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Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007

Year in Review: Poker world centers on WSOP

Where the action was at.

By Earl Burton

As the 2007 World Series of Poker kicked off action at the Rio All Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, people were prepared for many historic moments. The WSOP didn't fail to deliver.

Outside of June's WSOP events, legal and technological headlines arose in the poker world, and there was change afoot in televised poker as well.

A civil case that began during the 2006 WSOP continued to play out in June. The World Poker Tour faced antitrust challenges from seven poker professionals - Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Andy Bloch, Annie Duke, Joseph Hachem, Phil Gordon, Howard Lederer and Greg Raymer - but was given a reprieve when a judge denied a motion for summary judgment on June 2.

The case was still pending as the end of 2007 approached.

The Poker Players Alliance also worked on its lobbying efforts during the month of June, when John Pappas was named as the lead Washington D.C. lobbyist for the organization. Pappas would later in 2007 move into the executive director position that had been held by Michael Bolcerek and, along with Chairman Alfonse D'Amato, would be instrumental in several developments in the legislative world later in the year.

As the WSOP played along, computers stepped up to challenge two of the top poker professionals in heads-up poker competition. Phil "The Unabomber" Laak and Ali Eslami were the competitors against the University of Alberta's new poker playing computer, Polaris, in a five-game match that garnered a great deal of attention in the poker playing community.

In a close and heated battle, Laak and Eslami were able to squeak out a narrow 3-1-1 victory and, at least for now, demonstrate that humans still can beat the machines on the felt.

June also saw the departure of one of the more popular televised poker outlets when Mansion Poker closed the Poker Dome. The series of tournaments, which was broadcast live from the Dome on Fox Sports from downtown Las Vegas and featured such innovations as physical monitoring of the players in a sequestered arena while the audience watched, was highly popular with both players and the television audience.

Alas, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was behind this closure - Mansion Poker could not accept American players and Fox Sports determined it wasn't interested in presenting a program that lacked American players.

Around the tables at the Rio, the WSOP was making history with actual play. Event 1, $5,000 Mixed Hold'em, saw the youngest-ever champion in WSOP history crowned. Online poker phenomenon Steve "MrSmokey1" Billirakis crushed the previous record (set in 2006 by Jeff Madsen) by outlasting 451 players and runner-up Greg Mueller to win the title.

Youngest bracelet winner in Las Vegas!

At 21 years, 11 days old, Billirakis' mark will probably not ever be broken in the United States but...well, we will get to that further in the Year in Review!

Also in the early going of the WSOP, the historic ride of "The Poker Brat" into WSOP annals continued. Phil Hellmuth, who had tied Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan in 2006 for most bracelets won (after being separated from them the previous year after Brunson and Chan won), surpassed the legends when he captured bracelet number 11 in Event 15, $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em.

After Hellmuth defeated Andy Philachack heads-up, Doyle Brunson placed the bracelet on Hellmuth's wrist and declared him the greatest No-Limit tournament player of all time.

Another bracelet for Cunningham.

Allen Cunningham and Katja Thater also marked historic turns at the felt during the WSOP in June. Cunningham captured his fifth bracelet by defeating veterans Jeffrey Lisandro and Humberto Brenes in Event 13, $5,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em World Championship.

The fifth bracelet marked the third year in a row that Cunningham has won a title at the WSOP, placing him with Johnny Moss (1974-76), Doyle Brunson (76-79), Gary "Bones" Berland (77-79) and Erik Seidel (92-94) as the only men who have achieved that goal.

Thater became the first woman to win a bracelet in an open event at the WSOP in three years. In Event 29, $1,500 Razz, Thater overcame WSOP bracelet holders O'Neil Longson, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Paul "Eskimo" Clark and Mark Vos to win the tournament.

It was the first victory by a woman in an open event since Cyndy Violette, Annie Duke and Kathy Liebert all captured bracelets in 2004.

As June turned to July and the Main Event approached, there were several controversies that arose. We'll look at those, as well as the historic play of the Main Event, as we move on to July in the next installment of the Year in Review.