The PokerListings.com Daily 3-Bet is a rapid-fire rundown of three of the more underreported poker news stories of recent days that deserve a second look.
Any tips or suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to post in the comments.
Today in the 3-Bet we hit up some “sad” action in Bobby’s Room, an awkward video from Full Tilt and Johnny Chan gets personal in Macau.
1) Gus Gets Sad
Ostensibly in Las Vegas for the $20 Epic Mix Max Main Event, Gus Hansen never actually made it into the tournament as jet lag and insomnia kept him out of commission.
Instead he’s been hitting up the cash games at the infamous Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio.
But while $600/$1,200 blinds might be big to some, it doesn't have the same rush for Gus.
From his blog:
“I have played two short sessions at the Bellagio breakin just about even, but no matter what happened the swings are bound to be a lot different than a handful of years ago.
“If you told me 5 years ago that the games in Bobby’s Room would be 6-12 or even 8-16 I would for sure have said 'That is a BIG game.' Back then we were mostly playing 4K-8K and on the off days 3K-6K.
“I know about Black Friday and I know that a lot of people lost a lot of money when all the banks fucked up in 2008, but who would have thought that Highstakes Poker limits would have decreased that much?
“Yeap, we are now playing 600-1200 or 800-1600 – approximately 20% of what we used to play for. Very sad if you ask me.”
2) Five Awkward Millionaires in Matching Shirts and Blazers
The concept seems kinda far-fetched now looking back on it, but at the time (March) the new Full Tilt Poker ONYX Cup series was pretty big news.
Six $100k+ buy-in events around the world with a $250k Grand Finale, poker’s elite squaring off over and over and competing for the series title, etc.
This old video that resurfaced with Ali Nejad, Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen and Erik Seidel promoting it, though, didn't quite hit the mark.
Awkward intros, awkward questions, awkward answers – even more so if you read between the lines at what must have been going on behind-the-scenes.
Erik Seidel - “I do think it's a natural progression because there's so much money around and people are playing for such high stakes, that it was inevitable.
"I think Full Tilt was really the only online organization that could pull this off because they have all the best players in the world.”
Unfortunately, didn't quite work out that way.
3) Johnny Chan Gets Personal in Macau
Now that the big action has all but disappeared in Vegas, high-stakes refugees have turned to Macau to find the gamble they need.
Recent reports have both Sam Trickett and Tom Dwan the big winners with $2 million+ wins, but the biggest buzz came back in November when Phil Ivey made his return to tournament poker at the APPT Macau main event.
Poker Portal Asia managed to track down a regular at the Macau big games, Johnny Chan, and got him to reveal a few details about the games.
Chan discusses the usual stakes, the growing lust for poker (and cheap massages) in Macau and how Ivey ended up playing in the tournament.
Long answer short, Chan called him and asked.
