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 he Guardian Poker Column |
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| Victoria Coren |
| Wed 2 Jun 2010 |
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The World Series of Poker starts here
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The 2010 World Series of Poker has kicked off in Las Vegas. Many of us, whether flying out late or not going at all, are watching jealously from afar.
The first event was, as always, the Casino Employees' No Limit Holdem ($500) and the first bracelet of 2010 has gone to Hoai Pham, a poker dealer from San Diego. |
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I like the look of Hoai. He played the tournament in a yellow shirt and tros, multicoloured tie, cream waistcoat, grey cap and huge 1970s sunglasses. It's important that the winners of the novelty side events (casino employees, women, seniors, media) look cool and interesting, given the likelihood of every other bracelet going to 22-year-old men in tracksuits. I'd have given Hoai the title for style alone.
To go with the old-school outfit, the Vietnamese dealer appeared to play a super-tight method. He is the first, and I predict will be the last, 2010 bracelet winner to end the tournament with AA. The champion of each event is always photographed waving the winning hand over the triumphant chip stack; generally, you're looking at a pair of sixes or maybe a QJ. Why not? Any two cards are playable heads-up, especially with a dominant chip lead.
But if you read the tournament report for this one, you'll see Hoai table almost nothing but AA and KK when they're playing short-handed. Two tables from the end, he twice folded AK rather than race for the chip lead. Nobody's played that tight since his sunglasses were first made.
I like it. These fields will be full of maniacs overplaying hands. Playing tight and waiting is the lucrative way to go. If I were in Vegas, I would be doing a lot of folding. Though not, perhaps, as much as Hoai.
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