NY TIMES
As recently as 1995, only two or three major events - among them the Diamond Jim Brady at the Bicycle Club outside Los Angeles and Amarillo Slim`s Super Bowl of Poker at Caesars Palace - competed with the World Series on the tournament calendar. Fields of 100 or 200 were typical, with first prize seldom exceeding the middle six figures. When you busted out of one of these events, you had to wait a few months for the next one.
A decade later, lucrative tournaments take place almost weekly somewhere in Europe, the United States or Australia, from the Aviation Club on the Champs-Élysées in July to the Caesars in tiny Elizabeth, Ind., this weekend. With so many online and on-land casinos vying for our tournament dollars, how do we decide where to play?
The first issue often is budget: for airfare, taxis, hotel and meals, as well as the buy-in for the main event and perhaps a few preliminary tournaments and satellites. For players preferring live action, the next question is whether the event will be televised, since the cameras tend to pump up the size of the field - and, hence, the prize pool - by a factor of three.
The host hotel is another consideration, especially when planning a trip with a spouse or children. A five-star resort can be the trip`s main attraction, with poker a bonus or sidelight. If there`s plenty to do after getting knocked out, you may be less afraid to lose your chips. And the less fear you play with, the more likely you are to win money.
Most circuit regulars agree that the best place to play, whether it be tournaments or cash games, is the Bellagio on the Las Vegas Strip. Bobby Baldwin, a crucial executive in its development, was the 1978 World Series champion, so it`s not surprising that poker players are treated well at the Bellagio. Doug Dalton, the director of poker operations, has just put the finishing touches on the expanded poker room, making it the largest and most comfortable in Las Vegas. The action ranges from $4 to $8 hold`em all the way to the famous mixed game with Doyle Brunson, Jennifer Harman, Minh Ly, Chip Reese, Barry Greenstein and a handful of other maestros willing to risk $100,000 a night.
The Bellagio`s tournaments are run by the World Series of Poker veteran Jack McClelland and a friendly, proficient staff that includes Alan Feiner, Maria Gundersen, John Nieznansky and Thang O. The events begin on time and provide the 90-minute levels and two-for-one chip counts that maximize the skill factor. Disputes are adjudicated with a firm but light touch, while, in his soft Southern accent, Mr. McClelland dryly punctures a few of the game`s vastest egos.
Tournaments take place in the Fontana Room, a high-ceilinged circular space flooded with natural light and overlooking an eight-acre lake and the artfully choreographed fountains. Large monitors throughout the room tell you how many opponents remain, what the prize breakdown is, and how many minutes and seconds until the next break. The only downside is that many of the tables are poorly designed, so that the legs hit players in the knee. I am told they are being replaced.
Around 9 p.m., players receive dinner passes to a buffet with the selection and quality of a three-star restaurant. (David Schwartz, a gaming historian at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, knows the town`s culinary opportunities as well as anyone, and he sometimes chooses this buffet for his family`s Thanksgiving dinner.) The opulent workout facilities include seven swank pools arranged among colonnades and fragrant horticultural majesty.
The Bellagio plays host to World Poker Tour events in April, October, and December. Next up is the Five Diamond Classic, from Nov. 29 through Dec. 16, culminating in a $15,000 event broadcast on the Travel Channel. The tour`s championship in April now vies with the World Series as poker`s most prestigious event. More and more players believe that the $25,000 buy-in, $50,000 in chips, and the smaller, mostly professional field combine to make this the stiffest test of no-limit hold`em acumen.
Last week the Festa al Lago, comprising a dozen tournaments with buy-ins of $1,060 to $10,200, concluded with the Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship, which is also part of the World Poker Tour. Four hundred and twenty players put up $10,200 apiece; after fees for the dealers and staff, the prize pool came to $4,074,000. Yours truly finished 37th, though my most startling moment came while sitting to the right of Minh Ly late on Day 3. Our table`s chip leader then was Gus Hansen, the hyper-aggressive Great Dane. In what turned out to be the turning point of the event, Hansen flopped an ace-high straight and a straight-flush draw. To no one`s surprise, with the board reading Kc Qc 10c, he attacked. Ly apparently had a strong hand as well, and all of their chips went into the pot on the turn, at which point Ly turned over Ac-Jc, for a royal.
Smiling but stunned, Hansen regrouped well enough to finish 21st, but Ly rode his chips and momentum all the way to the championship.
