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JOHN VORHAUS BLOGS THE ULTIMATEBET POKER CLASSIC IN ARUBA |
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The Party's Over?October 02, 2005 12:37 PMNot just no but hell, no! This party never ends. Just ask Darsham Shah and Eric Schmidt, who turned the departure lounge at Aruba International Airport into an extension of the poker room at the Radisson Resort. ; "darsham and eric") A passion for poker or degenerate behavior: You be the judge. Me, I think I'll just sit quietly and wait for my flight to be called. I let my mind skip back over the many high points of Camp Aruba '05... ... partying in King Phil's penthouse. I remember noticing the Hooters Restaurant far, far below, probably a 30 second walk from the Raddison front door. I told myself I should stop by. Funny how that never happened... ... the Go Pro challenge, won by Vancouverian Shawn Buchannan who, for the next year at least, will fly under the UB flag. Don't worry, Shawn, we've got your back. "When you're a Jet you're a Jet all the way"... ... the welcome party which turned into a pool party. The less said the better... ... three first flights and a record field. Where were our eventual final tablists then? Struggling anonymously, mostly. I do recall sighting Josh Schlein and making a note to keep an eye on the kid -- if only so that if he should get lost I could help him find his parents... .... midnight (okay, 4 a.m.) madness in the poker room, where the $7 per half hour rake wouldn't have seemed so odious if only the dealers could spread more than five hands a down. Still, we had fun -- so far as we can remember... ... the ocean. Did I ever get in the ocean?... ... Robert Williamson III showed us how it's done with Coronas by the bucketful as he turned the tournament into his own private home game. If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing, right RWIII?... ... the media frenzy. With reps from PokerPages, CardPlayer, Poker Press Box (and the plagiaristically-minded local press) it's clear that Aruba is on the tournament poker map to stay. It's good to see. Makes me feel unalone... ... classic clashes from 27 down to six, with worthies like Kathy Jackson and James van Alstyne lost along the way... ... a blogworthy (to say the least!) final table and a hellacious heads-up sprint to the finish. A win for Freddy Deeb, and an impressive second-place showing for Josh Schlein, who had this to say: "I got even and I got a coin flip. You can't ask for more than that"... ... the awards banquet, a surprisingly tranquil affair, as if the playing population as a whole had decided, "Stick a fork in me, I'm done." Well, if there are forks to be stuck, save one for this reporter, because, at the end of a frenzied week of hard work and harder play, I'm about as done as done gets. Photographic evidence supports this. ; "jv") It's always sad when summer camp ends, but as the sage once said, "Everything beautiful dies." Fortunately, this beautiful thing will live again in one year's time. I'll be back, and I hope to see you, too. Till then, let me leave you with this advice: IF YOU'RE DOING SOMETHING AND YOU CAN'T STOP DOING IT -- KEEP ON DOING IT! -- jv, out. Wish You Were Here?October 01, 2005 07:12 PMWe wish you were, too. "Fun, sun, friends and poker, what more could you want from a vacation, or indeed life? We flopped the nut vacation!" Susie Moncek and Dominick Williams ; "dom and susie") "Y'all effing missed it!" Brian Raisor ; "brian raisor") "$100 helicopter rides, midnight swims and sick Russians in the money games." Jennifer Tilly and Phil Laak ; "phil and jen") "Doesn't every girl want a millionaire?" Karen Williamson ; "karen w") "Topless sunbathing was encouraged." Roxcie Rhodes and Stephanie Sachnowitz ; "roxcie and stephanie") "There's so much to do that the best thing to do is nothing." Simon Bismark and Rebecca Keane ; "simon and rebecca") "If you win, you win. If you lose, you still win." Stan Phipps ; "stan phipps") "What happens in Aruba stays in Aruba." Nick Adamakis and Reva Alexander ; "nick and reva") "The women were soooooo hot!" Marc and Josee Aubin ; "marc and josee") "The games were sooooooo loose!" Fabrice and Elise Soulier ; "fabrice and elise") "Drunk all night, sun all day." Karen Roberts ; "karen roberts") "I actually have a tan and I'm the whitest person in the world." Annie Duke ; "annie") "God I love my job." -jv This Is What This IsOctober 01, 2005 06:41 PMThe winner, Mr. Freddy Deeb. ; "The winner") We Set a Pretty Good LineOctober 01, 2005 06:28 PMYou may recall that the peanut gallery set the over/under at 6:15 pm. When Freddy took away almost all of Josh's chips, the clock read 