We have Gavin Smith and Layne Flack sitting together at what is quickly becoming the loudest table in the room. Both of the clear, plastic cups in front of Smith are empty, and we're guessing what they were full of wasn't ice water. At the adjacent table, Phil Ivey just joined up, and a cross-table conversation has started.
Flack began the banter as he shot a big grin over at Ivey. The two men exchanged pleasantries. "You look like you've been golfing," Flack's grin didn't fade at all as he spoke.
Ivey let out a truncated, "Nope!" then dropped a big wink and a smirk of his own in Flack's direction. Liar.
"Hey, hey, I'm not looking for a game or anything," Flack backpedaled.
Just about that time, Gavin Smith realized what was going on. "Well hey there, Mr. Ivey!" he nearly yelled.
"Hey Gavin," Ivey answered back at a more reasonable volume. "How've you been? Haven't seen you in a while."
"That's what happens when you go into hiding," Smith quipped right back. His wit only gets more witty as the cocktails continue to flow.
The three men shared a big belly laugh at Smith's comment — old friends and still friends, as far as we're aware.
Walking around the halls of the Rio during the World Series of Poker, you always hear some crazy things. Whether it's an unbelievable bad beat, a rant about a problem with another player or some outrageous story about a strip club — we've heard it all.
This one directly pertains to this event and is certainly something we've never heard before. Two players had just bought into the event and were exiting the registration room. One player was getting advice on the event from the other player.
"Just make sure you start every hand with a deuce and a seven."
We don't claim to be experts in the game, so we can't say whether or not this advice is good or bad. That said, take it as you will and enjoy the rest of our coverage.
We just walked through the Purple Section of the Amazon Room, which features the latest table additions to this tournament, and all we can say is "wow." Check out the list of players that can be found seated in that section:
Erik Seidel
Men "The Master" Nguyen
Joseph Cheong
David Sklansky
Dan Kelly
Eric Crain
Shawn Buchanan
Richard Ashby
"Captain" Tom Franklin
Cyndey Violette
Brock Parker
Todd Brunson
Stephen Su
Marsha Waggoner
Linda Johnson
Dario Alioto
Jeff Lisandro
Shaun Deeb
Thiago Nishijima
Scott Clements
Dan O'Brien
Phil Hellmuth
David Bach
Frank Kassela
J.J. Liu
We’re currently stationed right next to Table 370 in the Orange Section, which is where we came across WSOP bracelet winner Adam Roberts, who is currently sitting with a healthy stack of 7,800. Roberts won his bracelet back in 2001 in Event #4 $1,500 7-Card Stud for $164,430, and has notched five other WSOP cashes in his career.
What’s interesting is all six of his WSOP cashes, which total $368,100, come in Stud events. When we asked him if he was a Stud aficionado, Roberts replied, “Yeah, well I sort of have to be. I suck at everything else.”
Based upon his record, chip stack and experience, we like his chances here in the first Stud event of the 2012 WSOP.
Well, that's one interesting table that just formed over there in the Purple section. We'll skip the other notables at the table and focus on the fact that Jeff Lisandro and Shaun Deeb are sharing table space in this event. We'll confidently call them the two best stud players in the world, and we have the evidence to back up that claim.
Lisandro won Stud for the year 2009, essentially. He took down three WSOP events that summer, one in each of the stud disciplines — Stud, Stud Hi/Lo, and Razz. His wins combined to add $745,021 to his bank account.
Just this month, Shaun Deeb accomplished the online equivalent of "The Lisandro", winning three $2,100 seven-card SCOOP titles — Stud, Stud Hi/Lo, Triple Stud titles. Just to put the golden cherry on top, he went ahead and won the final event, the $2,100 H.O.R.S.E. that also contains all three stud games. His work earned him $172,455 over those four events.
This variant of poker still belongs to the older generation, but it's certainly nice to see Deeb doing his part to lower the average age of the entrants.
We're not sure how it happened, but former November Niner Ylon Schwartz has been eliminated from the tournament. How do we know? Easy, his seat has been filled by Shaun Deeb.
Depending on who you are, these $1,500 events are the perfect events in which to take a shot. For most people, "taking a shot" means scratching together 1,500 bucks, daydreaming about the event for weeks, not being able to sleep the night before, and making the most of every hand they're dealt once they hit the table.
For a lot of pros, though — pros like Joseph Cheong — the $1,500s offer the chance to take a shot of a different kind. Being the lowest non-hold'em buyin of the summer, these events are the pros' chances to try their hands at some of their not-so-strong games.
Have a look at Cheong's latest tweet:
subiime Joseph CheongSnap busted that hyper turbo 3k hu today. Late regged the 1500 stud8 that I have no idea how to play. Off to a good start tho 7200 from 4500May 29 2012
We happened upon Table 400 and were making small talk with Kevin Calenzo, who qualified for this year's National Championship by winning the WSOP Circuit Main Event at Caesars Palace earlier this season. He mentioned that he had some history with his tablemate, defending champ Chris "PiMaster" Viox.
"I took 23rd in this event last year while he took first," Calenzo explained. "But we never played against each other last year." Well, Calenzo has his chance to take on the champion today as they'll be seated at the same table pretty much all night. However, we recommend they pay attention to the other players at the table as Allen Cunningham is planted in Seat 2.
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