Images Photos

Phil Hellmuth: Poker Mind In Depth Part XI

[Content Disclosure: Poker Mind In Depth series]

If you are following any WSOP twitters or reading other sites, you have probably seen some comments on the Las Vegas weather this summer. As recently as last year, we worked the Series in 'all 100 degrees all the time' summers. Last year Las Vegas had 108 consecutive days over the century mark, but this year we actually had a week early this month where the temperature never reached 90. Today, we have rain and hundred degree temperatures. Its very odd to stand uncover and feel hot winds gusting over 30 miles an hour, while inches away torrential rain is falling. You can feel the static in the air and you know tempers will be lightening short at the Rio today. We are creatures of our environment.

What, you ask, do wind, heat and rain in Las Vegas have to do with Phil Hellmuth and the World Series of Poker?

Well I am reminded whenever I write about Phil that most poker fans only know Phil through the image that television chooses to present. And, of course, Phil's own prolific writing. No this is not going to be another apology that begins: "but away from the table Phil is really a nice guy." Phil is Phil and you get to make your own assessment of who he is. Phil, Daniel and Mike are public figures, judgement from the public comes with the priviledge of fame. What I will say is that Phil Hellmuth is a lot more complicated than any televised portrayal I have seen. I think today's session clearly demonstrates that.

Remember, I caught up with Phil moments after bustout from a Stud tournament where he literally was stone cold card dead.

Shrink: "Want some time Phil?"

Phil: "No, let's go ahead and do the interview."

Shrink: "So its been another week of World Series play. We are hitting the doldrums, how are you feeling."

Phil: "I am feeling great. I just play two days of the best Stud tournament of my life and just couldn’t hit a hand. Rollups got run down on the river, two pair got overpaired. That one hand I had rolled up sixes and got called by king, ten, three and lost to broadway."

Shrink: "I was watching, it seem pretty brutal both days of this tournament."

Phil: "It got so when I started with a big hand, I was just hoping to win half the pot and survive until I got a run of cards. I was thinking about surviving not winning."

Shrink: "That seems to be the script for your last couple of weeks at the Series."

Phil: "I agree but somehow this year it is different. I really am able to see what part is my play and what is just the cards. I can separate the two and that allows me to remain calm. That makes a tremendous difference in how I play. It really is going great now, everything but the cards. So my goal is to just keep the play going, I can’t change the flop but I can remain focused and playing good poker. The cards will come."

Shrink: "Well that has been a very consistent theme for you this summer. This really is a changed attitude."

Phil: "I think so, I do feel great and I have some real clarity on the parts of the game under my control and those that are just the rub of the deck. I feel much better about my game."

Shrink: "Taking the rest of the day off?"

Phil: "No, I was really short-stacked for this restart, so I signed up for the noon event, but I checked my table before I came here at 2 PM. When I checked my table it looked really tough, so I am going to take some time before I sit down in that tournament."

Phil did indeed take a break and calmly rejoined the noon tournament around 4 PM to continue his World Series.

____________________

Previous posts in this Series:

Part X: Mike Matusow

Part IX: Daniel Negreanu

Mike Matusow: Poker Mind In Depth Part X

[Content Disclosure: Poker Mind In Depth series]

In my last post I talked about the Doldrums which usually hit the WSOP about this time every year. We have all been at the Rio for about a month and are still several weeks away from the main event. Sure the $50K HORSE is coming up later this week. But nearly everyone is simply tired of poker. It's hard to get focused for yet another event. Three day tournaments seem like a week and the day ones just go on and on with no chance of anything but a few hours sleep as your reward for making it to day two.

I caught up with all three players on a day two 2 PM restart where they all entered the day's fray with short-stacks. Normally, you try to avoid interviewing players after a bust out, but professionals like Phil, Mike and Daniel have fairly thick skins after a month of the Series. So unless they had some horrid bad beat to end their day, I was going to catch each of them as they left the event and before they jumped into another tournament. Phil and Mike were playing side by side at the same table and between them they gave me some insight into the uneven enforcement of the new penalty rules.

Phil: "Hey Tim, here's your story for today, get this down."

