We’re Down to the Final Table

I’m just going to give you the highlights from a very long night.  It’s 4:15AM, and play ended a couple of hours ago I think.  I sweated Doug Kim through the night, and he’s made it there.  Here is a list from my inside look at this big day.

• Melissa Hayden, Allen Cunningham’s significant other, and I are buddies.  I’ve tried to be helpful to her through the last few days, and she’s been very gracious in return.
• Allen seems to be an intensely private person, but I met him once at the Bellagio, telling him my son’s name was also Allen Cunningham.  I saw Melissa and Allen talking at a break, the same time I was just on the phone with All-in (my son).  I normally wouldn’t do this, but I told Allen I had someone he should speak to and handed him the phone.  There on the other end of the phone was my 8-year old son.  The last thing I heard Allen standing in front of me was, “Well, I’ll use that luck today.  Thank you.”  I then took the phone back and asked Allen how he was doing.  “He sounded kind of nervous,” said All-in.
• I sat in front of Jane Gold, Jamie’s mother.  She pounded my back for about an hour while I watched the ESPN table.  She was complaining about staying at the Rio, then I asked her if she would prefer the Bellagio.  Presto, I call Karen and get her two rooms at the Bellagio plus a couple of massages for both of them.
• Jamie bounced around constantly through the first few hours, and he would split for ten-twenty minutes at a time.  His posse ended up getting security for protection, as he seemed to be quite nervous at times.
• Johnny Chan was in the house, and his coaching sessions came in very handy for Jamie.  Any time he would start to slip a bit, he’d be gone or sneak over to Chan.
• Allen Cunningham was just one big sponge all day long, basically soaking up information at a rapid pace from Gold.  And Gold was only too happy to share it, flipping over cards constantly.  He seems to have a very big poker inferiority complex, as one of his most common phrases is “See, I played that correctly.”
• There will be some serious tension in the room Thursday between pros supporting Allen and the Gold posse.  Jamie’s supporters aren’t too knowledgeable, sort of like bad golf supporters who don’t really know very good etiquette.  The FullTilt gang should be out in force.
• Oh, there are other players at the table as well.  I won’t get too much into analysis now, but it’s quite an array of folks.  Erik Friberg will be decent television, Rhett Butler jokes will get old quickly, they may get confused with Doug Kim and Richard Lee.  Gold is great television, showing his emotions on his sleeves constantly.
• Paul Wasicka has a very vocal contingent, probably the most vocal.  Richard Lee is an Asian American in his 50′s with four lovely Texas ladies cheering him on.  They’ll be into that for sure.
• I picked five of the nine this morning, and my prediction that one of the four short stacks would make it through held (Wasicka coming through for me).  Would have really like to see Mahatma make it through of those who didn’t make it.  And rhymes with Rug Rim is, of course, Doug Kim.
• While this has been a really incredible experience, it also has left me pretty jaded in general.  I spoke to Sweetie about it tonight (last night I guess now), and there just seems to be a lack of genuineness.  Maybe that is similar to Hollywood, but everyone seems to be angle shooting, and there is very little altruistic behavior here.   Everyone seems to be out for something.  I’ve seen all these folks suddenly appear out of the woodwork chasing these players as they get further and further.  They all seem like decent enough men, some young and some older.  This is very big business going on as a backdrop to all this.  PokerStars has built its advertising campaign around this since Moneymaker, so a victory by Gold or Cunningham will be problematic.
• I’ve been around some of these pros big and small, but I don’t have any great desire to be an in-person with them.  I get sort of a groupie or fake feeling sometimes, and again I think alot of it has to do with folks being disengenuous (if that’s the right word).  I certainly don’t need for these pros to know or remember my name, and my self worth isn’t tied up in this for sure.

That’s enough wisdom for now.  Here are a few final photos, then I’m headed back for some sleep before my telecon.

Allen Cunningham after a break.

Jamie Gold in action

Richard Lee

l to r:  Rhett Butler and Doug Kim