Thoughts on the WSOP and the edits of ESPN
It wasn’t until this year’s WSOP got ramped up that I realized how lucky I was to have covered last year’s main event and how badly I would kill to be back. I’ve found myself on the phone with more than one person either playing or covering the 2008 festivities, attempting to live vicariously in whatever way possible. Digging through boxes from our latest move (and last, for a good long while anyways), I found my notebook from the 2007 series and had a chuckle at my fervent notetaking that went to no real journalistic pursuit other than to try and record as much as possible for my own posterity.
I was working the event for Expert Insight, podcasting whenver possible. My only other real responsibility feeding random posts to Pokerati since they helped get me a media badge. With both of those jobs being something that could have been rather phoned in (and in the case of EI, the podcasting was literally by phone), you might snicker if I told you I was still pulling 14-16 hour days on the floor, killing my legs and enjoying every stinkin’ minute of it. Being right up against the rail, allowed more access than most, and answering to nobody but myself.
The list of anecdotes I could share here are long and distinguished: Picking Hevad Khan to follow on Day 2 and shadowing him all the way to 6th place. Covering the David Singer bustout incident and having long discussions with the Tournament Directors over the definition of “use of a cell phone”. Tracking down a rumor about John Duthie playing in a big cash game and making a 20k call with Queen high. Chatting with just about every poker pro I’ve ever followed or respected. Having more fun than I ever deserve.
While I’ve been falling into this deep pit of nostalgia, I found this hand on YouTube of the ESPN telecast and I had to recount it from my angle. First, watch:
Alright, so a couple things: First, I was on the media row in a special roped off area, kind of a moat between the players and the spectators behind us. Kalmar’s cheering section was directly behind me and they were already sauced. With all of this going on, I had a good view of all of this, and this hand was heavily edited down (as they usually are).
Kalmar had been starting to ease into the role of table captain, and he played the role well. Lee Watkinson had more chips, but his playing style was more laid back and allowing the action would come to him. The only two players with a similar chipstack were Jerry Yang (who was playing erratically) and the man everyone was scared of: Kenny Tran. Kalmar had position on him though, and he seemed to be enjoying himself a hell of a lot more than the rest of the table.
(Aside: I believe that Kalmar understands something about poker and readibility that few pick up on naturally: You give away tells when you break a pattern in your visible mannerisms, so it’s a matter of finding that noise of personality that you don’t easily break out of. Most people assume that sitting as still as possible will prevent giving away something, but for most, this is the worst mistake you can make, as ANY move from complete stillness can be a giveaway. Players like Gavin Smith know that their cheery, talkitive self is a far greater camouflage than willing every muscle in your body into complete submission of your conscious self. Kalmar also falls into this area.)
So, Kenny raised from the CO on a dead button and Kalmar had called from the SB, the standard “No, there won’t be any blind stealing today, thankyouveryMUCH–” swagger accompanying his chips as they went into the middle.
the flop came ten high with two clubs, and Kalmar took a few seconds to check. Kenny’s continuation bet came fairly quick, as did Kalmar’s call. Kalmar’s demeanor was more of curiosity, openly yet silently quizzing what Kenny was up to. And this is where the hand on YouTube kicks in.
0:18 seconds - Jon’s check on the turn is fun to watch after the fact because it’s almost oozing second level reverse-tell. It’s almost daring Kenny to make another continuation bet, like a more subtle version of Daniel Negreanu’s sheepish check with a set of Jacks in the billiards/poker PokerStars commercial. (No, this isn’t a shameless plug, I just need a frame of reference here.) Kenny hesitates on this second bet, and puts out something small enough that Jon can justify calling.
0:29 - I just hope that someday, I can count out chips as precisely and quickly as Kenny does on his turn bet.
0:35 - I don’t know if the 2nd draw coming in on the turn changes Jon’s decision from fold to call, but it certainly made his decision easier.
0:50 - This is where I get frustrated with ESPN’s edit of this hand. And I know that in the scheme of things that this hand was relatively minor in the story that was the 2007 WSOP, but it was a work of art, a hand that got seriously shortchanged in the end.
I can’t stress this enough - the dealer is shown dealing the river card twice. First from the overhead shot, and then you can see the dealer in the next shot burning and dealing the river. Kalmar makes the all-in bet the absolute instant you could see it was a club. And the pot count in the video is also wrong: Both players had about 9 million in front of them at the start of the hand, meaning that his bet on the river was more than what was displayed. About 4.5 million was in the middle when the river was dealt, and Kalmar’s river bet all-in was for another 6.25m.
Kalmar played the river perfectly. Once he instantaneously pushed, he worked Kenny from every angle possible, and Kenny was just tired/frazzled/frustrated enough to come along for it. First, Kalmar stood up, smiling at Kenny off and on, who didn’t really look at Jon too much, but glanced up enough to catch his half-cocky smirk. Kalmar then started to drink his water, which I’ve heard every poker player in the world talk about how that tell means one thing or another, though it’s about 50/50 on the subject.
Kalmar then calls the clock, and continues to drink his water. There’s almost glee in his face. Not so much that he’s putting the screws to Kenny, but I really believe it was because at this point he realized Kenny had top pair (the pocket 7’s comment makes it pretty obvious) and knew there was a very strong chance that he could induce a call. Once the clock was called though, it did all the work for him. With 4 seconds left, Kenny blurted out a call, and Jon’s scream of victory exploded throughout the Amazon room. His buddies went nuts, Kenny was humbled, and I turned to the reporter next to me with the realization that I had just seen a masterful play — I called it a work of art for days after the fact, and I still agree with that assessment, whether you think it’s hyperbole or not. Jon Kalmar had taken the best poker player in the room and outplayed him like it was the 2AM tourney at Treasure Island.
When you watch the World Series on ESPN, realize that there are hundreds of hands like these that either get butchered before broadcast or are cut completely. There’s just no substitute for standing a few feet away and taking it all in, notepad in tow.
Though I guess trying to blog about it a year after the fact counts for something.
No? Oh well.