Mike: "I called the floor over because David Oppenheim was f-bombing everyone at the table. I wanted to know if that was a penalty or not. I mean I got into the book earlier that day for using the F word just once."

Phil: "Oh no, you're in the book!"

Mike: "Michael Binger misread his hand in Omaha8 and got all this chips in and then he sucked out to stay alive. I said: 'You are the worse fucking Omaha player in the world.' The whole table was laughing, but the floor heard what I said and gave me a one hand penalty and put my name in the book."

Phil: "Now they have you in the book and can make any penalties you get worse in the main event. I have not been written up -- yet."

Mike: "Yeah, so later I called the floor just to check on what David Oppenheim was saying. I didn't want him penalized, I just wanted to see what another floor would say. He did nothing."

Phil: "Did you ask for a ruling."

Mike: "Yeah, that's why I called the floor over."

John Hennigan: "What did he say."

Mike: "Nothing, he just stood there and listened and then walked away."

Chad Brown: "Wait, he didn't give you an answer?"

Mike: "Nope, no ruling, no answer. Ten or twenty F-bombs and not a word from the floor. I say it once as a joke and I get written up."

At this point the entire table got into the discussion about how the new rules are aimed directly at certain players and are not being evenly enforced. I will add here that this is also the observation from many of the media. We commented even before the Series that the new table etiquette rules would be unevenly enforced and this seems to be the case.

But back to the players. Phil busted soon after this discussion and I got an exit interview with him that will run tomorrow in The Poker Mind In Depth Part XI. Shortly after that Daniel busted out of his table but quickly ran off to another tournament. I caught up with Daniel at the next break and that session will run in two days as Part XII of this series. That left Mike, who got moved to a new table with David Benyamine, Chau Giang and Huck Seed and wouldn't you know it he had one of those bust out hands.

Shrink: "Did you have as many outs on that hand as I think you did."

Mike: "Yeah, not just outs but I had a perfect read on that guy. He was drawing for the low when he checked I knew that the only way I lose the hand was if I brick on the last two cards and he hits a bigger two pair to scoop. Which is exactly what happened. Sometimes the perfect read is not enough."

Shrink: "You seem to be having a long run like that."

Mike: "Its not that I am getting sucked out on so much, but I just can't make a hand. I mean I feel like I have been playing the short stub for a week now. I go deep but only because I am keeping my head down, not because I am winning any hands. You can't play great laydown poker and win one of these, you can survive but not win."

Shrink: "Away from the poker table, you still feeling good?"

Mike: "Yes, absolutely. This is the longest run where I have felt this good in years. I am still having to tweak my medications but it's not because I am feeling bad. I just need to adjust them some more to have my perfect focus at the table. But I feel good and life is great. No negatives at all. Now if I could get some cards..."

"I won five pots in two days in this tournament. You gotta run better than that to win. Well, let me pay off my last longer bet and then let's go sign some more books."

You didn't really think I would pass up an opportunity to mention the book, did you?

Photo Credit for the Mike pix to BJ Nemeth.

____________________

Previous posts in this Series:

Part IX: Daniel Negreanu

World Series of Potpourri

[Content Disclosure: Stuff In and Around the WSOP]

Just another collection of tidbits from one more week of trodding the halls of the WSOP and the blogs, sites and sounds from the Series. Today (Sunday) is the biggest day outside of the World Series as both Ultimate Bet and Poker Stars run there massive WSOP main event qualifiers. UB will be handing out 50 seats, while Poker Stars has been qualifying players for over a month for their 150 seat extravaganza.

Lest you think these online events are for those living in Nova Scotia and Des Moines. There will be plenty of players hold up in their hotel rooms all over Las Vegas today. A cheap seat is a cheap seat, no matter where you are currently seated.

* * *

In case you missed the New York Times article "How Twitter is Changing the World of Professional Poker"; it is worth a read and if you intend to follow the main event or any of the remaining events, I strongly recommend adding to your internet feeds the twitters from PokerRoad. No one has twitter technology mastered yet but PokerRoad is way out ahead for this WSOP. You can follow dozens of top pros right from the tables. Plus much of the insider dirt also gets laundered via tweets. Makes you almost feel like you were here and needing a quick shower.

