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January 5th 2007
The Players of 2006
With the Aussie Millions just a heartbeat away time is fast running out to look back at 2006. It won’t be long before the poker of 2007 is grabbing the headlines, new stars are born, and the heroes and villains of 2006 are all but forgotten.
Despite the seemingly cataclysmic event that was the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) 2006 proved yet another boom year for poker, with record tumbling once again as we saw more big buy-in events and million dollar pay days than any year in the games existence.
Here I’ll offer my humble opinion on the players of 2006 and who might be capturing the headlines in 2007.
Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi – CardPlayer’s Player of the Year title is the most coveted non-monetary trophy in poker, and that says a lot about what it takes to win it.
The Grinder started off the best possible way, converting his sizzling form into second place in January’s WPT Gold Strike World Poker Open in Tunica, before going on to win the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open just eight days later! Just nine days passed before Michael bagged another six figure sum in the LA Poker Classic, and his winnings for 2006 stood at $1.86 million by February 10th.
The Grinder’s strong form continued throughout the year as he won four more tournaments and collected a further $330,000. Ending the year by finishing 29th in the Five Diamond Classic meant “The Grinder” secured his POY title in style, sounding a warning to all comers that he will be a force to look out for in 2007.
Jeff Madsen – When the World Series of Poker began in June 2006 Jeff Madsen had never legally played in a live poker tournament, as the kid was still 20 years old. A few weeks (and a small loan from his parents) later Madsen was the proud owner of a WSOP bracelet, the youngest winner in WSOP history.
These days, with WSOP fields well in excess of 2000, even in the early events, the chances of winning multiple bracelets in one year are tremendously small. So imagine the hype when a rookie just weeks into his 21st year bagged a second bracelet, and made two further final tables, finishing third and fourth. What made Madsen’s achievements even more astonishing was that his four final tables were all in different disciplines of poker (short-handed HE, full table HE, Omaha hi/lo and Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo). I would be amazed if at any point in the rest of my lifetime I ever see a better performance by a rookie at the WSOP.
Allen Cunnigham – Allen Cunnigham’s enduringly quizzical expression and quiet, almost timid demeanour disguises perfectly one of the deadliest poker minds on the planet.
In 2005 Cunningham captured the WSOP Player of the Year title and he began 2006 in style, winning his fourth bracelet in Event #14, the $1000 with-rebuys NL HE tournament. What made his win all the more satisfying was that while Michael Mizrachi was busy rebuying six hands in a row (and going all-in blind each time) Cunnigham steered well clear of Darrel Dicken’s record of 30 re-buys, winning the event after re-buying just once!
But it was Cunningham’s fourth place finish in the main-event (which netted him $3.6 million) that really captured the public’s imagination. His performance was by far the best of any pro and it is tempting to think that if it weren’t for Jamie Gold’s extraordinary run of cards (and Cunnigham’s equally poor one) the title could have been his. Don’t bet against him going three better in 2007.
Phil Hellmuth – The Poker Brat has scaled down his poker playing over the years, dedicating much of his time to his family and to other business interests. But that all changes when it comes to the WSOP.
Hellmuth is desperate to be remembered as the greatest ever WSOP player and last year when both Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan moved ahead of him in the all-time bracelet winners list you could tell it hurt.
This year, in an attempt to catch them, Hellmuth played nearly every single event in the WSOP calendar and his strategy nearly paid off as early as Event #9. In the end he couldn’t quite get over the last hurdle, finishing runner-up to Jeff Cabanillas and many thought that Hellmuth had blown his chance. But you cant keep the Poker Brat down for long and he had the last laugh when he finally won his 10th WSOP bracelet in one of the last tournaments of the series. Hellmuth is now in a three way tie for the most number of bracelets won, but he is out on his own with the most ever WSOP cashes, the most ever WSOP final tables, and is sixth on the all-time money list (and he would certainly be in first place if it weren’t for the colossal payouts from main-event final tables over the last four years).
Joe Hachem – Like Hellmuth, Joe Hachem was another man out to prove a point in 2006, on a desperate mission to show that his 2005 WSOP main-event win was no fluke. Despite the number of plaudits Hachem had already received from fellow pros about the quality of his play Hachem wanted further validation in the form of a major win.
A second WSOP bracelet in 2006 would have been just the ticket but in Event #5 Hachem had to settle for second place when Dutch Boyd’s A-5 outdrew the Aussie’s A-Q. Hachem was playing well, and he notched a fourth place finish in the Pot-Limit Hold’em event before running deep in the main-event, eventually crashing out in 238th (out of 8773) when his aces were cracked by jacks. It was a good overall performance but the coveted second bracelet eluded him.
Fast forward to December and with just 15 days to go before the end of 2006 it looked like the validation Hachem so desperately wanted might evade him after all. But then came the Five Diamond World Poker Classic and five days later an ecstatic Hachem was celebrating a victory which he said was more exciting that winning the WSOP. Hachem defeated over 500 players including Daniel Negreanu on the final table to win the last WPT event of the year, collecting the massive $2.1 million. He is one of only four men to hold both a WPT title and the WSOP main-event.
Roland De Wolfe – This young British pro used to work for a gambling magazine before moving to the other side of the camera, so to speak, in 2004. De Wolfe claimed his first major win in the 2005 WPT Grand Prix de Paris in 2005, scooping $628,678 and in 2006 he proved he was the real deal when he bagged third place in the WPT Championship, worth over a million dollars.
After another third place, this time in the WSOP shootout event Roland set his sights back on Europe and was soon walking away with an EPT title after conquering all comers in Dublin. That $726,000 win was followed by another six figure win in January bringing the aggressive Englishman’s tally to $1.94 million.
Nam Le – 2006 was the year Nam Le emerged from the shadow of his cousin Tuan, the previous highest earner in the history of the WPT (until this December when he was overtaken by Negreanu).
Nam began the year by winning the WPT Shooting Star tournament in March and collecting $1.1 million. Three months later he won the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge title and a further $200k, and a month after that he picked up $400,000 more after finishing second in Event #6 of the WSOP. By the end of the year he had amassed over $2 million in tournament earnings but was just pipped to the POY title by Michael Mizrachi.
Look out for. . . .
Shannon Shorr – this kid had a cracking 2006, winning over $1.5 million and putting in some immense performances towards the end of the year. At just 21 years old he is still a raw talent but does not lack for ambition: his plans to become the most talked about player in the world under the age of 22.
J.C. Tran – it seems as if J.C. Tran has been perennially on the edge of greatness, and 2006 was no different. Early in the year he added yet another main-event final table to the growing list of his achievements, and followed it up with a multitude of five-figure wins before finally capturing two six-figure first places at the end of the year, although both were in preliminary events. In between Tran won the PokerStars WCOOP main-event. His burning ambition will not be satisfied till he wins a major title. Could this be his year?
High Stakes Poker Season III – if there is just one poker show you watch in 2007 make it this one. High Stakes Poker has completely changed the landscape when it comes to televised poker with its portrayal of the cash game. The world’s best known players sit at the felt with at least $100,000 of their own money. This year will see the likes of Jamie Gold and Phil Ivey introduced to the fray. Should be fun!
Submitted: 05/01/2007 13:49:13
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