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The Party Poker Million is one of the largest World Poker Tour events because players
are allowed to qualify by playing online. The amateurs in the event outnumbered the professionals, but the professionals dominated the
final table. There was one amateur, Chris Hinchcliffe, among the six final players. The other five were
Barry Greenstein,
Erick Lindgren,
Daniel Negreanu,
Scotty Nguyen, and Steve Zolotow. With all of the great
players, I expected a great show, but I was bored. I can't pinpoint exactly why I thought this show was so bad, but I am sure a
part of it was the fact that every hand took f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Limit Holdem is supposed to be a fast-paced game, like
last year's Party Poker Million featuring
Howard Lederer and
Chip Jett. This year is was boring waiting and
waiting for the dealer to turn the burn card.
The first hand Daniel raised one off the
button with K4 and it got folded around to Scotty.
He thought for a little while and then folded. Daniel told him he had pocket kings. On the next hand that is shown, Erick raised with A5 and Chris
reraised in the big blind with pocket threes. Chris led out when
the flop came KK3 and Erick laid his hand down. The first two hands seemed like it might be an aggressive, exciting show. There were aggressive moments,
but it was definitely not exciting.
Barry was short stacked for most of the tournament, but managed to win a few all-in encounters. The first was when Chris
raised on the button with AT, Barry reraised in the small blind with AK, and Chris put Barry all-in for his last $10,000.
The flop was JT7, the turn was a jack and the river was a queen giving Barry the
ace high straight. I was glad to see him double up
for two reasons. In my opinion, he is the most skilled player of the six and it would be nice to watch another WPT event with him playing
the whole two hours of the program. It is also great to root for Barry because he donates 100% of his tournament winnings to charity.
 The
aggressive poker Chris was playing probably earned him his way to the final six, but it was also his downfall. Chris raised
with A4 of spades, Erick reraised with AQ on the button and Chris
capped it. The flop was QJ9. Chris bet and Erick called.
The turn was a six. Chris bet again and was called by Erick. Chris still tried to take the pot when a jack hit on the river, but was
called once again by Erick. I am not sure why Chris did not give up when he was called on the flop. Erick had showed strength by
reraising before the flop and he called on the flop.
Chris managed to win a few chips when he raised with pocket jacks. Daniel reraised in the small blind with AQ. Chris called.
The flop was T97. Daniel bet, Chris raised and Daniel called. The turn was a deuce. Daniel
checked, Chris bet and Daniel folded.
Barry survived his second all-in situation when he held A5 against Erick's K6. Scotty was not so lucky playing his
short stack. He laid down pocket nines on the flop against Erick's pocket kings. He also laid down pocket fives against
Daniel's KJ. Scotty raised and Daniel called in the big blind. The flop was J93 and Daniel checkraised Scotty.
Scotty called, but laid it down on the turn when a king showed up. He finally survived a hand when he was all-in
against Chris. Scotty held AJ of spades and Chris held JJ. The flop was KQ8 with two spades giving Scotty the
flush draw. The turn was a four
of spades giving Scotty the desperately needed
flush.
One of the more interesting hands of the show was when Barry raised with A2 in first
position and Chris called in the blind with
94 of clubs. The flop was T87 with two clubs giving both players a flush draw. Barry bet and Chris called. The turn was a jack of clubs.
Chris checked, Barry bet, Chris raised, and Barry put the rest of his chips in. I was a little surprised to see Chris call a raise with 94
suited, but after the flop he played it the only way he could.
Windows - Mac
Scotty was finally eliminated when he raised the $20,000 big blind all-in to $30,000 with A5. Barry reraised to
$50,000 with KQ of hearts and Daniel called in the big blind with T9 of diamonds. The flop was KJ9. Barry bet
and Daniel called. The turn was a queen of diamonds giving Daniel the flush draw. Barry checked, Daniel bet and
Barry called. The river was a seven of diamonds giving Daniel the flush. Barry checked, Daniel bet, and Barry called.
Chris lost a chunk of his chips when he raised with K9 of hearts, Daniel three bet with pocket jacks and Chris capped it. I
don't understand why Chris thought it was so important to be the last one swinging. It cost him a lot of extra bets. The
flop was 322 with two hearts. Chris bet and Daniel called. The turn was a six. Chris bet and Daniel called again. The river
was a nine. Chris did not make his flush, but now had the top pair. He checked, Daniel bet and he called.
