Roulette, Poker & Baccarà

The 2010 World Series of Poker will take place between Thursday, May 27, 2010, and Saturday, July 17, 2010, at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The main event, the no-limit hold’em championship, will run from July 5 to July 17. Over this period, the thousands of hopefuls will be culled down to a final table of nine players, who will compete sometime in November 2010 for the WSOP title and a purse of as much as $10,000,000 or more (in 2006, Jamie Gold walked off with $12 million).

With several thousand of the world’s best players, luck will always be a factor, but that doesn’t mean that skill plays no part or that there aren’t favorites. Any list has to at least give a nod to recent champions like Joe Cada (2009), Peter Eastgate (2008), and Jerry Yang (2007). But for anyone who follows the sport, being a past winner is only one factor that indicates future performance. Equally important is the question of whose play shows the kind of consistency, talent, and raw nerves that have them regularly making final tables.

Heading up that list has to be perennial favorite Phil Ivey. Phil was champion at last year’s Omaha8/Stud8 WSOP event as well as the No Limit Deuce to Seven competition. Ivey’s absolute composure and boundless patience at the table scare the heck out of any and every other player on the planet.

Next up, in my opinion, is the beloved “Kid Poker,” Daniel Negreanu. Everybody loves Daniel as he jokes, smiles, and takes their money. Most people would agree that his ability to “put” opponents on a hand (guess what they are holding) is downright spooky at times.

Beyond that, it’s anyone’s guess. There’s “the Mouth,” Phil Hellmuth, holder of the most WSOP bracelets (eleven), all in Texas Hold’em. There are old-timers like gentleman Doyle Brunson, who holds ten bracelets and pretty much wrote the book on modern poker. There are the “math guys,” people like Barry Greenstein and David Sklansky. And there are the “maniacs,” folks like Johnny Chan (ten bracelets), Men Nguyen (six bracelets), and popular Layne Flack (six bracelets). Finally, all-around players like Erik Seidel (eight bracelets), TJ Cloutier (six bracelets), and young Huck Seed (four bracelets) will be waiting to pounce whenever they smell fear or weakness. It’s sure to be a tremendous battle from start to finish.