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Hey there! My name is Becker and I am a wedding photographer from Orange County, California who specializes in capturing relaxed portraits, amazing details and real moments for the coolest brides and grooms on the planet.
This blog follows both my personal and professional life, and features images from the weddings I shoot, the places I travel and the friends and family members that mean so much to me. It's basically like my own personal photo album combined with an information source for my current and potential clients and a source of inspiration and education for other photographers. This site is a little more informal and I just want to give everyone a sense of who I am, and what I am all about. Thanks for visiting.
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| The WSOP Final Table |
11.08.2009 |
***SPOILER ALERT***
IF YOU DON"T WANT TO KNOW THE RESULTS OF THE WSOP BEFORE IT AIRS ON ESPN THIS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10TH @ 6PM, STOP READING!
After shooting a wedding at the Bellagio yesterday with my good friend Joe Photo, I trekked over to the Rio to watch some of the final table action of the World Series of Poker. Just like last year, once the Main Event got down to it's final 9 players in July, they adjourned for a few months (to allow for the TV production schedule... it's a long story) and play resumed last night for the final table with the "November 9".
Phil Ivey, arguably the best poker player in the world, was among the final 9 along with a few other professionals and a handful of amateurs. I, along with most of the poker community, was rooting for Phil to win his 8th WSOP bracelet and his first Main Event title. During the wedding, I kept up with the action on Twitter, reading how the first two player were eliminated. One of the hands your see on ESPN Tuesday night was all in preflop pocket kings against pocket aces. Not only did a king come on the flop, but one also came on the turn giving one of the players quads, and the other an 8th place finish.
****AGAIN, SPOILER ALERT>>> STOP READING IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED****
By the time I got to the Rio, it was down to 7 players, and Phil Ivey was one of the short stacks. He shoved all in several times and no one called. Finally, the first hand back shortly after a break just after midnight, he moved all in with AK and got called by Darvin Moon, the guy who was in first place when the day started... he held AQ. Phil was like a 70% favorite to win the hand. But disaster struck when a queen ht the flop. Phil needed one of the 3 remaining kings and it never came. The crowd booed loudly and most of the people in the Penn & Teller theater headed for the door... including myself.
Phil Ivey is wearing the white hat on the left side of the table below: |
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After Phil was out, I was kind of bummed and then I also realized I could make the 1am tourney at Caesar's Palace, so I hopped in a cab. It was a smaller tournament, only 30 players, but I managed to make the final table and was doing really good until I tried to be sneaky and it ended up biting me in the arse and I got knocked out in 5th, just two away from the money. It was about 3am, and I was just going to walk back to the Bellagio, but after checking Twitter, I saw they were down to five players and the drama was thick. I figured I happened to be in town during the final table I may as well go witness what happens, so I headed back to the Rio.
The action was pretty intense, although it's pretty boring watching poker when you don't know what the hole cards are. When you watch the broadcast, they only show a fraction of the hands that are played, and also, the edit each hand for time. It's boring television to watch some guy stare at another guys stoic poker face for 5-6 minutes at a time. I swear there was one hand which lasted about 15-20 minutes, I actually fell asleep in my chair twice during the same hand only to wake up when people cheered. You'll see it on ESPN... it'll probably play out in 2 minutes and it's the one with the flop of 2s 10h 3c
Eric Buchman (pictured on the plasma below) who at one point late in the action was a chip leader, lost a huge pot when his AQ ran into the AK of Antoine Saout. It was the largest pot of the tournament and it crippled Buchman who was out just a few hands later. |
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It looked like the Darvin & Saout would be heads up when Joe Cada shoved with 22 into Saout's QQ, but a 2 on the flop gave Joe a set and the chip leaded. Shortly there after Saout went all in with 88 and Cada called with AK, the flop and turn were safe, but the K on the river ended the night and knocked Saout out in 3rd place (for $3.5 million). You've never seen someone so unhappy after winning 3 and a half million dollars.
As it turns out, Darvin Moon who started the day as the chip leader, roughly has the same number of chips that he started with, and Joe Cada collected the rest of them. At one point Joe was down to less than 3 million chips now he has a 135.95 million to Moon's 58.85 million, a better than 2-1 lead. The action resumes Monday night at 10, then ESPN will be cutting in the final hands into the broadcast for 6pm Tuesday. If you are a poker fan, you have to watch it.
By the way, check out what first place gets... $8.5 millions dollars, a bracelet and the title of world champion. 2nd place gets about 5 million which ain't so bad either. Each of those brick are 50 large!: |
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