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2007 – The Year Of The Rookie |
| by Mike Paulle | Contact | |
| Monday, 31 December 2007 |
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If you’ve never played before, you’re the favorite.
I’ve been around tournament poker for a long time and 2007 was the craziest year I’ve seen, or ever expect to see. If the Germany Internet poker ban and the bizarre WTO settlement weren’t strange enough for one year, along comes five severe newbies to take all the money. How does someone who has never entered a tournament before cash $2.4 million in their first attempt? Ask Eric Hershler. Who? From the PokerPages Player Profiles: Name: Eric Hershler Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic / WPT Season 6 WPT No Limit Hold'em Championship Doyle Brunson Classic 20th $77,085 Dec 18, 2007 38th Annual World Series of Poker 62nd $10,618 Jun 23, 2007 38th Annual World Series of Poker 68th $6,757 Jun 12, 2007 WPT World Championship / WPT Event Season 5 48th $61,880 Apr 27, 2007 L.A Poker Classic / WPT Event Season 5 1st $2,429,970 Mar 1, 2007 From April 2007 until the end of the year, tournament newbie Eric Hershler had pretty good results. Four cashes and about $150,000. A nice first year for bragging purposes. A couple WSOP and WPT cashes. All in all, a good start for a cash game stud player in the new world of no limit hold’em. But wait! There is something unusual about that first cash in March. Is that a typo? $2.4 million! Even with the terrible time lag we have to suffer through before WPT telecasts are shown, most of us poker TV junkies have seen Hershler’s win in LA. It was a classic ‘deck runover.’ As Eric was obviously unaware of where he or anyone else at the table was at. Several times he just shrugged and pushed. Hershler’s win over 2nd place J.C. Tran probably cost Tran the Card Player Magazine Player of the Year award. If you’ve never played before, you’re the favorite. This was Eric’s first (WPT) final table. NOT nobodies. 1 Eric Hershler (Los Angeles, CA, USA) $2,429,970 And where Hershler started that final table. 1.3 million chips behind in 4th. 1 J.C. Tran (Sacramento, CA, USA) Going to Final Table with 3,470,000 Chips - Seat 4 Next: Anna Wroblewski Name: Anna Wroblewski Legends of Poker / WPT Event Season 6 42nd $16,005 Aug 30, 2007 Legends of Poker / WPT Event Season 6 15th $7,125 Aug 18, 2007 Heartland Poker Tour 35th $2,685 Jul 30, 2007 38th Annual World Series of Poker 4th $192,800 Jun 29, 2007 38th Annual World Series of Poker 65th $8,722 Jun 23, 2007 Bellagio Cup III 3rd $28,525 Jun 19, 2007 Mandalay Bay Poker Championships / WPT Event Season 6 2nd $71,540 May 26, 2007 Caesars Las Vegas Poker Tournament - WSOP Circuit Event 1st $18,668 Apr 29, 2007 WPT World Championship / WPT Event Season 5 70th $46,410 Apr 27, 2007 WPT World Championship / WPT Event Season 5 1st $337,395 Apr 16, 2007 WPT World Championship / WPT Event Season 5 16th $7,290 Apr 14, 2007 OK, it was her second cash (by two days). Still impressive for a $3,000 buy-in at the Bellagio. Then there is someone named Jerry Yang who started his first and only recorded cash, up until this year’s WSOP, eighth in chips (13 million behind Phlip Hilm) and won the world title. He now has a second cah for $1,400 in October at Binion’s. If you’ve never played before, you’re the favorite. Jerry Yang (Yaaj) Poker Results 38th Annual World Series of Poker 1st $8,250,000 Jul 17, 2007 Jerry invested $225 in a super satellite at his home casino to win a seat and had to borrow money to pay for the hotel for his family. Add Steve Billirakis who won the first major he could enter at 21 years 10 days. Billirakis won Event #1 at the 2007 WSOP for $536,287, with a $5k buy-in and 541 entrants. Steve started his first final table 4th in chips. Lastly, probably the weirdest result of all. Name: Annette Obrestad AKA "Annette_15" EPT Dublin - Season 4 2nd $390,303 Nov 3, 2007 World Series of Poker Europe 1st $1,874,700 Sep 16, 2007 Barcelona Open / EPT Event 18th $3,539 Aug 31, 2007 PaddyPower Irish Open 13th $1,704 Apr 7, 2007 EPT Grand Final 5th $20,747 Mar 30, 2007 Aruba Classic 2006 37th $12,415 Sep 30, 2006 You are right. Annette wasn’t a complete rookie. She’d had four cashes in the eleven months prior to winning the first WSOP Europe title a few days before her 19th birthday. >As Bryan Devonshire pointed out however, after reading this article, Steve and Annette are only LIVE tournament rookies. They've played in thousands of tournaments online. Probably many more events total than most of their live competitors. So the new rule is: if you are under 21, you’re the favorite. Love Mike Paulle Email: mikepaulle@aol.com |
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