[user22113]
It's understandable that players might be a bit hesitant entering a pot against Phil Ivey, so when Ivey joined two other limpers in a pot the blinds went along for the ride. After an ominous flop the action was checked around, and when the turned Ivey called a 200 bet from the player in the big blind. The big blind checked the on the river and elected to call Ivey's 600 bet. Ivey turned over the for the backdoor flush and took down his first pot of the World Series.
[user22113]
One of the "improvements" that Harrah's has implemented this year is brand new decks for every day of the bracelet events. The new decks are called "Poker Peek," but it wasn't clear what had changed about them.
Now, in the first few hands, we know what has changed. And the criticisms from the players are harsh.
Mike Matusow was frothing at the mouth, and yelled, "Did you see these cards? You can't see the cards! Where's Jeffrey Pollack?"
Doyle Brunson took his seat next to Layne Flack, ready to play his first hand of the 2007 World Series of Poker. But when he checked his cards, he had to do a double take. "What the hell are these?"
It gets worse. Two players have already asked for a refund. Johnny Chan has complained and threatened to refuse to play. Daniel Negreanu called them the worst cards he's ever played with.
Before the tournament began, Chad Layne said he had been playing some satellites, and watched as players misread their hands -- in some cases, even the dealers. Layne got some practice in, and feels ready to deal with the cards now that there are bracelets at stake.
What's the problem? The six and the nine are particularly problematic, and easily confused with each other. The "pips" in the center of the card are much smaller than normal, and contained in a box. Instead of having large numbers in the top left and bottom right corners, they are sort of in the lower left and top right -- and that's what makes the sixes and the nines confusing, because the six is in the general area where an upside-down nine would normally appear.
There are still numbers in the upper left corner, but they are extremely small and at an angle, and they're easy to overlook.
T.J. Cloutier, who is on the Player's Advisory Committee, claims that these are *not* the cards that the players approved. (He's also asked to speak to Jeffrey Pollack.) That's an interesting wrinkle -- perhaps there are better cards somewhere, waiting in the wings?
The big question for now is this -- How quickly can Harrah's fix the problem? Or, is it possible for the players to adapt?
[user22113]
Chau Giang took a hit early on when his opponent flopped a full house. He lost about 10% of his stack on that hand. He also lost a race with J-J against A-K. Giang was last seen on the rail explaining his early beats to a friend.
[user22113]
Doug Lee raises from late position, Greg Raymer reraised from the cutoff, and Joe Sebok reraised to more than 2,000 from the big blind. Lee folded, Raymer folded, and Sebok took the pot.
[user22113]
In a battle of the blinds Jesse Jones completed from the small blind, then called a 125 raise. After a flop of Jones check-called a 225 bet. The on the turn drew a 500 bet from Jones, which the big blind called. And he also called Jones's 1,000 bet on the river after the fell. Jones turned over the , making a pair on the river, and the big blind mucked.
[user22113]
Phil Ivey took two small pots in a row--one after seven limpers saw a flop of and no one wanted to call Ivey's 275 bet. On the next hand Phil limped UTG and, along with the big blind, called a 250 raise from middle position. Ivey bet 700 after the flop and took the pot down.
[user22113]
On a board of , one player went all in for 3500 and Gavin Griffin reraised to 9K to isolate. No one else called. Griffin showed A-Q and his opponent showed K-K. The river was the and Griffin was crippled to 2075.
![[user22113]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop the action was checked around, and when the 
turned Ivey called a 200 bet from the player in the big blind. The big blind checked the 
on the river and elected to call Ivey's 600 bet. Ivey turned over the 
for the backdoor flush and took down his first pot of the World Series.
Jones check-called a 225 bet. The 
on the turn drew a 500 bet from Jones, which the big blind called. And he also called Jones's 1,000 bet on the river after the 
fell. Jones turned over the 
, making a pair on the river, and the big blind mucked.
and Griffin was crippled to 2075.