6:14 pm. If a blind or two had gone the other way, we would have hit the line exactly. And all I have to say to that is to quote the phrase that, for some odd reason, has reverberated all over the island all this week. For reasons of decency, I can't quote it exactly, so I'll put it chatbox style: "Mayonnaise, Mother******!" If anyone has the slightest idea what this means, please drop me a line, because I confess I do not have a clue. Up on the set, they're toasting the winner, Freddy Deeb, and also Josh Schlein, the youngest final tablist in WPT history. Like I said, the WPT is no doubt delighted, for this is a publicity firestorm in the making. Interestingly, they won't let Josh toast -- apparently he's too young to drink on TV. So he raises his hand in virtual toast, and we all apreciate the irony. The sun has set in Aruba. Tomorrow we'll all break (summer) camp and head home. Tonight, though, it's party time, and you can be sure that I'll be back with a final word or two before the shouting stops. It's Over!October 01, 2005 06:20 PMIf Josh is not able to come back from a virtual chip and a chair, Josh will win $440,450, and Freddy will win the million. But certainly Josh will pick up a legion of young fans for his play in this tournament. Now here comes another all in confrontation, on an unraised pot and a flop of J-8-3.Josh goes all in, and Freddy calls. Freddy has J-3. Josh has J-2, and when the turn comes an ace it's all over. He made a flush on the river but he didn't need it. Freddy Deeb is our 2005 Aruba Poker Classic champ. And Josh Schlein is a very, very worthy runnner-up. Rope-a-Dope?October 01, 2005 06:16 PMJosh has come out absolutely firing. He's raising every pot, and while Freddy's not the type to be shaken by such naked aggression, he clearly needs a few looks at Josh's mad action in order to get a line on it. While he yet enjoys the chip lead, he seems content to fold to Josh's relentless raising. But the phrase "rope-a-dope" runs through my mind as I recall the famous fight where Muhammud Ali beat George Forman by laying back on the ropes and letting Forman punch himself out. Sure enough, Freddy plays back at Josh for all his chips! Josh calls! A-4 for Freddy 3-3 for Josh It's a coin flip, though, a very narrow thing. Flop comes 7 J 5 Turn is a 5. River is a 4! Freddy wins the pot. 6.28 million! Josh had Freddy covered by a sliver. It ain't over, but it's over. Some Photos on the FlyOctober 01, 2005 06:07 PMWhile Josh and Freddy are feeling each other out, let's take a look at some captured moments. Here's Devin, expressing his "delight" at winning $200,000. Big payday notwithstanding, he clearly wanted the top prize. "I'll be happy tomorrow," he conceded, philosophically. Thanks for being a good sport with the pose, TC. ; "devin 2") Johan Storakers, telling it like it is. He was also disappointed not to go all the way. He says those four queens were the tipping point. Having to push all in so many times, he was bound to get caught. If he'd doubled through at that point, he would have escaped the need to push so much, and everything might have been different. ; "Johan and Courtney") They always trot the money in with great fanfare here. This year the fanfare was accompanied by King Phil. ; "phil and girls") Mount Freddy. ; "freddy's chips") Freddy and Josh square off for the showdown. ; "josh and freddy") Freddy Fights BackOctober 01, 2005 06:06 PMJosh just tried to run over Freddy again. Freddy called in the small blind. Josh raised to 350 from the big blind... And Freddy went all in! Josh folded. Something about, "Don't start nothin', there won't be nothin', youngster." The next hand Josh raises to 250 from the SB. Freddy calls. Flop comes J 6 K rainbow. Freddy checks. Josh bets 400. Freddy folds. This is what this is, campers: a lot of agression and, likely, a short heads up match. The First SkirmishOctober 01, 2005 05:57 PMAfter a couple of raise/fold parries, we have this. Freddy in the small blind just calls. Josh checks. Flop comes Q-4-2, two hearts. Josh bets 200. Freddy calls. Turn is a 9 offsuit. Josh bets 400. Freddy thinks, then calls. River is a 5 offsuit. Josh goes all in. Freddy folds, and just like that the scales are about balanced. No shortage of fight in this kid. We're BackOctober 01, 2005 05:53 PMIt's a classic -- or at least telegenic -- confrontation: Old School versus Ultra Young Gun; history versus future. And if the sight of a 20 year old competing for a million bucks in a poker tournament doesn't make the parents of teenagers cringe, I don't know what will. Antes are now 10, blinds are 50/100, so a very short lap costs each player 170. |
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