Quest of a Closet Poker Player

1,287 players started today, with Day 1B probably a very packed house. The day has gone very well as far as the operations, which bodes well for the rest of the Main Event.

Julian Gardner stood on a mound of chips at the dinner break to be in the Top Five in chips. The 2002 Main Event runner-up to Robert Varkyoni is from Manchester, England. He’s played with the greatest players in all of poker, but across from him sat one of the great heroes from Manchester United.

That would be Teddy Sheringham, or Teddy as my son All-In calls him. Think of Joe Namath or Kirk Gibson and you’ll approach the affection that Manchester United followers have for Sheringham. It was Manchester United v Bayern Munich in the finals of the European Champions League finals. Man U had won the FA Cup and the Premiership title, and a win here would be a treble, three pieces of hardware for all to see. Bayern Munich was ahead of Manchester United in the 87th minute when I finally got into my room in Florence, Italy with Sweetie. We’d just taken a train from Venice to Florence, and I was distraught that I’d missed the match and that Man U had lost.

As the Red Devils are scrambling, they win a corner. Beckham sends it across, a header back to the middle, a weak clearance to Ryan Giggs, who flails at a shot that Sheringham then pops in for the equalizer. A few minutes later, another corner, and Sheringham heads it to Ole Gunnar Solkjaer, who flicks in the winner.

I asked Julian where he was then. “I was in a pub in Manchester, and the place went wild when Sheringham scored. It was the equalizer,” and you could tell he was back there eight years ago. I asked him if it was the first time he’d played with Sheringham. “I met him a few weeks ago at the pool. I knew he played, so I expected him to be good.”

Alot happened to Julian after that night in the pub in Manchester. He’d been playing tournaments throughout England and Europe, then headed to the WSOP in 2002. He had the last chance to prevent Phil Hellmuth’s head from being shaved, but ended as the runner-up to Robert Varkonyi and ahead of Ralph Perry in the Main Event. “I cashed the next two years as well (54th in 2003 and 32nd in 2004). He sat on 86k in chips, among the chipleaders at the break.

Liz Lieu made it to the dinner break, and the secret to her slim figure slipped out: the Liz Lieu diet. It includes Starburst, Nutter Butters, and Gatorade. “No, I had four others as well that you didn’t see,” Liz said. “I am totally a junk food addict.”

2007 WSOP Player of the Year Tom Schneider had a nice stack as well (orange are 5k, yellow 1k, and light blue are 500). He seems to like to accumulate chips, which is not a good sign for those at his table. There were 873 players left by my count as Level 4 got started.

UPDATE 11:30PM

Teddy Sheringham is a stoic rock at the table, but then he opens up as he leaves on break.  “Did you see that call I made?” he asked.  I didn’t, but it made him very healthy.  “I had queens, and everyone has been raising like mad at the table, so I call.  Then call, call, call, call from five more.  Typical.”  Teddy then got animated.  “The flop comes jack high, and check around.  A king came on the turn, and a guy bets and I call with one more player.  Then a 9 came on the river.  Now another guy bets, the first guy is out, and it’s to me.  Does he really have a king?  I think for a bit, then he calls the clock.  I mean, it was hardly any time.”  Teddy called, and the villain showed 8-9 for a pair of nines.  He was back up to 30k with a great chance to make it through the night.  “I’m still learning the game,” he said.  Well, he’s doing pretty well for sure.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 6th, 2007 at 11:28 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.