On the WSOP rail: Negreanu a force of nature; stacking and raining chips

02.07.2008, Lesen Sie hier den Bericht über «On the WSOP rail: Negreanu a force of nature; stacking and raining chips».

Las Vegas -- On TV and on the Internet, Daniel Negreanu is very entertaining. In person, Negreanu is a force of nature.

At the World Series of Poker's USD 1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout Tuesday, Negreanu's table (Blue 5 -- one of the outer tables in the Amazon Room at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino) adopted his outgoing personality, creating an entertaining table for fans to watch. And Negreanu played the part of conductor brilliantly.

Negreanu acted as if he was playing at home game rather than a big-league tournament.

The conversation was light, fun and constant. At one point, Negreanu was asked if one of his ex-girlfriends was Korean. Negreanu responded with a laugh.

"Not only was she Korean, my wife was Korean (he's now divorced), my girlfriend before that was Korean, and the one before that was Korean."

"I think I dated five in a row at one point," Negreanu continued before saying he was done dating Koreans for a while.

At another point in play, Hansu Chu stopped one of the women hawking cigarettes and candy to buy a pack of smokes.

"How dare you sell that stuff to him," Negreanu said, mostly in jest. "That's like giving an addict crack." Negreanu then offered to help Chu break his smoking habit.

"I'll do anything to help you quit," Negreanu said. "I'll even pay for rehab."

While some of the conversation was personal, much of it centered on the game, and sometimes the crowd joined in.

"I'm going to send you home to France," Negreanu told one player who was all in against him.

"No, don't do that" came the plea from a French national on the rail watching the action.

Negreanu looked up and grinned at the fan rooting the Frenchman on. Then he turned his attention back to the table. And sure enough, Negreanu won the hand and sent his opponent packing.

After another Negreanu raise forced an opponent to fold, someone from the crowd yelled "I would have folded in an instant to your raise."

"I had him too," Negreanu said, directly to the fan.

The only thing that silenced Negreanu during the course of play was the massage he received during play. With his head and chin pressed up against a purple pillow, Negreanu's chatter level dipped while the masseuse kneaded and relaxed his muscles from neck to toe -- with an encore performance on the neck.

While Negreanu was getting his massage, Chu took off his headphones and asked for updates on Tommy Hang in the USD 1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event. Hang, to Chu's delight, had chipped up and was in the top three, trailing Phil Hellmuth and Matt Grapenthien. When Negreanu's massage ended, so did his day. Minutes after paying and tipping his masseuse, Negreanu was eliminated from the tournament.

A gracious Negreanu then took time to sign a book being held out to him at the rail, took some pictures with the fans in attendance and then made a quiet exit out of one of the side doors in the Amazon Room.

Stacking chips The grind of the WSOP looks like it's starting to get to Andy Bloch. After several hours of play in the USD 1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout, Bloch started stacking his chips in the shape of a fun-looking pyramid. When I asked whether it had been a long Series, he acknowledged it had been with a nod and a rueful grin.

Raining chips Scotty Nguyen looks like he's still riding the euphoria wave from his victory in the USD 50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event. He was walking around the floor during a break this evening throwing chips for tips at dealers.

Trend alert Fewer people wearing headphones while playing than last year. Sunglasses are almost impossible to find.

Textually active The WSOP has been pretty lenient in enforcing the phone rules this year. Negreanu was frequently checking his phone and either making notes or texting when he wasn't involved in hands (and amazingly good at setting the phone down before the cards were dealt for the next hand).

And other players have been seen checking their phones at the table.

"The phone rule is being enforced on case-by-case basis this year," said WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla.

"As long as players are not talking away at the table and disrupting play, it's tolerated, Dalla added.

The only phone rule issue that's occurred this year involved Amarillo Slim, Dalla added. A phone rang while Slim was involved in the hand. Slim got up and left the table to tell the caller that he was in the middle of a hand. But the hand was mucked because "he'd moved too far away from the table."

CasinoCityTimes.com

Über World Series of Poker (WSOP):

Die World Series of Poker, oder kurz WSOP, ist eine Reihe von Pokerturnieren, die jedes Jahr in Las Vegas ausgetragen werden.

Die World Series of Poker finden jährlich im Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas statt.

Die World Series of Poker ist die grösste und prestigeträchtigste Pokerveranstaltung der Welt. Mit einer umfassenden Liste von Turnieren in allen wichtigen Pokervarianten ist die WSOP das am längsten laufende Pokerturnier der Welt und geht auf das Jahr 1970 zurück.

Darüber hinaus hat die WSOP bahnbrechende Allianzen in den Bereichen Rundfunk, digitale Medien und Unternehmenssponsoring gebildet und die Marke mit der Einführung der WSOP Europe im Jahr 2007 und der WSOP Asia-Pacific im Jahr 2013 sowie der WSOP International Circuit Series im Jahr 2015 erfolgreich international ausgebaut.

Ursprünglich wurden die Tourniere in Las Vegas Downtown im Binion's Horseshoe Casino ausgetragen. Im Jahre 2005 kaufte Caesars den Brand WSOP. Seit diesem Datum werden die Pokermeisterschaften im Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino durchgeführt.

Gewinner der letzten Jahre des WSOP-Championship-Mainevent

2020: Damian Salas 2019: Hossein Ensan 2018: John Cynn 2017: Scott Blumstein 2016: Qui Nguyen 2015: Joe McKeehen 2014: Martin Jacobson 2013: Ryan Riess 2012: Greg Merson 2011: Pius Heinz 2010: Jonathan Duhamel 2009: Joe Cada 2008: Peter Eastgate 2007: Jerry Yang 2006: Jamie Gold 2005: Joe Hachem 2004: Greg "Fossil Man" Raymer 2003: Chris Moneymaker 2002: Robert Varkonyi 2001: Carlos Mortensen 2000: Chris "Jesus" Ferguson 1999: J.J. "Noel" Furlong 1998: Scotty Nguyen 1997: Stu Ungar 1996: Huck Seed 1995: Dan Harrington 1994: Russ Hamilton 1993: Jim Bechtel 1992: Hamid Dastmalchi 1991: Brad Daugherty 1990: Mansour Matloubi 1989: Phil Hellmuth Jr. 1988: Johnny Chan 1987: Johnny Chan 1986: Berry Johnston 1985: Bill Smith 1984: Jack Keller 1983: Tom McEvoy 1982: Jack Strauss 1981: Stu Ungar 1980: Stu Ungar 1979: Hal Fowler 1978: Bobby Baldwin 1977: Doyle Brunson 1976: Doyle Brunson 1975: Sailor Roberts 1974: Johnny Moss 1973: Puggy Pearson 1972: Amarillo Slim Preston 1971: Johnny Moss 1970: Johnny Moss

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