I haven't mentioned Steve Z and it wasn't because the hands he played were boring. It is because he NEVER played a
hand. On one hand, he folded QT on the button when nobody had entered the pot. He made a comment about how he
shouldn't play the hand because of his fans. I am sure his fans would rather have him play QT on the button than sit
around and get blinded off. The first hand
we did see him play was kind of by accident because the dealer flashed one of his card when he dealt it. Steve got the burn card
as a replacement and it ended up giving him pocket kings. Chris couldn't give up his 84 of hearts in the small blind even if the
tightest player we have ever seen on the WPT raised.
The flop was 872. Chris bet and Steve called. The turn was a deuce of hearts giving Chris the flush draw with his pair of eights.
He bet again, Steve raised, and Chris called. The river was a jack. Chris checked, Steve bet and Chris called. After he lost the hand,
he showed it to the other players. They had a segment on the show whether it is good to show or not and I wonder about this. I think
it was horrible for Chris to show his hands, especially the weak ones, because he shouldn't have given these solid players any more
ammunition. They ended up using it against him.
A few hands later Chris raised with pocket nines, Daniel called on the button with A7 of clubs and Steve called in the big
blind with QJ of clubs. The flop was 742 all of them diamonds. Steve checked, Chris bet, Daniel raised, Steve
folded, and Chris called. The turn was a seven of clubs. Chris checked, Daniel bet and Chris called. The river
was another seven making Daniel the winner. Chris now bet(!), Daniel raised, and Chris called. Chris was not only giving out
information when he showed his cards, but he was also doing a lot of talking. He said that every time Daniel has bet
on the end he has won the hand.
Barry finally was eliminated when he put all of his chips in with K9 and Erick reraised on the button with AQ. The flop was
933, but Erick turned his queen. The river was an eight and Barry left the tournament in fifth place.
The next hand we see was one of the key hands of the tournament because of how the stacks would end up. Daniel raised
in the small blind with AQ of clubs and Erick called with T9. Daniel bet
in the dark and the flop came AT7
and Erick called. The turn was a nine. Daniel bet, Erick raised and Daniel called. The river was another nine giving Erick a
full house. Daniel checked,
Erick bet, and Daniel called as he was saying, "I don't like my hand". After that hand, both Erick and Daniel each had
over a million and a half in chips, Chris had $175,000 and Steve had $80,000.
Steve was the next to go when Erick raised in the small blind with K2 and Steve called the last of his chips with J4.
The flop was K64. The turn was an eight and the river was a deuce. Chris was not far behind when Daniel raised
on the button with K6 and Erick called in the small blind with Q9. Chris called the remaining of his chips with Q8.
The flop was J32. Erick and Daniel checked. The turn was a deuce and they checked again. The river was
four and they checked again. Daniel won the hand with his king high. Chris finished in third place.
 The
heads up battle began and I wondered
how it was going to be played out considering the two them are friends. The hands we saw were not very interesting because
one of their hands were always so dominant of the other. The only thing that made it a little better was a couple of times the
underdog
sucked out. The first hand, Daniel called
with T6 and Erick raised with 86 of hearts. The flop was 652. Erick bet, Daniel raised, and Erick called. The turn was a three.
Erick checked, Daniel bet, and Erick called. The river was an eight making Erick the winner. Daniel evened the score on the next
hand when he called with T4 and Erick checked with Q4. The flop was KK4. Daniel bet, Erick raised and Daniel called. The turn
was a ten. Daniel led out and Erick called. The river was another ten giving Daniel the full house. Erick checked, Daniel bet,
and Erick called. Erick said to Daniel, "We're even."
The strangest thing about this episode was how they edited the hands. We saw the limits go up and then about two hands
later, they went up again. They must have played for at least an hour and we only got to see a couple hands. The few
hands we did see were played wild (at least in my opinion). I know Daniel believes that you should play any hand when
playing heads up poker and for the most part I agree, but some of the raising made me wonder. The next hand we see,
Daniel raised with J9 and Erick called with JT. The flop was JT8. Erick bet, Daniel raised, Erick reraised,
Daniel reraised, and Erick called. The turn was a three. Erick bet, Daniel raised, and Erick called. The river was an
ace and both players checked. This hand put Erick in great chip position.
Erick won another hand when he raised with T7, Daniel reraised with A6 of spades and Erick called. The flop was TT3 and
Daniel bet and was called. The turn was an eight and he bet again and Erick called. The river was a four. Daniel checked, Erick bet,
and Daniel called. This was not a good call by Daniels as with a TT3 flop it is hard to put Erick on anything he can possibly beat.
The final hand of the tournament, Daniel raised with A4 and Erick called with A3. The flop was 753 giving Erick the
bottom pair. Erick bet, Daniel
raised all-in and Erick called. The turn was a jack and the river was a five. Erick was crowned champion making this
his second WPT event he won.
Also see Season Three
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