Perhaps I shouldn’t include myself and write “we.” Especially since I'm not even in Vegas.
The Atlantic Ocean is even in between, but hopefully I'll annoy somebody.
I’m not even close to the jungle in other words. But I recommend a visit to the Amazon Room if you are.
The atmosphere is tense, dense and electric.
The Vibe is Worth the Trip
Bringing your machete along to cut your way forward is a good idea.
I’m not talking about the air of course. Who ever said you needed a machete to cut through air probably had a screw loose. That’s just silly.
I’m talking about the three-feet deep rail of family, friends and fans. You need something special to get through that body mass if you want to see anything.
I strongly recommend your biggest and sharpest machete.
The vibe is worth the trip but the real aficionado hurries back to the hotel room for a better view, updated chip counts and revealed hole cards online.
So, 69 players left with 60 eliminations to go. Today we play down to 27 and tomorrow we play down to the November Nine.
We lost the last World Champion in Jim Bechtel (1993) in 121st. So, no repeat champ; whomever bet on that at 1.05 can breath out.
The Main Event attracted players from 80 different countries. Thirteen nations are still in contention:
USA 43 players Canada 6 Germany 5 UK 3 Israel 3 (American passports?) Sweden 2 (Yay!) Belgium 1 Italy 1 Russia 1 Brazil 1 Portugal 1 Ukraine 1 Netherlands 1
Nobody Over 50 Will Win the Main Event
The chip leader is 72-year old Pierre Neuville with 7.1 million.
Chris Björin told me that his own chance of winning the Main Event are gone. That nobody over 50 would ever win Main Event again. That it's a young man's game now.
It was almost 10 years ago he said that and so far he has been right. Himself? Only six cashes this summer and a 605th in the Main Event. Not even close. So sad when players don’t know when to quit!
But perhaps Pierre Neuville can prove him wrong. He is second on the Belgium all-time-money-list with $2.2 million in cashes. He also has a record that sounds unbreakable - he has qualified to 23 straight EPT Main Events.
Other notable players with stacks are:
Matt Jarvis, 5.25 million – November Nine in 2010
Brian Hastings, 4.74 million – have already won two bracelets this summer. I thought his mojo could be gone but he seems to be out to prove me wrong.
Daniel Negreanu, 3,62 million – The biggest star in the poker world is looking to put the icing on the big cake he already baked this summer. There hasn't been a really big name as a November Niner since Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi in 2010. If Negreanu makes the November Nine I can assure you he will finish better than Phil Iveys 7th in 2009.
There are many more notable players left in the field. It’s going to be unbelievably hard from now on. You would feel sandwiched in a crazy 69 if you were still in. But I promise that you would love every second of it.
Svensk Means Swedish
There is one woman left in the tournament. Kelly Minkin will go into the history books for that but I can assure you she has bigger plans after a good series with three prior cashes.
No woman has made the November Nine and she is the one the industry wants to have chips left until November after Negreanu.
The second-best female was Swedish woman Diana Svensk who went out in 83rd. “Svensk” means Swedish, which is a pretty fitting name since she is Swedish even though she lives in South Africa at the moment.
She looks the part, too. I’m starting to feel more and more like the Swedish chef myself.
Svensk has not played poker for more than a few years. But she has played a lot and been a diligent student. Last year she tore up the $5/$10 at the Rio and then blew it on tournament lessons.
It's always great to see hard work paying off and I’m sure we will see more of here in the result lists now with her increased bankroll of $68,624.
Sofia Lövgren has had no competition as the First Lady of Poker in Sweden for a few years, but she better watch out and sharpen her skill. Because Diana Svensk is hungry for more.
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