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PLAY YOUR CARDS RIGHT |
Poker Guru, Peter Sharkey, keeps you up to date with what's been happening in the Poker World each week, in association with the Poker Examiner. Welcome to the shark pool.
The planet’s most hyped poker tournament, the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP), finally got underway yesterday replete with a display of razzamatazz for which Americans are justifiably famous. This is not a tournament to shelter its light under a bushel. Following a prolonged qualification period, it’s opening has developed into a glitzier, brighter and much louder affair than it was say, a decade ago, just before online poker became responsible for creating a brand new, multi-billion dollar industry.
Today, most of the several thousand WSOP qualifiers arrive in Las Vegas courtesy of winning an online tournament. Nonetheless, many of the city’s casinos continue to offer seats at the WSOP’s main event which starts at the end of June as attractive prizes in their in-house competitions. With an aggregate of more than a hundred million dollars at stake, winning one of the dozens of WSOP events can be genuinely life-changing.
Matters were less frantic in that pre-online poker world a decade ago when we witnessed the most exciting final table world championship finish ever – and heard perhaps the best line ever delivered at the poker table in the television age. Despite this year’s hype, one wonders whether the 2008 WSOP could possibly match the 1998 tournament for sheer pizzazz.
Back in 1998, the final table showdown saw Scotty Nguyen go ‘heads-up’ with Kevin McBride who, as his hand developed, ended up chasing a straight flush. At stake was $1 million.
As early as the turn, Nguyen had secured a full house, but matters really heated up when the river card created a full house on the board (Nguyen’s hand was still superior though) and McBride was a tantalising one card away from his straight flush. At this point, Nguyen bet $310,000 in the knowledge that to bet, McBride would have to go all-in.
“You call this and it’s all over baby,” was Scotty’s immortal line, which many believe pushed his opponent to do just that against his better judgement. McBride called and Nguyen collected $1 million.
It doesn’t seem like a decade ago. Poker has changed so much in the interim: millions more play the game, new casinos have opened and online poker companies are now quoted on the stock exchange. Yet the opening of the latest WSOP is responsible for prompting a wistful series of “was it really ten years ago?” moments, so consider the following randomly-created list compiled from 1998:
· The first Harry Potter book was published.
· Titanic broke all box office records, becoming the most successful movie ever.
· Google was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
· Frank Sinatra died.
· France beat Brazil in the World Cup final.
· Geri Halliwell (the ginger one) left the Spice Girls.
· Three ex-Beatles performed together in public for the first time in 30 years.
· Dana International won the Eurovision Song Contest in Birmingham.
· George Michael was arrested for committing “a lewd act” in front of an American police officer.
· The Monica Lewinsky scandal reached its climax as Bill Clinton was impeached by the US House of Representatives.
Poker has undoubtedly come a long way since those heady days of 1998, but no-one has yet come up with a better title-clinching line to utter at the final table than Scotty Nguyen. Perhaps this year’s winner could match it, but I somehow doubt it.
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