* * *

The WSOP parties start in earnest this coming week, expect to see the drab "queen and a queen only" tournament coverage being spiced up with reports from inside all the hot clubs in Vegas. Media get invites to these so they will pimp the host sites and well, we do. Coverage of such alcohol fueled debaucheries will be found in much more detail on other sites. Speaking of debauchery, Dr. Pauly is rumored to be returning from his extended Phishing tour. I make a final appearance on the Tao of Poker on Monday, but this time with a PG rated story. Well, maybe R rated if you live in (country name redacted to avoid jihadist retaliation).

* * *

Inside the WSOP these are the doldrum days. More players are napping at the tables. Twitters and blogs are replete with excuses for missed tournaments. The WSOP flu is fully in evidence but not at pandemic proportions. More arguments are popping up at the tables and thus more penalties and warnings are hitting the infamous WSOP infraction book. Bitching about the poker kitchen, bad payout structures, missing blind levels, in general anything and everything have spiked this week. It's all a function of this being the fourth or is it the fifth week of cards and chips, chips and cards and the main event is still nowhere in site.

The WSOP Doldrums will be the theme of my next three Poker Mind In Depth posts as even Misters Matusow, Hellmuth and Negreanu are not immune. That series will resume on Tuesday.

Daniel Negreanu: Poker Mind In Depth Part IX

[Content Disclosure: Poker Mind In Depth series]

We continue with the Twitter inspired revelations, this time from Daniel Negreanu. When we left off with Daniel last time, he was in his seventh consecutive night of 3 AM finishes and was commenting about the late night loopy feelings. Later that same night, he left this Twitter message:

"This is mentally tough. Seven straight 15 hour days. Not for everyone. I kinda hate it, but I kinda love pushing myself to the edge."

Daniel went on to make it ten straight 3 AM finishes before he finally had an early evening bustout at 9:30 PM. So he went home and got some down time and a full night's sleep. I caught up with him the next day.

Shrink: "How are you feeling today after those ten days in a row? You look a bit worn out."

Daniel: "Well the funny thing is that I did get a break finally, an evening off and a good long night's sleep and today I feel like crap. I kinda hit a wall when I got this break, maybe it was must because I altered my routine."

Shrink: "The run itself was really great, if we just consider the poker and your results."

Daniel: "Well I knew looking at the schedule that there was going to be a time during this WSOP that I was going to be playing day after day after day. I didn't know it would happen quite this soon, but the whole point of getting physically prepared this year was in anticipation of a big run with lots of late nights. Not sure if I anticipated ten in a row and I really thought it might be later but I was ready."

"But I feel good, sure I wish I had won the two or three events where I went deep. But I am putting in a good effort and playing solid even when it is a fifteen hour day."

Shrink: "And going forward."

Daniel: "I keep looking at the schedule, trying to find that free time and it's just not there, at least not yet. Maybe next week, maybe. I will have to figure something out because you can only push yourself so far before you start making mistakes."

Shrink: "I see you looking tired and then a few hours later you seem better."

Daniel: "Oh, I definitely go through phases. Sometimes I look like death, like now and then I get to the table and get all spunky and talkative. I get a second or a third wind, I get a massage and I am back. It is definitely an ebb and flow type of thing, as far as energy goes. I try and stay as level as possible, but those two and three AM finishes, I can get a little loopy and I just have to try and avoid mistakes on the downswings. I can go on auto-pilot and not make mistakes, the problem with that is I also am not making good reads and making moves off of those reads. But when I get a bit goofy and unfocused, you just have to compensate for those times and play good, solid auto-poker."

Shrink: "So you are going to try and find a day off."

Daniel: "Try yes. Like today, if I bust out, I am not playing tomorrow until 5 PM. So I get an afternoon off. It's not a full day and that is what I really need about now."

As things turned out, Daniel did play the late event after our conversation and he did play until 3 AM making another day two. He busted midday the following day and jumped right into the 5 PM HORSE tournament. The following day he played the 5 PM event again but he busted just after 2 AM. Then, finally! He took a full day off after playing 14 of 18 days until 3 AM.

_____________________

Previous posts in this Series: