend blinds more
2. Three bet more
3. Hand rankings go up (For example 10x10x in a 4max has higher value than at a full table)
4. Play more hands

Castle Building: Joe Tehan Edition

Joe Tehan appears to be building a pretty huge stack in Event #28 $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em / Four Handed. Here is a pic from 40 minutes ago, and one from just now. If it keeps growing at this rate he will have a castle in no time!

Mother Knows Best

We ran intoShirley Williams, mother ofTeam PokerStars Pro David Williams, in the Amazon room. She was railing David who’s still in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event. We wanted to know what she’s been up to lately.

Are you playing any WSOP events this year?

I’m playing the Seniors Event tomorrow. I cashed in it the last two years.

Are you playing the WSOP Main Event this year?

No. I use to get sponsored from the Internet sites. I tired some satellites but no luck.

What are you most proud about with David?

When people tell me what a good person he is. I had a dealer tell me how well he behaves at the table.

What are some of the best poker tips you’ve received from David?

1. Don’t drink (alcohol) at the table (laughs).

2. Don’t worry about bad beats, it’s a long term game.

3. Play tight in a sit-n-go satellite.

The sit-n-go advice paid off; she's chopped two satellites this summer.

Tweet Of The Day: Day 18

Check out this priceless tweet from Clayton Newman. If you don’t read The Muck daily and aren’t up to date on the latest WSOP gossip, this is a play on the ‘popular’ hallway song ‘Call Me Maybe’, replaced with lyrics that referenceDavid Williams having his All American Dave meal stolen by a hungry villain! If you do read The Muck every day, then don’t read this paragraph and just check out the tweet!

Four By Four With Team PokerStars Pro Humberto Brenes and Jeff Madsen

We caught up with two more pros in the $2,500 4-handed tournament that agreed to play our four by four game.

Jeff Madsen

Who are four players you don't want to see at your table?

1. Phil Ivey
2. John Juanda
3. Erick Seidel
4. Patrick Antonius

What are four things that tilt you at the table?

1. Players taking too long to make decisions.
2. When I make mistakes.
3. People who smell bad.
4. People who berate my play that aren’t thinking at the same level as me.

We asked Humberto Brenes what players he didn't want to see at his tables, but he turned the tables on us and told us what players he wants to play with:

1. Phil Hellmuth. He cries too much but he's a great person off the felt.
2. Team PokerStars Pro Viktor Blom
3. Phil Ivey
4. Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier

When asked why he would want such a tough table draw, Brenes replied,"I like playing with the best."

Happy Hour With Gavin Smith

We happened to eavesdrop on some fun table chatter at Gavin Smith’s table in the $2,500 4-handed tournament.

“Where’s my waiter,” Smith yelled.

A few moments later his waiter appears. “There’s my waiter,” said a relived Smith.
He then points to his empty glass, wanting a refill. The waiter obliged, but not before Smith belted out the opening lyrics of the 80s TV show The Facts of Life.

“You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life…the facts of life.”

The table, which included Moshin “ChicagoCards” Charania, broke out in hysterics. Charania then added, “I should just write a blog about Gavin Smith.”

Smith fires back, “Rast Brian Rast] wrote about me in a blog.”

Rast, seated at an adjacent table, replies in a puzzled tone “I have a blog!?”

We’ll be sure to update on any further banter.

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