One of my buddies playing in the main event was at the table with one of the Hinkle’s and it was hilarious listening to him berate them.  In case you missed Tuesday nights airing of the WSOP Grant Hinkle wins, with his mom and brother in tow (his brother later goes on to win a WSOP bracelet).  The Hinkle’s are like Care Bears, Canadians or the color violet, you are not supposed to hate them, yet you do! When Chris Moneymaker played the bumbling idiot it was cool because a lot of people saw themselves in him and that brought a lot of people into poker.  The Hinkle’s are one of this years big stories, and by all account Blair Hinkle is a prolific pokerer.  Grant comes off as a lucksack (whether rightly or wrongly the TV does not lie, wink wink), it does not matter that he stole a lot of blinds or played one or two hands masterfully, in 3 or 4 of the biggest hands he got really lucky.  Which used to play well because people thought “hey, I can play like that guy and get lucky and win a million dollars”, forget the fact that you have to be willing to make a silly play with 10 4 which most people are not willing to do.  But that was so 2004, this is 2008, even though Chris Moneymaker qualified on a $50 satellite many people have chased that same dream only to be slapped in the face with a big can of variance. 

None of this is my reality, poker has treated me well but I do not look at Grant Hinkle and think, “maybe this will be the thing that brings more people from middle America to poker”.  If you need proof that packaging a similar idea is a bad move does anyone remember New Coke ?

On a side note, while some of us may indeed like the Hinkle’s (or canadians for that matter) I think we can all agree on 2 points:

1.  Theo Tran is a douche

2.  Mike Ngo’s antics would only work at about $1-$2 typically, which further points to Theo Tran being a douche since he could not see through that.

3.  When celebrity poker players are sweating you they are not your friends.  They are owed money.  Though I thought everyone knew this at this point.  Someone tell Norman Chad.

I will first tell you what I do not believe, I do not believe in a guy sitting on top of the clouds judging people and throwing lightning.  Similarly, I do not believe in a little red guy in the middle of the earth that will be the consequence for a bad life.  But I certainly am open to the idea of something bigger than myself and yesterday would be a big example of the possible existence of a force like that.  In case you have not followed I have 58k in chips and lost a big pot towards the end of the day that would have had me well over 100k.  So I was feeling a bit sorry for myself.

So as I got on the plane to go back home (I play again on Tuesday) I was a little surprised to see a young man already on the plane.  I introduced myself and he did as well.  It was still a bit strange to have such a young kid in first class so I probed a little bit.  It turns out he was going to camp in Minnesota and this was his first time ever on a plane.  He is 14 and his sister was already at the camp.  The camp is Camp Heartland it is a camp for kids that are HIV positive or have AIDS.  Wow, I mean like wow.  The way he told me about the camp was in a way that he likely has done often telling people just to see their reaction so he can know whether or not to broom them from his life quickly.  Sure put my whole WSOP misadventure in perspective.  Certainly either disease is not the death sentence it used to be but as we talked I found out that both he and his sister take incredible amounts of medication.  I also found out that he is a running back on his middle school team and wants to become an electrician.  Just like any other kid he has dreams and hopes.  I could not contain my emotions for most of the plane flight but I tried to not let him notice but at one point I had to put on my sunglasses.  All I could think about the whole time was how grateful I should be for my families health and also mine.

I sometimes wonder if my life is just more eventful than other peoples lives.  This stuff happens to me all the time, every time I question the presence of God something like this happens and makes me think twice. 

Now I totally get it that Paul Pierce owns the world at the moment and has every right to gloat.  And also there are so many celebrity types at the Bellagio and around Vegas that this would warrant no consideration.  Except that when you are walking with no shirt on early in the morning it has a "look at me" factor.  Now I am sure Paul is still celebrating and he will get a pass from me but for a lot of people that is exactly the type of stuff that makes them think that athletes do not deserve the adulation they deserve.  I do not think I have ever seen anyone walking with no shirt on in a casino before, so when it is someone that is well known it certainly stands out.

There is an air of pithiness around the WSOP that really takes away from the fun you are supposed to be having.  I suppose you can argue that poker has always been like that and you see a few old timers that are grumpy and mumbling to themselves and wonder if that is what a lot of poker players are going to end up like in the future.  By its nature poker, and especially tournament poker, can be a bit negative whether it is taking a bad beat or just running card dead for a while it wears on you.  I doubt that I have the need and want to be exceptional at poker mostly because of the fact that I would have to operate around so much negativity.  I am speaking mainly of live poker.  With online poker I just close chat.  I ran across a couple of young guys that seem excited to be here I just wonder how long that lasts with a collective toll of bad beats, bad beat stories and the ups and downs that wear on you.

It sucks getting close to a final table and whiffing.  I came in 49th in the $1500 NL, I was going to play the $1500 today but I do not feel up to it, so I am likely going to just relax by the pool side, meet up with friends and have an overall chill day.  It is tough playing live poker only once or twice a year, while the skills are there, I am sure I missed a few spots and I know I was awkward with the chips occasionally.  At one point I made a minimum raise because I did not adjust to the blind levels, when someone went all in for 96k I folded my 88 but the result might have been different if I had made a standard raise.  Overall though I think I have a lot of good elements to do well in tournaments and I am fairly confident going into the main event.  I play on the 3rd.

Today I will be live blogging the $1500 tournament at the WSOP on twitter at www.twitter.com/beaniepoker.  I have 46,500, average is about 35k.

So first let me say that I was the guy that knocked out the bubble guy with 6c7c.  He had about 20k and I had about 40k.  He raised 5k into the BB that was openly saying that was openly saying he would fold with Aces.  Figuring that he heard that and needed to chip up I put him on a steal and hit a straight on him.  Do not ever believe the updates, they either write what they are told or reconstruct the action but common sense would tell you that I did not call with 6c7c, which is how pokernews wrote it up. 

OK, so to the Layne Flack part.  I was at the Bellagio and was cashing some chips when I see a friend (Greg Pierson) in the high limit section.  After I get my money from the cage I tell my dad "let me just stop by and say hi for a sec".  Greg is having a few drinks with Layne Flack and both seem to be having quite a good time, it looked like Layne was playing 100-200 Limit Holdem and Greg was just sweating him.  As I was leaving I acknowledge Layne by giving him a little head nod like "hey, how is it going".  Layne looks me dead in the eye and says "fuck you", I smile at him and just walk away.  I hear Greg say, do you even know who he is and Layne goes "yeah I know who the fuck he is", kind of loud like.  My dad is dumbfounded and says, "man that unabomber guy is a real dick".  I then explain to him that he is thinking of Phil Laak, and then also have to explain who Layne Flack is.

Socially I have had a few interactions with Layne, nothing that super stands out, so here is what I have nailed it down to:

[ ] Laynes mom bought a Royal Blue Peanut from me when it was 6k and now it is 2k.
[ ] After Layne won Aruba he played a lot of 25-50 on UB.  I was playing a lot at that time and did quite well.  My buddy list consisted of three people that I would always play, Layne was one of three.
[ ] Once in chat, he was sober at the time, he got upset at me about something silly and I told him he has lost his sense of humor now that he is no longer drinking.
[x] Layne was 8 o’clock drunk.

It did not really bother me but it has been a while since someone has said "fuck you" to me so it was a bit shocking.  Equally as shocking was it happening in front of my dad.

I have gotten a lot of emails lately asking why I haven’t been blogging and the only reason is because I just haven’t had much to say….even though I am sure a few of my readers could argue that it has never stopped me before…haha.  I have been on a little break from poker the past few weeks and I am loving it.  On Tuesday of last week I headed to Las Vegas to watch a friend of mine play in the World Series of Golf.  It was only the 2nd year for the event (10k buy-in) but I think it will become really popular next year when they don’t restrict the amount of entries to 80 and I also heard a rumor of bumping up the entry fee to 200k?  He won his first match to get us our money back but then a few things didn’t go our way so we will have to wait until next year for 250k.  It will be aired on CBS in June sometimes.  After that I came back to Indianapolis on Thursday night.  All of my friends are really into golf and I decided I am done being terrible so I joined the country club by my house.  Four of us went golfing Friday and I was brutal as normal but Sunday I improved dramatically so maybe there is a little hope?  One thing is for sure though and that is that I am going to get my moneys worth of golf if I can get decent… I just LOVE being outside.

I am getting excited for the upcoming WSOP.  I always seem to have really good trips when it is going on and I think there should be a 25/50 PLO game just about everyday which will be awesome since lately it is hard to find a game anywhere, above 5/10 at least. 

This week should be another fun one with the Indy 500 coming to town.  Friday is Carb-Day and then we usually camp out Saturday night for the Sunday Race.  The weekend is usually a blur but a fun one :)  Until then I am just going try to enjoy this awesome weather and relax until it is time to work hard for a few weeks straight.  I will probably just play it by ear on how long I stay because I am going to have a few weddings and birthdays that I am going to try to be home for.  However, I really wanna give myself a shot at winning a bracelet too since I know they mean a lot to my family.. not to mention the money

I hope everyone else is doing well!!! 

Matt Humphrey

humphreyin@hotmail.com

By in large the news about the WSOP delaying the final table until November has been received poorly, which shocks me on multiple levels.

1. I realize people are averse to change but it should not take a brain surgeon to realize that ESPN has some clue of what they are doing.
2. Start of football and end of baseball, or WSOP. Pass the potato chips I will be watching football and the real World Series.
3. One of the biggest complaints I am hearing is the coaching factor “some idiot could make the final table and suddenly get better”. Guess what that idiot could have also gotten lucky and won, you do not need me to give you examples I would assume.
4. The sponsorship money could be huge for these final 9, I believe Jerry Yang was 8th in chips when he won last year. The deals these people will be able to negotiate will be unreal and it does not stop there. If I were a betting man (and I am) I will bet that card rooms will be jockeying for position, if you make the top 50 you may just find yourself sponsored on the off chance you hit the final table.
5. If ESPN is making this dramatic of a change you can best believe they are working on the brand. Which likely also means that they are going to be able to market it differently. Different does not always mean better but once again I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt.

I often talk about the fact that I think there should be less poker on television. The simple fact is most of it is bad. Taking some time to raise the quality of the broadcast is going to be a good thing.

Now if it has not occurred to you already it should have, you are going to see more slice of life segments about Johnny’s dad dying or whatever but guess what casual poker players like those. If they did not ESPN would not make them. So expect more chip tricks, more fruit cut with the dealer button but most importantly more viewers excited about poker.

And that my friends is a good thing.